Apps & services

Tracks parcels from your email automatically and shows updates on the home screen.

Adds the missing ability to shortcut into apps from the iOS lock screen, which helps him act on key notifications.

A growing library of Android home screen setups that tells you exactly what was used to make each one.

The most accessible and fun way to learn chess, getting you playing and then fixing mistakes.

Strips recipes down to what you need, without the ads and life stories, and converts units for you.

A beautifully designed focus app that grows a tree while you stay off distracting apps.

Puts group travel plans, itineraries and research in one place, even if the content is sourced elsewhere.

Mentioned in the cold open as an AI app that colourises old black and white photos.

His favourite phone game by far, loved for its tower-defence strategy.

He shares five handy WhatsApp tricks, calling the home screen chat shortcut probably the coolest one.

Samsung's Good Lock apps give customisation that iPhones can't match.

He calls IFTTT the choice of real tech masters and shares his go-to automations.

A more advanced review checker he found pretty cool, but still not reliable enough to trust fully.

Unclear how it works and unreliable, so he does not trust its ratings.

Calls it probably the biggest iPhone update ever, with contact posters, AirDrop, StandBy and Messages the highlights, though still in beta.

He feels Twitter has got worse, with more ads, bots, paid verification and viewing limits, so it no longer feels like home.

Seen as a highlight reel that is bad for mental health, but a well-run business with every feature built to maximise time spent.

He thinks Facebook is far worse than Instagram, packed with ads, irrelevant suggestions and poor reporting tools.

An early streaming service that he thinks failed largely because its name implied a PlayStation was required.

Likes the idea and finds it a refreshingly honest way to keep up with close friends, but thinks it has one copyable feature and no workable…

A clever idea that solved a real problem, but it never secured rights to the channels and was sued into bankruptcy.

A too-good-to-be-true $9.95 a month movie-a-day deal whose business model was fragile and led to bankruptcy; 9 out of 10 fail.

Its Circles feature was a hassle, and it launched late to a market where Facebook was simpler, making it a 4 out of 10 fail.

The launch version was glitchy, sent people to places that don't exist and stranded motorists in the Australian Outback.