With iOS 11 recently released, a lot of excellent new apps, and updates to old apps have been made available. The standard app packs have been enhanced, using the new format of the App Store. Unreliable security apps have been culled, leaving only the trustworthy VPNs (make sure to get a BBC iPlayer VPN if you’ll primarily use it for streaming).
But the biggest advancements have come from the ARKit Apple made available to developers. Augmented reality is now becoming ubiquitous, with apps far surpassing the level of Pokémon Go or Snapchat’s dancing hotdog.
There are some excellent AR apps available right now, and you should give them a try if you haven’t already. These are 4 of my favourite.
- SketchAR
Have you always wanted to learn to draw? Are you unsure whether you’ve got the talent? SketchAR will help you find the artist inside you. It uses augmented reality to project an image onto a blank page, which you can then use as a guideline for your own drawing. You can improve your skills, learning to keep a steady hand and mastering the fundamentals of a sketch. If you’re more ambitious, you can use the sketch as a starting point for a greater piece of artwork.
SketchAR has a range of images of its own for you to practice, but you can also use a photo from your library which will be converted into a sketch. Drawing a family member or friend can be a lot of fun, especially when you start giving them your own added features!
- Night Sky
For those who love looking up at the stars, Night Sky is the perfect personal planetarium. Simply by holding your phone up at the sky, the app will immediately identify stars, planets, constellations, and even satellites. With premium features, you can project the Solar System into your own home or classroom. This is both a fun tool if you have always wanted to explore space, as well as an excellent teaching companion.
- AR MeasureKit
Probably the most useful of the bunch, AR MeasureKit gives you a range of measuring tools, including a ruler, trajectory, marker pin, and level. Whether you want to determine the size of a room, or make sure the paintings on the wall are straight, AR MeasureKit saves you from having to do the legwork yourself (or carry around physical tools). You can even use it to measure your height, or the diameter of your pizza.
- GIPHY World
Finally, GIPHY World is not particularly useful or necessary, but it is a whole lot of fun. Project GIFs onto your world and share it with friends.
GIPHY actually demonstrates how useful its app has the potential to be, with a demonstration of how leaving virtual stickers around the house can help a babysitter make sense of your instructions. That’s probably more effort than it’s worth, but at least it’s a fun way to get this done.
