Top 5 Apps of the Week: Volunteering, K-Pop Academy, and More!

Does your heart break seeing turtles die from mistaking plastic for food? Clean Swell helps you fight ocean trash. ElevenLabs reads text aloud with AI. Ouros offers a calming Zen puzzle, and K-Pop Academy lets you manage your own K-Pop idols. Finally, Homeless Resources connects people in need with local services.

Our editors handpicked and reviewed these apps and games, ensuring they're free from ads and microtransactions for a smooth experience. Looking for more? Check out our biweekly article featuring the best free apps—you won’t want to miss these hidden gems.

Ouros (Android & iOS)

Gaming can be stress-free if you find the right type of game. However, many titles these days tend to result in sweaty palms and a higher respiratory rate due to the nature of the game.

Ouros takes a different route, a far more relaxing one. Basically, this game requires you to draw the orbit of a ball to cross all the numbers on the screen in the right order. There is a soothing background tune throughout the entire game, and each time the ball crosses the right path, there will be a slight chime that adds to the overall atmosphere.

This mathematical-based puzzle game will certainly keep you entertained for hours on end without causing any stress. I love how the lines can be pulled, pushed, and even loop or cross over itself to arrive at a solution. While the mechanics are simple enough to grasp, mastering the title could prove to be a challenge. There are over 120 puzzles to keep yourself entertained with overall, which makes it good value for money.  

• Price: $2.99 / Advertising: None / In-app purchases: None / Account required: None

I found each new level provides just the right amount of progressive challenge. I do hope that there will be future updates that will include more levels. It would be nice if there was a separate feature to listen to the soundtrack.

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

K-Pop Academy (Android & iOS)

You can take a stab at my age when I tell you that I grew up during the age of manufactured boy bands. New Kids on the Block was my first exposure, which soon migrated to Backstreet Boys, Westlife, and N-Sync. Of course, while they churned out tunes you can bop your head to with ease, deep down inside, I knew these were specially 'manufactured' pop stars.

Fast-forward a few decades, and the world of K-Pop has taken the globe by storm. K-Pop has entered mainstream pop culture, which is amazing for a totally different language.

Now what happens when you oversee creating or manufacturing a K-Pop group? This is what this game is all about. Create your own idols, where each of them have their own personality and style. I believe it is all procedurally generated, ensuring each playthrough is always different for endless replayability. You can build homes for these K-Pop idols, cook for them, go through the hard work of rehearsing routines, and ultimately, have them perform.  

• Price: Free / Advertising: None / In-app purchases: Yes ($0.99-$9.99) / Account required: No

Of course, it would be nicer to have an open-wall concept where we can see all that goes on in the life of the K-Pop idol. But I guess there are some boundaries that even we as managers need to adhere to, right?

• Download K-Pop Academy from the Google Play Store and Apple App Store.

ElevenLabs Reader: AI Audio (Android & iOS)

AI continues to grow and mature, and it certainly changes the way we use our smartphones and its plethora of apps. ElevenLabs Reader is unique since it has the capability of reading different types of text-based file formats. In other words, you can 'enjoy' an audiobook from any supported document.

It sure beats scrolling through long walls of text while you're stuck in a traffic jam or commuting to/from work, as it reads everything out for you. Use this app to make short work of lengthy PDFs, which is something I believe those in academia will appreciate.

Since everyone loves the power of choice, ElevenLabs Reader boasts different AI voices to choose from. I found it strange that you can even pick a deceased celebrity as part of the makeup. Do note that no matter how powerful an AI is at the moment, it is still unable to truly mimic the nuance of a human's voice. This might sound strange to those new to AI reading, especially if you have long been addicted to podcasts hosted by humans.

• Price: Free / Advertising: Ye / In-app purchases: None / Account required: Yes

The app is currently free for download at the moment, with plans in the pipeline to introduce a premium version down the road. I do not know what the developer will include in the premium version when that happens, but based on the basic version right now, it is pretty decent for anyone who wants AI to read through mountains of text. There are 32 languages to choose from.

Do note that I did run into some issues when uploading certain texts and had to restart the process. Perhaps it is due to teething issues at the moment that will hopefully be fixed in the future. 

• Download ElevenLabs Reader: AI Audio from the Google Play Store and Apple App Store.

Homeless Resources - Shelter App (Android & iOS)

In any city, there will be homeless. The situation is not going to get any easier or less crowded, with more and more people flocking to cities in the coming decades. In fact, rural-to-urban migration is one of the major causes of cities experiencing explosive growth.

This is primarily due to economic opportunities, but with that, the highly competitive nature of cities often means there will be 'casualties' along the way. While various NGOs are available to help these homeless, it is often an impossible task. Enter Homeless Resources.

This app might be useful as a neighborhood project or even if you are part of a group of people who want to help the homeless out but do not know where to start. It contains a repository of contacts for you to connect homeless and low-income families to different and relevant services.

Among them include Youth Drop-in Centers, Homeless & Run Away Youth Shelters, LGBT Advocacy and Support Groups, After School Programs, Crisis or Hot lines, Food Banks, Soup Kitchens, and more.  

• Price: Free / Advertising: None / In-app purchases: None / Account required: No

The user interface is pretty sparse, and I would have liked to see some photos of the places listed. Having photos make it all look more believable, although I am quite sure these locations have been vetted before being listed.

Do note that you can always call these places if you are not too sure. If the app is properly updated with the latest data (such as available number of beds, etc.), then it would surely go a long way in helping make the world a better place.

• Download Homeless Resources - Shelter App from the Google Play Store and the Apple App Store.

Clean Swell (Android & iOS)

They say two-thirds of the earth is covered with water. However, it is rather sad that we do not care enough for our oceans, lakes, and rivers. Water pollution is a huge issue, simply because we have only one earth and having clean water is crucial to our survival.

With Clean Swell, you can create different cleaning projects in your area and keep count of how much trash you have actually collected. After all, something that is measurable is always easier to track its progress.

I love how the user interface is clean and simple. There are various categories of trash that you can tag as collected, from the regular grocery bag (plastic) to other types of plastic bags, beverage bottles (glass and plastic), aluminum cans, beverage sachets, bottle caps (plastic and metal), cigarette butts), paper cups and plates, plastic and foam cutlery, and the like.

• Price: Free / Advertising: None / In-app purchases: None / Account required: Yes

It also includes illegally dumped items like appliances, construction materials, and tires! There is also a nice summary at the end of it for you to measure your progress. Nothing quite like a collective effort that ends up giving you an enjoyable, warm glow in your heart! 

• Download Clean Swell from the Google Play Store and the Apple App Store.

That's all we have for this week! We hope these apps and games are right up your alley for the weekend and beyond. Enjoy them and tune in next week for yet another five apps and games!