Our top 5 Android and iOS apps of the week

From mobile games to productivity apps, here are five free and paid Android/iOS apps from NextPit this week. We publish this pick every week, and you can also see the top 5 apps from the previous week.

CapCut (iOS and Android)

We live in a world where video conveys more information than plain text or a simple photo. The move from text and image-based social media to video shorts is pretty obvious, prompting the camera to be one of the main selling points of any new smartphone. Having a good camera isn’t enough – you also need a compatible video editing tool to go along with your recorded video. CapCut happens to be the official free video editor and video maker for TikTok that is not only versatile but also easy to use.

First, you get all the basic features like video editing, text, stickers, filters, colors and music. CapCut also offers free advanced features such as keyframe animation, smooth slow-motion effects, chroma key, Picture-in-Picture (PIP) and stabilization so you can produce professional-looking videos on the go. Take your social media game to the next level with CapCut, where you can create popular videos with special features like trending styles, captions, text-to-speech, motion tracking, and background removal.

Copyright laws are still in place if you don’t want to rely on embedded music clips and sound effects, so you may want to be more strict about the type of music you upload. Best of all, it’s easy to share your finished work with a variety of custom video export resolutions. The HD video editor is degree future proof as it supports 4K 60fps export and Smart HDR.

• Price: Free (iOS and Android) / Notice: nothing else / In-App Purchases: nothing else / Account: Not required (but recommended)

Hermit (Android)

Do you feel your smartphone is a bit slow? Maybe there are some features you can disable to make your handset run faster, or you’ve tried all the tips and tricks just to get a slightly faster experience. Here’s one more way to do it – by downloading and installing the Hermit app. This app takes up zero space on your handset and tries to do simple work on top of existing Android apps. This makes it perfect for phones with low storage capacity.

Hermit ensures that these apps don’t run in the background, and this goes a long way in saving your device’s battery life. In fact, there are scripts that allow you to run your own custom extension scripts. You can also breathe easy when you’re browsing through supported apps or websites that serve a lot of ads – thanks to a content blocker that blocks ads, malware, misinformation and targeted propaganda. In fact, you can only choose what you want to block.

Better than traditional browsers, each simple app opens in its own fixed window without launching a new browser tab. Each Simple app will have its own settings, permissions, themes, and icons saved for future reference. A sandbox like this makes it easy to keep your web browsing in separate containers. We talked about Hermit half a decade ago, and we’re glad it’s still alive.

• Price: free / Notice: yes / In-App Purchases: yes / Account: Not required (but recommended)

Glitch Lab (Android)

Do you want to bring some interesting photos in your photo gallery? Take a regular photo and use Glitch Lab to turn it into an arresting work of art. Sporting a simple and clean interface that pays homage to the Material Design style featured in Android 12, all it takes to apply effects to your photos and images is a few taps. There is a wide range of effects that include simple filters and complex distortions. To spice things up even more, you can apply multiple effects at once. Best of all, all the effects are available for free, but you have to live with banner ads – I don’t care what I can do in return.

Most of the effects are applied and adjusted by sliding the image horizontally or vertically. There’s also no limit to the number of saves you can make, and you don’t have to worry about resolution degradation because everything is saved in original quality. There are no signs or other restrictions to narrow down your style, so you don’t have to panic behind a paywall.

Paranoid Androids (heh!) can sleep easy knowing that this app relies on the latest Android APIs that let you interact with files and the camera without requiring permission.

• Price: free / advertisement : yes / In-App Purchases: no / Account: It is not mandatory

Journal (Android)

Journally is a tool to help you record your daily activities. Sounds as familiar as any journaling app, right? Maybe, but it tries to bring together the functions of a journal, diary, mood tracker, goal setter, task manager, budget and expense tracker, and note taking. Security is further enhanced with a passcode lock to protect all your entries. The data is stored locally on the device for added security, not in the cloud.

There is a downside to this – that is if you lose your device. Therefore, it is highly recommended that one use the Backup to Excel function and transfer the Excel file to another location based on your needs. Each journal entry is easily accessible by year/thumbnail/calendar view navigation, and there’s even a year-by-year feature to remind you of what happened during the year.

The ads aren’t that intrusive IMHO, and I can live with them. For those who feel they want a truly clean interface without ads, you can pay for monthly or yearly fees of $0.49 and $5.49 respectively. Doing so will allow you to access all features, remove ads, and unlock the ability to export to PDF to boot.

• Price: free / advertisement : yes / In-App Purchases: yes / Account: It is not mandatory

BeReal (iOS and Android)

I think there is one thing that the fantasy world has lost over the years – the ability to be real and honest with each other. We all hide behind avatars and enhanced photos, so our online persona can become disconnected from reality. BeReal is an app that aims to break that boundary, a simple photo sharing app that allows you to share something from your daily life with a photo once a day.

The key word here is “one notification per day”, at a different time each day you and your group of friends will take a photo within a 2 minute time limit. The unique BeReal camera is designed to take both a selfie and a face photo at the same time. Woe to you when you shower in the bathroom, that’s definitely a slippery slope to be involved in, isn’t it? You can also comment on your friend’s BeReal and chat with all their friends as well as leave emojis as replies. Similarly, interaction works both ways.

BeReal doesn’t require you to be glued to your smartphone all day and offers no filter to create a ‘fake’ representation and pushes the limits of your creativity. It certainly won’t make you famous, but it’s definitely something close friends and family members can all get involved with.

• PriceFree (iOS and Android) / advertisement: no / In-app purchases: no / Account: It is not mandatory

There you have it – our top 5 apps of the week. It’s a very interesting mix, don’t you think? If you have something to criticize or want to share your own thoughts, leave a comment below this article!