DISCOVER
Best new appsPokemon Home
Pokémon Home is designed to make it
just a bit easier to catch it all. It allows
you to sync up your collections between
the two Pokemon games on Switch, as
well as the various 3DS titles, and it
makes for easier trading... theoretically,
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functionality that is missing from
Pokémon Sword/Shield. It’s got a global
trade system that lets you put your
creatures up for trade, or you can take
advantage of a few random trade
options. Of course, because this is a
Pokémon product, there’s all sorts of
weird restrictions in place. There are
multiple overlapping apps and
subscriptions that all need to be used
together to transfer Pokémon – on the
3DS you need Pokémon Bank, then you
need a $25 subscription on your Switch,
but then the mobile app is where trading
happens. It’s more convoluted than it
should be, but if you’re still playing
Pokémon on the regular and want to
build up your Pokedex, it’s basically an
essential download.
LucidPix
LucidPix is the kind of app that speaks
to one’s underlying expectation that
modern technology can do just about
anything these days. Can your phone
take a perfect 3D photo, like a little
diorama of whatever you point it at?
No, as it turns out – you can make a
little photo that will bend a bit and blur
at the edges, but that’s it. LucidPix is a
novelty app, one that encourages you
to cover up the edges of your photos
with cartoony pictures that will
hopefully cover up how much blur
there is when you tilt them. Photos
won’t take properly if you don’t stand
very still after taking the photo, or if
any element in the shot is moving a lot.
Even the example shots on the app’s
front page are missing details or have
weird negative spaces. It’s a neat idea,
and to be honest it’s pretty cool that it
even comes anywhere near close to
working, but LucidPix isn’t there yet.Barre Workouts – Dog Down
As the name suggests, Barre Workouts- Dog Down (a yoga app) is fairly
barebones. This is, ultimately, to the
app’s advantage, as it’s the sort of yoga
app that just about anyone who can do
the exercises can work into their life.
When you enter the app, you make a
few basic choices – which part of your
body to focus on in this session, how
long you want to go for, what kind of
music you want to work out to (if you’re
not just playing your own), and how
long you want each activity to go for.
The app will then generate a video for
you based on these stipulations, and
while there must be some smart cuts at
work here, it’s pretty seamless. All you
need is a chair and an appropriate
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not the most in-depth workout app, so
don’t go in expecting fantastic life
advice or advanced techniques from
Dog Down, but it’s excellent as a smart,
casual workout app.
Best new apps
James O’Connor reviews the most interesting new apps for iOS and Android.
Free
iOS, Android
home.pokemon.comFree
iOS, Android
http://www.lucidpix.comFree
iOS, Android
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