Best iOS and Android Apps, Spring 2013 Edition – Part II

And we’re back. Yesterday, I wrote about three favorite iOS and Android apps so far this year: Adobe VideoBite, Birdseye Mail, and PaperKarma. Let’s finish my highly subjective and unscientific round-up today with three more favorites.

Springpad

iOS, Android

Free

Evernote is probably the best-known, most popular app/Web-based service for capturing ideas, Web pages, audio clips, and other digital bits and pieces. An entire app ecosystem has evolved around Evernote, and there’s a business edition, too.

Even so, I haven’t warmed to Evernote’s interface, although its recent app upgrade helped. Springpad, on the other hand, had me at hello. A free iOS and Android app and Web-based tool, Springpad has a visually appealing, Pinterest-like interface. The app integrates nicely with Web content, too. For instance, say you want to make a note of a movie you’d like to see. Search for the film’s title, and Springpad will populate your note with info about the movie, including its Rotten Tomatoes score and if it’s available on Netflix.

The recently released Springpad 4.0 makes this already sweet app even sweeter. You can now embed your notebooks on a Web site or blog. Other Springpad users can subscribe to those notebooks, which are automatically updated in their Springpad apps whenever you update your shared notebooks. If you’re not already wedded to Evernote or one of its competitors—or even if you are—check out Springpad.

Tempo

iOS only

Free

This new calendar app, presumably due to high demand upon launch, required some initial patience. Nearly a month passed from the time I downloaded the iOS calendar app Tempo to the time I could actually use it. But it was worth cooling my heels.

Tempo adds useful context to your calendar. If you’ve got a conference call scheduled, and the appointment lists who the other attendees are, Tempo will show you links to related emails and information about the attendees from their social media profiles. Going to an offsite meeting? Tempo will display the location on a map and provide driving directions and parking info. It’s a must-have app for anyone whose calendar is crammed with appointments, and who has too often walked into a meeting wondering, “Who are these people and what do they want from me?”

The Weather Channel

iOS and Android

Free

The Weather Channel updated its free Android app in February with an improved interface, ahead of its iPhone/iPod touch and iPad siblings. Along with the current temp, you get a brief description of conditions and what the temperature actually feels like. Clicking a “+” button display more info, such as sunrise and sunset times; humidity; wind speed; and UV index. I love the new refresh button, which updates the app with the latest weather data.

The Weather Channel’s app is just one of many worthwhile, free weather apps. Its recent updates, however, have made it my favorite.