Best Windows apps this week

One-hundred and forty-nine in a series. Welcome to this week's overview of the best apps and games released for Windows 8.x/10 in the past seven days.

No best app of the week this time, even though several good games and apps were released.

This week was particularly good if you like to watch TV, cartoons or Anime as free apps were released for that.

As always, if I missed an app or game that has been released this week that you believe is particularly good, let me know in the comments below or notify me via email instead.

Discounts This Week

Red Stripe Deals are back. Microsoft added them to the new Windows 10 Store. You find them listed under Collections when you open the store.

The popular mail application MetroMail is currently available free of charge.

Best app of the week

None this week

Other apps

CBS

cbs

The new CBS application has been designed specifically for Windows 10. Only CBS All Access subscribers may watch most of the shows.

Episodes marked as free are the exception to the rule as they can be watched without subscription. These free shows are still geographically restricted and thus limited.

Apart from offering access to pre-recorded shows, live TV access is granted as well for CBS All Access subscribers.

Bricks Crash 2 ($0.99, free trial available)

bricks

The game looks like another Arkanoid or Breakout clone on first glance. While it shares similarities with those games, mainly that you need to clear all bricks from the board, how you do it is completely different.

You fire colored balls from the bottom of the screen that will remove same-colored bricks. There are also power bricks that have an extra effect when you hit them such as exploding and taking adjacent bricks with them.

Smart RSS Reader

rss

This is a free RSS reader for Windows 10 that features notifications and live tiles.

You can only add individual feeds to the app as it does not support opml files.

Feeds are displayed with titles, images and text by the app. There is no option to change the display, for instance to text lists to show more articles at the same time in the interface.

All items are displayed in the feed reader and not the actual site. Smart RSS Reader renders the full site for that in its interface.

CSI: Slots

csi

CSI: Slots is a new Gameloft game that combines CSI adventures with Casino slot gaming.

All you do in the game is to spin the reels to find or analyze evidence, or interrogate suspects.

In the very first interrogation sequence for instance, you are tasked with getting as many handcuffs as possible.

All handcuffs that come up after you spin the slot machine will count towards the interrogation progress.

Spinning costs money which you earn by leveling up or getting combinations on the slot machine.

Ring Video Doorbell

ring

You need a Ring Video Doorbell to use the app of the same name. The app allows you to monitor what is going on in front of your door regardless of where you are.

The system uses Wi-Fi and besides providing a clear view of who is standing in front of your door enables you to chat on top of that.

Sherlock Holmes Adventure (full) ($2.99, free trial available)

sherlock

If you like find-in-picture style games then you will enjoy Sherlock Holmes Adventure as it delivers that plus a couple of extra features that you may like.

Explore all the rooms of an abandoned hospital by leveling up, unlocking new rooms and finding all items in a room before the time runs out.

Visuals are nice but game controls are somewhat all over the place.

Racing One ($0.99, free trial available)

racing

Racing One brings you Formula One news, stats, standings, information and schedules.

It enables you to check out upcoming races, standings, and provides you with access to a live text feed which you can use to follow races if you cannot watch them on TV.

Some features listed in the interface, driver and team information for instance, are not yet available but listed as "coming soon".

Considering that there are not many Formula 1 apps out there for Windows, fans may want to check it out.

Panda Commander Air Combat

panda

Panda Commander Air Combat is a great looking shoot'em up game that features power ups, upgrades, bosses and more to keep you entertained for a long time.

The game is free and uses ads as well as in-game purchases for monetization.

You earn stars while playing the game which you invest in ship upgrades or power ups. It does take a considerable amount of time to earn enough stars for the upgrades though.

Boss battles at the end of each level are challenging, but the game itself is not fast paced or a bullet-hell game like Ikaruga or DoDonPachi Resurrection.

Cartoon HD Stream and Anime HD Stream

anime

The free versions of these apps -- the paid editions do away with advertisements -- offer access to thousands of cartoon and Anime in HD quality.

To name a few shows that the app offers: on the cartoon side, you get The Simpsons, Family Guy, SpongeBob or Sesame Street, while you find One Piece, Hunter x Hunter, Naruto Shippuuden or Sword Art Online featured in the Anime application.

Quality-wise, both apps let you choose between 360p and 720p. Please note that most Anime come with subtitles and/or dubs.

Notable updates

The Tinder client Timber was updated and is now optimized for Windows 10. It features a redesigned UI, dark theme option, better performance and improved background notifications among other things.

The Weather Channel application was updated for Windows 10 introducing new weather alerts and an interactive map feature.

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