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superguide » 2-in-1 apps & games<br />
Xodo PDF Reader<br />
and Editor<br />
Star Chart<br />
Windows 10 apps that give a much<br />
better experience. FeedLab (free,<br />
with in app purchases) is one of our<br />
favourite news aggregators, which can<br />
be set to grab the news you want from<br />
your favourite sites, and allows you to<br />
customise layout, size and even colour<br />
themes for your tastes and device.<br />
Flipboard (free, flipboard.com) is<br />
another similar app, but with more<br />
of a magazine feel and social media<br />
integration. For research, try Wikio<br />
(free, goo.gl/o9GqTO), which gives<br />
streamlined access to Wikipedia that<br />
suits touchscreen use.<br />
XODO PDF READER AND EDITOR<br />
www.xodo.com<br />
2-in-1 devices have made PDFs into a<br />
much more versatile, editable,<br />
collaborative format. Xodo is free,<br />
designed for touch use, and is a fast<br />
and easy way to view PDFs. But it also<br />
allows you to edit and interact through<br />
touch — both with fingers and a stylus.<br />
You can zoom, search, highlight, jot<br />
down notes, circle important info,<br />
make bookmarks, crop pages, create<br />
new PDFs and more. You can even<br />
collaborate with others on the same<br />
file. Xodo also allows you to digitally<br />
sign documents, and has a solid built-in<br />
file manager.<br />
STAR CHART<br />
www.escapistgames.com<br />
Touchscreens are great, but 2-in-1<br />
devices also have other tablet like<br />
hardware, such as cameras, GPS,<br />
accelerometers and magnetometers.<br />
Taking advantage of that is the<br />
augmented reality app Star Chart<br />
(free, with paid upgrades), which<br />
creates a virtual window into the<br />
universe. Simply point your device up<br />
at the sky and the app will orientate<br />
itself, and help explain what you are<br />
seeing. From identifying planets and<br />
stars, to tracking satellites and the<br />
International Space Station, it makes<br />
astronomy fun. You can also get close<br />
up looks at faraway planets.<br />
SOCIAL MEDIA APPS<br />
For those who love to stay connected, using social media sites through a browser<br />
can be a mixed bag. Compared to the smartphone app versions, sites such as<br />
Facebook can be very clunky to use by touch. A better option for 2-in-1s are<br />
the dedicated Windows 10 apps with proper touchscreen support — though there<br />
are still a few caveats. Like on mobile, Facebook annoyingly splits Messenger<br />
into a separate app. The Win 10 Twitter app is quite good, but those who like to<br />
use Instagram will be disappointed by the simplified official option. Instead,<br />
check out InstaPic (free, goo.gl/BI7H7o), which has a lot more depth, though a less<br />
touch friendly UI (but still better than a browser).<br />
BROWSER UPGRADES<br />
Unlike mobiles and actual tablets,<br />
accessing the internet on 2-in-1<br />
devices can be frustrating, as the<br />
browsers are not really well<br />
optimised for touch use. Microsoft’s<br />
Edge is fairly well laid out, with large<br />
icons, support for gestures and a<br />
simplified Reader mode. We still<br />
prefer Google’s Chrome, though,<br />
which supports gestures, but doesn’t<br />
have a particularly easy UI for touch.<br />
On the plus side, Chrome extensions<br />
can add some functionality. A good<br />
place to start is Virtual Keyboard,<br />
by xonTAB (www.xontab.com), which<br />
automatically pops up when a text<br />
input is detected, then closes<br />
afterwards, like the keyboard<br />
on your smartphone.<br />
54 www.apcmag.com
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