Seeing AI, Infltr, and other awesome apps of the week

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Awesome Apps
'Appy weekend everyone!
Photo: Ste Smith/Cult of Mac

If you want to see how far artificial intelligence has advanced in the past few years, this week saw the release of an impressive AI image recognition app that can describe the world around you in natural language.

That’s just one of the picks we’ve highlighted for this week’s “Awesome Apps” roundup. We’ve also got a great new Street Fighter IV port, a brilliant photo-editor gone free, and a tremendous artistic puzzle game.

Check out our choices below.

Seeing AI

Seeing AI is an Accessibility app that’s specifically designed for people with visual impairments, although that doesn’t mean that it’s not worth checking out if you don’t fall into this group.

As the name suggests, Seeing AI uses artificial intelligence to describe the world around you. First demonstrated at Microsoft’s Build conference back in March, it allows users to obtain spoken information about the objects and people around them.

To use it, simply point your camera at something and Seeing AI will describe it — whether that means identifying by name people you’ve met before, guessing the approximate age and emotion of strangers, recognizing U.S. currency, or scanning and reading documents.

It’s one of the those amazing AI use-cases that reminds you just how far the field has advanced in the past few years — and how it’s got the opportunity to profoundly improve life for the people who need it.

Available for: iPhone, iPad
Cost: Free
Available from:
App Store

Street Fighter IV: Champion Edition

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q9l2JxURIKA

Filled with watered-down gameplay and overloaded with in-app purchases, most of us have had bad experiences with major gaming franchises landing on iOS in the past. However, this mobile port of the well-received 2011 fighting game for Windows, PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 turns out to be pretty darn great.

Street Fighter IV: Champion Edition is the first new Street Fighter game to arrive in the App Store in a few years, since Capcom stopped updating the original Street Fighter IV.

The big updates you get this time is much-needed support for MFi controllers, support for larger displays (perfect for your brand new iPad Pro!), improved visuals, and an additional three characters to play with — with six more promised for updates somewhere down the line.

Even if you don’t have a standalone MFi controller, the virtual controls function surprisingly well; giving you a Street Fighter experience that feels impressively satisfying.

Available for: iPhone, iPad
Cost: $4.99
Available from: App Store

Infltr

Infltr iPhone
Infltr promises an infinite number of filters.
Photo: Infltr

One of the best iPhone photo-editing apps went free this week, courtesy of Apple’s Apple Store app. Infltr aims to make photo editing easier than ever, with live filters that you can apply before you capture a photo or video, and an infinite number of effects. What’s more, you can also use it to edit Live Photos and animated GIFs with upwards of 10 adjustment and transform tools.

You can edit things like saturation, brightness, contrast, tilt, and temperature, and use tools like rotate, straighten, and flip. There are 17 different crop presets to choose from, and you can save your favorite filters to your collection. Best of all, it does this without degrading the quality of your image, while also giving you the option of undoing any changes you’ve made if you think you’ve gone too far with them.

A couple of quick notes: Firstly, the app is downloadable for free for anyone running the iOS 11 beta, so this is an offer only for those on iOS 10 and earlier.

Secondly, you’ll need to download this through the Apple Store app (link below). Simply look for the Infltr banner on the Discover page and tap the Download now for free button. You’ll then be redirected to the App Store, where a redeem code will be generated and you’ll be able to download Infltr for free.

Available for: iPhone, iPad
Cost: Free
Available from: App Store

Splashy Dots

I’m a big fan of diverting puzzle games on iOS. They may lack the depth of — for example — a sprawling RPG, but they’re perfect for getting your little gray cells working on the commute to work. Splashy Dots is a a colorful puzzle game which asks you to connect a series of dots together with straight lines.

The results can be beautifully artistic and with a pleasantly light level of challenge. There are thousands of different canvases to try out, and the option to turn it into a time-based multiplayer game for good measure, too.

An optional in-app purchase lets you get rid of ads and get your hands on some tips.

Available for: iPhone, iPad
Cost: Free (with in-app purchase)
Available from: App Store

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