Our top 5 Android and iOS apps of the week

Every week we try to bring you the best possible apps that are not data traps or microtransaction nests. In addition to the editors finds, we also add the apps found by the NextPit community and shared on our forum.

From mobile games to productivity apps, here are the five free and paid Android/iOS apps from NextPit this week. We publish this selection every week, you can also check the Top 5 apps of last week.

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Forks Plant-Based Recipes (Android)

Do you eat nothing but vegetables in your daily diet? Or are you simply tired of having nothing but all kinds of meat, and would like to spruce up your daily meals with more green stuff which would be the envy of Popeye? Forks Plant-Based Recipes is an essential recipe app from the makers of the critically-acclaimed film Forks Over Knives. 

In this app, you can discover more than 600 hearty and decadent meals from over 50 leading chefs, where the one-time payment of $4.99 will also garner you newly added recipes every single week without any additional cost!

This surely beats any kind of food magazine subscription and you not only save the planet while eating more vegetables but also lessen your carbon footprint by not receiving printed matter in the mailbox! Each recipe inside fits the whole-food, plant-based lifestyle that a growing number of health professionals have acknowledged is able to help stave off and even reverse chronic ailments like heart disease and type 2 diabetes.

• Price: $4.99 / Advertising: None / In-app purchases: None / Account: Not required

• Download Forks Plant-Based Recipes from the Google Play Store.

Monefy Pro—Budget Manager (Android)

Manage your finances well, and you will have peace of mind. It does not matter how much you have at the moment, if you are a good manager of your money, life will be much more organized and pleasant. Here is an app that helps you manage your budget and watch where each dollar goes. This financial organizer and finance tracker works simply—each time you make a purchase or pay a bill, just record the expense.

It takes a single click, so there is nothing else to do apart from keying in the amount. What used to be a chore is now a whole lot easier. Data can be safely synchronized into your own Google Drive or Dropbox account for easy access.

Passcode protection ensures your personal information and data remains secure, and there is also the ability to keep track of multiple accounts. When you want to add or subtract figures, forget about launching the calculator app on your phone since Monefy Pro comes with its very own integrated calculator!

• Price: $2.49 / Advertising: None / In-app purchases: None / Account: Not required

• Download Monefy Pro from the Google Play Store.

Blinkist (Android, iOS)

We are all very busy people, and time is always a premium commodity. However, there is always the need to constantly improve ourselves, and one of the best ways of doing so is by reading. What if you could simply extract the power points from different books instead? Even better, why not let an app do it for you?

Blinkist does exactly that by letting you read or listen to key insights from 5,000 bestselling non-fiction books and podcasts in just a matter of minutes! There is a free 7-day trial to get you started, where you can listed to audio versions on the go, read and highlight key ideas instantly across 27 different categories.

Even better is the inclusion of an offline mode that lets you enjoy your favorite book insights sans Wi-Fi. It has integration with both Kindle and Evernote, providing that extra edge for power users. 

• Price: Free (7-day trial) / Advertising: None / In-app purchases: Yes ($0.99 to $199.99 per item) / Account: Required

• Download Blinkist from the Google Play Store and the Apple App Store.

Focus Quest (Android)

Talk about irony—using an app to beat phone addiction! Focus Quest is a productivity RPG gamification that also claims to help you manage ADHD, improve work productivity, self-control, and concentration level. In short, this sounds like a miracle app.

Students might find themselves short on concentration in completing their assignments, and Focus Quest hopes to help through the gamification process as your hero is trained, and you will also be able to craft more powerful gear as you level up over hundreds of stages, saving the world from monsters rampaging through Focusland.

The app is also used as meditation gamification along with ADHD treatment. The developer is currently working on a pomodoro timer which aims to provide work productivity a boost, improve concentration, and treat ADHD to boot.

• Price: Free / Advertising: Yes / In-app purchases: Yes ($0.99 to $99.99 per item) / Account: Required

• Download Focus Quest from the Google Play Store.

Dead Cells (Android & iOS)

Many of us think that death is the end, but in Dead Cells, it isn't. In fact, death is just the beginning. You play the role of a failed alchemical experiment who goes around exploring the sprawling, ever-changing castle in order to discover just what kind of dastardly events happened on this gloomy-looking island! What is a game without any battles? Fight your way through the island's keepers as you dive deeper into the mysteries it holds.

This roguevania action platformer from Motion Twin that will require you to master frantic 2D combat with a wide variety of weapons and skills against intelligent AI that intends to thwart you at every turn.

I found it to be simply fun and smooth to play. I would highly recommend playing it with a physical controller instead of relying on touchscreen controls alone. There is still nothing quite like haptic feedback when gaming. Just like any other game worth it's salt, there are always patterns to the enemies, so learning them will go a long way in keeping you alive. Of course, you will most probably have to die many times first before you get better.

Got to love the non-linear progression of this game that is a breath of fresh air from most of the current crop of games that lead you by the nose from start to finish. 

• Price: $5.99 / Advertising: No / In-app purchases: Yes ($3.99 per item) / Account: Not required.

• Download Dead Cells from the Google Play Store or the Apple App Store.

What do you think of our selection of this week dedicated to the summer? Did you find any other interesting apps or games on the Google Play Store or Apple App Store?