App Weekly: Had a tough day? This is a special list of apps that will help you wind down and relax

This is a special list of apps that will help you wind down and relax. Had a tough day at work, a bad date, or ran out of cheese? Check out some of these apps to remind yourself of what is truly important in life and the fact that you can always go buy more cheese. Sleep as Android Sleep as Android monitors the sleep you get and reminds you when it’s time to hit the hay. Our constant exposure to screens till the time our eyes drop shut can be harmful as it does not allow the brain to wind down and rest properly. Thus, you could wake up after a good night’s sleep and still feel tired. Sleep as Android lets you turn your phone, something that inhibits sleep, into a facilitator instead. The bar-graph enthusiast will be pleased with the sleep tracking. The app can also wake you up at the time your sleep cycle is ending in the morning for a more pleasant start to the day. The premium version of the app is for just Rs 30.

Atmosphere: Relaxing Sounds [caption id=“attachment_4121085” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  Atmosphere: Relaxing Sounds[/caption] Atmosphere is your soundboard for nature. In place of beats and cymbal clashes, this one lets you mix the sounds of birds, flowing rivers and thunder. If you are bored with white noise apps but would like a soft cocoon of sound for when you want to calm yourself, this app is for you. Be your own DJ (and thankfully, not the EDM kind) and mix sounds from 9 different environments. You can blend the warm crackle of a campfire with the hooting of an owl and air bubbles from under the sea. Sound Wave This minimalist app does just one thing: measure the sounds around you and visualize them as a wave. Though you wouldn’t have expected it, this app has a high entertainment value (and not much else). Experiment with the pitch of your voice. Shriek in your best bat impression or take a shot at impersonating Don Corleone. Watch the patterns that appear in your voice, or the steady hum of the AC or even the traffic outside. Sound Wave will engage you if you use just a little imagination and retain a sense of childlike wonder. Stress Baal Stress Baal is a cute little devil made to be tortured by you. As the game repeatedly assures us, he has committed enough crimes to justify the punishment you’re going to give him now. Baal is an animated red monster with a personality. You can throw him around the screen, or poke at him until he gets frustrated. Thankfully, he is confined to the digital walls of your phone’s screen and cannot take revenge for everything you will make him go through. There are no goals or achievements, as those are what got you so stressed in the first place.

Portra The world went through a collective Prisma phase to the point where an offbeat, artsy style became mainstream. Not as many people have hooked on to Portra, so you still have the advantage of novelty. Portra converts your photographs into beautiful watercolours and charcoal sketches. There are a bunch of watercolour styles as well as frames to create the perfect masterpiece of your selfie. Portra is can make an ordinary picture look like it is the product of a tortured artist whose creative process may have included cutting off his ear or inhaling lead.

Enki: Learn Better Code, Everyday Now that you have rid yourself of stress, it is time to be productive again. Enki is a beautiful app designed to make you learn the art and science of coding. It has course content for Javascript, Python, CSS, HTML, git, Linux and Java. Enki’s ingenious method of instruction involves mini-games, daily tracking and interactive exercises. If you want to learn how to code or want to brush up on your skills, Enki is a useful addition to your phone.  Green the Planet 2 Stressed about global warming? You need this adorable game about restoring greenery on a planet somewhere in outer space. Green the Planet 2 is a clicker with a real, defined goal; the game ends when your planet is entirely green. There is a shooter element which requires you to shoot down some asteroids in order to provide nutrients to your plants. Green the Planet 2 also comes with a set of cute pixelated characters who are as motivated about the environment as you.

Mini Ini Mo Mini Ini Mo is about cooperation and the amazing things we can achieve together. Mini Ini Mo are the names of three creatures who believe in collaboration. Each of them has a different ability and the player is supposed to use them in sync to cross each level. They can even be combined in different formations to solve unique puzzles. The graphics are detailed and speak of the effort that must have gone into them.

Jazz Smash Play this Fruit Ninja style game to bash away the blues. Jazz Smash is a simple game about destroying things with a baseball art. That it is done to tune of jazz or rock gives it a certain finesse that ordinary baseball-smashing action doesn’t quite have. The objects that fly at you from all sides range from the helmet of a space suit to rubber duckies and flowerpots. You can unlock even more objects from this bizarre collection of items and create music of questionable merit by hitting them.