The 11 best new iPhone and Android apps you might have missed recently

Overcast is the best app for listening to podcasts, and thanks to a big new update, it’s all free. This means you can get access to “smart speed,” which takes away pauses to speed up the podcast, voice boost, and downloading on the cellular network.

Price: Free (iOS)

YouTube Red is YouTube’s new ad-free subscription video service, a Netflix competitor that will start rolling out original content next year. You’ll have to pay a little extra if you want the iPhone version though.

Price: $12.99 iOS/$9.99 Android (Free Trial)

Slash is the best iPhone keyboard out today, and its killer feature is taking the pain out of jumping between your apps. Slash’s innovation comes in the form of a blue forward slash that sits at the bottom of the keyboard. That slash is a magic button that can instantly give you access to a slew of app-based search engines baked into the keyboard itself.

Price: Free (iOS)

1Blocker is the smartest iOS ad blocker out there, and helps you customize exactly what you want to block. You can block trackers, Twitter or Facebook widgets, custom web fonts, even Disqus comment and “adult” sites. And you can, of course, whitelist sites — if for instance you want to allow ads on a site that relies on them for revenue. Blocking ads is free, but if you want to block multiple things, you'll have to pay $2.99.

Price: Free (iOS)

Instasnoop creates an alternative universe for you to safely snoop around people’s Instagram without accidentally liking their photos, and without having to follow them. It also gives you the ability to “pinch to zoom.”

Price: Free (iOS)

Afterpulse is a third-person shooter that continues to blur the line between mobile and console game graphics. If you're a fan of games like "Call of Duty" and "Gears of War," you'll love Afterpulse's fast pace and online multiplayer matches. The game also works on Apple TV, so if you prefer to game with a physical controler instead of touch-screen controls, you can use one of Apple's certified Bluetooth controllers for a slight upper hand.

Price: Free (iOS)

Additional reporting by Lisa Eadicicco and Steven Tweedie.

Boomerang is a new app from Instagram that lets you quickly and easily create a 1-second video that loops together 5 burst photos, playing them back and then immediately reversing the sequence for a "Boomerang" effect. The app automatically saves the 1-second GIFs as a video on your camera roll.

Price: Free (iOS, Android)

Called It! is an app lets you post a prediction about anything, getting it on the record so you can gloat later to your friends when you're right. You can also vote on other people’s calls to weigh in on whether they are inspired or inconceivable

Price: Free (iOS)

Tweetbot 4 is the best Twitter iPhone app for power users. It lets you easily monitor all the stats on your individual tweets, and your account in general, and it cuts out all the ads you would have seen in your timeline.

Price: $4.99 (iOS)

Google Keep is a bit like Google's version of Evernote, and it’s now available on both iOS and Android. You can use the app to take notes, jot down to-do lists, set reminders, and record audio. And one of its main charms is the ability to organize your notes with colored labels.

Price: Free (iOS, Android)