New iPhone apps worth downloading: Pinterest update, Hometalk, Puddle

Today’s haul of apps worth your attention starts with Pinterest, the social network that’s all about “pinning” cool visuals. The app for the network just got a big update that improves its user controls, allowing for faster, more convenient pinning. We’ve also got Hometalk, an app full of information for home and garden projects, as well as photos, contact info for local professionals, and more. Finally, get your game on with Puddle, a tilt-controlled puzzler in which players control a puddle of liquid and try to move it through dangerous levels.

Pinterest update (Free)

What’s it about? Share images, ideas, inspirations and more with Pinterest, a social network that’s specifically geared toward finding cool visual items on the web and sharing them with others.

What’s cool? The name “Pinterest” derives from the idea that your individual space in the social network is sort of like a pin-up board. On that board are lots of images that you can post under categories you create, allowing other people to see the things that you like and feel inspired by. It’s a great app for sharing everything from home decorating ideas to wedding plans to cool t-shirts, and allows users to follow one another, drop comments on “pins” and more. Pinterest’s latest update adds some improvements to the app’s controls, making it easier to immediately pin things by tapping and holding on your touch screen, and providing quick means of editing your “feed” of pins from other users you follow.

Who’s it for? Social networking fans who go for visuals over text should check out Pinterest.

What’s it like? More great visual social networks include Path and Instagram.

Hometalk (Free)

What’s it about? Find all the information you might need to know about home improvement and gardening with Hometalk.

What’s cool? A hub of information all about home improvement topics, Hometalk provides you with lots of tips, tricks and knowledge specifically centered around your home and garden. The app allows users to “follow” topics like remodeling and landscaping, ask questions of experts to get advice about their projects, browse through photos of lots of different home improvement, decorating and outdoor projects for inspiration and ideas, and post photos of their own projects to share with other members of the community. Hometalk is also a handy resource for finding professionals who can help with various projects, too, making it a one-stop shop for all kinds of home improvement knowledge needs.

Who’s it for? If you’ve got a home or garden you’re looking to improve and spruce up, Hometalk is a great resource.

What’s it like? Home Improvement and Repair with Friend Trusted is also a handy app for your home improvement needs, as is The Home Depot Style Guide.

Puddle ($2.99)

What’s it about? Control a puddle of liquid and move it through various dangerous levels in tilt-controlled puzzler Puddle.

What’s cool? Puddle is all about a puddle, as you might have guessed, which has to navigate its way through some scary places using tilt controls and liquid physics. From labs to sewers and lots of strange places in between, players have to carefully work their puddle through obstacles to try to reach the end of each level. The obstacles might burn off some of the puddle’s liquid, or separate it and lose it in the works, and the goal is to make it to the end with as much of your total liquid as possible. Different liquids have different properties, too, so you’ll need to adjust how you play through the various levels accordingly.

Who’s it for? Puzzle game fans who get a kick out of smart physics mechanics should give Puddle a go.

What’s it like? You might also want to check out Enigmo 2 and Sprinkle Islands for two more games that use the physics of liquids in their mechanics.

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