By Jeanne du Plessis

The weather, education, entertainment, social networking, the news, music, fart sounds… Whatever you’re looking for; there’s an app for it. There are hundreds of thousands of apps to choose from, so it’s difficult to pick ones that really stand out from the crowd. Here are a few we think are particularly cool.  

1. Draw Something

What do Yoda, KFC, Scooby Doo, spinach and Lady Gaga have in common? They’re all popular words on Draw Something! If you like Pictionary, you’ll love this game in which players take turns to draw and guess words. Play co-operatively with friends or competitively against rivals, and post your drawings on Twitter or Facebook. Over six billion drawings have been created on this app, and Draw Something topped the iPhone app charts, beating the much anticipated sequel to Angry Birds, Angry Birds in Space. That’s rather impressive, considering that Facebook and Angry Birds were the most downloaded apps of 2011 (and if you don’t know what Angry Birds is, where have you been?). Visit www.drawsomethinggallery.net to see what players have come up with.

2. StumbleUpon

StumbleUpon is a great way to kill some spare time and find a range of cool things on the web. You just tap the “Stumble” button and you’ll get a random page that this discovery engine thinks you’ll like. As you Stumble through various pages, you can “like” or “dislike” the recommendations, giving the app a better idea of what your interests are. It also recommends pages based on users whose interests seem similar to yours. Trivia, humour, fashion, recipes, photography, sports… whatever you’re into, you’ll Stumble- Upon it. Popular links include quotes from Albert Einstein and a humorous list of how to irritate

3. Carrr Matey

Do you ever forget where you’ve parked? This happened to me once at Menlyn Shopping

Centre. As there are six large parking levels, this was no joke. I wish I’d had Carrr Matey, a fun pirate-themed parking app that helps you find your car. “Drop Anchor” to mark your spot on a pirate’s treasure map, then this app will later guide you back to your “ship”. There are other apps with the same function, like Take Me To My Car, but they’re just not as cute.

4. Metal Detector

Looking for lost jewellery? Need some spare change? Turn your phone into a metal detector with this cool app. If Carrr Matey brings out your inner pirate, this app could come in handy when looking for buried treasure.

5. Shazam

The next time you hear a catchy tune and want to know what it is, hold your phone up to the music and use Shazam to identify a song’s name and artist. You then have the option of buying the song, learning more about the artist or watching videos on YouTube. It also provides lyrics, which will save you from singing about chasing penguins when the song is actually “Chasing pavements”. Soundhound is a similar app, but apparently Shazam has a larger library and can identify more obscure songs.

The most useless apps

There are many of these, but Hold On (see how long you can hold a button), Simstapler (practice your stapling skills) and Hello Cow (shows a picture of a cow that moos when you touch it) probably deserve special mentions. The prize, however, has to go to I Am Rich, an app which has since been removed from the iStore. It sold for $999.99 and displayed a glowing red gem – that’s all it did. A few people bought it anyway.

WE’LL SOON BE LAUNCHING OUR VERY OWN APP!

Watch this space for details!