A train simulator, a new launcher and an exercise in endurance; here are the best apps of the week

By Abhilash Pavuluri App stores are chock full of apps and they’re everywhere, and they’re not all very good. How does one sift through all the junk and find the gems? This weekly series should sort that out for you. Let’s begin: GAME: Indian Train Simulator  How many of you have always wanted to sit at the controls of one of those great big Indian diesel or electric engines? Your wish may just be fulfilled after using this app. Indian Train Simulator delivers what they claim: a realistic, fun, train sim that appeals to the right audience (after all, we’ve one of the world’s largest railway networks!). Realism is where Highbrow Interactive, the development studio, have put in the most work. The locomotives, the cars, the stations are all based on real-world components. They went so far as to have station announcers announce your train’s departure in local languages! There’s also passengers crowding on the platforms and the like. It seems the devs tried their best to depict a typical Indian station! Now, coming to the app itself, it’s not all bells and whistles when it comes to controls (But what’s a train without that glorious air horn?), but the essentials are present. You have two game modes: Play Now and Quick Mode, of which the latter lets you choose your train/station/cars, as well as weather options. Gameplay did, however, lag a bit on low-end devices, but players with higher-end devices might not be impacted. The app is relatively new, which makes it rather limited in train and station selection, but we’re hoping the devs will improve upon this soon. Indian Train Simulator is available on Android and iOS UTILITY: Drupe  It can be a bit of a hassle for many users to say, call someone in an emergency. Even going to the phone’s contacts and then dialing that number consumes more time than needed. Or maybe you just want all your contacts, the dialer and a notifications bar in one place. In which case, Drupe has you covered. Drupe is a priority list, speed dialer, and phonebook all in one. Once installed, the app can be accessed from anywhere in the phone by a simple swipe from wherever the widget is placed, even when another app is running. You have your most dialed contacts and phonebook, the dialer, and a messaging/social media in an app bar. You can shuffle your contacts or modify them according to priority simply by dragging/dropping the contacts above or below each other. The contacts work in tandem with the social media bar; you can drag a contact to one of the app icons and the widget opens up the respective app with the contact. This is especially useful if you need to message someone in an instant on WhatsApp for example. While I have no problem manually going through my contacts and spending more time, Drupe is for those in a rush or those who just like the added convenience. Drupe is available on Android PHOTOGRAPHY: EyeEm  EyeEm is not your everyday photography app. It aims to be an image editor, image sharing platform and community, all in one place. The app requires a Facebook/Google log-in, or a new account with EyeEm. Once logged in, the diverse options immediately become apparent. But let’s talk about the image editor first. It’s pretty straightforward, having all the usual editing options in a neat format. Then there are the Instagram-style filters which are organized in various collections like “Urban” or “Soft.” Once edited, you have the option of saving the image and also uploading it to various social platforms, as well as their own community. As mentioned earlier, this is nothing out of the ordinary. What makes the app special is the community and marketplace. There’s an EyeEm community which posts photography-related articles or features some of the community’s best photographers. Then there’s also a marketplace which allows users to sell their photos and keep 50% of the commission earned. The app really strives to be as community-oriented as possible, which is a boon for photographers who need their work to be seen and critiqued by the community itself. It’s a nice move on the part of EyeEm. However, I did feel on a few occasions that they were really pushing users to join the marketplace to sell photos. Apart from this, the app is a solid photography app. EyeEm is available on Android and iOS PRODUCTIVITY: Forest  Forest is a rather intuitive app that makes you do the thing you fear most: stay away from your phone. The goal is to increase productivity while at work or simply to keep yourself away from the phone and focus on other aspects of the day. It’s a small download with a brilliant idea: you are given a virtual “seed”, and once you plant the seed and start the clock, the plant slowly grows into a tree. Failing to accomplish your task or stopping the timer will “kill” the seed, and you’ll have to start from scratch again. You’re even reminded to put your phone down once the plant starts growing so you won’t feel the need to access it again and again. If you don’t keep your phone down, the app will keep reminding you to do so. Once grown, the tree serves as a reminder that you could accomplish your work within the given time. There’s some customization; you can select the type of tree you want, the amount of time you need to work and so on. Once completed, you can share the achievement with your friends. You can also have an eventual “forest” of achievements. I personally felt that this app was perfect for keeping me away from the phone. After all, who’d want to kill a living thing, even if it’s virtual? Forest is available on Android and iOS PERSONALIZATION: C Launcher  For those of you who want a stock-looking yet chic Android launcher, look no further than C Launcher. It’s a lightweight app that offers loads of customization options, themes, and widgets. The C Launcher team mentions that there are thousands of themes and wallpapers to choose from. More than the home-screen is changed once the Launcher is installed; you also get to customize the iPhone-style lock screen, the notifications, you have the ability to hide apps, and so on. There’s a whole bevy of options to play with. The themes, however, aren’t really that different and are more of a cosmetic change to the launcher itself. Still, you have the option. The launcher isn’t all that different from a vanilla Android launcher, but it’s the subtle differences that count. Text is sleeker, icons are more rounded and the apps by default are grouped according to category the first time you open the launcher, much like the stock Google Now launcher. Those who want access to a wide range of themes and wallpapers that gets updated regularly as well as some powerful customization features will appreciate C Launcher C Launcher is available on Android