App it up: Top Windows Phone downloads of 2014
With so much attention paid to Apple and Android devices, it's easy for a Windows Phone user to feel left out in the cold.
But just because Microsoft's mobile platform isn't in the spotlight doesn't mean there aren't some stellar new apps to download and play with over the holidays. In fact, there are roughly 350,000 apps now for Windows Phones, and a good number of them are free to download and use.
The following are some of the year's best picks.
• Xim
Half the fun of taking photos is sharing them. Xim is a new app that lets you easily share your memories stored on your Camera Roll, cloud account (Dropbox or OneDrive) and favorite social media service (Facebook, Instagram) with your friends' devices — and you're the only one who needs the app installed. You can take charge, and swipe and pinch through it all, and photos will be in sync automatically with other phones, tablets or even PCs and TVs.
• Here Drive+
Technically a 2013 app but updated significantly over the past year, HERE Drive+ offers turn-by-turn voice-guided navigation in almost 120 countries and 88 languages — and even offline, if you don't want to use up any data (a good chunk of them with spoken street names, too). If you don't need to download the maps you'll benefit from real-time traffic details, accurate arrival times, speed limit info and a feature that helps you find your parked car.
• Fitbit
This official Fitbit app might be late to the party compared to its smartphone brethren, but along with real-time wireless fitness tracking and historical graphs, the Windows Phone version includes support for Cortana — Microsoft's voice-activated personal assistant — for voice-activated food and activity logging (e.g. "Fitbit, I ate a hamburger for dinner"). Along with the ability to pin the Fitbit live tile to your phone's Start screen to glance at your progress throughout the day, this app also includes Fitbit Challenges for up to 10 friends.
Consider Flipboard your own personalized, social magazine. Simply tap topics that matter to you — like news, tech, travel and health — and the app will push updates from top websites and blogs as well as fold in your friend's Facebook and Twitter profiles, including text and photos. Then, simply flip through the app like a glossy, colorful magazine (with video), all tailored to you and you alone. If you like something you read or viewed, share it on the spot with your social network or send it to someone via e-mail.
• PhotoMath
Considered the world's first "camera calculator," simply point the lens of your Windows Phone to a math problem, perhaps on a sheet of paper in front of you, and PhotoMath instantly displays the correct result. But if you remember what your math teacher said, you need to "show your work," and the app can do tha,t too — tap to see the full step-by-step solution. PhotoMath currently supports basic arithmetic, fractions, decimal numbers, linear equations, functions, and more is planned in future updates. Parents, this is an easy way to check your child's homework, too.
• Uber
Despite the company's ongoing PR woes, Uber remains a hot transportation service in more than 40 countries around the globe. Windows Phone users can request a ride using the app; choose the kind of vehicle you want to ride in (taxi or town car?); estimate costs; and see where the driver is on a map and approximate time of arrival. The payment information already on record so you won't need any cash to pay for the ride and tip (an e-mail receipt is automatically sent to you).
• Duolingo
Previously available only for Apple and Android devices, Duolingo is an extraordinary app that makes it easy (and fun) for you to learn another language. Select what you'd like to learn or get better at — be it Spanish, French, German, Portuguese, Italian or English — and then start the interactive lessons on your Windows Phone, beginning with the basics such as nouns like "boy" and "girl"; some pronouns (she, he, we); feminine and masculine nouns (if applicable); and some verbs (like "to eat"). Each set of drills starts with four hearts, but every mistake you make takes one away.
Follow Marc on Twitter: @marc_saltzman. E-mail him at techcomments@usatoday.com.