27 BEST Windows 8 and Windows 8.1 apps

Domino’s Pizza UK & Ireland (Free) – If the most exercise you got previously was to walk to the phone to order a pizza, this app is going to give your GP grave cause for concern. The Domino’s Pizza app is spot on for placing your order while the chaps are round for footy, or just before that family movie night. The menu is clearly laid out using the familiar Windows 8 tiled interface, and it’s easy to customise toppings and side orders. Special offers from your local branch are presented on the home screen, along with a handy map if you’re planning to pick it up yourself. Alternatively, fill out the simple registration form, choose a delivery time and wait for the guy to knock at your door. Just don’t drip your Chicken Feast with Hot Dog Stuffed Crust over your keyboard.

Great British Chefs – Cooking with Kids (Free) – The original Great British Chefs app demolished the myth you couldn’t make fantastic looking Windows 8 apps, and this version – designed for cooking with budding Jamies and Nigellas – is every bit as delicious. The same, splendid design is retained: browse or search for recipes; add the ingredients to a digital shopping list that can be digitally crossed off as you shop online or take your tablet round the supermarket; and then pop the recipe into Cooking Mode when it comes to bake time, and swipe step-by-step through the instructions, with a handy timer on the side to keep you on track. Included in this version are ‘Room for the little one’ tips, which tell you when and how you can involve the kids safely in each recipe.

Allrecipes (Free) – Not as fancy looking at other recipe apps, but as the name suggests Allrecipes makes up for it by having…all the recipes. There are more than 50,000 to chose from, withb options to search by ingredients and type of cuisine. Recipes include photos, nutritional information and ratings and reviews from other users, often with tips on how to improve them. There’s also an extensive list of seasonal recipes, so you can always find something different to try.

Skyscanner (Free) – Booking flights is always a monstrous pain in the posterior, but the Skyscanner app makes the process about as pleasant as it can be. The key part of the app is the price chart: you select your departure and destination airports, and punch in a rough date, and Skyscanner reveals on which days it would be cheapest to fly on a cleverly designed interactive bar graph. You can filter out particular airlines – if you find Ryanair objectionable, for example – and match on other criteria, such as direct flights, duration and flight times. Our only criticism is that prices often climb by the time you get to the booking screen, sometimes more quickly than a plane leaving Gatwick.

Moneypoint (Free) – Ever since the demise of Microsoft Money, there’s been a yawning gap in the market for personal finance software. MoneyPoint doesn’t offer all the features Money did, but it’s a pretty decent way of tracking how cash is flowing in and (more pertinently) out of your bank account. It will import transactions from your bank, either in .csv or .qif formats, and once you’ve tagged which category each item falls under (salary, groceries, mortgage etc) produces clear reports showing how you’re spending your hard earned. The app also includes basic budgeting tools, so you can see if you’ve overspent on clothes or ‘entertainments’ that month, and automatic backup options are welcome to ensure your valuable data is protected.