Unlike our twice-weekly list of free app suggestions, we test every app and game in our Top 5 list ourselves before suggesting them to you. So here we only curate suggestions for apps and mobile games that we can recommend with a clear conscience.
Do you need an account? Does the app cost anything and what about advertising and in-app purchases? We give you all this information for each app suggestion and garnish it with screenshots or videos. Here are the five app recommendations for the 36th calendar week of 2023:
Remini – simply better photos (Android & iOS).
Let’s get started with another AI tool that takes care of our photos. Remini promises to create AI photos for us based on our own images, but also pretties up existing images. And let’s get one thing straight: Want to enhance a photo? First watch an advertisement. Want to save the optimized picture? First watch an advertisement. You’ll also be reminded of the paid Pro version, which removes the ads, removes limits, and adds more features.
You can even get job application photos with the app—if you pay—that takes your face and puts you in a suit. Speaking of paying: You’ll pay just under $5 a week for the Lite version, or even $10 a week for the Pro version. To be honest, I find both too steep.
But since there are a zillion other apps for AI-generated images anyway, our recommendation here is aimed at something else: Improving images! You can take old, blurry pictures here for free and spruce them up. The results remove dust crumbs from the photos and also make them look crisper than the sometimes blurry originals. We would like to recommend this app for exactly that and honestly only for that.
For testing, Casi tried it with over 70-year-old photos of his grandparents. Instead of some meaningless app screenshots of some AI-generated photo creations, he just uploaded the before-and-after pictures of his grandparents here.
- Price: Free / Ads: Lots of / In-app purchases: Yes, $4.99/week for Lite, $9.99/week for Pro / Account required: No
Aim Lab Mobile (Android & iOS)
Those who regularly enjoy first-person shooters may already be familiar with Aim Lab Mobile. The software, which is available for the PC, trains you for FPS games. Here you can practice shooting, improve your reflexes, and increase your precision. Now this virtual target practice is also available in a mobile version for Android and iOS as a public beta version.
You can train in six different categories, such as reaction time or target acquisition and precision. Game-specific presets (aiming aids, controls) ensure that you can simulate and train your desired FPS games as accurately as possible. You can check your progress in the subsequent, detailed analysis. In addition, you will gradually climb up the global ranking list and can also share your successes with friends.
- Price: Free / Ads: No / In-app purchases: Yes / Account required: Optional
You can adjust the difficulty level so that the learning effect is also accordingly. There are no ads and the in-app purchases are only cosmetic. So if you want to work on your FPS skills on the subway, you have the opportunity to do so thanks to the mobile version of Aim Lab Mobile. Fire away!
Final Fantasy VII Ever Crisis (iOS & Android)
Every gamer knows the names Cloud Strife or Sephiroth. We are talking about two characters from one of the most famous games ever: Final Fantasy VII. But not all puzzles from the game have been solved yet and some background stories remain untold. This is exactly what the free Final Fantasy VII takes care of.
The gameplay here sticks very much to the old familiar. It’s all about exploring the story of your heroes. The familiar Final Fantasy characters are included, and you’ll have to fight your way through a horde of enemies and bosses to get to the bottom of the story. The game uses HD videos for the video sequences and classic pixel graphics for the game itself. The controls work simply via the touch display.
- Price: Free / Ads: No / In-app purchases: Yes / Account required: No
The biggest criticism here, however, is the old familiar Gacha system. You have to invest in-game currency, which you can also buy, to get better characters. While you’ll be fine in the beginning, you’ll only get further later on with the corresponding heroes. The reviews in the Google Play Store are also rather weak with 3.5 stars, but this is due to the fact that the reviews talk about nobody getting into the game on the launch date on sep/6.
However, the game was only officially released on 07.Sep.23, so you can safely ignore these comments. One thing remains clear: The game is incredibly fun. The storytelling is good and in the old Final Fantasy style, which is due to the fact that the publisher here is the good old Square Enix. If you want to experience a free adventure with Cloud Strife, you can take a closer look at the title.
Otter.ai (Android & iOS)
No, Otter.ai is not a tool to simulate mammals with artificial intelligence. Instead, Otter.ai is a very powerful productivity tool for your meetings or interviews. One catch in advance: You can only benefit from this app if you speak English! If that is the case, Otter.ai is an outstandingly practical tool for you to record, transcribe, and summarize texts.
You can simply let it run along in a meeting or lecture and it will transcribe everything said in real time in amazingly high quality. Alternatively, you can import files. Couple the app with your calendars and use it beyond Android and iOS in Slack, Dropbox, or even via Chrome extension. You’ll get automated notes for Zoom, Google Meet, and Microsoft Teams,
- Price: Free / Ads: No / In-app purchases: Yes / Account required: Yes
You can of course edit texts later, you can highlight places with highlighters and you can also assign names to the captured voices. In a test, I just let the app run along with a YouTube clip with an Otter.ai tutorial and it really captured every word correctly.
As you can imagine, Otter.ai also has a payment model that the company uses to make a living. The Business plan costs 20 US dollars per month when paid annually, and 10 US dollars per month for the Pro plan. If you want to use the free Basic package, you have to live with limits: You can record a maximum of 30-minute sessions and no more than a total of 300 minutes per month. In addition, you can only import three files per month. But honestly: For occasional calls or interviews that’s enough for me.
Souls (Android & iOS)
Souls is a visually appealing car-battler that’s all the rage right now. Is it a revolutionary new idea? Nope, not a bit. But those who like this genre mix of adventure, role-playing, and action will absolutely get their money’s worth with the new game from Habby (Survivor,io, Archero). With up to five characters at the same time you go into battle and of course want to give your enemies a good beating with the sword.
The story revolves around heroes’ souls that were sealed after a war and that you now have to free personally. There are a total of 60 different heroes with different skills. In my opinion, Habby could still improve the balance a bit, as well as the drop rate.
- Price: Free / Advertising: No / In-app purchases: Yes / Account required: No
At the beginning, you will of course progress easily, but later on it will get tougher—and that’s probably when the idea of speeding up the fun with in-app purchases will come to your mind. So you can get by without money, but then rather grudgingly sometimes. Nevertheless, I had fun testing the game, the story looks great and if you don’t feel underchallenged by the car battles, you can shovel the game onto your iPhone or Android phone.
We have suggested two games and three tools for you today. Let us know if you found anything interesting—and of course, you can always send us your app suggestions in the comments section.
