iOS - page 36

Sarcasm doesn’t travel well over text message — and I can say that through bitter experience. I’ve probably come close to being slapped, dumped, kicked in the crotch, fired, and/or run over by a riding mower because of some sarcastic text I’ve sent that was misconstrued as mean when it was supposed to be hilarious.

Or so I’ve imagined; I have no real gauge, because in each instance I couldn’t actually see the reaction on the face of the recipient. At least one of the developers behind React Messenger must have faced the same problem, because they’ve come up with a solution that snaps and sends a quick, expressive selfie along with each text.

The fines just keep mounting for Google. In the wake of last year’s Safarigate, in which Google was revealed to be tracking millions of iOS & Mac Safari users against their knowledge, Google first agreed to pay a $22.5 million fine to the FTC, the largest such fine in history. But it’s not stopping there, with Google now agreeing to pay $17 million to settle the issue with 37 states.

I’m not a guitar amp nut; I have little appreciation for old-and-moldy audio components and purist babble (oh yes, I know! “Vacuum tubes! Blah blah blah!”) But a look at the promo video for Positive Grid’s new Bias iPad app has even me drooling.

Think your inbox is a dizzying mass of junkmail? The serial entrepreneur who started About.com wants to help you unclutter; not by getting rid of spam, which has been pretty much wiped out at this point — but by allowing you to group or unsubscribe from commercial emails with laser precision.

Are you a designer? Do you want to become a designer? Have you ever thought about bringing out the creative in you? Now is a great opportunity for you to stack up on some high quality design resources so you can tackle any design wishes you may have with The Mega Design Bundle 2.0.

The Mega Design Bundle 2.0 contains more than 2.5 GB of smooth icons, flashy vector elements, intuitive Photoshop templates, and other essential designer assets for literally pennies on the dollar. And you can get it for only $49.99 during this limited time offer from Cult of Mac Deals.

We all need a break every once in a while. And nothing can take some of the edge off than a good video game – especially a shooter.

Cult of Mac Deals has assembled a bundle of games that will keep your trigger finger going for hours with The iShooter Gamer Bundle. And it’s at a price that’s tough to beat – just $4.99 – a savings of 81%!

An official Google Play Music app is finally available on iOS, bringing Google’s All Access music streaming service to your iPhone. Users can listen to millions of tracks on demand and enjoy custom radio with no limits, as well as access to the music they’ve uploaded to Google’s cloud-based storage service.

iWork for iCloud is technically still in its beta phase, but Apple pubilished an updated to its suite of productivity apps this afternoon that will certainly make it more appealing for those looking for a Google Docs alternative.

The new iWork for iCloud update includes a number of features that focus on giving users more tools to collaborate with each other – many of which we heard about at Apple’s iPad keynote. The update includes new features for both Pages, Numbers, and Keynotes that come with some of the same features including the ability to see cursors and selections for everyone in a spreadsheet, as well as an option to view a list of collaborators working on a spreadsheet.

Users can access the new features for free over at iCloud.com and will also find a new option to print docs directly from the Tools menu and the ability to organize documents in folders.

Here’s a full list of what’s new:

The official Google Music app for iOS, which will allow Google Play Music All Access subscribers to enjoy the music streaming service on iPhone and iPad, is now “imminent,” a reliable source reports.

Those frustrated that Nintendo still stubbornly refuses to release an official Legend of Zelda game for iOS should pluck-up, because the next best thing is here. Heavily inspired by one of the best Zelda games, The Wind Waker, a console-quality Zelda like has just hit the Apple Store called Oceanhorn: Monster of Uncharted Seas. And this is a game you want to get.

Intro

After the recent Everpix shutdown, I moved all my photos to Flickr. If you read my roundup of Everpix alternatives, you’ll know that Flickr wasn’t my first choice, but it turns out that neither is it my only choice. But let’s not get ahead of ourselves.

Everpix was great because it just sucked in all your photos, whether you kept them in iPhoto, on your iPhone, in a weird beardo folder structure on your Mac, or even if you took all of your photos using Instagram. It was far from perfect, but it was the best. And then it went away.

Sony’s new PlayStation companion app is now available on Android and iOS ahead of the PlayStation 4’s worldwide launch this month. The app allows you to access the PlayStation Network on the go to view your notifications, invitations, game alerts, and (finally!) messages; as well as your friends list, trophies, and profile.

Do you have a brand new iPhone 5S? Want to protect that beautiful piece of hardware but still want to show off its shiny gold or silver backing? This Cult of Mac Deals offer gets you not one, but two protective, minimalist cases that won’t hide your phone’s backside.

The iPhone 5/5S Accessory Bundle includies the Ice and Dry Ice iPhone 5/5S cases and the new Spark In-Ear Headphones – and all for just $57.99 during this limited time offer.

If you’ve been hunting for a flawless solution to mirror your gameplay, videos, photos, presentations, and so much more right to your Mac then the application Cult of Mac Deals is currently offering will bring value to your life.

With X-Mirage you can wirelessly mirror your iOS device’s display to your Mac to take advantage of the big screen, and record everything onscreen with one click. This is a simple solution for showing off your iOS devices on a bigger screen. And the price is one that simply can’t beat – just $8.99 for a limited time.

Google released an update for its Google Drive iOS app this morning that finally adds iOS 7 support to the could storage app.

The Google Drive update also includes multiple account support so you can switch between personal, work, or any other Google account, similar to what Google has already implemented in its web products. The Dropbox alternative now comes with a Single sign in too so you’ve automatically signed into other Google apps on your iPhone too like YouTube, Google Maps, Chrome and Google+.

The free update is available in the App Store now.
Here are the release notes:

I’ve always loved Lego’s series of video games. They aren’t exactly deep examples of game design, but they get charm and quick pick-up-and-play, all-ages fun down pat. I’m delighted to see, then, that just in time for the next Hobbit movie, Warner Bros. and Lego have unveiled Lego Lord Of The Rings for iOS.

The question of whether there exists such a thing as an objectively perfect work of art remains the stuff of artistic scholarship and debates, but one particular artist feels they’ve cracked the question of how to improve a time-honored masterpiece — by adding in a number of Apple products.

If you’re a programmer who needs to learn iOS, a student, someone with a great app idea, or a computer science teacher who wants to add iOS to their skill set then the latest Cult of Mac Deals offering is going to be right up your alley.

With over four hours of video instruction, numerous lab exercises and dozens of code examples, The iPhone and iPad App Development Course gets you ready to create your own iOS Apps for the iPhone, iPad or both. And it’s available for 50% off for a limited time – just $49 – thanks to Cult of Mac Deals.

When going out in the evening, I don’t need all my shopping loyalty cards, my library card, or stacks of other such plastic ephemera mucking up the smooth line of my pockets, so I tend to opt for a less is more approach: my debit card, my ID, and a couple of dollars in cash.

I’ve always wanted a way to carry these few things together with my iPhone, foregoing wallet altogether for a unified experience, but have always found other wallet cases too bulky or restricting.

PureGear’s FabFolio, however, reaches that delicate balance between useful, good-looking, and thin. It’s definitely worth a spin in your pocket if you’re looking for something to fill a similar need.

Music streaming service Deezer has today announced that it now has more than 5 million paid subscribers worldwide, and it’s launching a new native Mac app that will improve the Deezer experience on your desktop. The app will sync with your existing iTunes library, and it will allow you to store music locally for offline access.

Spotify for iOS has today been handed another new update with several nice improvements. In addition to adding artist tour details, it brings a much-improved search function, support for the Japanese language, and lots of bug fixes.

In more welcome airport-related news than the reports that Apple’s Maps app steers people the wrong way across Fairbanks Airport taxiway, Apple has released an update (version 1.3.3) of its AirPort Utility — the app which allows you to manage your Wi-Fi base stations, including AirPort Express, AirPort Extreme, and AirPort Time Capsule, from the comfort of your iOS device.

If you believe the reports, Apple is currently working on a way of charging iOS devices using solar panels. If you’re not content to wait, however, and want a quick-and-easy means of charging your iPhone or iPad right now, you might want to consider investing in this Indiegogo crowd funding campaign to create a mobile wireless charging solution for Apple products.

Based on the increasingly popular Qi inductive electrical power transfer system, iQi Mobile Wireless is set to bring true, low-cost wireless charging to iOS device. This is done without the fuss of plugging and unplugging wires, since charging is achieved simply by placing your iPhone or iPad on a Koolpuck charger.

Roz Hall is a UK-based artist who employs his iPad as a canvas to create some stunning portraits.

Hall wasn’t always a painter with pixels: he studied Fine Art at the Winchester School of art and is currently at work on a Master’s of Fine Art at the University of Chichester.

He’s worked as a filmmaker and in video production, but his main love since 2010 has been painting, at first on the iPhone, and now on the iPad.

This father, student and self-described beard enthusiast told Cult of Mac about his artwork, the perks of tablet painting and why naked Apple devices are best.

Cult of Mac: What apps do you use, and why? Any apps you started using but don’t anymore? What’s the evolution of your process?

Roz Hall: My two favorite apps are Procreate and Inkpad, and I use them both for two very different things. Procreate is great for recreating that paint or ink feel as it has some wonderful brushes, which are completely customizable if you wish. Inkpad is a vector app, like a stripped down version of Illustrator, but very intuitive to use and awesome if you want to print off something really large! I used to use Sketchbook Pro as it’s a very advanced app and lovely to use, but I feel like the brushes are a little small and I like to start out with a large brush to block in shapes. I prefer to stick to a single brush type for each painting and just adjust the size and opacity, this probably comes from my background as a traditional artist.

CoM: What device do you use? Why? Any covers, cases, or peripherals you prefer?

RH: I started painting on my iPhone 3G but upgraded to the iPad and am now on the 3rd Generation iPad. The screen size is perfect, small enough to paint with on the train without drawing too much attention, and large enough to not feel restricted. I mainly just use my finger but have used a few different styluses.

My current favourite is the Sensu Brush, which has a small rubber tip on one side and an actual brush on the other. I was genuinely surprised at how natural that would feel, as I’d thought it sounded like a gimmick. I have played with a couple that offer pressure sensitivity but couldn’t get on with them, although the new JOT Touch looks promising. I like to have my Apple gear fairly naked as it feels criminal to cover them up, so I just have my iPad in its Smart Cover.

CoM: How do you sell you art work? What are the unique challenges of creating commercially viable artwork on a digital device? The unique rewards?

RH: I have sold a few postcards on Zazzle and have painted a couple of commissions, but apart from that I don’t see it as a hugely commercial venture. I won’t be quitting my day job quite yet. Companies have send hardware to me to use and blog about, including tablets, which is a huge perk.

I was recently flown to New York to attend the launch of the Microsoft Surface 2 and to demonstrate to the press. So if you’re reading this, Apple, I’m available! The art community is getting less suspicious of digital art with artists such as Tracey Emin and David Hockney producing work on the iPad, which is making it easier to get work into serious galleries.

CoM: How do you exhibit your work?

RH: I am fortunate enough to have had work exhibited across the globe but the format changes depending on the gallery requirements. Some like to have your work printed and framed traditionally, where as others like to project or display using LCD screens. The Saatchi Gallery in London exhibited some of my portraits on a large LCD screen but had it in landscape mode, which didn’t look good at all. I have just started to get pieces printed onto perspex glass, it looks gorgeous as the colors are really strong and the glossy look mimics that of the iPad screen.

CoM: What kind of community to you belong to or facilitate for digital artists? Is there an “I make art on an iPad” group you hang out with?

RH: When I started out painting on the iPhone, I got myself a Flickr account and posted them up there. The reaction was incredible and immediate!

That’s what I love about creating work digitally. I have oil paintings which have been seen by maybe five or six people and now just sit in my attic, but when I paint on the iPad, I post up to Flickr and can get 500-600 views in a day. Flickr has a strong community of mobile digital artists, who mainly share their work in groups dedicated to different hardware and apps.

Good ones to check out are iAMDA (The International Association of Mobile Digital Artists), iPad Creative, iPad Art and Fingerpainted. Facebook has iPad Artists and iPad painters Groups, which are great places to share tips and comment on each others work.

CoM: Any advice for artists looking to work on the iPad or other devices? Would you recommend it to new artists?

RH: Painting is a hobby of mine. I have a full-time job, a growing family and I’m studying part time, so if I get an opportunity to paint, I have to be quick. Using the iPad means that I can paint wherever I am and whenever I have a free few minutes. You don’t need to have a room set up with canvases and an easel permanently taking up space. It’s inexpensive too, after the initial hit of the hardware itself, you can realistically paint for as long as you like without having to order in new paint…

You can check out more of Roz’s work at his website.

Keeping tabs on your brood this Halloween? Sure, you could use Apple’s Find My Friends. But it doesn’t have as many cool features as these two new apps, and it also can’t track Android phones — while these two apps can.