It’s been a while since our last app round up, but since there’s been a recent explosion of great new ones, we thought we’d share our favourites.

 1. Hatchli

As a creative agency, we love the idea that there’s a new app for designers to submit and review each other’s work. In a similar manner to Tinder, Hatchli offers just that, enabling users to swipe left or right in response to new products, designs and ideas. Available to iOS users, the app was launched on an “Invite-only” basis on the 26^th July, which is useful for initially attracting industry figures who can likely offer more specialised knowledge.

In the past we’ve shared our love for Product Hunt, the leading platform for discovering everything from design and developer tools, to start ups and smart home tech products. The channel is now so successful that it has attracted the likes of Matt Navarra, Social Media Director of The Next Web, and KissMetrics founder Hiten Shah, who have hosted live-chats with users. There’s also a Shop section for purchasing the platform’s curated items, from one of a kind design pieces, to innovative tech objects. If Hatchli can gain traction, we see it heading in the same way, and perhaps being even more successful thanks to its more “social” nature. We see the app being especially popular with start-ups, who can get a feel for the potential popularity of their business ideas before committing, or with established companies interested in market research for new products.

 2. Canva

In terms of other new design apps, we’re loving Canva, a mobile platform for creating anything from photo overlays to multi-page presentations. There are various templates, filters and text types to choose from, and the easy swipe functions enable users to quickly create small projects. It’s been extremely helpful for helping us to test out our design ideas on the go, or getting started on branding for our slideshows.

3. Polaroid Swing

Aside from our trusted photo apps such as VSCO and Afterlight, there are occasional great ones that crop up from time to time. This past month, we’ve been loving Polaroid Swing, a Boomerang-style app combining Polaroid and Instagram-esque filters. Anything which brings a nostalgic and animated feel to our iPhone snaps is note-worthy in our opinion!

4. PokeMatch

Since the Pokemon GO craze swept the world, it was only a matter of time before the dating app market caught on. It makes sense that an app which gets people outside and interacting with the world around them, would naturally attract developers interested in capitalising on mobile dating. Within just three days, PokeMatch was launched, offering users a Tinder-style app letting users swipe right for other users they wish to “catch”. Those using the app must also have the Pokemon GO app installed, meaning there’s a least one guaranteed common interested between users! In the four days following its release, the app revealed it had generated 10,000 matches throughout 15 countries.

 5. PokeVision

But if that wasn’t enough, developers have been figuring out which other Pokemon trends to latch onto. This has resulted in one of the most successful apps launched- PokeVision, which helps Pokemon users catch figures, by showing them their exact locations on a map. A user’s dream, the service attracted 16 million visitors to the site in the first week!

Have you been using any of above? Which apps are you enjoying recently? We’d love to hear your thoughts, so please tweet to us @PracticeDigital and share your comments on our Facebook page.