5 of the hottest apps for Android and iOS this summer

There are over 5m apps available from app stores for both Android and iOS mobile devices. And with more added every day, the choice of which ones should take up some of your precious device space can, quite frankly, give you too much to think about.

So, with Summer on the way, let’s take a look at some definite must-have apps. A sort of Summer app survival kit if you like - 5 little nuggets of digital joy that can give you a bit more fun in the sun and guide you through the hot and hazy days. So, here we go, in no particular order...

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Dark Sky | iOS: £3.99 | Android: £free with in-app purchases

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Do you really trust the weather forecast anymore? If not, the Dark Sky developers have created a hyperlocal weather app for you to rely on instead. Using ‘scarily accurate’ robots and state-of-the-art tech, Dark Sky gives you precise, down to the minute forecasts for your exact location.

And when we say exact, we mean ‘right down to where you’re standing’ kind of exact. With customisable alerts, summaries, and notifications, together with amazing maps and graphics, you can see global weather patterns as they happen, so you know exactly when it will stop (or start) raining. A beast of a weather app.

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UV Lens | iOS: £free | Android: £free

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Sun worshipper or not, the UV Lens app lets you enjoy the sun without damaging your skin. With loads of features and gorgeous graphics, UV Lens makes sun protection easy. With hourly UV forecasts and extended forecasting, the app also lets you explore the UV index around the world.

But one of its most useful features is the personalised skin type assessment. Using your information, it gives an accurate reading of how long you can safely be outside for without sunscreen, and what protection to take if you stay there. It will even send sunscreen notifications as a reminder to slather up! If you love the sun but worry about UV, this is the app for you.

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Aqualert | iOS: £free with in-app purchases | Android: £free with ads, or £0.59p ad free

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We’re always being told to drink more to stay healthy and hydrated, and the Aqualert app gives you the motivation to actually do it. Simple and easy to use with functional, if basic graphics, Aqualert is a tracker and reminder app that alerts you to guzzle your RDA of H2O. But it does have some useful features.

The intake calculator identifies how much water your body needs and how much you should drink daily, and you can track your intake with the consumption chart history. And it sends you encouraging notes telling you why, when, and how to drink more water. A helpful app to get you into the routine of drinking more.

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‍Geocaching | iOS: £free with in-app purchases | Android: £free with in-app purchases

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If you’re up for getting outside and discovering new places, then the Geocaching app is a brilliant way to help you do it - even if you’re not that into walking. The concept is simple and as their strapline reads ‘join the world’s largest treasure hunt’, that gives you a good clue as to what it’s all about.

The idea is to find hidden geocache boxes near you using the app and your phone’s GPS. Each Geocache is mapped with info telling you how hard it is to find, what the terrain is like around it, and the size of the geocache itself. A great way to get active and keep it interesting - just remember to charge your phone!

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Wild Explorers | iOS: £free | Android: £free

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One to keep the kids amused and occupied throughout the summer holidays. The Persil Wild Explorers app gives you over 100 outdoor activity ideas that lets children get outside, get active, and explore the nature around them.

With activities and games lasting anywhere from 10 minutes to all day, you can filter ideas to give you plenty of activities that are in your garden, in a local park or wood, or by a river or coastline. And as it has activities for children from 2 - 12+, the Wild Explorers app will find something for everyone to explore.

Given the eye-watering amount of apps available from app stores at the moment, hopefully this list has given you a few ideas and saved you a few hours of fruitless searching! If you download and use any, let us know what you think.