With all the apps out there, it can be difficult to figure out what apps are worth your hard-earned dollars. We took a look through Apple’s App Store and Google Play and found some of our favorite apps out there that are worth the cash it takes to download them.
On the list is an app that will let you collect cool links you see during the day and read them later, even when you’re offline.
When you’re headed out for the night, one app we found will help you identify what you see in the sky, and another will ensure you can bring all your favorite tunes with you for the ride.
If you’re looking to capture what’s going on around you, one of our favorite apps helps make your photos look their best, while another helps you polish videos you record while you’re out-and-about and upload them to the web.
Take a look at the gallery above for some of apps we think about worth paying for.
Have a favorite paid app of your own?
Price: $3.99
What it does: Personalizes your smartphone keyboard to make you more efficient and less prone to typos.
Why it’s worth it: Typing on the stock Android keyboard can be pretty difficult. SwiftKey learns the words and phrases you use, as well as how you interact with your keyboard in order to make what you type on the keyboard more accurate.
A must-have for anyone who does a ton of typing on their Android phone, over time SwiftKey will make your typing experience much easier and faster.
Price: The app is free, but we think the $9.99 plan is worth it.
What it does: Lets you stream music — even offline — and store music locally on your computer, tablet or smartphone.
Why it’s worth it: Downloading the Spotify app is free, but actually using it requires you have a $9.99/mo Spotify Premium account, a must-have purchase for any music lover. With a Premium account, you can sync all your playlists to your phone, and listen to them while you’re on the go. Premium users can also make their favorite playlists available offline, so you can listen to your tunes without running up data charges on your phone or in places like airplanes having to be connected to a cellular network.
Price: $0.99
What it does: Shows you what’s in the night sky.
Why it’s worth it: Rather than just show you what’s in the night sky, A Starry Night shows you what’s going on in the sky directly above where you are. Holding your phone up shows off all the stars, planets, galaxies, constellations and even satellites around you. Augmented reality makes it so you can see those things on the screen, even when obscured by clouds or buildings.
Price: $3.99
What it does: A client for browsing Reddit.
Why it’s worth it:Alien Blue makes browsing Reddit on your mobile device a much better experience. The app has inline image viewing in comments, Instapaper support, and one-tap Imgur integration and quoting. The app also makes it east to make your own posts on Reddit as well as post and edit comments on the site.
5. Instapaper
Price: $3.99
What it does: Lets you save webpages to read later offline.
Why it’s worth it:Instapaper is great for gathering up stories you see on the web that you want to read, but don’t have time to read now. The app can particularly come in handy in situations where you might offline for a period of time –during your commute or on an airplane — but still want to be able to catch up on news and read items from the web.
Price: $0.99
What it does: Edits photos you take on your iPhone.
Why it’s worth it:Camera+ turns anyone into a fantastic photographer. Building off the iPhone camera the app gives your phone a 6x digital zoom, a number of built-in scene modes for capturing the perfect shot under a variety of different conditions, and a ton of built-in effects to give your images a polished final look.
Price: $4.99
What it does: Lets you edit movies on mobile.
Why it’s worth it: Just like iMovie on your computer, the iMovie app lets you edit videos on your iPhone, iPad and iPod touch. Clips can be trimmed using the app, and you can add video, photos, music and sound effects to create the ultimate final product. Finished movies can them be shared right from your device to YouTube, Facebook and more.
Price: $2.79
What it does: Beautiful widgets to help customize your Android phone.
Why it’s worth it: If you want to personalize your iPhone, then Beautiful Widgets is a great place to start. The app has more than 1,000 skins and themes for customizing your Android phone, allowing you get the perfect look on your device that reflects you and your needs.
September 26, 2012
