Apps don’t have to be designed stunningly or include mind blowing features to be really useful and likable. Throw Lab’s Text TV app is one of my favorite apps, and it’s one of those apps that just do the job without much fuss. Maybe it’s a generation thing. I remember, almost 30 years ago, turning on the TV just to check the news, sports and what’s on TV later in the evening. Text TV did the job as superbly then as it does today.

I still remember the page numbers for the most important pages, 102-103 for domestic news, 104-105 for international news, 300 for sports, 376 for latest sports results, 401-402 for weather, 601-604 for the two national TV channels, and so on. I don’t think there is one source or app that gives you a snapshot of all that quicker than Text TV and the Text TV app.

I admit it’s also a matter of chosen curation. The Text TV app supports Text TV from channels in Belgium, Denmark, Finland, Germany, Iceland, Netherlands, Norway, and Sweden. Depending on what source you choose, you also obviously choose content curation. Personally, I just like the curation done by Swedish TV. It’s fast and relevant to me.

Throw Lab’s app is super easy to navigate, it just resembles the original (TV) very well. Swipe left and right for previous and next page, tap in the upper part of the screen to type a page number manually, and all visible page numbers are “hyper linked” and tap-able. The app is worth all five star ratings it gets on the App Store.