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Download these 5 hot new apps for iOS and Android

Bored with your apps and looking for something new? We’ve dug through Google Play, iTunes, and others app stores to find the best, saving you time. Here are the apps we think you need to check out this week.

Badland 2

badland 2
Image used with permission by copyright holder

The sequel to the popular and award-winning sidescrolling action-adventure game is finally here, albeit only on iOS. Badland 2 more or less feels the same as its predecessor, tasking players with floating through the map, avoiding obstacles and surviving until you reach the end. What’s different in the second iteration, though, is that instead of only going one right, you can now move in both directions. It still features only a single-player campaign, but there are global challenges, so you can complete against friends through leaderboards. It’s a little pricey, costing you $5.

ITunes

Recommended Videos

Storehouse

Storehouse
Image used with permission by copyright holder

The popular storytelling app has finally come to Android. Storehouse lets you upload photos, video, and text to make a personalized story about anything. The neat part is that you can embed your story on blogs or share it with your friends and family. You can also browse through other user stories. The features are pretty much identical to what you will find on the iOS version, so there’s no disparity.

Google Play

iTunes

Bumble

Bumble
Image used with permission by copyright holder

Bumble is a dating app brought to you by Whitney Wolfe, one of the co-founders of Tinder, and its primary focus is on making women the initiator. It works pretty similar to Tinder in that it only connects people who have swiped right on each others profiles. What’s different is that the woman must start the conversation within 24 hours before the connection is gone, and for same-sex connections, either person can start the conversation.

Google Play

iTunes

Tronko

tronko
Image used with permission by copyright holder

Need a movie recommendation? Your friends know you best, so why not ask them? That’s what Tronko is all about. It’s a messaging app built around your friends recommending and discussing movies with each other. You can start group messaging threads or have a conversation with one person. The app grabs its data using the TMDb API, and lets you rate movies on a scale of 1 to 10.

iTunes

Google Play

Elie

elie
Image used with permission by copyright holder

Selfie takers won’t have to rely on the front-facing camera anymore. Everyone knows the rear camera offers a higher quality photograph, and Elie is an app that lets you point the rear-camera and takes selfies without you having to do anything. It recognizes your face and takes multiple pictures, but only stores the one you choose. It offers a variety of other features as well, such as adding effects while taking a picture, not after. The app will cost you $3.

iTunes

Julian Chokkattu
Former Digital Trends Contributor
Julian is the mobile and wearables editor at Digital Trends, covering smartphones, fitness trackers, smartwatches, and more…
iPad Pro with next-gen M5 silicon could arrive later this year
Magic Keyboard and iPad Pro.

It seems tablets are increasingly becoming the unofficial launch testbed for Apple’s next-gen silicon. The 2024 iPad Pro marked the debut of Apple’s M4 chip, ahead of its appearance inside the Mac hardware.
Carrying forward the torch, the next iPad Pro refresh could be “one of the first devices” to get a M5 series processor. According to Bloomberg, the next-gen iPad Pro has progressed into the advanced stages of internal testing. Moreover, it is expected to hit the shelves later this year, likely in the Fall season.
Apple gave the M4 series refresh to the Mac lineup, including the MacBook Air, Pro, and Studio models, earlier this year. The M4 Pro and M4 Max processors were only introduced late last year, so it seems increasingly plausible that the baseline M5 would arrive later this year, followed by its Pro, Max, or Ultra variants.
Given the “freshness” status of the current Mac hardware, the upcoming iPad Pro seems like the first candidate to get a taste of the next-gen M5 processor. “The new versions of that model, code-named J817, J818, J820 and J821, are in late testing within Apple and on track for production in the second half of this year,” adds the report.
What to expect from M5 iPad Pro?

Starting with the design , Apple is not expected to make any notable changes, given the company’s history. The iPad Pro got a major design overhaul in 2024, embracing a super-sleek look, one fewer camera, and a new keyboard accessory to go with it.
As far as the silicon goes, the M5 series will reportedly be based on the 3nm process and built atop ARM’s next-gen CPU architecture. In addition to the 2025 iPad Pro, Apple is also expected to launch new MacBook Pro models later this year, armed with an M5-tier processor.

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iPhone now lets you make WhatsApp your default for messages and calls, here’s how
WhatsApp.

iPhone users can now get setup so that WhatsApp is their default messaging and calling app.

If your iPhone is updated to iOS 18.2 then the functionality is already available for you right now.

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CarPlay in iOS 18.4: four key feature upgrades explained
CarPlay shown in March 2025.

Apple rarely updates CarPlay, but several changes are expected in the upcoming iOS 18.4 update. There’s truly something for everyone in the update.

Let’s begin with the fun news. In iOS 18.4, CarPlay will be integrating sports app functionality. This enhancement will enable drivers to view live sports scores and information on the road. Since this feature is available through an API, any sports app developer can implement it. Apple’s official Sports app will likely be the first, although that hasn't been confirmed.

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