Apps (2018)

Streaks (£4.99)

Streaks is a nifty to-do list for forming good habits and worrying less about bad ones. Unlike traditional to-do managers and calendars, which often conflate what you have to do with what you want to, Streaks helps you prioritise tasks that could actually improve your wellbeing – whether its brushing your teeth, reading for 10 minutes, or wolfing down a healthy meal. The main thing working in Streaks’ favour is how it efficiently isolates habit forming into a dedicated app by combining a friendly interface with graphs for those people who remain unconvinced they’ve achieved something unless it comes with a wiggly line attached. Ultimately then, Streaks is an intelligent app with a noble mission, and that’s something we can all get behind. (Available on iOS)

The runners-up

Obscura 2 (£4.99)

Echoing real-world cameras, Obscura 2 bases interaction around a thumbable control wheel. Tactile and approachable, the app is ideal if you hanker after manual precision when capturing snaps on your iPhone. (Available on iOS)

AudioKit Synth One (£free)

There are plenty of great iPad synths, but Synth One stands out in being a hugely ambitious, free, open source project. Most importantly, it sounds great, whether you’re stabbing keys or twiddling knobs. (Available on iPad)

Retrospecs (£1.99)

The original Retrospecs appealed in transforming any pic into something from a retro computer or console. 2018’s revamp added video smarts, and the ability to fashion visually arresting animated glitches. (Available on iOS)

BFT – Bear Focus Timer (£0.99)

Spend too much time gawping at your phone rather than focusing on your work? BFT only triggers its Pomodoro timer when your phone’s face down. Cheat and the bear growls at you. (Available on iOS and Android)