Just when we’d thought there was an app for everything, along comes another that makes us wonder why it wasn’t created sooner. So which are the newest and hottest apps The Practice team has been fascinated by recently? 

First up, there’s Beme, a video app that reminds users to look up from their phones, in order to fully engage with the world around. Created by filmmaker and influential social media personality, Casey Neistat, the premise is on social experience, and, as the founder states, creating “a digital version of who we are as people.” He goes on to say, in Beme’s trailer video, that we currently see the world through our phones, and so whatever we share to social media is not our true selves, but a version instead. To solve this, the app allows you to maintain eye contact with the subject you wish to capture- (a person, building, sunset etc,) by holding your phone to your chest. The app then automatically records what you want, and posts it. Our phone’s proximity sensor acts as the record button, but the one thing many social media fans won’t like, is the fact that after this step, you can’t review, preview or edit your content before posting. Users can view the videos of those they follow though, which, like with Snapchat, then vanish after being played.

Video streaming is arguably the hottest category for new apps this week, with Meerkat kicking off the trend, shortly followed by the immensely successful Periscope. And now, Blab, a video chat app, is the latest of this kind to garner our attention. Blab has been dubbed the Periscope for friends, allowing groups of four friends to connect and chat together, while watched by an audience. Like Periscope, the audience can leave their comments as the chat goes on, and even chime in, taking the place of any of the four participants, after approval from the blab chat administrator. When the chat ends, the administrator can also choose to just finish the conversation, or record it so others can access it at a later date. The unique social aspect of being able to chat with strangers certainly makes Blab stand out, and it will be interesting to see if fans of Persicope and Meerkat continue to take to it.

Another to hit our radar this past week is Kaboom, an app that takes the “embarrassing” out of social media. The app will forever delete any social media posts you don’t want others to see after a certain amount of time, such as an hour, day, or when it’s achieved a specific number of views. It is compatible with Facebook and Twitter, as well as text messages and WhatsApp, therefore covering all likely bases! We also like the sound of this app, since it’s a useful way of preventing too much online information gathering up, especially now data is all too readily available by anyone and everyone.

Which apps have you been using lately? Have there been any outstanding new releases for you this year? We’d love to hear your thoughts, so please tweet to us @PracticeDigital and share your comments on our Facebook page.