Don’t Panic is one of the better names I’ve seen for a GPS navigation app. It’s not a cheap app, but neither is it any more expensive than some of the other premium on-road satnav apps. The UI is a little quirky, but generally speaking it does the job well.
Finding apps in the App Store can be daunting. Sure, you can use the search function, or the Top Ten lists there, but still, with over 500,000 apps just sitting there waiting to be downloaded, it takes a lot of wading to find the true gems. That’s why Apple started their promotional areas in iTunes, to help consumers find quality apps and games. The New and Noteworthy section, the Hot Apps section, and the more recent iPhone and iPad App of the Week features call out the best of the best, in Apple’s eyes, at least. Now they’ve gone and added a new way to help you find the cream of the crop in their much lauded store: Free App of the Week.
Every now and again you find something on the App Store that brings a smile to your face because you know it’s new, it’s different, and it does something that no other app has done before. Hueless is a one dollar black-and-white camera app that meets all those criteria and more, and after just a day of shooting with it, I think I’m in love.
Brains have been dashed out and arteries spilled over the perfect parking space. Finding a good spot in a busy neighborhood and keeping it secret and safe is the kind of thing many commuters approach with Gandalfish intensity. The rule of thumb is: if you find a good parking space, by all means, never, ever give it up willingly.
Here’s a better idea, though. Instead of fighting tooth and claw for that el primo parking spot, why not keep it in the family instead, passing it onto others in exchange for information about other awesome, open parking spots in the same neighborhood? In other words, why not let parking generate you some good karma? That’s the idea behind a new app, Kurb Karma, and it looks awesome.
Another day, another all-singing and all-dancing photography app. This one is called Fotor, priced at one dollar. Do we need more of these? Probably not. Is this one any good? Yeah, mostly. But it doesn’t stand out in the crowd.
What’s Snabbit? I’ll tell you what it is: it’s Snake, all over again. Is gaming still all about collecting stars? This game is.
One of the features that I love most about iOS 5 is Automatic Downloads, which allows me to purchase an app, book, or song on my iPhone and have it installed on my iPad at almost exactly the same time. It’s great for users with multiple iOS devices, and it’s also coming to the Mac.
One developer has discovered the ability to turn on Automatic Downloads for Mac App Store purchases under the latest OS X Mountain Lion release.
While newer iOS devices come in sizes up to 64 Gb, it takes up a lot of space to store a ton of videos there. Likewise, synchronizing the videos you think you might want to watch later can be an exercise in futility, trying to second-guess yourself and your future video-watching tastes. And let’s not forget the time consuming task of converting videos from a non-Mac or iTunes friendly format to ones that work a little better with our chosen OS platform. Today, however, we have an app that will help with these problems.
Looking for a “pro” camera app for your iPhone? There’s no shortage of options on the App Store. This week, we’re taking a look at one that has the most descriptive name: ProCamera.
I’ve tried a lot of “anyone can make music” apps in the past, and they’ve not always lived up to the hype. That’s why, at first, I didn’t hold out a lot of hope for three-dollar music app Sound Wand – but I should have been more optimistic. Like a real instrument, you need to spend some time learning how it works.
Your iPhone is many things. My iPhone is many things. For each of us, the most important functions will differ. Some people might think it’s most useful as a mobile messenger client, others as a GPS device. For me, one of the most useful functions of my iPhone is that it can also be a radio.
Radioline is an internet radio player app for both iOS and OS X, with a focus on speed and simplicity. Let’s take a closer look.
Do we need any more notepad apps for OS X? Of course we do, what a foolish question. We always need more notepad apps. But if a newcomer to the notepad app scene (what, you didn’t know there was a notepad app scene? tut tut) wants to make any impact, it needs to be really, really good at what it does.
NotesTab Pro is one such newcomer, and although it has some appealing features, it doesn’t offer enough to make it stand out from its rivals.
Got a tattoo? Want one? Want another one? Want something unique? Once more, iOS comes to the rescue in the most unexpected way: a one-dollar app that designs tattoos for you. Oh yes.
It’s lunch time on the West Coast. I’m starving. Like, I could eat a zebra-porcupine hybrid right now, that’s how hungry I am. Things are only getting worse after I ran into this trove of beautiful iPhone app icon concepts that make my iPhone and iPad good enough to eat. The steak icon looks so tender. So succulent. I’m going to go grab a burrito before I start trying to eat my iPad like that poor little Taiwanese girl, but you should definitely check out these gorgeous app icons.
The general reaction to Google’s release of its new Google+ app has been very positive. Lots of people have been saying how good it looks and how nice it is to use.
Yes, it is pretty. Pretty enough to give Google+ the usage boost it seeks? Now that’s a very different question.
As my esteemed colleague Charlie pointed out yesterday, Polaroid releasing an “official” app that takes Polaroid-style pictures now is a bit like closing the stable door after the horse has bolted. Then returned, bolted again, walked at a leisurely pace to an airport 2000 miles away, paused for a week, gone trekking in Bhutan, spent some time finding itself in Goa, and finally bolted some more for good measure.
So let’s all just agree that this app is woefully late, because there are already twelve dozen Polaroidish apps on the App Store, many of them very good at their job. So is Polamatic actually any good? The answer’s yes. Yes it is.
Hands up if you like counting things. Keep still while I count you all. Wait – arg. This isn’t working. How can I keep count? Maybe Tallywag will help me.
Everyone knows that Apple leads and others follow, right? It’s iOS that people are copying elsewhere. No-one would ever dream of making a music player for iOS that uses the same UI as Microsoft’s Metro) mobile OS design language. Would they? Wait – would they?
The screenshot above might look like the typical UI mess of an Android phone, but it’s actually an iOS reflex game called Slide To Unlock, in which the only goal of the game is to eponymously unlock slider after slider in all directions — up, down, left and right — but not through multiple dimensions, like time and space. It’s like a lock screen Simon.
We’re spoilt for choice for camera apps these days, so any newcomers on the scene have to prove themselves somewhat. They face tough competition.
Bright Mango’s Wood Camera, despite its odd name, stands up to its rivals well. It’s a useful multi-function camera with live image filters and an understated, speedy interface.
Readers, your desperate wish to have Monty Python in your pocket everywhere you go has finally – finally – been granted. With Python Bytes on your iOS device, you need never be far from a quick spurt of Pythonism whenever you feel the need for it.
So whether you must hear the Parrot Sketch while waiting for the bus, or would like to pass the time in dull corporate meetings by watching Michael Palin do the Lumberjack Song, or simply enjoy seeing John Cleese in a pink bra; whatever the circumstances, this is the app for you. Possibly.
Tim Schroeder has created two similar, but slightly different, apps for getting your hands on stuff you’ve used recently on your Mac.
Recent Redux is a more full-featured app, priced at $3.99 on the App Store. Recent Menu is its cheaper little sibling.
This week featured a handful of announcements relating to using your iPhone as a virtual wallet including news of Boston’s smartphone-based commuter rail payment system and CVS integrating its loyalty card system into its iPhone app.
Capping the week is news that restaurant chain T.G.I. Fridays announcement that more than of its franchises in the U.S. will begin offering patrons the ability to settle their restaurant or bar tab using an app. The move comes as part of partnership with startup Tabbedout – a mobile payment company that aims to bring iPhone (and Android phone) payments into the mainstream with a focus on bars and restaurants.
Facevault is a one-dollar photo archive app that can only be unlocked by one person – the one with the right face.
It sounds neat, and yes, it works. But the face recognition features come at a price, and are hindered by a flaw that affects other apps using the same technology: it can’t tell the difference between real faces, and photos of real faces.
I don’t know about you, but I’ve never really got my head around LinkedIn. It does the connections thing very well, but I’ve never considered it as a social networks. It’s not a place I go to, you know, faff about. So do I want it on my iPad? Ummm.