The 10 Hottest Apps Right Now
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Coffee Meets Bagel
Coffee Meets Bagel has been around for a couple years, but it was recently updated with a new interface and in-app chat capabilities.
It presents you with one potential date at noon every day. The matches aren't random — potential mates are friends of friends — and then you like or pass the person. If the person likes you back, you score some chat time in a private chatroom.
The company recently received $2.8 million in funding.
Price: Free
Availability: iOS
Monkey Parking
Finding an affordable place to live in San Francisco might be hard, but finding a parking spot might arguably be worse.
That's where Monkey Parking comes in. You can bid on spots that are going to open up where you want to park. And, you can put your parking spot up for auction and watch as the bids start coming in.
Currently the app is only available in San Francisco and Rome (as in Italy — the app's founders are Italian), but it's possible that if it catches on, it'll roll out to other cities.
Price: Free
Availability: iOS
Lookout
Lookout just updated its security app to give you a play-by-play while thieves are stealing your phone.
It's created "triggers" to alert you when something bad is happening to your phone, like the SIM card is being taken out or a password is being entered incorrectly several times. If a trigger happens, you'll automatically get an email alert saying what's been detected, a photo from the front-facing camera, and the device's last-known location.
Phone theft is big business — some people are even willing to shell out as much as $500 to get their phones back, and California is in the middle of trying to pass a "phone kill switch" bill — so taking some type of proactive security measures to keep your phone safe is a good bet.
Price: Free to download; Lookout Premium is $2.99 per month or $29.99 per year (you need to be a subscriber to get the "trigger" features)
Swarm
Foursquare recently announced that it was breaking its location-based check-in app into two. One app, which would house all check-ins and questions about which friends are nearby, would be called Swarm. The legacy app would only house its Yelp-like "Explore" feature and be dedicated to finding venues.
Swarm is pretty basic, letting you stalk your friends for impromptu meetups. Here's a walkthrough on how to use it.
Price: Free
Make it Rain: Love of Money
If you're sick of "Flappy Bird," but want something that's just as mind-numbing, try "Make it Rain: Love of Money."
Gameplay is ridiculously simple: you swipe dollar bills as fast as you can to earn money. You can also make business, financial, and political investments with the cash you swipe. That earns you money, even when you're not busy making it rain like you're in a music video.
The pointless game has racked up $50,000 a day from in-app purchases for developer Space Inch.
Price: Free, but in-app purchases might set you back a couple dollars.
Start
The best part about an Android phone is that you can install a lock screen or launcher to really make your phone your own. And one of the best of the bunch is called Start.
It's a sleek, clean Android launcher that adds extra features and shortcuts to the lock screen.
Price: Free
Availability: Android
Blek
"Blek" is a simple, attractive game that asks users to draw a line through colored circles while avoiding black holes. The game has 60 levels, which each display a minimalistic, beautiful design and invite creativity.
Blek has been at the top of the charts for the last month.
Price: $2.99 (it's on sale right now for $0.99)
Availability: iOS
Yik Yak
Yik Yak is an app that allows anyone to post anything without attaching themselves to a username (you don't even need a password to log in). The timeline of Yik Yak looks like Twitter or Reddit without photos or handles.
It's also extremely localized; anyone within 1.5 miles of a message can read it.
But be warned: the app has been spreading around high school campuses like wildfire. And it's wreaking havoc, leaving students and even teachers crying in its wake.
Price: Free
TwoDots
"Dots" is a game that hit a million downloads within a week of launching. And now the beloved game has a sequel, called "TwoDots."
The original "Dots" was easy and addicting: you connected dots and tried to clear as many of them from the board in the allotted time. Unlike the original, "TwoDots" takes you on an adventure with two main characters, Amelia and Jacques. It's up to you to help them navigate through 85 levels. It has the same feel as "Candy Crush."
Price: Free (there are in-app purchases)
Availibility: iOS | Android version coming later this year.
Sick of looking at your phone? Want to build a palace?
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