Looking for an app that will help you keep all your ideas in one place, whether you’re jotting down basic ideas or fleshing them out in more detail? This week saw the release of a tremendous mind-map and text editing app that will help you do just that.
That’s just one of the picks we’ve highlighted for this week’s “Awesome Apps” roundup. We’ve also got a fun update of an augmented reality favorite, a brilliant video app gone free, and an app for easily saving your bookmarks.
Check out our choices below.
Raindrop.io
Photo: Charlie Sorrel/Cult of Mac
A new bookmarking service for Mac and iOS, Raindrop.io allows you to save your bookmarks into folders, which you can access from anywhere.
It’s got a slick drag-and-drop interface, and is also free — although there’s a paid tier that gives you some extra features. These include the ability to add nested collections, tag suggestions, find duplicates, and nuke any dead links.
You can also import from Pocket, Readability, Instapaper and “other html,” or export HTML files that can then be imported into other services. Read my colleague Charlie Sorrel’s full review here.
Available for: iOS, Mac
Cost: Free (upgrade to Pro for $3 per month)
Get it from:App Store
8mm Vintage Camera App
The 8mm Vintage Camera App isn’t new, but it is free this week — courtesy of Apple’s latest “App of the Week” promotion.
As its name implies, this app makes all your video look as though it’s been shot with a retro turn-of-the-century 8mm camera — complete with film jumps, scratches, juddery frame rate, and whatever else you need to turn your home movies into Buster Keaton-style black and white movies.
The app offers a range of lenses and filters, which you can combine to create not just 1920s-style movies, but also ones from other periods in movie history. A whole lot of fun!
Available for: iOS
Cost: Free
Get it from:App Store
WriteMapper
Photo: WriteMapper
A new Mac app combining a mind mapper with a text editor, WriteMapper is a great way to get your ideas down on paper (well, screen) and organize them.
It resembles a typical mind-mapping app, but when you open a node you get a well-designed, full-featured text editor so you can expand your thoughts without having to switch to a word processor. Once you’ve finished, you can easily export your document to HTML, Markdown, plain and rich text, and DOCX.
Check out a full review here.
Available for: Mac
Cost: $26.95, with two-week trial.
Get it from:WriteMapper
Pokémon GO
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b1qIGF6VsBE
After appearing to cool off in the months after its launch, augmented reality game Pokémon GO has been back with a vengeance, courtesy of its newly-available Legendary Pokémon.
Each one available for a limited time only, these ultra rare Pokémon have created a big resurgence of interest in the game — including triggering its highest grossing day ever. This week, the game saw the debut of Raikou, Entei, and Suicune, from the Gold, Silver and Crystal incarnations of the game.
In a neat move, each of the three is only available in a certain part of the world at once, although these will change over the next three months. At present, Raikou, an Electric-type Legendary Pokémon, can be battled throughout the Americas; Entei, a Fire-type Legendary Pokémon, can be discovered throughout Europe and Africa; and Water-type Legendary Pokémon Suicune only pops up through the Asia-Pacific region.
You have until September 30 until that changes, and they move on to their next location.
Available for: iOS
Cost: Free
Get it from:App Store
