Mac: Sometimes an app doesn't have to do a lot to be incredibly useful. And that's exactly why I like Simple Recorder. As its name implies, it allows you to turn your Mac into a miniature sound-recording machine, whether you're looking to capture the noise blasting out of your speakers or the sounds of wherever it is you happen to be using your laptop (or desktop, I suppose).

Android: There are plenty of people who don't need bells and whistles when an easy-to-understand, well-designed app will do. And that's my impression of Google's new Podcasts app - teased for some time and finally made available for download as of yesterday.

Windows: I'm sitting in Las Vegas as I type this, and little makes you want to launch yourself off the face of the Earth faster than running into a group of loud, yelling bros looking for that next sweet bar where they can fill up on Coors Light.

Chrome: The same open-source software company that wants to keep covert cryptocurrency mining out of your browser also wants to keep "fake news" from enriching your life. Or, at the very least, Eyeo wants to show you whether your favourite news sites are full of FUD and bias.

Mac: It makes us sad that Apple has basically abandoned the App Store on macOS. Just take a look at the experience you get on your smartphone or tablet compared to the one you get on your laptop - it's night and day. That's OK, though; we're more than happy to provide recommendations for amazing macOS apps even if Apple doesn't want to do it itself.

Mac: Just because we love symbolic links on Windows so much - thanks, Steam Mover - we're going to show you a handy macOS app that lets you set up symbolic links on Apple's operating system as well.

I got my nails done a few weeks ago, and it felt great, but I highly recommend trying Wanna Nails (iOS, Android) before you head into the salon so you aren't fumbling around with colour choices. And if you're more a DIY person for nail maintenance, you can avoid purchasing a colour you end up hating. Let the powers of augmented reality help you preview different colours on your nails with the tap of a finger.

Mac: Widgets? Old and busted. Filling your Notification Center full of apps and services? The more stuffed it gets, the less useful it is. At least, I don't like having to scroll up and down through pages' worth of items if I need a quick glance at my most meaningful data.

Windows: Most computer geeks know about WinDirStat, an incredibly useful utility that shows which folders and files are taking up so much room on your drive. It's a must-have app, because you'll be surprised - heck, I've been surprised - how many times you might find some random, triple-buried folder on your desktop that's using an unseemly amount of space.

iOS: For Apple enthusiasts, game developer Zach Gage is practically a household name. Not only does Apple love to feature the indie developer - and his games - on the App Store, but he's won Apple's Palme d'Or of apps, a coveted Design Award, as well as numerous other industry recognitions for his fun creations. You might know a few by name: Ridiculous Fishing, Sage Solitaire, Spelltower and the ever-frustrating Really Bad Chess. Or perhaps you've seen his latest creation: Pocket-Run Pool.

Mac: Of all the days to (finally) launch a version of its app for macOS, Houseparty picked yesterday - the start of Apple's Worldwide Developers Conference - to make a big (themed) splash onto Apple desktops and laptops. And while Apple's announcement of FaceTime group hangouts probably took a little wind out of Houseparty's sails, the app is still makes it incredibly easy to chat with a bunch of your friends at once.

Windows: There are a million little apps that feature some combination of the words "Wi-Fi" and "analysis", or something really close to either. Some apps are paid; some are free. And they all allow you see different combinations of information about your wireless setup (and the wireless setups of those around you).

iOS/Android: Philips has released a major update to its Hue app that actually makes it worth using. And I'm not being over the top when I say that; prior to this update, the Hue app was a mess. It felt like it took forever to load; the user interface was challenging, to put it nicely; and it made me set off on a hunt for the best third-party apps I could use to control my fancy Hue lights without the headache and stress of the official Hue app.

Windows: Here's the problem: The HEIF image format, which Apple now uses in iOS 11 in the form of HEIC files, is a great alternative to JPEG. HEIC images eat up less space and support plenty of extra features, such as depth maps and 16-bit colour. Great. Wonderful.

Mac: It's been a few years since we've seen AgileBits release a major update to its killer password management app, 1Password, which is why everyone's so excited about last week's debut of 1Password 7. This app should pretty much be a household name at this point, as it's one of the major password managers we recommend to create and store super-secure passwords and passphrases.

Browser cookies are useful in some instances; unpleasant in others. While they can save you from having to go through a complicated authentication process whenever you're trying to access your favourite sites, they can also store data on what you've done on a particular website -- which can then be used to serve you more "relevant" advertising at a future point.

It happens at least once a day, always when I'm right in the middle of working on something important: I accidentally brush the Command+Q combination instead of Command+W to close a browser tab, quitting me out of Chrome. Sigh.

I recently stumbled across the extension Toby (Chrome, Firefox), and I'm surprised at how much I love it. So much so that it has replaced the pretty Chrome Delight and Earth View from Google Earth extensions I've been using whenever I open a new tab. I'm one-hundred per cent Toby now, because it's one of the best ways I've seen to get a little more control over all those open tabs in my browser.

Unless you're the world's biggest fan of Microsoft Outlook, odds are good that you don't use a desktop email client at home. You probably use a web-based email service, and your daily routine probably involves firing up your browser to delete, move, and otherwise ignore your messages. Third-party apps like Mail (for Windows or Mac) be damned.