Bob Dylan Bootlegs, Device 6, Microsoft Remote Desktop, Oyster, Room on the Broom Games, Hop, 50 years of the National Theatre and more
It's time for our weekly roundup of brand new and notable apps for iPhone, iPod touch and iPad devices.
It covers apps and games, with the prices referring to the initial download: so (Free) may mean (Freemium) in some cases. There's a separate roundup for Android apps, which was published earlier in the day.
For now, read on for this week's iOS selection (and when you've finished, check out previous Best iPhone and iPad apps posts).
*Bob Dylan Bootlegs (Free)*
Bob Dylan is back, Back, BACK! with his latest compilation of bootlegs: this time focusing on recordings between 1969 and 1971. There's an official app for this one too, promising video interviews, interactive lyrics, photo galleries and more content related to the rare songs.
*iPhone / iPad*
*Device 6 (£2.49)*
With previous games like Year Walk and Beat Sneak Bandit, Simogo is one of the most talented and intriguing developers making iOS games in 2013. Device 6 is the latest reminder: part book, part game, it's an inventive, engrossing example of interactive narrative that sticks with you long after you've put your device down.
*iPhone / iPad*
*Microsoft Remote Desktop (Free)*
This is a remote-desktop app from Microsoft for logging in to your Windows computer from an Android device. It's getting generally positive reviews so far, with room to improve in updates over the coming months.
*iPhone / iPad*
*Oyster (Free)*
Already available for iPhone, Oyster is now on iPad – and it's nothing to do with London tube trains. Instead, it's a subscription-based e-books community, where you pay $9.95 a month for unlimited access to its catalogue of more than 100,000 digital books. Social features are built in too, to help you see what friends are reading, and provide recommendations for what to read next.
*iPad*
*Room on the Broom Games (£2.99)*
This fun children's app is based on the Room on the Broom book by Julia Donaldson of Gruffalo fame. It's not a story, mind: it's eight mini-games with the book's Witch, Cat, Dog, Bird and Frog characters. It's full of character, thanks partly to the wonderful illustrations from the book by Axel Scheffler.
*iPhone / iPad*
*Hop (Free)*
This was going to be called Ping before a run-in with a golfing firm. Hop is an attempt to make email a bit more like instant messaging, with added document and photo sharing, as well as voice and video calls. It's early days to tell whether it'll make a dent in the tyranny of many people's inboxes, but it has potential.
*iPhone*
*50 years of the National Theatre (Free)*
One for theatregoers, this, produced to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the National Theatre here in the UK. It's divided between 50 "seminal" productions from that history, with an interactive timeline of posters, photographs, video interviews and archive recordings, among other content.
*iPad*
*Lonely Planet Fast Talk Phrasebook (Free)*
Here's a useful tool for travellers from Lonely Planet: an app to quickly find useful phrases and their translations in five languages: French, German, Italian, Latin American Spanish and European Spanish, with the packs sold as £1.99 in-app purchases for £1.99 each.
*iPhone*
*Marvel Creativity Studio (Free)*
In theory, this app is for children. In practice, there are plenty of parents who'll love it too. It's based on Marvel's universe of heroes and villains, teaching kids how to draw the Avengers, Spider-Man, Hulk and co, while also offering digital colouring scenes and animated stickers.
*iPad*
*HMV Music (Free)*
British retailer HMV may have sailed close to the grave last year, but it's still going – with a new app to prove it. The emphasis is on downloads rather than Spotify-style streaming: you can browse and buy its catalogue of MP3s, then download them to your phone. Features include the ability to scan album covers or identify music playing in the real world.
*iPhone*
*Seene (Free)*
This is something for the early adopters out there: an app for taking "shareable 3D photos" that can be moved around. You take them by moving round an object (or person) while taking the pic, then share the results to Twitter, Facebook and Tumblr, as well as with other Seene users.
*iPhone*
*Batman: Arkham Origins (Free)*
More superheroes, but here in a more grown-up game for fans of Batman. It's a fight-fest where you brawl your way through a series of battles with foes, unlocking new batsuits as you go, and upgrading Batman's skills.
*iPhone / iPad*
*Rogets II: The New Thesaurus (£2.49)*
No fighting here: this is all about the words (phrases, terms, lexicon etc) in the latest app from the Roget's Thesaurus team. It's the entire content of the latest book, with powerful search features, and the ability to create your own flashcards, or post to Twitter and Evernote.
*iPhone / iPad*
*Dragon Shapes: Geometry Challenge (Free)*
The App Store is flooded with children's apps, but the high-quality ones still stand out. Dragon Shapes is one of those: a collection of geometric puzzles for 6-10 year-olds designed to develop their problem-solving skills. 50 are available divided into four difficulty levels: the first level is free with the download, but a single £1.99 purchase unlocks the rest.
*iPhone / iPad*
*CSR Classics (Free)*
The original CSR Racing was one of the first attempts at a free-to-play racing game on iOS, and it did very well. This follow-up offers similar gameplay: drag racing, with upgrading handled by a mixture of grinding and in-app purchases. This time, the focus is classic cars though, with Audi, Ford, Pontiac and other manufacturers all represented.
*iPhone / iPad*
*Help for Heroes : Hero Bears (£1.99)*
Hero Bears is a fun endless-runner game where you guide the titular animal over tyres, under fences and over barrels and trenches, but that's not all there is to it. The game is raising money for British armed-forces charity Help for Heroes, so £1 of every purchase will go to the charity.
*iPhone / iPad*
*Runtastic Six Pack (Free)*
Fitness startup Runtastic's latest app has a single goal: to help you get a six-pack (of abs, not beer, sadly) through a series of video workouts. There are more than 50 animated videos included here, with a choice of male or female virtual trainers, and a 10-week plan to steel up your stomach.
*iPhone / iPad*
*New Statesman Magazine (Free)*
Politics and culture magazine the New Statesman is the latest publication to hit Apple's Newsstand, with this app. It offers weekly issues for £2.99 a pop, as well as monthly and annual subscriptions.
*iPhone / iPad*
*Thingiverse (Free)*
If you're new to Thingiverse, it's a community of people sharing 3D-printable "things" run by MakerBot, which makes 3D printers. This is its new mobile app for browsing the weird and wonderful stuff that MakerBot users have been printing, with features to share your own (if you have one).
*iPhone*
*F1 Challenge (£1.99)*
Finally, one more game – this one from Codemasters, its latest official Formula One simulation. It's comprehensive too: a mixture of full races and shorter challenges, with real teams and drivers from the F1 world, and some very impressive graphics.
*iPhone / iPad*
That's this week's selection, but what do you think? Make your own recommendations, or give your views on the apps above, by posting a comment.
Reported by guardian.co.uk 42 minutes ago.