Top 5 apps of the week: Summer edition for hot days
Of course, the summer heat doesn't stop us from looking for the best apps of the week for you! So if you are reading this article on a smartphone with iOS or Android, you can try out the apps directly. In keeping with the high summer in our territories of Germany, France and the USA, we've chosen summery apps—or at least twisted the description to fit the theme!
In most areas where NextPit is read, temperatures currently exceed 30 degrees. So even on this hot Saturday, we're publishing our 5 Apps of the Week—and there are two conclusions to be drawn from that. Either you are reading this article by the pool or in the blazing sun. Or you are hiding from the heat in a cool basement.
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Of course, the heat also has an impact on our selection—we've looked for apps that will give you a little distraction or be helpful in the summertime. You might also want to read my tip on making your own improv air conditioner if you need a little distraction. As always, we've made sure our apps aren't cost traps!
Yescapa—the AirBnB for campers
The best thing you can do in this weather? Drive away and take a vacation! For that, I've picked out Yescapa for you, which is in a way an AirBnB clone for caravans and motorhomes. So you rent vehicles, in which you can sleep, from private individuals, while they do not need them themselves. Included are private individuals and professional rentals.
The app is clearly structured, is based on your location and shows the total costs for your rental period. Conversely, if you have a motorhome to rent out yourself, you can also do so via the app. For our communities, I looked at several locations—there's a great selection in Europe. Contrary, in the US the selection is still very limited, but who knows—you'll be able to change that yourself if you own a motorhome.
- Price: free / Ads: no / In-app purchases: no / Account: not required
Cocktail Flow—so you drink enough 🥸
When the weather is warm, you should drink a lot—they teach you that in school! Since that doesn't necessarily mean water, I've picked out the most popular cocktail app in the AppStore for you. Cocktail Flow includes more cocktails than a bachelor party in Berlin could drink and, of course, also contains numerous non-alcoholic drinks.
After a design update, the app looks really fantastic, and you can even specify which ingredients you still have at home. Then the app shows you which cocktails can be mixed from them. Of course, one more note: If you do decide to go with the alcoholic cocktails, be extra careful with the heat. Stay responsible and tell me your favorite cocktail in the comments!
- Price: free / Advertising: no / In-app purchases: no / Account: optional
Be my Eyes—help others through the summer
Personally, I'm not particularly bothered by the heat in recent days. After all, I am comparatively young, have no physical impairments and have access to cooling down or shade at all times. Of course, not everyone feels that way, and you can help a certain group with this app.
Because Be My Eyes is a network that people with visual impairments can use to get help in many situations. With just a few taps, a blind person can call you to ask questions via the cell phone camera. An expired milk is mentioned as an example, whose best-before date you could read out via the camera.
In hot weather, many ways to help people with visual impairments in public become a problem. After all, who wants to grope over metal surfaces in this weather or suddenly find themselves lost in a square without shade? With Be My Eyes you can help a little bit here.
- Price: free / Advertising: no / In-app purchases: no / Account: yes
Komoot—Hiking with a goal
If you like to use your smartphone for outdoor activities, you surely already know Komoot. Personally, I like to use Komoot's route directory via my browser and then download the routes as PDFs to my phone. However, the Komoot app in conjunction with a subscription really offers many advantages that help you when hiking.
Basically, Komoot is a hiking app with a community for hiking routes, mountain bike trails and other outdoor routes. In Berlin—for example—I was able to discover exciting routes from other Berliners, which lead me past sights that perhaps not everyone knows.
In the States, the first hiking route is free, which lets you unlock just one region but you will have to pay $3.99 each to unlock additional regions. You can also unlock “bundle regions” for $8.99. But if you have already looked in the supermarket for travel guides, the costs will be somewhat in proportion. If you hike regularly, Komoot is one of the best hiking apps on the market.
- Price: free / Advertising: no / In-app purchases: yes / Account: yes
Stumble Guys
Last but not least, a mobile game: Stumble Guys is available for Android and iOS—and is a pretty direct clone of the popular Fall Guys. Here you have to run through a parkour with many other players and can only jump, lunge forward and change direction. The gameplay is very simple, but the whole concept is very addictive.
I managed to be the first player to get through one of the 15 or so levels on my second try. After that, only 16 players made it to the next one, thinning out the field of players even further. Whoever is left at the end is the winner and until then you have to survive many nasty traps. Really fun and playable without annoying ads. However, you can get designs and costumes via in-app purchases.
- Price: free / Advertising: yes / In-app purchases: yes / Account: no
Good choice or just junk in your eyes? Let me know in the comments!
