App reviews: Loner, Grammarly
Loner
Need a moment to yourself? Loner aims to give you solitary moments in flight, with a chill game that asks you to wind your way through a long, narrow path and squeeze a plane through angled openings. It's a simple game, but its smooth graphics and calming soundtrack make it ideal for tuning out the rest of the world. (It's best played with headphones.) You control your plane with your thumbs. Holding the phone horizontally, use your thumbs to navigate. Sliding your thumbs up and down lets you change the altitude of the plane, while you steer by moving one thumb higher than the other. It becomes second nature after a while - which is good, because the path you're flying can get tricky.
It can be a little hard to see the course at times, which may make for a few frustrating crashes. But even the "crashes" in this game are laid-back - no explosions, just a little rewind back through the tunnel to let you try again. Once you get the hang of it, it's strangely soothing to glide through the tunnel-like levels. For 99 cents you can unlock everything, including a "Zen" mode that lets you play without interruptions and is even more chill than the main game; you can also unlock the mode on-demand by watching an advertisement.
Free, for Android and iOS devices.
Grammarly
Are you always finding little mistakes in your emails? On mobile devices, it's easy to do. Grammarly, the online grammar checking tool, has you covered with a new keyboard for the iPhone. Add this keyboard to your phone, and the tool will check your writing as you type, and make (by and large) sensible suggestions for auto-corrections. You can also tap on the big "G" button at any time to have Grammarly give whatever you're composing a closer look. The app will identify any grammar issues - including commonly confused words and awkward phrasing - and offer suggestions for fixing them.
The keyboard does its work anytime you're typing on your phone, so it can help your text messages, social media updates as well as any email you're tapping out on your small screen. Installing keyboards can be tricky on the iPhone, but the app will give you clear instructions to navigate through your settings to make it work. It should be compatible with all of your other apps, as well, so there won't be a moment where you're caught short. Grammarly won't fix all the things that plague your writing, but it is a great tool for when you need another pair of eyes on what you've written. Life moves fast in a mobile world, after all, and anything that can help you avoid stupid mistakes is a plus.
Free, for iOS devices.