Byte The App: 4 Must See Apps Of The Week

The app stores are teeming with new releases, but who has time to go through them all? We do. Bringing you a selection of the most interesting, creative, and innovative apps each week. Submit your suggestions for next week in the comments below.

Layar [iPhone, Android]
For one, this app’s free, and two, it’s one of the best augmented reality apps on the market and it’s just been updated. What does it do? The developer, Layar, call it an augmented reality browser, and it displays information about your surroundings by using your phone’s camera to view the world around you. Layering digital information on your phone, such as restaurant info with user ratings, providing architectural or historical information about a city, and even giving you the ability to play location-based augmented reality games, this is one of the most promising AR apps we’ve seen so far.

Zombie Trailer Park [iPhone, iPad]
While not exactly highbrow, this mobile game features zombies and hicks, which makes it your new favorite guilty pleasure (you were getting sick of Angry Birds anyway, right?). You know the routine, zombies have overtaken the earth because, after all, that is their way. You control an army of shotgun and shovel-wielding rednecks, train them up and manage their economy while cracking soft zombie skulls in this strategy-based (free!) game from Ninja Kiwi. Good, honest, zombie-slaughtering fun.

Yellowtail [iPhone, iPad]
Create real-time free-form abstract animations in this app by Golan Levin. Originally a desktop application, the media artist has finally created a mobile version, which suits the app well. The gesture-controlled interface allows for fluid movements for shape creation, while the software “repeats your marks end-over-end, allowing you to author a line’s shape and its quality of movement at the same time.”

Daytum [iPhone, iPad]
If you’re obsessed by data then you’ve probably used the web-based version of Daytum before. Designed by data junky Nicholas Feltron, whose annual reports are beautiful exercises in quantifying a life, the software allows you to record and collate everyday data about yourself. You can graph how bad your diet is going or all those alcohol units you shouldn’t be drinking, or keep track of kilometres you’ve run (or failed to) or your skyrocketing caffeine intake. Basically, Daytum allows you to track virtually any aspect of your life, good news for all the data addicts out there. The iPhone version is compatible with the web app, allowing you to add, edit, and view what you’ve input across platforms. Hat’s off to Feltron and Ryan Case for a sleek and easy to use solution for our compulsive chronicling.