Discover the 5 best new apps for your smartphone

This top 5 is not like our selections of free applications that we offer you twice a week. Here, we install the applications on our own smartphones and test them. We check if there are not too many in-app purchases, ads and if the applications respect your personal data more or less.

We try to select useful applications, whether for productivity, personalization of your interface or digital well-being. And, our top 5 always includes at least one mobile game. Applications can be free or paid, with or without a subscription. But, it will always be indicated!

We take issues related to in-app purchases and advertisements seriously. This is why we mention them in the descriptions of the affected applications.

Tokyo Debunker (Android and iOS)

This game follows in the footsteps of a husbando type anime, where the location of interest is Darkwick Academy. This is no ordinary school, as the students are a very special group who have exchanged their souls with the devil in exchange for a special wish. As the protagonist, you will work with them, traveling around the Tokyo metropolis in order to solve supernatural cases.

The graphics are simply incredible and breathtakingly beautiful. I can’t fault the gameplay either, although there is a major downside if you’re looking for a game that doesn’t drain your pockets with seemingly endless in-app purchases. It gets tiring and irritating after a while, but if you can stand it, there are plenty of things to do in the game to keep you busy.

• Price: Free / Advertising: No / In-app purchases: Yes / Account required: No

Lona: Realm of Colors (Android and iOS)

Do you like mindless games that don’t require mental work, but allow you to pass the time? If so, give Lona: Realm of Colors a chance. It’s a point-and-click adventure that takes a path less traveled, focusing on the art, which is different since there’s less dialogue and puzzles to solve. Pay attention to the narrative if you want to progress.

Each level is part of Lona’s story, and it’s up to you to find a way to end this story. The game mechanics are interesting in the sense that each level has two sides: the chaotic side represented by Mrs. Schmidt the cat and the dark side represented by Mr. Ruppel the crow.

Feel free to switch between worlds at any time to try to restore balance in a given situation. In total, there are 14 unique scenes drawn from Lona’s memory, with two sides to each painting. It’s a strangely relaxing game that doesn’t rush you to finish it. Take your time to complete it, as I did with my progress.

• Price: €0.99 / Advertising: No / In-app purchases: No / Account required: No

Diarium (Android and iOS)

Diarium is a functional and feature-rich digital journal that brings all your memories together in one place. In case, like me, procrastination lurks, the app reminds you, in a rather irritating way, to write down your thoughts.

What I love about Diarium is that there are no ads or subscriptions. You’ll also be able to choose to attach photos, videos, files, audio recordings, reviews, and even locations to each entry. It’s always nice to reminisce about old memories from time to time, and it’s definitely therapeutic for me from time to time, because I appreciate what I have.

Although it doesn’t have a stunning user interface, it’s a breeze to include photos and other attachments with each entry. The next time my wife says to me, “Remember that time we were in Hong Kong…”, I can quickly do a search and respond, “Oh yeah, where you wore those faded Uniqlo jeans and these nice little top.”

• Price: Free / Advertising: No / In-app purchases: Yes (€9.99/annual) / Account required: No

Prosper (Android and iOS)

Presented as a time management and task organization tool, I decided not to wait until New Year’s Eve 2024 to turn the page. Why not start now? Hopefully this will help me meet my writing deadlines better and that’s what Prosper is for.

The presentation is excellent and easy to understand. I like that the tasks are more individualized, which gives me a lot of flexibility to change my schedule. The ability to assign different colors and emojis makes everything more cheerful and less serious. All you have to do is enter a task, the necessary time, and voila!

Prosper works best if you’ve upgraded it to a Prime account. However, it’s still functional at a very basic level so you can determine whether it’s worth shelling out the money to access more features. If so, I highly recommend going for the lifetime subscription if you plan to use it for more than three years.

• Price: Free / Advertising: No / In-app purchases: Yes (€1.99/month, €9.99/year, €29.99/lifetime) / Account required: No (but recommended)

Focus Go (Android)

Focus Go is a unique, simple and easy to use photo gallery. Since there aren’t many features, the developer decided to take the simple and zen route by including only the features that most users need.

In this context, the galleries are designed as a huge canvas that presents your favorite visual subjects in chronological order, going from newest to oldest to make it easier to recall your memories. Once you select a photo from the gallery, it displays as it should without any difficulty.

There are options that allow you to render photos in HDR and display thumbnails in higher quality, which will put more strain on your smartphone’s processor and could cause performance degradation.

• Price: Free / Advertising: No / In-app purchases: No / Account required: No

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What do you think of the list of applications presented this week? Did you like any of our recommendations? Is there another app you’re dying to share with the rest of the world? Don’t hesitate to let us know in the comments!