The Week in iOS Apps: Summer fun

Now that vacation time is here, we have gaming apps, apps that guide you in new cities, apps that help you find fun, and more.

Cristiano Ronaldo: Kick’n’Run (freemium, iPhone and iPad) lets you take your virtual soccer skills to the street, dodging tackles, avoiding obsacles, and scoring gooooooooooooooooals.

Hyper Slider ($1, iPhone and iPad) is not about a manic sandwich. Instead, it’s a “minimal tactile puzzle game” with 100 levels spread over four parts. (Check out this video for a demonstration.)

Landed (free, iPhone and iPad) is the app to have when you arrive in a new city, whether you’re on vacation or a business trip—it answers questions about how to get downtown, last-minute hotel deals, weather info, and more, helping you get around an unfamiliar place like you’re a local resident.

Minecraft: Pocket Edition ($7, iPhone and iPad) introduces its “Realms” feature to iOS which lets you  play with up to 10 other people in “cross-platform in worlds that exist anytime, anywhere.” There’s a  30-day free trial, after which you’ll need a subscription to keep playing.

Qapital (free, iPhone) can help you save for your summer vacation or any other goal you have; “you create a savings plan for Qapital to automate, then sit back and watch your cash stack up over time.” Money in the account is held by Wells Fargo and insured by the FDIC.

Toca Life: Vacation ($3, iPhone and iPad) lets you—or your child—simulate a vacation, with adventures to be had at four locations: the airport, hotel, beach, and general sightseeing. Create stories for up to 34 characters, and make videos of the great times you create.

Winnie (free, iPhone) is for those parents whose kids are home for the summer—and have no plans. There’s data on more than 100,000 kid-friendly locations around the country, from museums to parks to libraries and more. 

Xbox (free, iPhone and iPad) is the old Xbox Smartglass app reborn, simply, as Xbox—it lets you stay connected to your gaming community, control your Xbox One, and buy new games from the store.

Netflix now supports picture-in-picture on compatible iPads … Facebook Messenger has a new “Home” tab to enable conversations …. Opera Mini (pictured) has added an ad blocker to its features.