Software : Round up: Best Windows 10 apps 2016

Round up: Best Windows 10 apps 2016

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Introduction

The Microsoft Store provides Windows 10 users with an alternative way of installing and managing apps on their PC. The days of Microsoft thinking it would eventually replace desktop apps has long passed, but there's still potential to be found in there among the masses of apps that prove disappointing, whether it's because they simply present content you can easily find on the web or turn out to be cut-down versions of their desktop cousins.

We've focused on apps that will prove useful, whether it's bringing out your artistic side, taking the stress out of booking flights or simply helping you manage your day-to-day business better. You'll also find apps for learning new languages and telling great stories through the web. If you thought the Microsoft Store was a dud, these apps – and others out there – will hopefully make you think again.

Microsoft Sway

Want to tell a story that will captivate your audience from start to finish? Looking for a way to share a professional looking presentation online without sending your boss or client to sleep? You need Microsoft Sway, a free tool that brings together text, images, video and other interactive elements in a way that will wow your audience.

Sway has been touted as a possible long-term replacement for PowerPoint – it's labelled as part of the Office family – but it's basically just a great storytelling tool for the masses. Everything's handled in a user-friendly way – put together the building blocks of your story, choose how to everything fits together, tweak your presentation settings and then watch as Sway does the hard work of blending everything together in a way that flows naturally and keeps your audience watching. Once complete, you can share your finished stories with selected individuals or make it available to the whole internet.

Duolingo

It's always a good idea to learn a foreign language, but if you missed out at school don't fret. DuoLingo is the perfect, easy to follow tool that will teach you up to 12 European languages of your choice, from heavyweights (French, German, Spanish) to more obscure tongues (Gaelic and Esperanto). It doesn't cost you a penny and there are no ads, because Duolingo's developers translate documents for a living, and the app is set up so you're aiding them as you learn without disrupting your lessons.

DuoLingo divides its lessons into modules, and if you're already semi-proficient you can prove your level by skipping straight to its end-of-module tests until you reach the perfect spot. You're then taught how to read, write and listen through a series of steps for each module, and DuoLingo can be configured to remind you learn at whatever pace suits you. Check out our step-by-step guide for more details.

Fresh Paint

Discover your hidden artist with Fresh Paint - a clever virtual painting app from Microsoft. You're handed a virtual set of pencils, pens, crayons, brushes and paint (both water and oil), and given free rein to draw using your mouse, touchscreen or stylus. You can mix and match colours, make use of an eraser for those inevitable mistakes (this one magically erases paint as well as pencil) and switch between paper and canvas, with six different types of each available.

If the thought of painting on a blank canvas is daunting, don't worry – the app comes with a number of partially coloured sketches, allowing you to paint to a template and hone your nascent skills. You can also import your own images to paint over. Everything is synced with your OneDrive account, and there are a number of add-on packs – some free, but most costing a small fee – that provide with additional templates.

SkyScanner

These days, flying can be a stressful experience, so anything that makes the booking process easier and more intuitive has to be worth a closer look. What we love about SkyScanner is that it's far more than a simple extension of the parent website for comparing prices and booking airfares, it's revolutionises the way you book flights.

If you already know where and when you want to go, then simply input the details and use SkyScanner's tools to compare prices and complete the booking. But if you're more of a free spirit, simply set your home destination and then browse possible destinations, ordered by country and sorted by price. Click one, choose your destination and then browse a handy bar chart revealing when the best prices can be had. Select your dates, review times, airlines and other useful info and then select the deal you want to make before completing your booking. Too easy.

Wunderlist

Wunderlist is a powerful cross-platform task management tool, and the Windows Store app offers the best way to access your plans and projects from your PC. One of Wunderlist's many strengths is its versatility – you can use it to remind yourself of simple tasks like stopping off for groceries on the way home, or manage full-blown projects that require multiple steps that involve different people.

Everything's organised using folders, lists and to-do items, each of which can be assigned a deadline, notes, file attachments and subtasks too. Get others to sign up for their own free Wunderlist accounts, and you can sync projects between all participants, allowing you to assign specific tasks to specific people.

The Windows app puts all this functionality at your fingertips, making it easy to create, update and generally manage your busy life. You'll never have to think for yourself again (or rely on your faulty memory).

Apple's CareKit launches today - these are the four apps that could change healthcare

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After its announcement at the iPhone SE launchMarch, Apple has today launched CareKit, which aims to make it easier for patients to monitor and manage their conditions.

CareKit is an open source software platform, which helps developers create healthcare apps with tracking and sharing capabilities built right in.

Four initial modules make it easy for apps to allow people to track their care plans, record their symptoms, get insight into how treatments are working and share information with doctors, care teams and family members.

CareKit is the latest in a line of new 'frameworks' from Apple that aim to improve the services around the iPhone and iPad ecosystem to increase the amount of use these devices bring.

It follows on from HealthKit, which allows apps to gather health and fitness data, and ResearchKit, which allows participants to take part in studies using their phone,

As CareKit is open source developers are free to build on and improve it, so the four new modules could be just the beginning.

Take app-vantage today

Of the new apps, first up are Glow Nurture and Glow Baby, which are used to keep a health log and track the likes of doctor's appointments and feeds during pregnancy and a baby's first year.

With the help of CareKit they also allow you to send details of your progress and any issues to your doctor or anyone else you might want to share the information with. This is sent (securely) via PDF, so there's no need to go in for an appointment or even call them.

Then there's Start, which helps people monitor depression, including pill reminders, symptoms, goals and progress reports. Thanks to CareKit those reports can be sent on to your doctor, but the integration of CareKit also allows the app to inform patients of the effects their medication should be having, so they have a better idea of whether it's working for them.

Finally, there's One Drop, which is a diabetes tracking app that uses CareKit for tracking everything from pain, hunger and dizziness to glucose levels and then allows users to easily share the information with doctors or other caregivers.

Many of these functions could have been built into an app without CareKit, but CareKit provides a framework, which makes it a lot easier to do.

Other app developers are already working on building in CareKit features, including apps for monitoring chronic conditions and those who've recently undergone surgery. With any luck far more apps will start taking advantage of it soon, allowing people with all kinds of conditions to better monitor, track and share them.

Nokia is also trying to get into the health game

Yahuui Blog

Thursday, April 28, 2016