Cloudflare, Darkroom and other great apps of the week

This week we check out podcast app Pocket Casts, add grain to our RAW images with Darkroom, and speed up the entire internet with Cloudflare’s 1.1.1.1.

Cloudflare 1.1.1.1

Look how happy they are about their new DNS server.

Cloudflare 1.1.1.1 makes it easy to switch to Cloudflare’s super-fast, privacy-boosting DNS service. DNS tis what takes the address you typo into your browser, and turns it into a number so that your browser actually ends up at the correct website. It’a a kid of address book the internet. Cloudflare’s 1.1.1.1 DNS server is faster than most, but it’s also a pain to set up on the iPhone and iPad. That’s where this free app comes in, taking care of the tricky parts for you.

Price: Free

Download: Cloudflare from the App Store (iOS)

Pocket Casts

Pocket Casts gets a big user experience update.

Pocket Casts is a cross-platform podcast-listening app, and it just got a major update. The paid service now offers adds Siri Shortcuts support, improved search and discovery features, and a lets you browse and play individual podcast episodes without having to subscribe to a show.

Unlike other podcast apps, Pocket Casts is more about browsing a directory than adding your own podcasts manually. In fact, I couldn’t find a way to add them. You can, however, bulk-import your subscriptions from other podcast apps.

Price: $3.99

Download: Pocket Casts from the App Store (iOS)

Darkroom

Darkroom is an iPhone-only photo editing app with some un unique features. For instance, it lets you edit the foreground and background of your Portrait Mode images independently. This update, v3.8, adds grain, and also a RAW/JPG toggle.

If you have both RAW and JPG versions of a photo on your iPhone, it’s hard to choose which one you want to edit. Darkroom labels such pairs, and lets you tap to select the RAW or the JPG. If nothing else, it’s a cool way to compare the differences between them.

Also new is grain support. Why do we like grain? Darkroom co-founder Jasper Hauser explains.

It introduces an emotionality and a mood to your photo that the crisp, clean, de-noised digital images of today cannot capture. Grain adds texture into otherwise flat regions of your image, giving your eye something to look at, something to notice.

The Darkroom grain tool is a single slider that emulates the increasing grain and contrast found in more sensitive (“faster”) films. I’ve tried it and it looks great — subtle but effective.

Price: Free with in-app purchases

Download: Darkroom from the App Store (iOS)