You’re probably a little tired of spending money if you plan to celebrate Christmas at the end of the week, which is why today’s Download Discounts list features apps that all have a element in common: they’re extremely free. Check out our three picks, none of which have anything to do with Christmas music, shopping or Santa — just in case you need a break from the festivities.
Symbol6 Redux (iPhone) Free
Symbol6 isn’t quite a puzzle game, although it looks like one. Instead, it requires fast swiping, assessment and reaction to survive an onslaught of floating symbols and get through each level.
You play the game by swapping symbols around a hexagon in the middle of the screen. As time goes on, other symbols will come floating from off-screen toward your hexagon, and you have to quickly move the corresponding symbol to the spot where the floating one is about to land. Line up the matching symbol and score toward advancing to the next level, but botch the match and you’ll take a hit to a health meter at the bottom of the screen. If that runs out, it’s game over. The longer you play, the more hectic the swapping becomes, and Symbol6 includes Game Center support for online leaderboards. Also — it’s free, so get on it.
Mailtag (iPhone) Free (was $1.99)
You know those elaborate and clever pictures composed entirely of text characters? They look like whoever made them spent a lot of time figuring out how to create an image using letters, numbers and dashes — but they probably didn’t, because you can create them almost instantly with Mailtag.
But making text art images isn’t enough. You also have to share them. Mailtag lets you quickly distribute text images out to your friends with e-mail addresses from withing the app. You can also turn your own personal messages into text art and choose from 12 different colors to give your images a little character before you send them out.
My DJ (iPhone, iPad) Free (was $1.99)
My DJ offers a way to mix up the way you listen to your iTunes library by creating something of a club experience using your own library. The app plays portions of your songs, then fades them into one another, so you can go through your music and get a bit of everything you like, without lingering on a song if you prefer variety to completion.
There are also a handful of other fun features in My DJ, not the least of which is being able to crossfade whole songs together instead of just snippets. It also supports multitasking, and includes social networking support that lets you update your friends on what you’re listening to. My DJ also provides the ability to finish out a complete song while listening to portions if you stumble on one you’re enjoying.
