Apps Magazine Uk Issue 39

WELCOME TO APPS MAGAZINE Your essential apps guide every issue RECOMMENDED

NICK JONES Editor in Chief

HEROES OF LOOT O Android | OS 2.1 | £1.72/$1.99 | Varies

HENRI LE WORM O iPad+ | iOS 6.0 | £1.49/$1.99 | v1.1

Disney Animated (page 42) is a beautiful introduction to the art of animation. A fun and educational app that both kids and adults will get something out of.

MARTYN LANDI Reviews Editor

DISNEY ANIMATED O iPad | iOS 6.0 | £6.49/$9.99 | v1.0.2

CANOPENER O iPhone+ | iOS 6 | £1.99/$2.99 | v1.1

JACK PARSONS Deputy Editor Nothing ruins your favourite song like rubbish headphones. With easy-to-use touch controls, CanOpener (page 53) lets you fine-tune your earbuds for richer sound.

As you might expect, with over 400 apps in every issue of Apps Magazine, we review a lot of downloads for iPhone, iPad and Android each month. Whether it’s completing every level of Angry Birds Star Wars II (page 37), cranking up the volume to discover the best headphones (page 14), or performing speed tests to determine if Coast is the fastest mobile browser (page 34) – we make sure our reviews are rigorous enough to offer you the best buying advice. So, when we hand out one of our coveted Five Star Awards, you know an app must be good. This issue we’ve collected the crème de la crème of our reviews to give you a rundown of the top 50 apps and games we’ve given a five-star rating this year (page 18). To ensure that you are able to get all of these great downloads on your device at no extra expense, we’ve only chosen the best free apps. Enjoy,

VICTORIA RICHARDS Sub Editor

Henri Le Worm (page 50) has an engaging story that is cleverly designed to get kids helping out in the kitchen. Plus, it’s got Simon Pegg narrating and Raymond Blanc recipes – what more do you need?

If you’re after a new dungeon crawler to immerse yourself in, Heroes of Loot (page 67) is great fun. Fight off monsters and unlock the secrets of each dungeon, all in retro pixel form.

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3

CONTENTS

Visit the Apps Magazine online shop at

438 APP REVIEWS FREE - 23 APPS

WORK - 15 APPS

032 Free alternatives to... Paprika

056 Morning

Discover new dishes without paying a thing

034 Coast Manage your webpages like app icons in this iPad-only browser

037 Angry Birds Star Wars II

Shake off that bleary feeling with a morning data blast

058 Syllable Increase your reading speed with lots of practice

059 Dynamic keyboard Automatically alters the size of keys for faster, more efficient typing

Turn to the Pork Side in this sequel

ENTERTAINMENT - 22 APPS GAMES - 36 APPS 040 The best podcast players

062 Have fun with physics games

Catch every episode of your favourite talk radio downloads

Mobile mind benders that pit you against the forces of nature

042 Disney Animated

064 Call of Duty: Strike Team

Learn the secrets of animation

Lead a covert special ops squad

045 Pixaki Blocky graphics rule the roost with this art package

067 Heroes of Loot

26

Celebration essentials for iOS and Android

A spooky dungeon crawler

EVERYDAY - 24 APPS 048 Best DIY apps Do it yourself with these downloadable decorating tools

050 Henri Le Worm Raymond Blanc and Simon Pegg team up to teach children to cook

32

053 CanOpener Audiophiles rejoice, your ultimate plaything is here

Turn straight to page 76

HOW WE REVIEW FORMAT

PRICE

Some apps are very specific to iPhone or iPad, however if listed with a plus symbol apps will work on both devices.

We list the most up to date price possible, but check the App Store before purchasing. Free apps may still include in-app purchases.

OPERATING SYSTEM

O iPhone+ | iOS 5.0 | Free | v 4.5.2 O Android | OS 2.2 | Free | v 4.6.3

Certain apps only work on specific operating systems, check your device meets the specifications here.

4 www.knowyourapps.com

VERSION

We always review the latest versions of apps when going to press, but bear in mind issues we outline maybe fixed in updated versions.

FREE ALTERNATIVES TO… PAPRIKA 40

THE BEST POCAST PLAYERS

for back issues, bookazines and DVDs

FREE

006 Shoot and share 3D pictures Take parallax pictures with the Instagram of the future

008 Rewriting books for the digital era Top companion apps for your favourite books

010 How to: Run a market stall Manage a truly mobile business

012 Gallery The best mobile games to come out of Japan

013 Google Play 2.0 New features for the Android store Whether it’s a luxury hotel or an

of the leading apps that we’ve seen

014 Mid-range headphones To get the most from your music we compare the best over-ear cans

015 Social Your tweets and photos this month

016 Gear roundup The best mobile accessories

017 My home screen

24

SEE THE WORLD DIFFERENTLY

48

BEST DIY APPS

Top apps for gamers

PLUS: LEARN MORE ABOUT YOUR APPS! 072 Tutorials Step-by-step guides on getting the most out of your applications

62

HAVE FUN WITH PHYSICS GAMES

SUBSCRIBE TODAY! Head to page 55

www.knowyourapps.com

5

IMPRESS YOUR FRIENDS Following in the footsteps of Instagram and Vine, Seene viewers can follow each other to create a regularly updating feed of 3D photos. Images can also be shared to Facebook and Twitter with the option to copy the link so it can be sent via email and embedded in websites.

VIEW FROM ALL ANGLES Tilt your iPhone to view Seene photos from all angles in 3D. Early attempts may not hold up to scrutiny – images can appear stretched from some angles – but this comes with experience. A twofingered zoom gesture allows you to view your 3D images in incredible detail.

SHOOT IN SECONDS While there is a learning curve to shooting 3D photos, the actual process is incredibly quick. Capture a subject by gently moving your camera around the subject until all the segments of a circle turn green. Check out our step-by-step for helpful hints on how to shoot your own images.

ONLY FOR iPHONE Following in the trend of many other social photo apps, Seene only works on iPhone, with no iPad or Android versions reportedly in the works. Also, while posts can be embedded in websites, there is no desktop social network for Seene – it is a purely mobile community.

SEENE IS NOT THE FIRST 3D PHOTO APP – READ OUR REVIEW OF TADAA 3D ON PAGE

54


IN TOUCH

GET EXCITED ABOUT…

SHOOT AND SHARE 3D PHOTOS TAKE PARALLAX PICTURES WITH THE INSTAGRAM OF THE FUTURE

S

itting somewhere between iOS 7’s parallax wallpapers and Vine’s six-second looping videos, Seene is a new download that allows you to create 3D photos in a matter of seconds. Created by London-based developers Obvious Engineering, the innovative free app allows you to shoot pictures that you can view from four angles just by tilting your screen. The amazing images can then be shared on Facebook and Twitter, as well as viewed on desktop and embedded in websites. However, Seene also has its own social network. “We see Seene as an evolution of what a photo can be, and it’s social and shareable by design,” said Mike Evans, co-founder and COO at Obvious Engineering. Like other social apps, users can follow each other’s posts, favourite individual images, and attach hashtags to posts so that others can search for a specific topic. Landing in the top five of both the UK and US App Store’s most popular downloads in the Photo and Video section, Seene is already developing a burgeoning community of its own.

“We’ve been amazed by the quality of what our hundreds of thousands of users have been sharing over the last week since we’ve launched,” added Evans. While it takes a matter of seconds to process an image and create a 3D photo, the app cannot capture plain, transparent and reflective surfaces particularly well. It also requires very steady hands to map the object you want to render accurately, with the app flashing up warnings if you do it incorrectly. However, Evans believes users quickly adjust to this. “We’ve found that after a few shots people start sharing really interesting compositions, so although there is a learning curve, it’s not that steep.” But the spokesman was keen to point out that Seene is not looking to rival Vine and Instagram – yet. “Our lifelike 3D focus is the difference, and we’ve got some great features in the pipeline to reinforce this side of the product, so we think we can grow alongside them for now – it’s not yet a zero sum game.”

SEENE O iPhone | iOS 6.0 | Free | v1.0.1

HOW TO CAPTURE A 3D PHOTO

1 Dot to dot

2 Capture four angles

3 Slow and steady

4 Share with friends

To take a 3D photo, Seene needs to be able to use lots of points to map the image. While in camera mode, but before you press Capture, dots will be displayed clustered around objects. The more dots there are, the better image you can take. For the best results, avoid plain, reflective or clear materials.

Centre your camera on the point you want to shoot, then tap the large white Capture button at the bottom of the screen. Capture the subject from four angles, moving left and right, then up and down. A circle divided into four segments will appear on the screen – get four green segments and you’re done.

It’s recommended that you use both hands when capturing your image to keep the camera stable. If you don’t, the app can’t render a lifelike 3D image. The segments will flash red as a warning if you’re not smooth enough. Also, keep your subject centred and move around it. Don’t pan from side to side.

Once you’ve snapped your picture, add a caption and a hashtag, then tap Share. Seene already has a emerging community of users who will be able to view your photos, favourite them and follow you. However, there is also the option to share with your friends directly to Twitter and Facebook as well.


7

LEFT: Depending on how you point your camera at the pages of the book, the music in will change


REWRITING BOOKS FOR THE DIGITAL ERA SMARTPHONES AND TABLETS ARE BRINGING PRINTED STORIES TO LIFE IN MORE INNOVATIVE WAYS THAN EVER

S ABOVE: Use the spoiler scroll bar to show where in the book series you are, so the app doesn’t ruin it!

ABOVE: Sadly By Your Side heralds an exciting new development in the telling of stories LEFT: The Frankenstein app allows users to make choices that will affect the narrative of the classic tale

SADLY BY YOUR SIDE O iPhone | iOS 5.0 | Free


ince the release of the earliest tablet, doom-mongers have predicted the end of the printed book. While eBook readers and interactive fiction is a growing trend, a new range of apps have been launched to accompany existing books, not replace them. Recent release George R.R. Martin’s A World of Ice and Fire includes hundreds of character biographies, an encyclopedia of place names and interactive maps to help the reader navigate the vast world of the fantasy epic series. However, a unique feature allows users to set where they have read up to in the book cycle, filtering out any other content, reducing the risk of spoilers. Another new release, which blurs the lines between books, apps and music is Sadly By Your Side. The work of Italian interaction designer and

GEORGE R.R. MARTIN’S A WORLD OF ICE AND FIRE – A GAME OF THRONES GUIDE O iPad+ | iOS 6.0 | Free O Android | OS 4.0.3 | Free

electronic musician edisonnoside, you scan a book full of coloured shapes with the iPhone app to play music. Each colour represents a different audio parameter in a track, and every page of the book represents a different song. Depending on how you focus the app on the page, you can even remix the tracks. Meanwhile, on Google Play, the interactive fiction genre is flourishing. Following success on iOS, Dave Morris’ adaptation of Frankenstein lives again on Android. The app includes both an eBook of Mary Shelley’s gothic classic and an interactive reworking that allows readers to pick and choose how the story unfolds. Finally, both a game and story, Death of the Cuff is a detective story inspired by Agatha Christie’s Poirot, in which you must interview all the characters and trick the killer into revealing themselves.

FRANKENSTEIN O iPad+ | iOS 4.3 | £2.99/$4.99 O Android | OS 4.0 | £2.99/$4.57

IN TOUCH


IF YOU LIKE THIS, THEN TRY THESE…

GET SPORTS SHOPPING ADVICE WITH CURIOSITY

ENDOMONDO SPORTS TRACKER On top of tracking your running, interact with other athletes, compete against their best times and share route maps with friends. O iPhone | iOS 5.0 | Free | v8.6.1 O Android | Varies | Free | Varies

WHETHER IT’S ROLLER SKATES OR MOUNTAIN-CLIMBING KIT, GET BUYER’S ADVICE FROM THIS COMMUNITY-DRIVEN APP

POSE Get fashion tips from this stylish social network. Featuring thousands of fashion bloggers for you to follow and the ability to purchase products in-app. O iPhone | iOS 7.0 | Free | v4.0.3 O Android | OS 2.2 | Free | v2.9.0

G

et started with a new hobby with this sporty product recommendation app. GET MORE title or description. Tapping on any lineup will Whether you’re looking to take up skiing SHOPPING ADVICE display further details, such as biographical or planning to jog off all your winter weight WITH SCOOPT FOR information aboutt the user that posted the in the summer, taking up a new hobby more ANDROID, PAGE product, as well as product ratings and store often than not means buying new sporting options. Items can then be tapped on for goods. Rather than comb forums for product product specifications (usually offered via the recommendations or scour online retailers for manufacturer’s website), saved for later or purchased the best price, Curiosity does it all for you. through a preferred, typically big-name, reseller. Driven by a community of enthusiasts, the app Best of all, you can begin using the app by viewing the provides packages for different activities, from bicycle large assortment of suggestions as a guest, then sign up repair kits to cold weather running clothes and many for a free account – or for simply link to your Facebook other outdoor activities. profile – for posting and other capabilities. The app’s user interface has a stylish stripped-back look, but is also very effective. Products are curated so that they are grouped in packages, each shown in a scrollable horizontal gallery and accompanied by a brief O iPhone | iOS 7 | Free | v1.0

39

QUORA Ask any question on any subject and get real-time answers from other users with first-hand experience. A great community to be part of that will likely come in very useful. O iPhone | iOS 5.0 | Free | v3.0.1 O Android | OS 2.2 | Free | v1.3.1

CURIOSITY - SHOPPING

GET TO GRIPS WITH iOS 7 ON YOUR iPAD TOP ADVICE AND APP RECOMMENDATIONS FOR TABLET

W

ith a range of new features, the new-look iOS 7 operating system for iPad can take some help getting used to. The latest in the popular series of guides, iPad Tips, Tricks, Apps and Hacks Volume 7, offers step-by-step tutorials on using the tablet – plus recommends the best apps. Covering both the iPad and the iPad mini, the Tips section goes into all the device’s built-in features, while Tricks recommends third-party apps to get jobs done. The dedicated Apps section covers every section of the App Store, while Hacks showcases the added functionality that jailbreaking your device can offer. iPad Tips, Tricks, Apps and Hacks Volume 7 is on sale now from www.imagineshop.co.uk and all good newsagents.

WE LOVE IT 03WHY

AVIATE BETA

01CONTEXTUAL

GET ALL THE INFORMATION YOU NEED FROM THIS INTELLIGENT HOME SCREEN

I

magine waking up and having the weather forecast and your schedule displayed on your home screen. Later, when driving, it would display traffic updates and give you directions at home. When out looking for dinner, your phone displays restaurant reviews and photos. All of this without pressing a button. Based on an understanding of both your location and your preferences, Aviate for Android works to deliver you only the best apps and information when you need them most. Aviate can learn how to best organise your apps, which is ideal for users with a lot of them. Still, the app is currently in beta, so you have to apply and be approved before you can download it.

Based on your location, movement and activity, Aviate recommends ‘quick access’ functions (for example, Camera or Check In), apps and information suited to your needs.

02COLLECTIONS

In addition to suggesting apps that you need right now, Aviate automatically sorts all your downloads into categories, such as Music or Productivity. This means that even if apps are not displayed immediately, you can still find them with ease.

03UNCLUTTERED

FOR MORE ANDROID STREAMLINING, CHECK OUT DYNAMIC KEYBOARD ON PAGE

59

AVIATE BETA O Android | OS 2.3 | Free | v1.0

Only displaying the information you need right now, Aviate gives your smartphone a streamlined design that is both stylish and easy to navigate. The stripped-back look also makes it faster and more efficient to use.


9

HOW TO… FOR A FULL REVIEW OF THE INTUIT PAY CARD READER, SEE ISSUE 35

RUN A MARKET STALL MANAGE A TRULY MOBILE BUSINESS

1. Mobile card reading Customers now want to pay with plastic, sparking a rise of card readers that integrate with smartphones for mobile businesses. In the US, Twitter founder Jack Dorsey’s Square is very popular, but the best service of this kind available in the UK is Intuit Pay.

3. Track your inventory

5. Keep in touch As your business booms, you might look at hiring more staff. If your team is spread over multiple locations, Glassboard allows employees to ping you a message, as well as allow you to track their location. You can also share files and media.

Inventory Tracker makes it easy to keep an eye on how many items you’ve sold by importing a spreadsheet of your goods and altering in-app. You can also use a barcode scanner to search your record instantly.

2. Provide a receipt

4. Export sales data

Final thought

The Intuit Pay app is free, but the card reader costs £49.99. After this set-up cost, all money is transferred into your account – but Intuit charges 2.75 per cent per transaction. The app acts as a cash register and emails receipts to customers.

You may want to back up your sales figures for safekeeping. Inventory Tracker exports via email or you can it set to automatically export to Dropbox every time you close the app. If you’re using Intuit Pay, just log in to www.intuit. co.uk to download records.

Carefully combing the Business, Finance and Productivity sections of the App Store can provide you with a range of helpful tools for running your mobile business – with many of them available as free downloads. Most high street banks also now provide free apps for account holders to monitor their money on the go, however there is no getting around paying for card transactions.

APPS USED INTUIT PAY Never miss a sale with this safe way of processing credit card transactions through your smartphone. O iPhone+ | iOS 5.0 | Free | v1.5 O Android | OS 4.0 | Free | v1.5


INVENTORY TRACKER Keep track of the inventory that you buy, sell and deliver, as well as keeping a close eye on those all-important profit margins. O iPhone+ | iOS 4.3 | £2.99/$4.99 | v4.0.2

GLASSBOARD A secure social network that allows you to stay in touch with your staff and share files, photos and videos, if need be. O iPhone+ | iOS 6.0 | Free | v2.3.3 O Android | OS 2.2 | Free | v2.5.0.0

IN TOUCH

PLAY IN AN T ODDWORLD It amazed console gamers in 2005. Now Oddworld: Stranger’s Wrath creator Lorne Lanning hopes to drop the jaws of phone owners with a mobile version ODDWORLD: STRANGER’S WRATH Stranger’s Wrath is an action-adventure game that forms part of the acclaimed Oddworld series. OiPhone+ | iOS 6.0 | TBC | v1.0 OAndroid | OS 4.2 | TBC | v1.0

he Oddworld series of games began with Abe’s Oddysee in 1997 and they were soon taken to the hearts of gamers. One of the best games, Stranger’s Wrath, is being ported from the Xbox to iOS and Android, with the former getting a release very soon and the latter following. Despite its console origins, the handheld versions appear very faithful, with an intuitive control system and background that moves with the handset – we find out what else is new.

What do you think you have achieved with the game? We’ve resolved the issue of first-person shooters. Anywhere you touch creates a controller and a camera. We’ve made it so the left side of the screen is the joystick and the right side the camera – but it also works by moving the device. We think with the ability to aim quickly anywhere you want and fine-tune the shooting, we’ve solved the twofinger first-person shooter problem. It does look quite unique... We’ve spent some time on it. It’s rendering better in iOS and Android than it did on the Xbox. When will it be available? By Christmas. It will be on iOS first at a low price. What are your aims for the game? Orbital - the way you can aim and fine-tune - will be used for other platforms. I’m hoping we have a good fall but lots of things can happen. The better we do, the faster we can do things. What difference has self-publishing made? Self-publishing is great. I think we can put a premium Oddworld experience in people’s hands at a real low price. It builds us a digital shelf space on smartphones and if it does really well, then it becomes a title that people remember and want more of. We’re looking at ‘long tail’ and nowadays having a mobile presence is vital for this. Allowing us to self-publish will also hopefully let us build. What about the future? We have very specific ideas of what we want to do in the future but historically I’ve been slapped

around a few times by the fans for promising things and announcing things we couldn’t do – but the audience is forgiving. You find out they don’t need the biggest and latest thing for 60 dollars, they just want more from you. These are unique games and people are saying, ‘I want a Strangers Wrath remake so I can play it on my phone’. So we’re delivering that – and I think we’re going to have a really good year. What’s your business model? The money being made for Oddworld will go back into making Oddworld. When people buy our games, they are not just buying the games. If people go to Gap, they know the money doesn’t necessarily go to the people in the shop but they know if they go to an independent store, they invest in the people there to a greater degree. Because we’re engaging with the audience, the feedback is invaluable and it gives clarity in ways that adjusts creative thinking and strategy. What’s the big difference between today and the Nineties, when Oddworld was first made? With the way digital distribution has opened up, it has shown there is an audience that still cares. We’re constantly questioning the viability to deliver when we promise. If we do it, we can do it for the fans now. When I did Abe’s Oddysee [on the PlayStation], it cost us a fortune to get the right tools to make it but today there are all kinds of tools out there and that’s really changing things. It is making it more viable to make expansive, innovative and creative games without massive outlays. With self-publishing, the little guys have possibilities again.

“WE’RE ENGAGING WITH THE AUDIENCE; THE FEEDBACK IS INVALUABLE AND IT GIVES CLARITY IN WAYS THAT ADJUSTS CREATIVE THINKING AND STRATEGY”

05 CONSOLE TO SMARTPHONE CONVERSIONS DRIVER It’s been out for a while but it showed just what the iPhone was capable of as a gaming machine. OiPhone | iOS 2.2.1 | £1.99/$2.99 | v1.1.1

CALL OF DUTY BLACK OPS ZOMBIES The infamous blockbuster war game. OiPhone | iOS 4.2 | £4.99/$6.99 | v1.3.1 OAndroid | iOS 2.3.3 | £5.99/$6.99 | Varies

GRAND THEFT AUTO 3

THE SIMS 3

WORLD OF GOO

The pivotal videogame now on your mobile. OiPhone+ | OS 4.3 | £2.99/$4.99 | v1.3.2 OAndroid | iOS 2.2 | £2.99/$4.99 | Varies

A PC favourite on a smaller screen. Touchscreens work wonders for this everyday life simulator. Great fun. O iPhone+ | iOS 4.3 | £4.99/$6.99 | v1.3.90

The characters of Oddworld in a different language. O iPhone | iOS 4.3 | £2.99/$4.99 | v1.5 OAndroid | OS 2.2 | £1.99/$2.99 | v1.1.1


11 11

GALLERY

LAND OF THE RISING APPS THE BEST MOBILE GAMES TO COME OUT OF JAPAN

1 2

3 4

5

6


1. HUNGRYMASTER

2. MA.YU,MO.RI

Boasting more than 100 missions this game certainly won’t bore you, and neither will the retro visuals that look like they’ve come straight out of an Eighties arcade. The aim of the game is to turn monsters into fruit in order to feed Delica and her talking cat Saten. This is done through some cool gesture controls that involve tapping and holding to move a character, before swiping to take out any approaching monsters. The endless, survival feel has made it hugely popular not just in Japan but all across the world too.

A unique visual combination of claymotion and more traditional graphics, this game happens to be one of the most popular here, being released in English by popular demand. The aim of the game is to use a bow and arrow to shoot flowers and release their power. Full of soothing music, the game offers something very different to the usually intense mobile gaming experience found on iOS and Android. Instead, Ma.Yu.Mo.Ri has a relaxing effect and as such is unlike anything else out there.

O iPad | iOS 4.3 | Free | v1.18

O iPhone+ | iOS 5.0 | Free | v1.0.4 O Android | OS4.0 | Free | v1.0.6

3. CATS ALL OVER

4. MEWMEW TOWER

Cats are very big in Japan, and that probably explains the nature of this puzzle game, where the aim is to keep your grid of felines happy. To do this, users must wake them up and send them to sleep at the right time each day and night, with failure to do so leading to illness among your army of felines. The puzzle aspect comes from the fact that tapping a single cat doesn’t just affect that one, but also those around it. The aim is to make it through as many day cycles as possible without failing to have every cat either asleep or awake – it’s addictive!

A crazy combination of Jenga and cats, the aim of this game is to stack cats in a straight line as high as you can. The gestures allow users to have complete control over the placing of each cat – a delicate process that certainly brings some extra tension to what is a very fun-looking and casual game. There are cats of different shapes and sizes to drop in, so keeping a tower straight is of the utmost importance. This game feels like it’s straight off of Japanese television – and look out for the tilt controls to help with balance.

O iPhone | iOS 4.3 | Free | v1.4

O iPhone+ | iOS 4.3 | £0.69/$0.99 | v3.0

5. POCKET LEAGUE STORY

6. RAGE OF BAHAMUT

From Kairosoft, one of the hardest-working developers out there given the number of games they put out, and the highlight for many has been Pocket League Story. The game sees users building a football team from scratch, signing and training players before setting out on the path to glory. Build a stadium and fan base as success grows, while enjoying the engaging pixel-art world. Engrossing from the start, Pocket League Story makes users want to keep coming back.

Trading card games are a very big deal in Japan, so unsurprisingly one of the biggest exports comes from that genre. Rage of Bahamut lets players choose an allegiance and join an order before battling other players live. There are constantly updating quests and events to help players level up and make a name for themselves in the game’s universe. It’s a constantly evolving community of players, which makes for an engaging experience that will keep players returning – and the cool anime style art impresses too.

O iPhone+ | iOS 3.1 | £2.49/$3.99 | v1.0.3 O Android | OS 1.6 | £2.99/$4.99 | v1.1.6

O Android | OS 2.3 | Free | v1.1 | v6.0.5 O iPhone+ | iOS 4.3 | Free | v5.9


THE PLAY STORE M GETS PERSONAL GOOGLE ROLLING OUT BETTER CUSTOMISATION FEATURES

aking the Play Store the best place it can possibly be for Android users is obviously a high priority for Google, especially with Apple’s own store having just upgraded. With this in mind, Google has recently announced some big, sweeping changes to how you use it due to come into effect from November 21. From this date onwards, tablet users visiting the Play Store

IN TOUCH

will have both the recommended and top lists optimised for tablet apps, so the content users see is instantly more relevant to them. In addition, as Android 4.4 rolls out, the Play Store will begin to use recent web and YouTube searches to recommend apps and music to customers. Behold the new, streamlined Play Store, and rejoice in just how personal it’s become.

RESULTS As well as making tablet users feel more at home, the Play Store is starting to use what Android device owners search the web and YouTube for in order to recommend apps and music specific to them.

RECOMMENDED FOR YOU Tablet users will now see a very different Play Store, one that is now optimised for them, with tablet-designed apps taking centre stage so the most relevant downloads are close to hand.

CRITERIA Google has announced that apps will continue to be subject to criteria in order to make it into the Designed for Tablets section, and those that don’t will appear in Designed for Phones.

FILLING IN THE GAPS USE CASECOLLAGE TO CREATIVELY FILL THE GAPS IN iPHONE 5c CASES

T

he range of colourful cases that Apple launched for the already quite vibrant iPhone 5c range have dived opinion. While some liked that the hole-studded cases gave them the option to mix and match their iPhone colour with te case for added personalisation, others dismissed it as resembling Connect Four. CaseCollage is a new app that has appeared to sovle the problem. Users have the option to fill all 35 cricle-spaces in their case as they see fit, either selecting images from their photo library or using the app to insert text, filler colour or even select from a range of interesting stencils and patterns available in its toolbox. Having completed the creation process, CaseCollage builds a print-friendly version to cut out and place inside the iPhone 5c case. There are also sharing options should users want to show off their unique creation to friends and family.

CASE COLLAGE O iPhone | iOS 5.0 | Free | v1.01

ABOVE: The first step of using CaseCollage is to select the colour case owned, so the final digital version is accurate

ABOVE: The in-app tools allow users to drop in and take photos, but also fill areas with colour, icons and letters www.knowyourapps.com

13

GEAR GROUP TEST

THE BEST MID-RANGE HEADPHONES SONY MDR-XB800 SMS AUDIO STREET BY 50 GET THE MOST FROM YOUR TRACKS WITH THE RIGHT HEADPHONES

HEADPHONES

The packaging for these headphones tells you several times about the ‘extra bass’ these phones provide, when in truth you only need to fire them up to discover that. Bass can be easily overdone – but thankfully the XB800s are precise and powerful without losing clarity at the top end. With regards to design, these catch the eye – the styling looks rough and ready; straight from the DJ booth. The flat ear pads don’t look comfortable but are so soft that your ears sink into them and they become over-ear pods that blot out the world around you.

You could argue these headphones have an advantage over their rivals as they’re the only ones here endorsed by a musician – in this case 50 Cent. As an on-the-go set of headphones however, these might not be ideal given their size and general bulkiness. Stay in one place, however, and you have something serious on your hands. The Active Noise Cancellation is truly brilliant, blanking out the world around you completely as you get surrounded by a deep, bass-heavy sound that doesn’t overdo it. The sheer size and weight can become an issue over long periods, but if you’re very into your music, these are well worth a look.

+++++ £199.95/$279.95 | SMS Audio | smsby50.com

+++++ £149.99/$149.99 | Sony | sony.com

SENNHEISER MOMENTUM ON-EAR HEADPHONES NAD VISO HP50 OVER-EAR HEADPHONE The most striking thing about the VISOs is the comfort and noise cancelling that the leather ear pads provide. It means that the user can sit back and not disturb a soul in the process. It’s clear from the depth of sound that a lot of effort has gone into honing the audio output of these headphones, and coupled with the style, it’s a very desirable final package.

+++++ £245.00/$299.00 | NAD | nadelectronics.com


As these Sennheisers are on-ear as opposed to over-ear, cancelling out the world around you without leaking some audio isn’t really possible. However, what the Momentums do is recreate a similar kind of absorbing sound, despite less ear coverage. It’s a testament to the quality of the sound produced, and thanks to the softness of the ear cushions comfort is also not an issue despite them having to sit physically on your ears.

FOCAL SPIRIT ONE Standing out not only because of their eye-catching design, the Focal Spirit Ones have been made especially for use with mobile devices in mind. As a result, they are impressively light for over-ear headphones. There’s an in-line remote that also works for calls and summoning Siri, but you’ll get the most pleasure from the sound. It’s crisp and clear with just the right punch of bass to make things interesting. They’re comfortable to wear for long periods, making them a very solid choice indeed.

+++++

+++++

£169.99/$229.95 | Sennheiser | sennheiser.com

£149.00/$279.99 | Focal | focal.com

IN TOUCH


VOTE FOR YOUR APP OF THE YEAR A

HAVE YOUR SAY IN THE READERS’ CHOICE AWARD 2013

ddicted to Temple Run 2? Caught up in the sixsecond video sensation Vine? Now is the time to show your support for your favourite app by voting for them in the Apps Magazine Readers’ Choice award. Each year, Apps Magazine honours the best iPhone, iPad and Android apps in categories ranging from Best Game to Best Entertainment, Everyday and Work Apps as well as awards for style and innovation. Arguably the most coveted prizes, however, are App of the Year, selected by the Apps Magazine team, and the Readers’ Choice award, which is chosen by you. This year’s nominees are endless-running game Temple Run 2, video-sharing app Vine,

navigation app Google Maps, language game Duolingo and forecasing giant BBC Weather. Head to www.knowyourapps. com now to vote for your favourite. The deadline for entries is 11 November – so you will need to be quick to cast your vote in time! Last year the Readers’ Choice accolade was awarded to Endomondo Sports Tracker, an all-encompassing fitness app that remains one of the most popular downloads around, something this year’s award nominees will likely be looking to emulate. The winner will be revealed with the other App Awards in issue 40 of Apps Magazine, on sale in all good shops and for digital download from ABOVE: Video sensation Vine has been Thursday 5 December. adopted by app lovers everywhere

COMPLETE YOUR APPS MAGAZINE COLLECTION BACK ISSUES ARE NOW HALF PRICE

A

pps Magazine is now half price on all issues over six months old, so you can build up your collection of top reviews for iPhone, iPad and Android downloads. Down from £4.99 to £2.49 per issue, the back issues on offer include our guides to 100 Amazing Free Apps, 50 Greatest Games and The App Awards 2012 – celebrating the best downloads of last year. Other magazines now 50% off include tech titles iCreate, Android Magazine, and Web Designer. Visit www.imagineshop.co.uk for more information.

ABOVE: BBC Weather remains one of the most popular weather apps available

YOUR MESSAGES, TWEETS & PHOTOS FOLLOW US ON TWITTER

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SEND US AN EMAIL TODAY WITH YOUR THOUGHTS OR FAVOURITE APPS

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APPSPOSURE

YOUR PHOTOS, AND THE APPS YOU MADE THEM WITH SNAPSEED

Which new feature for iOS 7 has impressed you most of all?

O iOS 5.0 | Free

“SNAPSEED AS USUAL” @activrightbrain

@StephenAshby It has to be Control Center. I’ve used it several times every day since iOS 7 launched! @rodrik_br I’m kind of happy because it’s beautiful but… iOS 7 drains my battery @gavinthomas87 I’m a huge fan of the smartened up Safari app - the new gestures make life so much easier!

CAMERA O iOS 7.0 | Free

“TAKEN WITH NEW iOS 7 CAMERA FILTERS” @StephenAshby www.knowyourapps.com

15

GEAR ROUNDUP BOOQ VIPER HARDCASE

BLUE SPARK DIGITAL

Subtle in appearance and design, the Booq Viper offers some very good protection for your valuable seven-inch tablet. The slim travel case has a semi-rigid moulded exterior that ensures your device is well protected when on the move. Inside is a soft lining ideal for your device, alongside compartments for things like your passport, boarding pass and other papers. As well as being the perfect size for the iPad mini, it will comfortable fit an Android tablet, such as a Galaxy Note or Nexus 7.

With the look of an old school studio mic, the Blue Spark Digital is intended for mainly musical use, ideally hooked up to your iPad and running some recording software. It also comes with a USB cable to connect to a laptop, and is incredibly easy to assemble quickly. If you’re looking to start a mini music studio at home then this is a great way to begin.

+++++

£199.95/$199.95 | Blue | bluemic.com

+++++

£N/A/$39.95 | Booq | booqbags.com

DIVOOM BLUETUNE SOLO

GRIFFIN POWERDOCK 5

Despite its compact size, the Bluetune Solo aims to give the music on your device a bass boost. Lightweight and nicely designed, there are few environments this speaker won’t look good in, and it also works as a speakerphone should your listening session be interrupted by a call. The bass does begin to distort at the top end, but this is a solid audio choice nonetheless. To bring the noise, you can connect multiple Solos together via Bluetooth for surround sound.

An impressive piece of kit for the power it has to offer, the PowerDock can handle charging up to five iOS devices at once. There are USB ports for each slot on the dock, with power coming from it being plugged in. Now giving your entire household’s devices a power boost can be done in a single place, ending the need for an extension lead and wires everywhere. This is definitely one for big families or extreme iOS device lovers.

+++++

+++++

£39.99/$59.99 | Divoom | divoom.com

£74.99/$99.99 | Griffin | griffintechnology.com


IN TOUCH

MY HOME SCREEN

THE GAMER Entertaining apps for the serious game enthusiast

W

hich apps are best suited to gamers? The built-in ones are all fine, but we think our collection provides a lot more fun. Here we’ve included a video-calling app that allows you to play games within a call and challenge the person at the other end, as well as a camera app that lets you stamp Minecraft graphics on your photos. Interested? Check out our other suggested alternatives and discover how you can start unleashing your competitive side from every corner of your smartphone.

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

OAndroid | OS 2.3.3 | Free | v1.6

10

Steam is incredibly popular with gamers as it’s an essential source of games and information. You can browse and buy top games, and get the latest news.

1

PUFFIN

RAPTR

Alternative to 4 Safari

Alternative to Game Center

Safari is a fine web browser for most surfing needs, but unfortunately it doesn’t support Flash. Puffin does play Flash movies, so now you can view all the game previews and demos you’ve been missing.

5

O iPhone | iOS 5.0 | Free | v3.2.2 OAndroid | OS 2.2 | Free | v3.0.10154M

O iPhone | iOS 4.3 | Free | v1.2 OAndroid | OS 2.1 | Free | v1.0.6

OiPhone | iOS 6.0 | Free | v1.6 OAndroid | OS 2.3.3 | Free | v1.6

Alternative to Messages


Alternative to App Store

Displays daily and 6 hourly forecasts – but there is also a virtual pet to look after.

Alternative to Clock

This countdown 3 Loving Angry timer could be Birds Star used to track Wars II? important upcoming Message your friends game launches. Just add this Star Wars-themed the release dates of the social network app. OiPhone | iOS 4.3 games you are waiting | Free | v1.2 for and it will alert you.

STEAM MOBILE

Alternative to Weather

KINECT STAR WARS

2

9

WEATHER RABBIT FREE

COUNT DOWN APP FREE

TANGO Alternative to FaceTime Call friends and challenge them to a game – you can play within the video call!

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O iPhone | iOS 5.0 | Free | v3.1.61433 OAndroid | OS 2.2 | Free | v3.1.62450

CAMERA MINECRAFT EDITION FREE 8

Alternative to Camera

OiPhone | iOS 4.3 | Free | v1.2 OAndroid | OS 2.3.3 | Free | v1.6

BING

SUPER NOTE: RECORDER, NOTES, MEMOS. FREE

Alternative to Maps Bing is much more than just a web search tool and its maps are pretty good. If you’re visiting a friend for a gaming session and aren’t sure how to get there, the in-app Bing Maps will show you directions.

10

Alternative to Notes 9

Get all your friends to join the Raptr community. It works a bit like Game Center; you can see who’s playing what across all the consoles, track your friend’s achievements and more. Great fun!

Use this Minecraft camera to add themed graphics to the shot for fun.

Jot down your game details such as usernames, characters and wishlists.

OiPhone | iOS 5.0 | Free | v1.0

OiPhone | iOS 5.0 | Free | v3.5

O iPhone | iOS 4.3 | Free | v4.1.1


17

FEATURE | 50 FREE FIVE-STAR APPS

Whether it’s a luxury hotel or an Oscar-winning movie, the idea of something being ‘five stars’ is a badge of honour that is rarely awarded. It represents the pinnacle of achievement and a reward for hours of hard work, innovative thinking and true craftsmanship. We hand out only a few five-star awards in each issue of Apps Magazine to downloads that have really grabbed us. Here is a roundup


of the leading apps that we’ve seen this year, complete with why you should reserve a spot on your home screen just for them. To ensure that you can enjoy this App Store crème de la crème without racking up unwanted costs, we’ve limited our list to the top 50 priceless apps that won’t cost you a penny. Whether they are on iPhone, iPad or Android, they are all completely free you to download and enjoy.

50 FREE FIVE-STAR APPS | FEATURE

CRAFTSY O iPad+ | iOS 6.0 For craft lovers this is an essential app, with video tutorials on everything from knitting to cake decoration. There are hours and hours of content to work through at your own pace in order to master a technique and, thanks to the ability to take video notes and participate in discussions, you’re getting a fully fledged learning experience for free.

ANOMALY NOVEL

ZENONIA 5 O iPhone+ | iOS 4.3 OAndroid | OS 2.2 An RPG series that has proved infinitely popular with mobile gamers, Zenonia has been able to rack up five instalments thanks to a visual style inspired by Final Fantasy, and expansive worlds that draw the user in. This is by far the best-looking game in the series, and with so much to do, there are few free games that come more highly recommended.

UNSTUCK O iPad | iOS 4.3 A pretty unique app for productivity, Unstuck is designed to help users get themselves unstuck and working once again when that creativity block hits – often at the most inopportune moments. The app also works more generally across all aspects of life and is programmed to help its users try and think differently through a series of on-screen exercises.

O iPad | iOS 5.1 This is an app that feels like a cinematic mode that takes you through it all automatically, all you have to do is sit back, Hollywood blockbuster built for iPad, with levels of content watch and listen. This is a truly amazing entertainment experience and one that is unseen anywhere else. Anomaly unrivalled on the iPad. is a 300-page graphic novel for starters, but with individual art panels to move through, and voice acting talent from film, TV and WHAT WE SAID BEFORE video games this is much more than just an “This isn’t just a story you’re moving eBook. The epic sci-fi story is littered with through, it’s an entire universe.” interactive touch points throughout the Issue 29 pages – totalling over 170 – and these give readers background detail that feels encyclopedic at times. Visually this app is breathtaking; with a huge amount of detail having gone into the image-creation process, and there are hundreds of 3D interactive models hidden behind the touch points too. One of the best aspects of this app is the different reading modes; you can choose to move through the story yourself, or turn on the

GUMULON O iPhone+ | iOS 6.0 This is something very different for gaming fans, Gumulon asks users to use their mouth and the action of chewing to help Ace escape an underground maze. The app uses the front-facing camera to track movement and convert that into gameplay, helping Ace to collect crystals. There is a more conventional tap version of the controls available too.

SLICE ICE!

MEDIAFIRE

FLIPBOARD

CHARITY MILES

O Android | OS 1.6 A puzzle game from a completely new perspective, Slice Ice asks players to accurately cut sheets of ice without separating the baby penguins or getting in the way of the leopard seals. A game that should be on everyone’s home screen.

O iPhone | iOS 5.1 OAndroid | OS 2.3.3 MediaFire received the nod as a five-star app thanks to the great convenience it offers for being productive while on the move, but also because of the massive 50GB of storage it gives to every user. Perfect productivity.

O iPad+ | iOS 5.0 OAndroid | OS 2.2 Held in high regard by many, Flipboard is an essential. Browse through newthat appeals to you or even create your own magazines from scratch, selecting stories and sources before sharing them with the community.

O iPhone | iOS 6.0 OAndroid | OS 2.2 Charity Miles is a great app not just because of its honourable subject, but also for the way it takes available technology and puts it to brilliant use. As you walk, run and bike the miles, you earn money for charity.


19


HAVE A FIVE-STAR HOLIDAY TRIPOSO O iPhone+ | iOS 5.1 OAndroid | OS 2.1 Be sure that you have all the knowledge you could ever need about your destination by having Triposo with you. The app allows you to download guides and use them offline to prevent you from getting unwanted data charges.

GOOGLE MAPS O iPhone+ | iOS 6.0 OAndroid | Varies Still the premier mapping app for whatever you’re doing, Google Maps covers public transport and walking directions as well as traditional road steps. In-app reviews will also help familiarise places quickly.

BBC WEATHER O iPhone | iOS 5.0 OAndroid | OS 2.2 Not just any old weather app, this one looks fantastic. With five-day forecasts across the globe you can prepare for all conditions ahead of time. There are also hour-by-hour reports for the current day to keep you informed.

DUOLINGO O iPad+ | iOS 5.0 OAndroid | OS 2.2 A host of new languages placed at your fingertips, Duolingo uses a great game-like interface to help you pick up phrases and ultimately become fluent. There are achievements and levels to unlock as you progress.

RECCE - LONDON O iPhone+ | iOS 5.0 OAndroid | OS 4.0.3 One of the coolest city guides you ever, Recce transforms London into a beautiful 3D map bursting with information. This focuses on what to do and see but also on getting around, making it ideal for visitors to the city.


DIGITAL THEATRE

O iPad | iOS 5.0 Another app that is hugely experienceshow, and the app also contains The Journal, a digital driven, Digital Theatre brings the ambiance newsletter that provides the latest culture news. of a night at the theatre directly to your Part of the lure of this app lies in the impressive device thanks to its library of shows to names that litter it – from David Tennant to Jonathan stream. While in-app purchases are required in order to Pryce – this is an app filled with some of the biggest open up many of the shows, the talent and productions productions from around the UK, and bringing them on offer make any transaction worth it. There are also into the home is a unique experience. Add in the ability rental options that last 48 hours should you not wish to to send shows to a HDTV via AirPlay and you have the make something part of your permanent collection. makings of a very unique night in. Professionally filmed from multiple angles, each production on offer is captured in all its glory, in many WHAT WE SAID BEFORE cases allowing the user to get much closer to the action “A great idea that has been well designed and than is normally possible. There are trailers for each executed, and will only get better.” Issue 31

CINEBEAT BY SMULE OiPad+ | iOS 6.0 One of the very best apps available for getting creative and providing an overwhelming sense of fun, CineBeat takes your short clips and turns them into music videos. The app is then able to analyse your video and compose music to match. With 18 different styles and filters on offer here, you can expect a unique final result that gives you a great taste of stardom.

THE SILENT AGE O iPad+ | iOS 4.0 OAndroid | OS 2.2 This game has given the platform genre a new lease of life thanks to its use of time travel that sees your character jump between the same settings but in different time periods. It is by this method that you overcome obstacles, crossing dimensions in order to move forward and explore the next environment.

RAD SOLDIERS

TUNETRACE

O iPhone+ | iOS 5.0 A brilliant combination of hardcore battles and wacky characters, RAD Soldiers has plenty of personality that shines through. As well as the single-player mode, there is a chaotic multiplayer setup where users can take on friends and other online players, killing each other in increasingly hilarious ways. Brilliant fun.

O iPhone+ | iOS 6.0 Find and listen to music in places you wouldn’t normally expect thanks to the unique power of Tunetrace. The app takes your drawings or photographs and, using the lines and shapes within them, creates music and light to dance across your screen. A one-ofa-kind app that has to be seen to be believed.


MUSYC O iPad+ | iOS 6.0 Music creation apps are not a new concept when it comes to downloads. Musyc though, has managed to refresh the experience thanks to the open nature of the interface. Musyc works by using different shapes, and the different sounds they make in an environment to create a track. Users can create the environment as they see fit; using either precision to get the exact result they want, or just throwing in sounds to see what happens. This is the joy of Musyc, the unpredictability and indeed the scope of the app. There’s also a creative presence beyond just audio too – some of the presets in the app hint towards creating pictures with the shapes on offer and then adding sound-making shapes to these scenes and seeing what happens. For more serious audiophiles there are also plenty of editing tools to tweak the sound of each shape, offering more depth to an app that has surrendered complete creative control to the user – and it’s a great power to have.

WHAT WE SAID BEFORE “A wonderfully engaging and easy-touse music creation app with seemingly endless possibilities.” Issue 37

TURBO RACING LEAGUE

PLANTS VS ZOMBIES 2

O iPhone+ | iOS 5.1 O Android | OS 2.3 Being a movie tie-in doesn’t always bode well for mobile games, but things couldn’t be more different for Turbo Racing League. With smart controls and some cool environments to speed around, there is no reason to not play this game.

O iPad+ | iOS 5.1 Though the original was and remains incredibly popular, Plants vs Zombies 2 has all the content to surpass it thanks to a quicker turnover of cool plants. There’s also now a range of settings that add some much-needed variety to the gameplay.

GALAXY ON FIRE 2 HD O iPhone+ | iOS 4.3 OAndroid | OS 3.1 Placing an entire galaxy at your disposal, this game is brilliant for the sheer scale and potential it offers you. There are more than 100 planets to explore and several spacecraft to unlock and then upgrade. It’s about as close to open-world space exploration as you’ll ever get on your mobile.

“AN IMPRESSIVE FREE DOWNLOAD, PHOTO EDITOR KIT FREE CONTAINS EDITING TOOLS THAT USUALLY COST MONEY TO ACCESS”

PLAY FIVE-STAR GAMES DON’T LOOK BACK O iPhone+ | iOS 1.0 OAndroid | OS 2.2 Basic in design, but Don’t Look Back is provides an uplifting message and immersive gameplay. Based on the story of Orpheus in Greek mythology, you must retrieve your love from hell and return without ever looking back.

PLAGUE INC O Android | OS 2.2 Indulge your destructive side with this game that sees you trying to create a plague to wipe out the world’s population. As you complete the task in varying difficulties, more disease types open up for you to try out.

PIXEL PEOPLE O iPad+ | iOS 4.3 Build your own Utopia, complete with the citizens that live within it as you splice together your occupants to create new people. Unlocking new characters opens up more buildings as your Utopia constantly expands.

DOTS O iPhone+ | iOS 5.0 OAndroid | OS 2.2 Simple design yet stunningly addictive, Dots is all about creating squares of the same colour on your grid in order to score points. Whether it be battling the clock or with a set number of moves, you won’t be able to put this down.

PHOTO EDITOR KIT FREE O iPhone+ | iOS 6.0 A truly impressive free download, this app contains a level of editing tools that usually costs a few pounds or dollars to access. You do have to deal with some ads, but it’s worth it for the sheer range of things you can do – from some serious image perfecting to creating light-hearted memes.

DEAD TRIGGER O iPad+ | iOS 4.2 OAndroid | OS 2.3.3 Remains one of the bestvalue games around – given the look and depth to this game most would be happy to pay for it, but Dead Trigger remains a free download. Rejoice, download and fight off wave after wave of zombies.


21


SYMPLER

GOJEE FOOD

STARMATIC

VODIO

O iPhone | iOS 6.0 A very cool way of bringing together Instagram and Vine videos; Sympler allows users to mix together different short videos to the beat of music. The final product can then be stitched together, with various different musical accompaniments to choose from, and then shared across social networks.

O iPad+ | iOS 5.0 Not just collecting together recipes from the world’s best food bloggers and displaying them in one place, Gojee Food combines them with some stunning photography to have you salivating even further. If ever there was an app to fuel want in the best possible way, then this is it. An essential app for food lovers.

OiPhone | iOS 4.2 A very cool alternative if you’re looking for something a little bit different to the likes of Instagram, Starmatic offers similar powers of social interaction through the sharing of photos. The app also includes a range of filters and camera rolls for you to test out on your photographs.

O iPhone+ | iOS 5.0 OAndroid | OS 3.0 An aggregator for all your video content, Vodio tracks uploads across the major video sites and divides them into categories for you to look through. The aim of the app is to be the ultimate destination for time-killing entertainment, and it hardly puts a foot wrong in that department.

INJUSTICE: GODS AMONG US HOBBIT MOVIES

LAYRS

ESPN UK

O iPad+ | iOS 5.0 The roster of characters available in this app would be enough to get it five stars from many a comic book fan. Combined with the great visuals and cool card-collecting gameplay, however, this is a sure-fire winner.

O iPhone | iOS 5.0 A very cool photo app that gets under the skin of your images, separating individual layers and allowing you to work on each one independently for better effect. A unique editing app that offers a lot of opportunity.

O iPhone | iOS 5.1 O Android | OS 2.2 Given a recent overhaul and reaping the rewards, ESPN UK allows you to customise your feed across sports and teams, so all of your alerts are together in one, very good-looking place.

O iPad+ | iOS 5.0 As far as companions go for movie franchises, this is one of the finest. With artwork and maps as well as some stunning character imagery and an intuitive interface, this app deserves some of your time, especially if you’re a fan.

DUNGEON HUNTER 4

DISNEY JUNIOR APPISODES

O iPhone+ | iOS 5.0 OAndroid | OS 2.3 An RPG that has so much going for it, This fast-paced gameplay combined with the seemingly Dungeon Hunter 4 ticks the boxes for style endless amounts of loot to discover in the story mode and scale when it comes to mobile gaming. offers users various ways to immerse themselves. The game has a huge array of upgrades Then there is the multiplayer, with both co-op and across its four warrior types, each one with its own player vs player modes that allow you to team up with as unique combat style. All of this goes perfectly with the well as take on friends. There’s also a team deathmatch fantastic visuals that add to the epic atmosphere. mode where you can gather up a group of fighters and There are huge bosses to defeat, and a frenetic yet take on other players. This is an accomplished title that fun slashing-based control system to help you do that. has become more popular with every instalment, and deservedly has a place among the other fivestar apps listed here.

WHAT WE SAID BEFORE “A sensational game that will keep you hooked for hours on end.” Issue 34

O iPad+ | iOS 5.0 Captivate the younger members of your household with this video app and, being on iPad, each episode downloaded is also fully interactive. This means getting involved with events that unfold in front of you, and you can download episodes to access them at any time.

EVERMEETING O iPad+ | iOS 5.0 A five-star app and an award winner in Apps Magazine in the past, evermeeting really is a fantastic piece of productivity kit. Keep on top of everything by scheduling your meetings, as well as recording minutes before transcribing and sending out summaries.

“DUNGEON HUNTER IS AN ACCOMPLISHED TITLE THAT HAS BECOME MORE POPULAR WITH EVERY INSTALMENT”



MOVES O iPhone | iOS 6.0 OAndroid | OS 4.0 Moves is one of the most detailed movement-tracking apps around, putting the existing technology within your smartphone to log your exercise throughout the day. View your entire day mapped out as a timeline, with walking, running and cycling marked on the line in different colours. The idea behind this is that the visual presentation of all your movement could trigger some lifestyle changes, encouraging you to be more active and resulting in more exercise being taken on. The strength of this idea is perhaps best emphasised by Apple introducing the M7 coprocessor into the latest iPhone 5s, which does a similar job of tracking your movement throughout the day. It also means Moves could be an even more potent tool on these devices in particular. The app learns your habits and regular spots visited, including them on the timeline of the day as well as the in-app maps where you can see the different routes you take. Moves is effortless to set up and use, yet detailed and massively helpful to your daily routine.

“EFFORTLESS TO SET UP AND USE, YET DETAILED AND MASSIVELY HELPFUL” WEBR O iPhone | iOS 4.3.5 This is one of the best apps for displaying the power of the iPhone; Webr gives you the ability to build a website from scratch and post it in moments. There are templates and editing capabilities as well, so you can continue updating while you’re on the go.

PHOTO EDITOR BY AVIARY O iPhone+ | iOS 7.0 OAndroid | OS 2.3 One-touch auto-enhance, sharpening and blur effects and of course, the customary filters, Photo Editor has everything you could ask for. You can also draw on screen and add text if you wish, so every base is covered.

WHAT WE SAID BEFORE “Whether for fun or serious exercise, it succeeds in every area. Moves is a clever solution with an interface perfect for the task at hand.” Issue 31

VYCLONE O iPhone | iOS 7.0 OAndroid | OS 4.0.3 Vyclone takes footage from various perspectives and stitches them together into a single clip, covering the moment from all angles. Social gatherings and sporting events have never looked so good.

NOWTHIS NEWS O iPad+ | iOS 5.0 O Android | OS 2.2 A simple and very cool video news app, NowThis News is a collection of video bulletins released daily to keep users up-todate with all the global developments. There are news articles too, and the interface is engaging and good enough to sustain interest for a long time.

LISTEN TO FIVE-STAR MUSIC iPLAYER RADIO O iPhone | iOS 5.0 OAndroid | OS 4.0 A fantastically designed little app that gives users the power to search through the archive of BBC radio stations and listen to any podcasts you like. You can even download your favourites and listen later offline.

BLOOM.FM O iPhone | iOS 4.3 O Android | OS 2.3 Bloom.fm has been immensely popular thanks to its unique borrow-andreturn scheme that allows users to rent songs and then swap them for others. There are free radio stations too, but the tiny subscription fees make this app worth your time.

BANDSINTOWN CONCERTS O iPhone | iOS 4.3 OAndroid | OS 2.2 This app takes a look at the music library on your phone and builds a concert calendar based around it. You’ll never again be too late to hear about those gig tickets, as well as discover new artists along the way.

KISS KUBE OiPhone | iOS 5.0 OAndroid | OS 2.3 A great companion for fans of the popular radio station, Kiss Kube also contains a live stream of Kisstory and Kissfresh, and users can even customise the app so that it begins playing their preferred stream upon opening the app.

YOUTUBE O iPad+ | iOS 6.0 O Android | OS 2.2 YouTube is more even more music friendly as it now supports background video playback; users can listen to a song while queueing up the next one for the first time on mobile.


23

FEATURE | AUGMENT YOUR WORLD

AUGMENT YOUR WORLD DOWNLOAD THESE AUGMENTED REALITY APPS TO SEE THE WORLD DIFFERENTLY

ACROSSAIR AUGMENTED REALITY BROWSER

WIKITUDE

OiPhone+ | iOS 5.0 | Free OAndroid | OS 2.3 | Free

OiPhone | iOS 3.1 | Free

A very handy app for being out and about, acrossair has a list of amenities on help users narrow down to n scree what they’re looking for. Each of the e categories also has multiple sourc options when it comes to offering suggestions of places. Ranging from h to use if they happen to prefer one Google to Yelp, users can specify whic mark favourite places, and acrossair over the other. Users can also book to log the location of the car, so ible poss even It’s offers directions too. city is no longer an inevitability. losing it while out in a new town or

LAYAR – AUGMENTED REALITY OiPhone+ | iOS 6.0 | Free OAndroid | Varies | Free

This app is all about getting extra content from the adverts and products in the world around you. Anything displaying the Layar logo can be scanned, and this then offers the user quick links to the site as well as extra content. Scan a movie poster to see the trailer, while compatible magazines may offer extra content in the form of videos when they’re scanned. Quick links mean users can buy products in a couple of taps, from fashion items to movie tickets. All this content is saved to the app, logging everything seen and allowing users to return to it later and show friends.


What makes Wikitude appealing as an AR app is its accessibility. There are various categories to select from – ranging from restaurants to accomm odation – and events, relevant places and points that appear on screen. Rev iews and recommendations are offered by a host of sources, including big names like TripAdvisor and Hotels.c om, and Wikitube has a cleaner inte rface than a lot of other AR explorers. The re’s a more playful side too, with AR games thrown in that allow users to fight off invading aliens and swat flies if killing time becomes a top priority.

YELP

OiPad+ | iOS 5.0 | Free OAndroid | Varies | Free

Of course Yelp is primarily a list and mapbased recommendations app, it having its own AR setup makes sense given the amount of information there is on offer. Yelp can now overlay search results as AR results on screen to help users find what they’re looking for. The fact that a lot of the other search-based apps here use the service to source their results emphasises the power and scope that this app can offer. Though it may not be the central function of the app, using AR alongside the endless reviews makes a lot of sense and serves as a useful way to find that great restaurant or entertaining evening activity on the fly.

AUGMENT YOUR WORLD | FEATURE

ACTION MOVIE FX OiPad+ | iOS 5.0 | Free

Of course not every AR app is about finding out what’s around the corner, there are some, like Action Movie FX that try to do something a little different. This app wants to bring some Hollywood blockbuster effects to the videos shot on smartphone and tablet. Using the in-app effects and framing tools, users can make it look as though they’ve narrowly avoided a huge car crash, witnessed an asteroid hitting Earth or been caught in an avalanche. The effects are perfectly knitted in using AR, so the depth and impact looks better than anything else available on iOS, and because of this it encourages creativity in video shooting.

SNAPSHOP SHOWROOM

OiPhone+ | iOS 4.2 | Free

Making shopping a much more thorough process, SnapShop Showroom gives users the chance to virtually pick up objects and drop them into their front room to test the water before buying. The app supports gestures, so it’s possible to rotate and position items just how they would be set up in the room before taking a picture and sharing it with others to get opinions. On top of that, the app has its own built-in browser so users don’t have to leave the app to make a purchase. Big-name brands like Ikea and Pier1 are signed up and linked in with the app.

AUGMENT – 3D AUGMENTED REALITY

OiPhone+ | iOS 6.0 | Free OAndroid | OS 2.3.3 | Free

Another app that focuses more on the entertainment side of augmented reality, Augment gives you the chance to interact with and even create your own models, as well as try out products to see if they fit in your world. There are famous characters to pose alongside, virtual pets to dote over and even triggers that you can create yourse lf, so scanning an object leads to certain objects appearing. The real advantage of this app however comes in the ability to see what products such as furnitu re look like in your home before buying it, so you are able to get a far better idea of whether or not it fits into your room and if you like it. A well-execute d app with many uses.

ANOMALY: INTERACTIVE GRAPHIC NOVEL

OiPad | iOS 5.1 | Free OAndroid | OS 4.0 | £3.25/$4.99

This is a graphic novel on another level to the others in its category thanks to the various augmented reality points that litter over 300 stunning pages of this story. The AR works as a visual and interactive encyclopedia of the people and creatu res that occupy the Anomaly universe, allowing users to rotate and examine in detail the various lifeforms and ships within the story. Interact with them and users will also provoke a reaction; wild animals will attack and hostile creatures will threaten you. It all works perfectly as an added layer to the immersive story, and helps to break up the panel-by-panel reading.

STAR CHART

OiPad+ | iOS 4.3 | Free OAndroid | Varies | Free

Using stunning artwork to emphasise the constellations, the different figures and myths hidden among the stars are unveiled across your device’s screen in real beauty. The app also highlights the planets as well as man-made residents of the heavens, like satellites. Users can now see what they’re looking at when they point their smartphone or tablet upwards, even in broad daylight. There are also 3D features that allow users to explore the universe as a whole, but the AR is the real showstopper here.

FETCH! LUNCH RUSH OiPhone | iOS 4.0 | Free

Fetch is a maths-based game where players have r to solve puzzles by scanning the correct numbe be to in-app oaded downl be can card. This pop up on printed off, and using them sees animated sushi get Fetch help to is game the screen. The aim of ons everyone’s lunch order right, with the maths questi of way great a It’s sses. progre game getting harder as the good fun. engaging younger users, and as a free game is


25

FEATURE | THROW A PARTY WITH APPS!


THROW A PARTY WITH APPS! | FEATURE

PLANNING THE EVENT SIMPLE SOIREE

PRO PARTY PLANNER

OiPhone | iOS 4.3 | £1.49/$1.99

OiPad+ | iOS 5.0 | £2.99/$4.99

Hosting a really great party can take a lot of work, but Simple Soiree can make it a lot easier. Say goodbye to lists on scraps of paper around your house, forgotten details or incomplete shopping runs – you can plan everything inside this one app. Create shopping lists, track RSVPs, plan your menu and send updates to guests.

Ideal for larger events, you can manage everything from seating plans to party favours with this indepth app. Track your spending with a budget management spreadsheet and draw up a shopping list of items you need to buy. You can even imagine how your party will look using clever augmented reality features.

PARTY PLANNER

BRIT + CO.

OAndroid | OS 1.5 | £0.63/$0.99

OiPhone+ | iOS 6.0 | Free OAndroid | OS 2.3.3 | Free

Organise your bash with this easyto-use checklist. It comes preloaded with lots of party related items that you can customise to your needs, but also might contain something you hadn’t thought of including. This list can be easily be shared with others involved and can be backed up to Dropbox.

OFFER A HELPING HAND

If you’ve been invited to a friend’s party, why not ask if they need any help setting up? PitchIn is a great app to manage who is doing what.

PITCHIN

OiPhone | iOS 4.3 | Free

Find inspiration on Pinterest 1. Create a board Once you’ve set up an account on Pinterest, simply tap the blank ‘Create a Board’ square on your profile page. A board allows you to store pictures, such as decoration ideas, in one place so that you can easily refer back to them.

2. Set up a board

Similar to Pinterest, Brit & Co. is an image-driven app packed with ideas for your party, from decorations to costume as well as serving suggestions. The difference is that, in addition to being able to research and collect pictures, this app includes easy-to-follow instructions to create them yourself at home.

Give your board a name and also add a description if you like. So as to make sure your party stays a surprise, or simply keep it secret from other Pinners, consider switching Secret mode to On so that the board is only viewable by you.

3. Pin images

PINTEREST OiPad+ | iOS 5.0 | Free OAndroid | Varies | Free Did you spot a photo of an amazing party theme when you were researching ideas online? Pinterest allows you ‘pin’ pictures from the web and store them for later as well as share them with friends. In fact, Pinterest has such a developed community that you can find lots of great party ideas just by searching within the app.

SEND OUT INVITATIONS FACEBOOK EVITE GROUPME OiPhone+ | iOS 5.0 | Free OAndroid | Varies | Free

OiPhone | iOS 4.3 | Free OAndroid | OS 2.1 | Free

OiPhone+ | iOS 5.1 | Free | OAndroid | OS 2.2 | Free

The simplest way to get the word out about any party is via Facebook. Creating an event is easy to do in the mobile app, with the option to include a name, description, location and time – remember the privacy settings too.

Create colourful invites for all your friends, manage the guest list and track RSVPs with Evite. Use templates to make invites for any occasion from birthdays to barbecues, as well as import your own photos for a personal touch.

To make sure the invite doesn’t get lost in transmission, use GroupMe. This app draws contacts from your address book, Facebook and Twitter, so no matter what social network your guests are on, they won’t miss out.

Now let the party planning truly begin! Tap the search icon and look up ‘party ideas’ and search other key phrases. When you see an image that takes your fancy, simply tap the Pin button and select your relevant board from the list of available options.

RED STAMP CARDS OiPhone | iOS 6.0 | Free If virtual invites aren’t sophisticated enough, design physical invites and have them posted out with Red Stamp Cards. You can customise existing templates, though Red Stamp have a much larger range. For non-US users, the price of each invite is £1.44/$2.29.

Design an invite with Red Stamp Cards 1. Choose a template Select Invite from the options on the main menu, then view various templates. If you’re just browsing for now, tap the Like button to add designs to your favourites section for potential use later on.

2. Customise your invite To edit an invite, double tap on the image to amend location, date and contact details. Tap the speech bubble on the sidebar to change the headline as well as play with the colour of the card.

3. Dispatch invites Tap the Send button to select how to send your invites, opt for Mail Paper Postcards for hard copies. You will be asked to supply recipient addresses, a return address and then enter your bank details.


27

What to wear

GOJEE FASHION & HOME OiPhone+ | iOS 5.0 | Free Offering the same level of incredible photography of that in Gojee Food, but starring stylish outfits rather than succulent dishes. Great for inspiration.

POSE

LAYING ON FOOD THE PHOTO COOKBOOK - TAPAS

OiPhone+ | iOS 7.0 | Free OAndroid | OS 2.2 | Free Like Facebook for fashionistas, this social network allows you to keep up with the latest trends. Ideal for finding a party frock.

OiPhone+ | iOS 5.0 | £2.49/$3.99 If you’re looking for a buffet option that is a bit more high-end than chicken wings or cheese and pineapple on skewers, tapas might be the best option for you. The latest in the popular Photo Cookbook series, this app includes 60 dishes with step-bystep instructions and 500 Retina Display photos. This is bound to help you get the party started.

LENS COLOR SHOPPING BY FASHIONFREAX OiPhone | iOS 6.0 | Free

HOW TO COOK EVERYTHING

PARTY FOOD RECIPES

GOJEE FOOD

OAndroid | OS 1.0 | Free


OiPad+ | iOS 6.1 | £6.99/$9.99

A collection of 25 video recipes for foods that are ideal for parties. Including appetisers, salads, pastries and desserts, this Android-only collection also recommends dishes for specific festivities. The only downside is that there is no search feature and all the videos are sourced from YouTube.

Warning: the mouthwatering photography in this app could easily distract you from planning your party. But if you can tear your eyes away from the pictures, the recipes are also incredibly good. The option to search by what food you have left in the cupboard is also very useful.

With 2,000 recipes ranging from a Caesar salad to cupcakes, you are bound to find the recipe here. To make cooking simple as well as plan the party, the option to filter recipes that you can prepare in advance or cook quickly is a particularly useful one.

MAKE A COCKTAIL MARTHA STEWART 8,500+ DRINKS AND MAKES COCKTAILS

COCKTAILS FREE

OiPad | iOS 4.3 | £1.99/$2.99


For a modern way to make cocktails, turn to this top download from domestic goddess Martha Stewart. Offering six different recipe bundles, you can choose options including CuttingEdge Cocktails for a particularly on-trend refreshment, alcohol-free Mocktails for those designated drivers amongst your guests, and Holiday for a seasonal selection. There’s no better way to help your guests get in the party mood.


MONITOR YOUR DRINKING This app works out a running estimate of your blood alcohol level – provided you remember to log every drink.

As well as being crossplatform, this download is amazing because it has such a massive selection of drink recipes and also happens to be entirely free. The search bar makes it easy to find a specific drink, while simply having to tap the star icon next to every drink while browsing makes it as easy as possible to add the best drinks to your favourite list. With so much on offer here, what’s not to love?

ALCOHOL MONITOR OiPhone | iOS 3.1 | Free

HELLO VINO

Looking for shoes to match a dress? Snap a photo and Lens Colour will find corresponding clothes to purchase in-app.

PAPRIKA RECIPE MANAGER OiPad | iOS 6.0 | £2.99/$4.99 | If you already have recipes in mind, store them all in one place with Paprika. It’s easy to copy and paste recipes from your favourite food websites or store them offline until you need them.

SPEAKEASY COCKTAILS OiPhone+ | iOS 5.0 | £2.99/$4.99 With names like The Sidecar, Twelve Miles Out and El Presidente, it’s an irony that the Prohibition Era produced some of the world’s best cocktails. If you want a paty on par with The Great Gatsby, serve your guests Jazz Age drinks with this unique collection, which includes helpful video instructions for each drink.

OiPhone+ | iOS 6.0 | Free OAndroid | OS 2.2 | Free Want to impress your guests with a fine wine? Then, undoubtedly, this is the app for you. Hello Vino allows you to search for a vintage based on the occasion, what specific food you’re planning on serving with it, where it came from, and also by personal taste. Alternatively, the app allows you to scan bottle labels for more helpful and specific information while you’re out shopping.

THROW A PARTY WITH APPS! | FEATURE

PUMP UP THE MUSIC SPOTIFY

MUSIC MAKER JAM

OiPhone+ | iOS 6.0 | Free OAndroid | Varies | Free

OAndroid | OS 4.0 | Free

Stream millions of songs instantly with Spotify. Either create your own playlist of your favourite tunes or select Party from the in-app Radio options for endless dance tracks. While this app is free to download, you do need to have a subscription in order to use it on your mobile.

This free music maker app is Android’s answer to djay 2, allowing you mix your own songs. Adjust the tempo and apply cool effects to thousands of professionally produced loops to create your own Hip Hop, Dance, Electric Jazz, or Rock sound. Alternatively, shake your smart device to create a random loop instantly.

DJAY 2 OiPad | iOS 6.0 | £6.99/$9.99 For something extra special, why not DJ your party? There is no need for expensive turntables, simply link your iPad up with some Bluetoothenabled speakers and download djay 2. Seamlessly mix tracks from your iTunes library, or if you don’t think you have the skills, the app can do it for you in Automix mode. Add extra drums if you really want to raise the roof.

Create a collaborative playlist in Spotify

CREATE A PLAYLIST

MAKE IT COLLABORATIVE

SHARE WITH FRIENDS

Search for a track you like, then tap the ‘…’ button and then select Add to Playlist from the menu that appears. Tap the Plus icon to create a brand new playlist for all your party songs.

Once you’ve added all the tracks that you like to the playlist, tap the ‘…’ button in the top right and select Make Collaborative so that other users can add to it. Give your playlist a distinctive name so your guests can find it.

In the same menu as Make Collaborative, tap the Share button to send the playlist to all guests attending your party via email, Facebook, Twitter or even SMS. Now noone can complain!

SHARE PHOTOS

WHAT WOULD YOU CHOOSE? OiPhone | iOS 5.1 | Free Would you rather have a magic carpet or be able to teleport wherever you wanted? This app is packed with 400 daft choices that are perfect for breaking the ice.

HEADS UP! OiPhone | iOS 5.0 | £0.69/$0.99 OAndroid | OS 2.3 |£0.62/$0.99 An update of an old parlour game, guess the names of a celebrity by asking other players questions. Only when you say the correct name will the word change.

GET CHATTING GOOGLE+

If you’re someone who dreads small talk at parties, give this app a whirl for instant lively conversation.

CONVERSATION STARTERS OiPhone+ | iOS 6.0 | Free

OiPhone+ | iOS 6.0 | Free OAndroid | Varies | Free If you’ve arranged your party by posting an event on Google+, enable Party Mode and all the photos and videos you and other users take will be uploaded to a shared collection. Users can tag, share and download their favourites. Also, why not organise a video Hang Out for those who couldn’t make it?

TRUTH OR DARE!!!

INSTAGRAM

SNAPCHAT



O iPhone | iOS 5.0 | Free OAndroid | OS 2.2 | Free

Create a hashtag for all the photos and videos at a party and post to Instagram. You might need something more inventive than #birthdayparty, however…

Embarrassing pictures can be a real problem. Thankfully, Snapchat offers a private network to share photos that only last ten seconds before vanishing for good.

Every teenager’s favourite game, answer questions truthfully or pay a forfeit in the form of a dare. Programme in the name of players and shake your device to refresh the questions.


29

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FREE | GROUP TEST

FREE ALTERNATIVES TO… PAPRIKA RECIPE MANAGER MANAGE YOUR KITCHEN REPERTOIRE AND DISCOVER NEW DISHES WITHOUT PAYING A THING

THE PAID APP

PAPRIKA RECIPE MANAGER

Paprika’s pricing as a recipe app might raise eyebrows at first, but the scope of potential content soon washes away these concerns. This download offers up recipes from almost 200 recipe websites, all aggregated into a single place here. In addition to this, Paprika makes a big effort to take advantage of the cloud, allowing you to save and sync recipes – and the personalised notes you can make on them across devices and even your Mac as well. So no matter where you do your recipe browsing, Paprika is available. This app combines content and functionality very well, making it ideal to support any level of cook in the kitchen. O Android | OS 2.2 | £3.11/$4.99 | v1.2.0 O iPad+ | iOS 6.0 | £2.99/$4.99 | v1.4.4


ABOVE: Create a shopping list based on the ingredients you need to complete a recipe in-app

GROUP TEST | FREE

THE FREE APPS

EPICURIOUS RECIPES & ALLRECIPES.COM SHOPPING LIST DINNER SPINNER

MUST-HAVE RECIPES FROM BETTER HOMES AND GARDENS

This app is privy to more than 30,000 recipes that users can add to their favourites, creating a menu-like list of all their signature dishes. Like Paprika, Epicurious can be synced across desktop and devices, so managing recipes, ingredients and shopping lists can be done anywhere. Although there are a huge number of recipes on offer, searching for a dish is very straightforward as it’s possible to search by individual ingredients as well as meals. Plenty of depth in terms of content as well as some handy features to make it your very own digital sous chef. What more could you want?

Allrecipes allows users to look through its database by dish type, ingredients and cooking time. The idea is that it’s possible to narrow down exactly what is wanted using a combination of these three categories. Despite the logic, there is a sense of sparseness compared to some of the other apps on show here. Still, there are still moments when this app can be very useful, particularly when applying the cooking time filter to dishes when in a hurry. Not the best app here, but it certainly has its uses. The cooking time filter is also a nice way to narrow down meal choices.

O Android | OS 1.5 | Free | v1.0.1

O Android | OS 2.1 | Free | v2.1.2

O iPad | iOS 4.3 | Free | v3.0.6


THE BETTY CROCKER MOBILE COOKBOOK

ALLTHECOOKS RECIPES! BIGOVEN 250,000+ RECIPES AND GROCERY LIST

As well as over 500 recipes – and additional recipes that can be downloaded via in-app purchases – MustHave Recipes boasts how to videos and step-bystep guides to improve your kitchen skills. Users can add notes and substitute ingredients, as well as organising and sharing favourites. Users can create shopping lists for the ingredients they need too, and these can be made store specific. Does everything right, but is lacking the number of recipes needed to stand out. O Android | OS 2.3.3 | Free | v1.0.3 O iPad+ | iOS 5.0 | Free | v3.0.2

A household name, this app certainly benefits from an instant sense of reliability. Mobile Cookbook contains 13,000 recipes, including many classics given the Betty Crocker touch. Recipes come with photos, helping to make the dish creation process clear. While the content might not match up to some others in terms of variety, the ability to search by ingredient as well as recipe comes in handy. Users can even earn coupons that can be put towards General Mills products – the parent company of Betty Crocker. Very simple interface and functionality, making it easy to work with in the kitchen.

Allthecooks is socially driven with thousands of recipes on offer that have been posted online by other users. The app comes with a built-in messenger service that allows users to communicate with one another on any food query, even those beyond the recipes within the app. For those looking for quick meals, Allthecooks includes timing as a filter to find dishes that can be made in as little as ten minutes. The app also supports customisation in the form of various cookbooks users can create and fill with their favourite recipes. Takes a refreshingly different approach and the social interaction is very handy to have so close.

BigOven is an app that any user should take a serious look at. Not only does the app support up to 250,000 recipes – a mixture of ones from the BigOven website and those uploaded by users – there are some impressive planning features too. Create dishes and drop them into a meal calendar, before having the app create a grocery list based on the dishes to be made. Users can also upload photos, and link in with Facebook friends to swap tips easily. Impressive levels of organisation and content make BigOven the go-to recipe app of choice.

O Android | OS 2.1 | Free | v3.1

O Android | OS 2.1 | Free | v3.63

O Android | Varies | Free | Varies


O iPad+ | iOS 7.0 | Free | v2.02

O iPhone+ | iOS 7.0 | Free | v5.0


33

ENTERTAINMENT | REVIEW BELOW: The search bar attempts to auto-complete your searches with recommended words and pages

COAST BY OPERA

ABOVE: Coast is a browser that has been designed specifically for use on the iPad

MANAGE YOUR WEBPAGES LIKE APP ICONS IN THIS iPAD-ONLY BROWSER PROS/CONS VWebpages fill almost the entire screen

VGesture controls make it easy to navigate

WNo control over privacy or web history

WThe city-by-night background looks a little dated

DOWNLOAD NOW!

The web has evolved exponentially from drab, grey webpages with blue, linked text to vivid, elegant pages with complex graphics, videos and other interactive information. Yet, so far, the web experience on tablets has been limited to browsers that are either scaled-up versions of smartphone browsers or scaled-down desktop browsers. Web developers Opera wanted to do something about this. Enter Coast, a browser specifically designed for surfing the web on your iPad. During the year and a half it took to develop, the app was codenamed Ice, but Coast – as in ‘coasting along’ – suits its relaxed, easy-to-use nature better. Not that the browser is slow. When we carried out speed tests on loading times, Coast was faster than both Google’s Chrome and the gesture-driven Dolphin. The only browsers we could find that benchmarked better were Safari and Puffin. Safari’s speed is no surprise; Apple ensures it runs faster on iOS by giving it its own dedicated server and


forcing all third-party apps to share one. Puffin, however, compresses webpages before it downloads them, so it was three times faster even than Safari. But Puffin’s drab design doesn’t compare to Coast’s stylish interface. Rather than waste screen space with buttons, Coast makes the most of your touchscreen and boasts an impressive number of features that are entirely gesture controlled. Do you want to move backwards and forwards between webpages? Just swipe left and right. Want to close a tab or delete a favourite page from the main menu? Just drag it to the top of the screen where a yawning black void, that looks similar to an open envelope, will appear to swallow it up. If you tap the tiny button that is permanently at the bottom of the screen, you can view screenshots of

every open page in a carousel – like your new iOS 7 iPad’s multitasking feature. Similar to multasking, you can swipe upwards to close pages, but if you swipe down Coast runs a quick security check on how safe the webpage is. The white bar at the top of the screen we also found to be highly intuitive. As a universal search field you can enter either full web addresses or just keywords to search for, and it will auto-suggest both related words and websites so you don’t have to even finish what you were typing. While this has become a standard feature in the most popular browser apps, Coast goes one step further with preview pictures of webpages. This is a great feature that is particularly helpful for when you’re trying to locate a specific website, but can’t remember the name of it.

“THIS FUNCTIONAL WAY TO NAVIGATE AND INTERACT WITH THE WEB COULD CHANGE THE WAY YOU BROWSE THE INTERNET AND USE APPS ON THE iPAD”

REVIEW | ENTERTAINMENT BELOW: Websites take up the whole screen with no distracting buttons

HOW TO…

Bookmark a webpage with ease in Coast 01 FIND A PAGE

Tap the search bar at the top of the screen and begin typing. The auto-complete function will help you enter the name or web address of the website that you’re looking for.

02 DRAG TO MAIN MENU

However, though Coast’s PR team has been eager to claim it’s a ‘buttonless’ browser, this isn’t strictly true. In an effort to create a tablet-friendly way to surf the web, Opera seems to have taken inspiration from how Apple put together the iPad. Just as the iPad displays its various programs as tappable app icons, Coast does the same for webpages. While this might sound cluttered, it makes for a tidy mosaic of coloured squares, with your favourite webpages grouped in the centre of the screen and open pages scrolling across the bottom. Don’t mistake this feature for just a novel style choice though, as this functional way to navigate and interact with the web could change the way you browse the Internet and use apps on your iPad. Coast offers an innovative way to bookmark your favourite sites, making apps that exist only as a portal for websites, such as Facebook, Buzzfeed or Google Drive, obsolete. This is reflected by the websites that are preloaded onto Coast’s main menu, which include Pinterest, Soundcloud and Gmail as well as magazine websites including Vice and the British Journal of Photography. With all of these popular features easily accessible within Coast, you’re encouraged to stay within this single

app. Has this browser imitated the iPad’s home screen and gesture controls so thoroughly that it might become your new home screen? It is certainly possible. Where the app does fall down is in its lack of control over privacy. For instance, unlike other browsers, there is no option to switch to private browsing. On top of that, if you want to delete your web history you have to exit the app and do it in the iPad’s own settings. Aside from being out of step with current concerns regarding personal data, this seems a particularly backwards move for an app that otherwise encourages you to stay within its interface. The app’s monochrome city-by-night backdrop and seemingly handwritten logo arguably seem a little dated. However, you rarely actually see this branding except for when you’re navigating to another webpage. Still, these are only minor complaints that shouldn’t put you off at least trying out this innovative new app – you may find that it suits you perfectly. An elegant browser that could potentially change the way you browse and persuade you to delete a variety of your existing apps.

Rather than tapping to view the website, drag the icon that appears on the right-hand side downwards and place it on to your main menu for quick access in the future.

03 MOVE ICONS The menu can store up to 32 websites spread out over four swipeable screens. Hold and drag on an icon to move it around and rearrange the layout to your liking.

04 GROUP TOGETHER Why not try ranking website icons in order of how regularly use them? Alternatively, you can group them by type – here we grouped all of our social networks.

05 DRAG UP TO DELETE If you change your mind, it’s easy to remove a website. Drag it to the top of the menu and place it in the black hole that appears. Tap on it to confirm deletion.

O iPad | iOS 6.0 | Free | v1.12

SHOWCASE Navigate with a single swipe

01 TAP TO SEARCH

Tap the white bar at the top of the screen to start your search for web addresses and key phrases. Open a few windows to see how easy it is to navigate.

02 BACK AND FORTH

Rather than pressing arrow buttons, simply swipe left and right to seamlessly move backwards and forwards between your open webpages.

03 MAIN MENU

To exit from any window, all you have to do is tap the small white mosaic button at the bottom of the screen to return to the main menu and your bookmarks.

04 CLOSE PAGES

To actually shut down active pages, first tap the button in the bottom-right to view a carousel of all open tabs. Swiping them upwards will close the tabs.

05 SAFETY FIRST

Swipe down in this screen for a safety report of to how much the webpages are trusted. Double tapping this screen will give you extra information.


35

FREE | REVIEW

PARALLELS ACCESS

ACCESS YOUR MAC OR PC APPS AS IF THEY WERE MADE FOR iPAD

Parallels Access is a nifty little app that allows access to the desktop of a Mac or PC via an iPad. Users can control any Mac or PC program they open and use it as if it is running natively on the iPad. All that’s needed is this app and some software installed on the computer and, with the two synced, it’s all good to go. Setting up is actually very easy, more so than users might typically expect from this type of app. Once the Mac had the right software installed, it was instantly picked up by the iPad and the two began working side by side. The Mac’s Launchpad could then

be opened for users to pick programs are wanted for use on the iPad. After that, users can tap away on icons and options, using two fingers for a right-click, and effectively operating the programs in the way users might expect if sat at a desk with a mouse. The computer’s desktop is replicated perfectly on the iPad in fullscreen mode. It is possible to zoom in and highlight words as well as cut, paste and open toolbars. The app is made so that users can utilise apps such as Microsoft Office, Internet Explorer and Photoshop and, when using a PC as well as a Mac, these all worked liked a dream.

The main limitation is the fact that using Parallels Access puts the computer out of action while synced with the iPad – but there are lots of positives. These range from the ability to switch apps and windows with a tap or two and simple, iOS-style scrolling. It means the app has a nice learning curve since everything feels as if you are using your Apple device rather than trying to access a computer’s functions on a smaller screen. An amazing and useful app that will enable users to have their computer on them at all times. O iPad | iOS 6.0 | Free | v1.0.2

DOWNLOAD NOW! Pros/Cons VControl a computer via the iPad

V Use iPad-style controls, requiring little learning

WIt costs £34.99/ $49.99 a year after a 14-day trial

WThere is no dual use facility so the computer can’t be used by anyone

ABOVE: Here we have the Mac’s version of Pages running on the iPad screen

ABOVE: Everything is explained well when using

ABOVE: To move around the screen, simply use tapping and scrolling gestures

Parallels Access, including how to use the toolbar

HOW TO… Get Parallels Access set up in seconds

01 REGISTER

Download the app from the App Store and register an account using your email and a password.


02 DOWNLOAD

Go to access. parallels.com and download a small app to your PC or Mac.

03 INSTALL

Install this app on your computer and follow the instructions that will be given on the screen.

04 SYNC

As soon as the app has synced with the computer, it will show you the machine being used.

05 REMOTE ACCESS

Click Start and you should see your computer desktop. You are now have remote control access.

REVIEW | FREE

ANGRY BIRDS STAR WARS II NOW YOU CAN TURN TO THE PORK SIDE

The new lease of life for Star Wars isn’t just limited to the big screen. The anticipation ahead of the release of this sequel to the collaboration with Angry Birds and Lucas Arts has been impressive.

That’s because users have the chance to indulge in some flirtation with the Dark Side for the first time, or in this case the ‘pork side’. Fan favourites such as the likes of Darth Vader, Boba Fett and even the Emperor himself are now

ABOVE: For the first time, players can decide if they’d like to indulge themselves by playing on the Dark Side

available as playable characters, alongside the mighty Yoda and, worryingly, Jar Jar Binks. The game feels like a love letter to the Star Wars universe, but Rovio has at least put effort into expanding the game beyond the straight Angry Birds playing experience. There are some unique abilities on show, including being able to use Young Anakin’s pod racer to propel you further than a catapult launch, for example. Also, players can jump between Jedi and the Dark Side in between certain levels, with each side having its own path through the game to follow. This means more levels than ever, and that can only be a good thing. Look out for free character rewards too, which allow you to trial yet-to-be-unlocked characters within your levels. Then, of course, there are the Telepods, which allow you to scan physical toys and see them drop into your game as characters. This is beginning to feel like a franchise of its own, and the gameplay evolution is reflecting steady growth. More varied than the original, the introduction of the Dark Side refreshes the format. OAndroid | OS 2.3 | Free | v1.0.2 OiPhone+ | iOS 4.3 | £0.69/$0.99 | v1.4.1

FRIENDLY FIRE!

BUILD AN ARMY TO ANNIHILATE ENEMIES IN A WORLD WAR

In this conquest-themed strategy game, your job as a military commander in a world war is to destroy enemy bases while protecting your own from attack. The former is achieved by acquiring the resources necessary to build up raw material production facilities, factories and weaponry. Although this might sound dry, the game has a light-hearted tone, which is typified by heavy reliance on exaggerated military stereotypes and colourful, cartoon-like graphics that blend World War II and Cold War motifs.

The first time you launch the app you get a comprehensive training session that introduces the features of the battlefields. Each of these is viewed from above and shows the enemy’s facilities and surrounding roads. Somewhere along those roads, positions will be highlighted from which you can start your tanks rolling in a general assault or towards specific targets. Once training is complete, you set up an online profile by choosing a name and deciding which real-world location you want for your base. At this point, you start acquiring metal, oil and tanks

ABOVE: Before going into battle on your own you should attend basic training

and can attack the bases of other online players around the globe. Thankfully, if you choose the right targets, you don’t have to play for hours before you get positive results. Still, you’ll need to use any resources you capture wisely in maintaining your own defences, because sooner or later someone is going to come after you. Humorous and not over complicated, this deserves to capture the attention of casual mobile gamers everywhere. O Android | OS 2.0.1 | Free | v1.11

ABOVE: Your base has to be supplied with raw materials, factories and fortifications www.knowyourapps.com

37

FREE | REVIEW

INRIX TRAFFIC MAPS, ROUTES & ALERTS CROWDSOURCING TRAFFIC NEWS SO YOU DON’T HAVE TO SIT IN IT It’s the little victories in life that are often the best, and a sneaky shortcut to avoid any heavy traffic is definitely up there. Thankfully, this is a feeling that INRIX is happy to provide. This traffic app is a combination of map set information, gathered from GPS data, cameras and sensors and user input to piece together the state of the roads around you. Users can set locations for home and work, get alerts when you leave either place containing the traffic details, as well as access some traffic cameras to get a live look at what’s happening. INRIX also contains a dedicated community where users can earn praise and standing by making good recommendations on traffic problems, as well as sharing useful routes to speed up journeys. You don’t have to share these, instead you can use the cloud to share any routes you save across devices. On top of this very handy bunch of features, upgrading to the premium version via an in-app purchase unlocks the ability to monitor petrol

MATERIAL


ABOVE: As part of the

combination of live maps and traffic alerts

community you can submit your own reports

prices so you can find the best deal. Of course, just remember to not use the app while driving. Great for those moments just before you head out the door to avoid any nasty surprises. O iPhone+ | iOS 6.1 | Free | v5.0.1 OAndroid | Varies | Free | Varies

BELOW: The interface is simple, and there are even offline-browsing capabilities, so you always have your news with you

ALL THE GOOD STUFF FROM THE WEB THAT IS RELEVANT TO YOU Personalised news is not a new concept by any stretch of the imagination, but that shouldn’t stop you from appreciating apps that do the job well. Material is one such new source, taking the social network you log in with (either Twitter or Facebook), and building editions of news for you twice a day. The app breaks everything down into categories based on what you follow and like on your social network, sourcing stories from mainstream sites, blogs and RSS feeds. Each category is filled with 30 stories for you to browse through and you can jump to the original in a tap thanks to the in-app browser. Material also works offline so you can go back at any time. If you don’t like one of the categories you’ve got, there’s an edit button to remove it from your list for future editions, so you can streamline your content even beyond the formula Material uses in the first place. The other strong selling point of Material is that it doesn’t require the initial ‘getting to know you’ setup that some personalised news apps insist on. The social network sign in is all you need and the app does the rest, even telling you

ABOVE: The app is a

ABOVE: The app lists

ABOVE: Material builds

news categories to give to you each day

your first edition with your social activity

to carry on with your day, it’ll get back to you when your first edition is ready. A very good, light way of getting the news that matters to you. Nothing to fault and refreshingly simple to set up and use – wherever you happen to be. O iPhone | iOS 5.0 | Free | v1.2.0 OAndroid | OS 2.3 | Free | Varies

DAYBEES EVENT FINDER

With so many apps designed to help you find events happening locally, it takes something special to stand out. This particular offering lets you search events using a variety of methods including date, location and keywords and on the whole we found the results to be accurate and extremely varied. You can add items to the calendar, share them and even buy tickets with one tap. For completeness alone it excels, and will suit those who are very active.

EVOMAIL - MODERN MUSIC MOBILE EMAIL MAKER JAM

Evomail is a modern solution that aims to help speed up your daily email management, but we have to say that some of the features are present in many other offerings. The interface is, however, very clean and many of the features will suit specific types of user down to the ground. Gestures will form your main interaction with the app, but we suffered a few unexplained crashes, knocking our confidence in the solution a little. It has the potential to work very well for those who like minimalism, but needs work.

A complete and reliable app for finding local events with many extra features included.

A huge amount of potential, but needs some work to stabilise it.

O iPhone | iOS 6.1 | Free | v1.3.1 O Android | OS 2.2 | Free | v1.1.0

O iPhone | iOS 6.0 | Free | v1.2.6 O Android | OS 4.0 | Free | v1.0.5

Music Maker Jam is primarily designed for those who want to create music quickly and with a minimum amountof effort. There is a raft of preloaded samples to choose from and the elegant interface helps to inspire those who may not normally consider creating their own tunes. Ironically, the fact that it is so good left us slightly disappointed because there is much potential to take things a step further and to let the user make much more complex tunes when mobile. It is great as it is, but we would love to see more.

Just about perfect for quick music creation, but could be even better. O Android | OS 4.0 | Free | v1.0.2.5

SHARE A PANORAMA

01 PANOPERFECT With a new look for iOS 7, this is a stylish social network to share your panoramas and follow your favourite iPhoneographers. +++++ O iPhone | iOS 7.0 | Free | v3.0.2

02 PHOTOSYNTH Take panoramic photos in-app, zoom in to view them in detail, tag them and share them with the community.

+++++ O iPhone | iOS 5.0 | Free | v1.6.0

SCOOPT

Fashion is a huge interest for many millions of people, but checking each of the major retailers to see what’s new can be a tiresome task. Scoopt is designed to not only show you a wider range of clothing, but to give you a broader idea of what is actually fashionable. With recommendations from other users and a presentation that shows off the clothing perfectly, there is little wrong with the overall implementation. In fact, very few apps fulfil their goals as well as Scoopt does and so it comes highly recommended for fashion followers. Find the latest fashion and use suggestions to help you. Brilliant stuff. O Android | OS 2.3 | Free | v2.1.0

VIDEOFYME

With a range of filters, the ability to combine different video clips together and an included editing studio, you couldn’t criticise the amount of content on offer in VideofyMe. Share your creations on YouTube, Twitter and other popular social networks and watch the creations of others. We like the way it works and the filters are clever, but we struggled with the notion of an app that sits in a very narrow stream of social networking. For those who love to shoot and edit videos it will have a place, but the majority may look elsewhere.

A clever app with many useful features, but the appeal may be limited to a small audience.

WORDLY

Wordly looks like other word games that are popular, but there is actually quite a lot of thought needed to succeed. You get to play against friends remotely and can also play on your own to help you master the best tactics needed to win. With a clean presentation and a pretty short learning curve, it eases you into the gameplay efficiently. However, be prepared to tax your mind if you want to beat the majority of the people you come up against. This is a pleasantly surprising deep word game that is designed to let anyone play. A near-perfect word game concept that will keep you coming back.

03 WONDERSHARE PANORAMA Add effects and filters to your panoramas then share them to all the major social networks including Twitter, Tumblr, Facebook and Flickr.

+++++ O Android | OS 1.6 | Free | v1.5.1.130301

04 SPHERE – 360 DEGREE PANORAMA One of the few panoramic apps that also works with the iPad, Sphere is designed as a travel app with the ability to share your panoramas to a map.

+++++ O iPad+ | iOS 6.0 | Free | v3.2 O Android | OS 4.0.3 | Free | v1.24

05 PANORAMA FREE A popular download, but rather basic – snap a series of photos and stitch them together with this simple tool.

+++++ O iPhone | iOS 7.0 | Free | v4.0.6 O Android | OS 2.1 | Free | v2.0.1

O iPhone+ | iOS 6.0 | Free | v1.3 O Android | OS 2.3.3 | Free | v1.4.0



39

ENTERTAINMENT | GROUP TEST

BEST PODCAST PLAYERS CATCH EVERY EPISODE OF YOUR FAVOURITE TALK RADIO DOWNLOADS GRAB RADIO

PLAY, LOOK AND LISTEN

TUNEIN RADIO PRO

Like TuneIn Radio Pro, this app is primarily marketed as a streaming radio station player but its main menu includes an entry for podcasts. This, in turn, leads to a submenu that includes an impressively extensive list of categories covering musical styles, sports and common subjects such as the arts, news and science. Tapping on any episode brings up information on the streaming speed and reliability of the stream but there is no downloading option. The playback screen is simple but it also provides direct access to the Shazam app, which might be useful if you listen to a lot of music-related podcasts that play tunes you want to hear again. Not flashy and only allows you to listen online but there’s plenty to choose from.

This app lacks the search-by-category feature and the polish of other podcasters but is impressive nonetheless. The main screen shows podcasts you’ve not finished listening to, anything that has been recently added, your download queue and episodes you have downloaded for offline playback. Also, available episodes of titles you’ve subscribed to are listed further down the main menu, but this seems redundant given that some are also shown under other sections. Tapping on an episode takes you to the playback screen where you can stream or download it, add it to a playlist and set a sleep timer if you think you’ll doze off before it ends. Inconsistent artwork and minor design issues aside, this is a superior podcast player.

This app has a well-deserved reputation for streaming live radio stations from around the world and also has a decent podcast section. The Browse menu provides direct access to a selection of popular podcasts and allows you to search for particular titles. Tapping on a title brings up a list of the available episodes going back several weeks. Episodes can only be streamed but you can record them in the app, set an alarm or sleep timer so that playback starts or stops at a certain time. Share titles across the usual sites such as Facebook, Twitter, Google+ or by email as well as mark titles of podcasts or individual episodes as favourites. Some features of dedicated podcast apps are missing but you get streaming radio instead.

O iPhone | iOS 4.3 | £1.99/$2.99 | v3.9 O Android | OS 2.1 | £2.04/$3.27 | v1.2

O iPhone | iOS 4.3 | £1.49/$1.99 | v5.0.3 O Android | OS 4.0.3 | £1.27/$1.99 | v5.0.3



GROUP TEST | ENTERTAINMENT

JOGTUNES As its title suggests, this app is directed at joggers and runners. It provides access to episodes of the podcast that gives the app its name, which include selections of indie music that has a beat matching a certain number of steps per minute. The indie artists come from a range of genres such as rock, pop, alternative and R&B and each episode covers a different range of beats. The app is intended to be motivational and even widen your musical horizons by encouraging you to run in time with the music while simultaneously introducing you to artists you’ve probably never heard of. The selection is variable but it’s a neat idea that is competently implemented. You’re stuck with just the one podcast title but it might just help you pick up the pace. O iPhone | iOS 4.0 | £1.49/$1.99 | v1.3 O Android | OS 2.1 | £0.63/$0.99 | v15

RADIOLAB The Radiolab crew are respected proponents of a better understanding of science on American radio stations, and this excellent app makes their podcasts accessible to an international audience. Episodes are available from as far back as 2007 and cover a variety of scientific and philosophical topics; from our sense of self to the purpose of laughter. Individual episodes can be downloaded for offline listening and you can mark favourites and share. One of the app’s best features is its brilliant design, which takes you from Earth to outer space as you swipe to navigate through the various sections. All app designers could take a lesson from this – and the content is very entertaining as well. O iPhone | iOS 5.0 | £1.99/$2.99 | v1.0.7 O Android | OS 2.2 | £1.90/$2.99 | v1.044

cultureNOW

HBR TODAY

POCKET CASTS

The idea behind this app is clever but unfortunately the end product is let down by patchy functioning. Developed by a non-profit organisation dedicated to celebrating America’s cultural environment, it provides access to informative podcasts in which artists, architects, historians and planners describe notable buildings in several major cities across the United States. These recordings are backed up by some great photographs and general information that could be useful to tourists. Accessing this content is a hit-and-miss affair, however, because the interface is frequently unresponsive and the search function can be slow. This should exist for all major towns worldwide to bring cultural heritage to life.

The Harvard Business Review is one of the foremost resources for business professionals around the world and this app provides an effective portal to the wealth of material produced by the publisher. That includes HBR’s IdeaCast podcast series, which can be found under the Audio and Video sections of the app. The list of episodes goes back several years, although at the time of this review it did not show the most recent audio recordings posted on HBR’s website. There is no way to search for topics or download episodes but scrolling through the lists is quick and the casual listener is sure to find something here that will pay off. Well organised and efficient, just like a good business should be. A worthy download.

This attractive and well-organised app lets you import podcasts you already have on your device or search its extensive database. Available podcasts are listed by country and cover a wide range of topics, including the media, arts and science. Podcasts you have imported or subscribed to are displayed in a grid layout on the library screen. Simply tap on an entry and you are taken to another page where you get more information about that title and the option to download or stream available episodes. The playback screen also has a shortcut to your Playlist and the inevitable sharing options. The impressive interface makes this one of the best podcast players on any platform

O iPhone+ | iOS 4.3 | £1.49/$1.99 | v5.03 O Android | OS 2.0 | £1.22/$1.99 | v1.0.6


O iPhone | iOS 7.0 | £2.49/$3.99 | v4.1.1 O Android | OS 2.2 | £2.70/$3.99 | v4.3.5


41

ENTERTAINMENT | REVIEW

ABOVE: Practical exercises, such as controlling this horse’s facial expression, help you hone your animating skills

DISNEY ANIMATED

LEARN THE SECRETS OF ANIMATION FROM THE MASTER PROS/CONS VA thorough guide with fun, practical exercises

VH ours of interactive Easter eggs to enjoy

WM oving text can grow tiresome

WS ome elements felt purely selfpromotional

DOWNLOAD NOW!

Just as they have brought countless still images to life on the silver screen, Disney has now sprinkled their magic over this comprehensive guide to animation. Designed exclusively for the iPad, Disney Animated uses hours of video clips, interactive features and practical exercises to take you through every step of producing a cartoon classic. Drawing on the filmmaker’s iconic collection, the app’s many behind-thescenes features will also appeal to fans of the House of Mouse. Framed as a breezy guide to animation, Disney Animated includes overviews of Walt Disney’s approach to everything from developing a story to visual effects and adding a film score. The language used is broad rather than technical, so consider this Animation

INTERVIEW: THEO GRAY The chief creative officer at Touch Press reveals what it was like to explore the Disney archives


101 rather than a step-by-step guide to making the next Cinderella or WALL-E. However, there are also a bunch of practical activities to test your animating skills: make a ball bounce, adjust the face of a horse to convey expressions and create your own animated sequence. The latter is a simplified version of real Disney Studios software and involves both adjusting the joints of a CGI model to make them assume positions and recording it and editing the order of frames to produce a short film. The guides themselves are illustrated with hand-drawn sketches, work-inprogress computer-generated scenes and rotating artefacts from the locked vaults of The Walt Disney Animation Research Library. Tapping on objects can trigger video cut-scenes or allow you to pinch-zoom in on images and view

HOW DID THE PARTNERSHIP WITH DISNEY COME ABOUT? Disney came to us years ago with a proposal to do something with them. It took over a year to figure out what that something should be, and the result another year later was Disney Animated. Touch Press has people who really know how to make an app sing, to use the medium to its full potential. In every project we do, we try to find the core of what makes the subject interesting and put that front and centre, instead of making the app itself the story, as is so often the case with new media projects.

WHICH AGE GROUP WOULD YOU SAY THE APP IS AIMED AT? My philosophy on this subject is to aim what we do at anyone who is interested in the subject, no matter what their age. I really think that’s the best way to make a story interesting, and it’s what Disney itself always does too. Their movies work for kids, and they work for adults

additional annotations. These details give the app mass appeal beyond wannabe future animators to all film lovers. Perhaps the biggest fan service in the app is the timeline of all 53 Disney animated movies ranging from Snow White and the Seven Dwarves back in 1937 right up to the new release Frozen. Each entry includes a plot synopsis, ‘did-you-know’ factoids, video clips for all major characters, cinema trailers and extracts from the musical score. The Timeline also includes key moments both in Disney’s business history, ranging from the opening of Disneyland in 1955 to the purchase of Lucasfilm last year, as well as offering wider historical context, such as the Great Depression and the invention of the World Wide Web. Each film also includes a Color Map, a unique way of viewing entire movies

too – and that’s no accident. Sure, the youngest kids may not be able to read all the words in Disney Animated, but that’s what parents are for, and if one isn’t handy kids can play with the funny horse or flip through the Color Map looking for their favorite scenes. Looking at Disney Animated together as a family is the best way to use it, and that’s what we designed it for.

WITH THE VAULTS OF THE DISNEY ARCHIVE OPEN TO YOU, HOW DID YOU CHOOSE WHICH ELEMENTS TO INCLUDE? We had the good fortune of having not only open doors, but also people standing around those doors offering to lead us through the vaults. The people of Walt Disney Animation Studios love what they do, and love their history, so they were able to tell us about great stuff that few people outside even know exists. As you can imagine, there was way more material that we simply could not find room

REVIEW | ENTERTAINMENT SHOWCASE

Get a Walt Disney masterclass 01 12 PRINCIPLES

Taken from The Illusion of Life book, the techniques for creating cartoons – such as drawing and timing – are explained with examples.

02 IN-DEPTH GUIDES From writing a story to creating visual effects – even creating end credits – the app is packed with Disney insights into creating an animated film.

ABOVE: Included among the animation lessons are titbits of Disney’s history from beginning to end, highlighting the tones and hues that dominate each scene. Hold your finger over the multicoloured lines to view individual frames from each film. There is also shortcut on the main menu to view the colour map for every film at once. Again, this is a feature aimed at those interested in learning the secrets behind Disney’s magic, and is a great way of spotting style trends. For example, why was the colour palette of Disney’s movies darker between 1980 and 2000? All in all, this app is packed with hours of entertainment with guides divided up into chapters so that you can easily dip in and out of them. While the make-yourown-animation Workshop feature will keep bringing users back time and time again as their skills improve, so will the hunt for interactive Easter eggs. Produced by Disney in collaboration with Touch Press, who have developed many other popular interactive books (Barefoot World Atlas, The Orchestra and March of the Dinosaurs), Disney Animated raises the bar in terms of interactivity levels. It seems like every

object on the screen has an additional function, whether it is a tapable image caption or a video clip. However, perhaps the animated text is a bit too much. While being able to drag every item on screen is fun, having the text move as well every time your finger strokes the touchpad can be very distracting when you’re trying to read, annoying even, after the fourth or fifth time it happens. A word of caution to parents, while the App Store lists this Disney product as suitable for ages four and over because it contains no objectionable material, it may be that it is a little too complicated for children under ten-years-old without supervision. Users should also be aware that all those video clips and interactive features will eat up 1.78GB of your storage – not unusual for an interactive book, but still more than your average download. Despite that, this is a brilliant app that will likely appeal to everyone. Inside knowledge from the iconic film studio, completed with great interactivity. O iPad | iOS 6.0 | £6.99/$9.99 | v1.0.2

for in the finished app, and we very much hope that there will be follow-on apps that let some of this material see the light of day. For example, to tease you just a bit, we shot full high-resolution rotations of over 60 animation maquettes, of which less than a dozen are in the app, at much lower resolution (purely for file size reasons, the app is already huge!).

DO YOU THINK THE RULES OF ‘THE PRINCIPLES OF ANIMATION’ APPLY TO PRODUCING INTERACTIVE BOOKS AS WELL AS DISNEY MOVIES? Certainly some of them do, especially when it’s a dynamic, interactive book like Disney Animated. The principles that have to do with storytelling and appeal absolutely apply, as do the ones related to anticipation and staging. People need to be able to understand what’s going on on the screen in an interactive app, just like they do in a movie.

03 WORKSHOP Once you’ve got a grip on the theory, head to the Workshop to get a feel for CG animation by controlling a moving puppet, playing with facial expressions, and animating a bouncing ball.

04 COLOUR MAPS A unique way of looking at the colour palette used in a film, you can view every frame of every Disney movie ever made shrunk to fit in a single page.

05 TIMELINE This feature will probably have the most appeal to fans; view all the Disney films in chronological order with synopses, fun facts, original trailers and film scores.

06 ELSA’S SNOW The most child-friendly feature and the one that felt most like self-promotion, draw swirls of snow with graphics taken from new Disney movie Frozen.

You may notice that many parts of Disney Animated, like the text itself, are animated, and of course we used the Principles in the design of those animated elements.

THE COLOR MAP IS A TRULY INNOVATIVE FEATURE – HOW DID YOU COMPRESS ALL THE INFORMATION FROM A MOVIE INTO A SINGLE LINE? The Color Maps came about because I wanted to see if it was possible to extract the ‘colour script’ back out of a finished movie and compare it to the one produced by the Visual Development department at the very start of the process. So the process was all about pulling out and concentrating similar colours from each scene, and showing each colour as a separate patch large enough to distinguish it from its neighbours. This is quite hard to do – it’s not at all a question of squashing down each frame of the movie, instead it’s done with a sophisticated

mathematical technique called cluster analysis, which examines all the colours in each frame of the movie to find groupings of related colours. At first the plan was to just do one or two films, but then I thought… ‘Hey, why not do them all?’. I had several computers at my house grinding away for months doing this analysis on all the films, but it was definitely worth it. Sometimes you really need to follow that ‘Hey, wait a minute, we could…’ line of thought, because down that path is where the fun lies.

CAN WE EXPECT UPDATES TO THE TIMELINE OF ANIMATED MOVIES WITH NEW DISNEY RELEASES? Absolutely! Frozen is already in there with placeholder images, ready for an update as soon as the movie is released, and plans are in place for the next one after that. As long as there are apps, and new Disney movies, there will be updates to Disney Animated.


43

ENTERTAINMENT | REVIEW

VIRAL PRO

GAIN GREATER CONTROL OVER YOUTUBE VIDEOS WITH A POP-UP WINDOW

Many of us enjoy watching YouTube videos but don’t particularly like having to stay within the YouTube app to view the videos. Wouldn’t it be nice, then, if we could be doing something else, such as checking an email or seeing what’s coming through on another app? If that sounds good, then you will absolutely love Viral Pro. The app allows you to watch videos in a pop-up window that can be enlarged to any size you desire and placed in a position that works well for whatever you are doing on your smartphone or tablet. When you close the Viral Pro app by tapping the Home

button, the pop-up box remains and it is this great feature that allows you to multitask more effectively. Imagine, then, that you want to watch a tutorial explaining how to get the most of out a complex app. You could open up the video as a pop-up, open the app you want to learn about and have the video play while you carry out the functions. It’s also great for catching up on the latest music releases without surrendering the use of your phone. You can open more than one pop-up box if you really want to – but only if your device is up to it. With video resolutions that can range from 144p to 1080p catering for quality as well as speed, and with a tab sliding interface for easy navigation, Viral Pro soon becomes an essential way to watch YouTube videos. It has a clean and easy-to-use

interface with the functions neatly located in the right places. Sub-menus are called up from the thumbnail itself and this cuts down on the to-ing and fro-ing that some apps of this type can put you through. You can watch videos offline, minimise and play videos in the background and log in to your account. It goes well beyond the scope of the YouTube app itself and yet loses nothing (other than a little bit of money from your pocket). In addition, as a welcome bonus, the paid version has no ads to distract from your viewing, making the app an definite must-have for regular YouTube users. Being able to open YouTube videos in a pop-up window has a host of uses and it works extremely well. O Android | OS 2.1 | £2.57/$3.99 | v1.5.1

Pros/Cons VYou are able to resize and move windows around

VIt syncs with your YouTube account

WR esizing windows can be a little fiddly

WIt’s not immediately obvious how to find minimised videos

DOWNLOAD NOW!

LEFT: Here you can see the pop-up box displayed on the main home screens of Android

ABOVE: Videos can be added to playlists, ABOVE: The interface displays the

ABOVE: Tap the share button to spread

Favourites or watched online

content across platforms

videos in two easy-to-view columns

HOW TO... Create a pop-up YouTube window

01 CHOOSE A VIDEO

Find a video that you would like to view and tap the menu button in the top righthand corner of the large thumbnail. This will bring up a host of options.


02 POP-UP MODE

Choose the first option, Play In Pop-Up Mode. When you select this, you will see a black box appear and your video should load and then begin to play.

03 FULLSCREEN

While the box might be small, it contains lots of control options. For example, selecting the first icon opens up the video into fullscreen mode.

04 CONTROLS

In addition, you can mute the sound, alter the definition quality and pause within the box. The pop-up can also be moved around your screen with ease.

05 VIDEO INFORMATION

If you’d like to watch the pop-up in a format that allows you to see all of the video’s information, you can do this too. It’s all very simple to operate.

REVIEW | ENTERTAINMENT

PIXAKI: PIXEL ART FOR PROFESSIONALS

BELOW: The opacity of your art can be altered with the use of a simple slider

BLOCKY GRAPHICS RULE THE ROOST WITH THIS ART PACKAGE

Pixel art appears to be one of those art forms that will never go out of fashion. It harks back to days gone by on home computers and consoles of the 8-bit and 16-bit eras of the Eighties and Nineties. Graphics back then were blocky and yet richly formed, but you can still see examples of it today as people attempt to ‘go retro’ and evoke memories of the past. Pixaki allows for the recreation of these gems with a touch interface that lets you manipulate chunky pixels on a canvas spreading up to 512px by 512px. It is truly amazing to see what you can come up with when you are using such a limited colour palette and you can let your imagination run free. The way Pixaki allows you to create graphics is invitingly easy. That said, Pixaki does not fall back on old methods, so it’s not just a simple case of filling in

squares. The app has a contemporary edge to its creative approach, meaning that you can produce art consisting of over 20 layers and even control their opacity. You can also export them as Photoshop PSD or PNG files. Pixaki lets you copy and paste graphics and layers and you can also customise the palette if you wish and get incredibly close with up to 400 times magnification. On top of that, you can pop any graphics into Dropbox for easy porting to other platforms and editing. Indeed, the beauty of Pixaki is that it allows just about anyone to be able to produce some amazing pixel art, whether it’s for a creative project or just for fun. A refreshingly simple art download. Being able to produce your own personal pixel art is made fun and as easy as possible. O iPad | iOS 6.0 | £2.99/$4.99 | v1.0.1

PETER RABBIT ME BOOKS GIVE YOUR OWN VOICE TO SOME MUCH-LOVED BOOK CHARACTERS The publishing world continues to bring forth a raft of new ideas in order to inject life into books. Children’s books have, arguably, benefited most from this push as publishers attempt to encourage them to read and engage in stories, both old and new. Here, the stories of Peter Rabbit by Beatrix Potter are given a new lease of life, starting with the freebie The Tale of Tom Kitten. The app will also give you the chance to snap up some more tales, although only one more is currently available. As you flick through the book, you can listen to Richard E Grant and Tamsin Greig read the stories. However, the moment you touch the images and call up the hotspots is when the real magic begins; characters are able to speak and children can enjoy a range of sound effects. Turning the page is a familiar process and one that only requires a swipe left and right. It is very much like reading a normal eBook on an iPad or iPhone. Versions of this app are available on both. Where things expand and become innovative, however, is in the ability to record your own voice and add sound effects. In this sense, it can be as equally appealing to adults. This provides a

ABOVE: Load and save

ABOVE: When you hold

your own recordings over the images

down on an image, hotspots appear

BELOW: The illustrations are beautiful and work well on both iPad and iPhone

great opportunity for parents to have a lot of fun with their children and should really help with engaging younger readers with the story. All of this helps makes the app very appealing indeed. Beatrix Potter would have approved of this charming telling of her stories. A wonderful way to experience the narrative. O iPhone+ | iOS 5.1 | £1.99/$2.99 | v1.1


45

LEARN TO PLAY PIANO

01 PIANO COMPLETE Featuring 1,000 lessons and 500 songs, learn to play by reading sheet music or falling notes. +++++ O iPad+ | iOS 3.0 | £6.99/$9.99 | v1.2.1

02 PIANO MELODY PRO Learn to play by ear, starting with recognising a few notes and then playing along with 300 songs.

KICVIDZ MINECRAFT

Minecraft is growing in popularity all of the time, with the average age of children playing the game now increasingly young. The desire to watch Minecraftrelated videos has grown alongside the popularity of the game, so this developer has come up with a way to show these videos and make them suitable for children. Each video is checked for inappropriate content and language before being approved. The interface suits the theme very well and it will offer peace of mind to many parents. A great app to keep Minecraft-obsessed younger children safe. O Android | OS 3.2 | £0.64/$0.99 | v1.6

MR SHINGU’S PAPER ZOO

ON BEYOND ZEBRA!

This app is a leading example of how to keep children entertained. There are many activities to keep them occupied, among them creating origami animals and caring for them. Still, what makes this app a triumph is its colourful interface and the flexibility for children to make the app their own, so parents should appreciate the care that has gone into creating this child-centric masterpiece. It is one of the best children’s mobile titles we have ever seen. Perfect for young children with lots of variety and many colours.

You can’t really go wrong if you want to keep a child entertained by having a Dr Seuss story to hand. Here On Beyond Zebra! is presented with all the expected personality intact and with entertaining sounds to keep children glued to the screen. The words are highlighted as they are spoken, which adds an educational element to proceedings and the professionalism used throughout makes it a title well worth considering for you and your child. The magic of Dr Seuss graces mobile devices and looks great.



PULSE

SATELLITE TV

+++++ O Android | OS 2.2 | £2.00/$2.99 | Varies O iPad+ | iOS 6.0 | £1.99/$2.99 | v7.3

03 ADICTUM PIANO LESSONS Learn to play modern music for piano and keyboard, including rock, pop, jazz and electronica, by following these instructional videos.

+++++ O Android | OS 2.2 | £3.77/$5.99 | v2.0 O iPad+ | iOS 2.0 | £4.99/$6.99 | v2.0

04 LEARN PIANO HD For the more personal touch, watch videos of piano expert Peter Darling and learn by playing along with him.


05 STEINWAY ETUDE Find sheet music for all of your favourite tracks. It’s free to download, but all music has to be purchased in-app.

+++++ O iPhone | iOS 5.1 | Free | v2.2


PLAY-DOH CREATE ABCS

The name behind this app is, of course, very well known and the intentions are admirable. Use the product to help young children write letters in the most obvious way possible. It does work quite well and we can see that the implementation is designed specifically to teach, but the way it works means that the child needs to have a good understanding of using touchscreens. This seems to contradict the target age range, and as a result could put off some users. Overall very good, but requires precise touchscreen handling.

Pulse is a game that is designed to help you relax, enjoy a subtle challenge and to take up a lot of your time. The graphics and sounds on offer here are really quite exceptional, and there is a sense that you could get addicted at any point. Still, after some time we found ourselves drifting away a little, perhaps in want of a little more depth. It is a decent game to pick up and play on occasion, and at times you may enjoy longer playing stints, but more is needed for this app to truly succeed and impress. Visually and audibly brilliant, but it just needs a little more depth to offer a true challenge.

O iPhone+ | iOS 4.1 | £1.99/$2.99 | v1.2 O Android | OS 3.0 | £1.99/$1.99 | v1.0.2

O iPhone+ | iOS 4.2 | £1.99/$2.99 | v1.3.6 O Android | OS 2.3.3 | £2.00/$2.99 | v1.0

How can you possibly ignore the promise of more than 750 satellite channels available in the palm of your hand? Well, we would suggest treading cautiously because when we tried this app it was a struggle to get any of the channels to actually play at all. The interface is quite confusing and the requirement of downloading files is never explained, which left us even more wary. The promise is high, but the execution is unfortunately lacking, so we cannot recommend this app until it is more reliable. It needs much more work for it to become a worthwhile purchase. Lots of promise, but lacking in almost every area. It needs a lot more attention. O Android | OS 2.1 | £0.64/$0.99 | v1.5

EVERYDAY | GROUP TEST

THE BEST DIY APPS DO IT YOURSELF WITH THESE DOWNLOADABLE DECORATING TOOLS

PLUMBING GLOSSARY

ELECTRIC TOOLKIT

CLINOMETER

If you need to find your way around the piping in your house but you don’t know an angular discharge tube from a packing nut, it might help to have this app on hand. In short, easy-to-read paragraphs it explains a host of plumbing-related terms that you can find in an alphabetical list or by entering keywords in a Search field. Some of the definitions would probably benefit from a diagram for added clarity, but you can at least adjust the size of the text and add notes that you can refer to later. The Android version of the app will also save your search history, which is a handy feature. This straightforward plumber’s dictionary will help to flush away fears of plumbing jargon.

This app should make simple household wiring projects from light switches to sockets less intimidating thanks to its large, clear wiring diagrams. It’s worth noting that these conform to American standards and there are no detailed instructions, so you’ll need a reliable manual before you begin work. Of more international relevance is the section on pinouts that includes guides for a range of connections such as HDMI, component and Ethernet cables. The app also has four specially designed calculators for experienced electricians who need to do trade-specific calculations. If you are experienced this graphical guide will help you avoid getting your wires crossed.

Thanks to its clear interface, smooth animation and high degree of sensitivity, this app should be helpful for tasks such as lining up counter tops, frames or other fittings that need to be at the correct angle. If you hold the device its installed on in an upright position, the main screen shows a slope finder, but this fades into a bubble level if you lay the device on a flat surface. In addition, there are helpful in-app instructions for calibrating the output and you can also lock the reading so that it doesn’t change if you need to move the device. Smaller than a spirit level and accurate enough to ensure your projects stand up straight. The perfect DIY accompaniment.

O Android | OS 2.0.1 | £0.62/$0.99 | v1.1

O Android | OS 2.1 | £3.23/$4.99 | v1.9.1

O Android | OS 1.6 | £0.51/$0.99 | v1.6

O iPad+ | iOS 3.2 | £0.69/$0.99 | v1.0

O iPhone+ | iOS 5.0 | £3.99/$5.99 | v1.2.2

O iPhone+ | iOS 5.0 | £1.49/$1.99 | v4.0

DECORATE LIKE A CELEBRITY

This eBook claims to help you create ‘versatile and chic domains’ on a budget that look like the homes of stars such as Courteney Cox. It covers a range of styles, such as ‘shabby chic’, ‘Paris apartment’ and ‘Tuscan’. The content describes in clear prose which colours, furniture, curtains and other ornamentation you’ll need for each style but unfortunately there are no pictures. Nonetheless, it’s a good general guide if you want to give other rooms in your house a touch of Hollywood glamour. Helpful advice if you want to make a terraced house look like it’s in Tinseltown.

HOME DECORATION GLOSSARY

There are no bells and whistles to this app (called Home Decor & Interior Design Glossary on iOS), which consists of terms you could encounter in the context of home decorating. The main menu is an extensive alphabetical list of terminology. Tap on any entry and you get a clear explanation of the term accompanied in some cases by pictures and helpful links. The app’s other feature is a quiz that allows students to test their knowledge of the words defined in the app using virtual flashcards. This will help build up your knowledge of DIY terms, but not how to use them.

MY MEASURES AND DIMENSIONS

O Android | OS 1.6 | £0.85/$1.35 | v1.0

O Android | OS 1.6 | £0.79/$0.99 | v1.1

O Android | OS 2.2 | £2.79/$4.99 | v1.0.15

O iPad+ | iOS 3.0 | £0.69/$0.99 | v1.0

O iPhone | iOS 3.0 | £1.49/$1.99 | v1.0

O iPad+ | iOS 5.0 | £1.99/$2.99 | v4.06


This app will make exact dimensions for DIY projects far easier to remember. It allows you to annotate a photograph of a space in your house with lengths and angles so you won’t need to draw a diagram before you go shopping. You can take the picture in-app or import one; from there it’s easy to add and adjust arrows as well as text, and place smaller images within the picture. With the details down, you can save the image or convert it to a PDF before leaving for the hardware store. This app may be a little pricey but when sizes matter, it’s more reliable than memory.

GROUP TEST | EVERYDAY

“SMALLER THAN A SPIRIT LEVEL AND ACCURATE ENOUGH TO ENSURE YOUR PROJECTS STAND UP STRAIGHT. THE PERFECT DIY ACCOMPANIMENT.”

ROOM+

HOW YOUR HOUSE WORKS 3D INTERIOR ROOM DESIGN

Create a floor plan for your dream house, starting off with a square that can be adjusted to the size and shape you require. You then attach additional rooms and a staircase before positioning doors, furniture and fittings within each room using the easily manipulated selection menus. The size and orientation of objects can be changed once they are in place and it is possible to zoom in or out for a different perspective. Finished designs can be saved as an image or be viewed in 3D using the associated Interior Viewer app. A powerful, time-saving and easy-to-use planning tool, especially when used in conjunction with its companion app.

This handy book in app form covers a range of topics relevant to plumbing, wiring, heating, air conditioning, air quality, appliances and windows and doors. It includes clear cross-section diagrams and basic text explaining how the most common domestic systems work. As with many apps such as this, it is geared towards American standards but some of the principles it covers are generally applicable. It won’t necessarily help you fix things that go wrong in your home but it might give you a better idea of what has happened so you can pass the relevant information on to the repair engineer. Clear and concise but of limited value if you’re located outside of North America.

This cool app (3D ROOM Udesignit on iOS) is designed to help you visualise a living space as if you were in it. You start with one of the included editable room shapes or create your own design. The app then renders this in 3D so that you can add windows, doors, wall coverings and other features. The app works best on a tablet due to the small menus but there are many options, and you can zoom in and out and rotate 360 degrees to survey the entire room. No other app makes virtual decorating this much fun, but the Android version is pricey.

O Android | OS 2.2 | £2.49/$3.99 | v1.0.12

O Android | OS 2.2 | £1.85/$2.99 | v1.0

O Android | OS 2.2 | £3.07/$4.79 | v2.1.1

O iPhone | iOS 4.3 | £0.69/$0.99 | v1.0.10

O iPad+ | iOS 5.0 | £1.99/$2.99 | v1.0

O iPhone+ | iOS 4.3 | £0.69/$0.99 | v2.1.1


49

EVERYDAY | REVIEW

ABOVE: Almost every screen in the app is full of interactions of varying degrees

ABOVE: Help Henri in his kitchen and then put his recipes to the test in your own

HENRI LE WORM

CELEBRITY CHEF RAYMOND BLANC AND ACTOR SIMON PEGG TEACH KIDS TO COOK

PROS/CONS

VGreat story and characters to keep you entertained

VIntertwining recipes into the overall story is a great touch

WSome lag when trying to jump between pages

W Some of the navigation instructions aren’t always clear

DOWNLOAD NOW!

A lot of emphasis is being put on food awareness in both adults and children today, and Henri Le Worm is an app that supports this through that popular genre of ‘edutainment’. Many apps have tried it in recent years across a broad range of subjects from human anatomy to maths and language skills. Henri Le Worm is taking things from a slightly different angle, looking to get users to be proactive, providing recipes and cooking methods for a host of the foods mentioned in the app. The idea is to get kids and their parents interested in food, but also the growing process – including the insects in your garden. The app is built around the story of Henri Le Worm, an invertebrate chef

INTERVIEW: OLIVIER BLANC Co-creator of Henri Le Worm and son of Raymond Blanc shares his inspiration and ambitions for the app


extraordinaire whois looking to win his garden’s cooking competition. This is before his cookbook is stolen by the pesky Lumpy the Maggot, who’s after the prize for himself. The story is narrated by comic actor Simon Pegg so instantly parents will have their interest twigged, and thanks to the interactivity, whimsical characters and vivid colours, the kids won’t be bored either. The story makes an effort to touch upon some of the key areas of nutrition in an entertaining way, for example having the user make breakfast pancakes for Henri and his friends to highlight the most important meal of the day. It’s at this point that another layer of the app’s features appear – the recipes section. While you’re helping Henri flip virtual

HOW DID THIS IDEA FIRST COME TOGETHER? The idea came about with my then girlfriend Charlotte Salt (who is now my business partner and co-creator). We were reading a magazine and saw an image of a cartoon worm with a politician’s face on it. I liked the image and a concept started to form in my head. I created a character, loosely basing him on my father. That is to say Henri would have certain qualities; he would love food, be a chef, be passionate, be very French and then I added a few other ingredients. Henri was truly born when I explained the character to Charlotte – she drew a few sketches, capturing him perfectly and we began to write our first story.

HOW IMPORTANT IS IT TO EDUCATE KIDS AND ADULTS ON NUTRITION DO YOU THINK? Food connects with everything; health, family, environment, society and farming and I believe we are

pancakes, the app asks you if you’d like to learn how to make them yourself. This links you to the recipes section, which is where Raymond Blanc takes over as master of ceremonies from Mr Pegg. Although there is no narration from the chef, he does offer up some of his favourite family recipes, complete with guides, with certain steps within the instructions highlighted that are ideal for getting kids involved. There are some delicious dishes on offer, and most are mentioned somewhere in the story – nothing like some underlying hints to get you and your kids cooking. While there are a couple of little bugs lurking within Henri Le Worm, there’s nothing that can’t be fixed in the first update; most issues relate to some lag

beginning to appreciate that more. I definitely feel over the past ten years there has been a gradual reconnection with food. It has even become political with cooking returning to the British curriculum. Good nutrition is a byproduct of good food. If we learn to eat well, by choosing good local ingredients and by cooking them simply we will be laying a fantastic foundation for our children. We are very fortunate to have Raymond Blanc and Amanda Ursell, both experts in nutrition, to help us choose enjoyable yet healthy recipes to go into the app.

DID YOU ALWAYS SET OUT TO CREATE A COMBINATION OF ENTERTAINING STORY AND PRACTICAL RECIPES?

As soon as it became an app, yes we did. I really didn’t want to preach to kids so it was vital to create a fantastic story filled with hilarious characters to capture the child’s attention. The logic hopefully goes that if the child likes

REVIEW | EVERYDAY BELOW: There are also mini-games to play, including making and serving breakfast for Henri and his friends

SHOWCASE

What gives Henri his va va voom 01 THE LOOK

As this is an app aimed predominantly at children, it needs to engage from the getgo, so Henri Le Worm has been design with an array of appealing and vivid colours.

02 CHARACTERS There’s a host of Henri’s friends and enemies to meet and interact with throughout the story, with some providing educational content as well as entertainment.

03 NARRATIVE when trying to navigate between pages, and overzealous interaction that sees a tap on an interactive point that happens to be hovering over a character bring them both to life. In general though, this is a very easy app to navigate – particularly with the clear controls on the screen combined with prompts from the narration to guide – which is a must for any app that wants to interact with children. There are also purple hot spots that appear to indicate a character or object on screen will react when tapped, and there are mini-games littered throughout the various screens to keep the young minds occupied. This app has done a great job of drawing users in thanks to its great use of colour from the outset; this is a very vibrant app from the moment you pick it up, and there is no doubt that kids will be drawn to it. Thankfully it has more than enough content to keep them occupied once they get here, and the story is balanced enough to also be enjoyable, and potentially educational for adults too.

The narration is lively and interesting enough to keep you engaged, with Simon Pegg bringing his usual energy to proceedings and carrying off the range of voices and characters brilliantly. There’s a great range of personalities throughout the story that younger users will want to interact with, and on pretty much every screen that is possible. Having been developed in part with Blanc’s son, Olivier, some family inspiration has definitely gone into the creation of Henri as a character, and into making gastronomy much more accessible. Henri Le Worm has done a brilliant job of standing out in a competitive field as well as being engaging throughout its usage time. The fusion of a fun narrative with manageable but tasty recipes is a brilliant way to get both adults and children back into the kitchen. A likeable app – and the practical side should keep you coming back often.

This is designed primarily to entertain, but also has plenty of educational and engaging content running through it that is subtle enough to not turn you away.

04 INTERACTIONS Every screen within the app has something to interact with on varying levels, from simple soundboards right up to links for real recipes you can try out for yourself.

O iPad | iOS 6.0 | £2.99/$4.99 | v1.0

showed Maureen a storybook we had mocked up with all the characters and she loved it. But it was only when Simon saw how much his daughter adored the characters that he decided to come on board. He said he wanted to do something that his daughter would enjoy. He is away a lot filming, so now Tilly can listen to her dad narrate the story as well as doing funny voices for all the characters, which I think is lovely.

the characters and if they enjoy the stories then when it comes to dinner time they will know for example what carrots are, why they are good for you and hopefully they will eat them without you having to hide them under some potato! The recipes within the app are designed by Raymond to be quick and easy. It is so important for families to eat together, so if Henri can get some more children cooking with their parents and families eating together he will be the happiest worm alive!

DO YOU THINK THIS COULD BECOME A SERIES OF APPS?

Raymond was on board first. He loved the project straightaway, as he has been a champion of good food ethics and teaching children for decades, so he embraced the idea passionately. The contact with Simon came through my mother who knew Simon’s wife Maureen. She

Absolutely yes, from the tiny seed grows the mighty oak! We would like from the beginning of next year to release a story app with each season. So four a year, one in spring, summer, autumn and winter. We are doing this primarily to explain the importance of seasonality and this will be reflected in the seasonal produce available in the walled garden at the beginning of each story. We

WHEN WAS IT THAT SIMON AND RAYMOND CAME INTO THE EQUATION?

05 RECIPES Recipes are referenced throughout, and they have their own dedicated section. Instructions also offer suggestions as to when kids can get involved too.

also aim to release some spin off apps which are directly related to Henri Le Worm. We are looking to release a cooking app with Henri for this Christmas. We would love to grow and become a brand, so that we can spread Henri’s positive message. If Peppa Pig can do it why can’t Henri Le Worm?!

WHAT HAS THE FEEDBACK BEEN LIKE SO FAR? The feedback so far has been amazing. The kids seem to love it and the parents really appreciate what we are trying to do. I must admit I didn’t quite appreciate how competitive a market it is for apps, so when we got to number one in the education category we were over the moon. We’ve were also voted by the Guardian online as one of the top kids apps as well as being featured on the Apple homepage as New & Noteworthy. So, all in all, it’s been a great start but there’s a long way to go.


51

EVERYDAY | REVIEW

CHUG PATROL: READY TO RESCUE

AN INTERACTIVE BOOK THAT IS VERY MUCH ON THE RIGHT TRACK

StoryToys, the company behind this app, is an award-winning developer and when you begin to use Chug you quickly see why. It has built a reputation for producing solid, innovative pop-up books that have engaging stories and wonderful visual effects – and these are seen in all their glory in this wonderfully delicious offering that tells the tale of Chug and his numerous pals. Navigating is easy; the pages can be flipped with a swipe left or right or by hitting the arrow buttons in the corners. Lively narration reads the words on screen in an approachable manner, slow enough for children to be able to follow and learn to read as they play. This can also be turned off to encourage independent reading. Jovial music plays in the background as the pages are turned but this app is not purely about the reading experience. Some pages pop-up, showing Chug and his friends in 3D and turning the book into a gaming experience. These are simple yet fun, letting little fingers clear logs, or capture red carts as they speed past. Lovely sound effects complete the effect and, when each game ends, children can resume reading. This approach contextualises the games and it also breaks things up to the extent that children will want to push ahead and read, knowing there is a reward awaiting them as they get through the book. None of the games are overly long either so they are perfect for parents who don’t want their children to spend ages on a game,

ABOVE: The app has lots of mini-games with clear objectives. Each one takes only a short time to complete

ABOVE: Each game has clear instructions

ABOVE: Clear text and a nice layout makes

so children will know exactly what to do

for pleasant reading and navigating

becoming addicted in the process. These are short, snappy slices of fun that work so well with incredibly detailed, cartoon-like graphics which really shine on the screen of tablet. The main problem, however, is that is too short. There are 21 pages in total but, because the games are over quite quickly, it won’t occupy a child for too long and the games are perhaps

not engaging enough for repeat play. The production values are high but this shortness does make us question the value for money in terms of time. Gorgeous and fun, Chug Patrol is a polished app that is perhaps just a bit too short to be truly satisfying. O iPhone+ | iOS 5.0 | £2.99/$4.99 | v1.0.1 O Android | OS 2.3.3 | £2.99/$3.99 | v1.0.1

DOWNLOAD NOW! Pros/Cons VFantastic graphics, sound and narration

VAn engaging story and game hybrid

WIt doesn’t take too long to complete

WThe price tag may put off some

SHOWCASE The little app that could

01 MINI-GAMES

If you or your child would rather jump straight into one of the mini-games without having to flick through the book, you can do so with ease.


02 PARENT CONTROLS

Access the Parent Center and decide if you want to turn off certain features. This is great for peace of mind when leaving younger users alone with the app.

03 INDEPENDENCE

Let your child choose to have the words read to him or her or encourage them to read independently. This feature boosts the app’s educational value.

04 TOGGLE MUSIC

Users have the option to choose whether the background music is enabled or disabled, which is easily toggled via the music icon in the menu.

05 CHOOSE LANGUAGE

Are you located in the UK or the USA? Tailor the specific type of English you want to see used throughout the app via this thoughtful language option.

REVIEW | EVERYDAY

KICVIDZ - LEGO

ENJOY PEACE OF MIND WITH THIS CHILD-FRIENDLY VIDEO AGGREGATOR

ABOVE: You can watch reviews of specific Lego sets, which have their very own section

KicVidz – Lego is a child-friendly app that pulls together lots of YouTube videos containing content relating to the infamous brick-building product. It has been produced by a father of a sevenyear-old child who, he says, enjoys watching videos online. The dad worries about the number of swear words and amount of inappropriate language on the site and KicVidz is an attempt to provide a cleaner offering for children. The videos are split up into a number of categories within a scrolling bar at the top of the screen. These categories include the What’s New section, which offers up fresh content, Set Reviews looks in more detail at the latest Lego products, News showcases trailers and new items being released and Creations for features on inspirational builds and discussions. On top of this, there’s Animation, Ninjago, Mini Figs, Friends, Super Heroes, Chima and more, each exploring a different aspect of the Lego universe. The videos play in landscape mode and require a simple tap of the content thumbnails. Previews are large and visually appealing and scrolling is easy to perform, meaning any child will soon be able to get to grips with the app. Whether or not we agree with repacking and selling what is

ABOVE: Everything has been designed to be appropriate for children

ABOVE: Navigation is easy, using scrolling gestures to get around the app

essentially an interface for hand-picked YouTube videos is another matter. But work has gone into this, and the ethos behind it deserves some reward especially given the wealth of categories and the small sums that are involved. A worthy and thoughtful app that brings together some lovely Lego content in one expansive child-friendly space. O Android | OS 3.2 | £0.63/$0.99 | v.1.3

CANOPENER

FINE-TUNE YOUR HEADPHONES WITH THIS AUDIO APP

Getting the sound of your music just right is not as niche an idea as it used to be. After all, collectively we seem to take more time than ever to pick out a new set of headphones or earbuds depending on what we want for our ears. CanOpener then, is the app to accompany your musical anorak side, as it hands audio control to you. The app combines a cool, visually driven interface with some surprisingly powerful tweaking tools to create a playground for those who want to tailor their listening experience. First of all, it is worth mentioning the wonderful simplicity of the app – there is no music import needed here. Instead, CanOpener will dip straight into your iTunes library when you hit Play, though it should be noted that this is the only source it will use to play music. From here you have a host of features to try out and experiment with, listening to how each gesture you make affects the sound. This is an area for real audiophiles, with a crossfeed, equalizer and dosimeter as the core settings you can change. For the less adventurous or knowledgeable, there are some presets in the crossfeed section to help you get started.

ABOVE: The general interface looks great, even down to the in-app player

ABOVE: One of the biggest strengths is the enticing interface and simple gestures to make changes

Having said that, CanOpener can easily be picked up by the audio novice and appreciated because of the simple intuition at its heart. The changes you make are instant and noticeable in what you hear. This is some great stuff.

Has the technology to please those who love the physics of soundwaves, and the smart intuition for newbies who want to experiment. O iPhone | iOS 6.0 | £2.99/$4.99 | v1.1


53

GET THE KNOWLEDGE

01 WOLFRAM ALPHA Designed to be like a reallife Star Trek computer, ask a question from maths to music and this app will explain it with graphs and more. +++++ O Android | OS 2.1 | £1.86/$2.99 | v1.3.0.4590401 O iPhone+ | iOS 5.0 | £1.99/ $2.99 | v1.5.1.4752439

3 MONTH MUSCLE DANIEL TIGER’S BUILDING PLAN DAY & NIGHT

There are many apps that are designed to help you get fit or achieve a specific goal, but few offer the wealth of detailed background information this one does. There is a lot of explanation included and the presentation brings it all to the front very easily. Add to this a plan that will gradually increase your confidence and you have a perfectly formed mobile package that can offer many rewards – that is as long as you stick to the advice given.

Lots of encouragement wrapped up in an attractive package.

Routines are important for children and none more so than at bedtime and in the morning. This app is designed to help bring order to a child’s day and does so using fun games that are very colourful and have realistic sounds to accompany them. The characters are friendly, which should help children subconsciously learn that routines can be a good thing. This app is fun, but comes with a heavy dose of learning that both the child and parent can enjoy together. A rewarding way for children to learn that routines can be useful.

DOODLE CRITTER MATH: NUMBERS

The variety and number of activities included in this app are impressive and children should be able to learn specific aspects of maths with ease when using it. The app will help them read and write numbers and also understand the correct order of number ranges. Bonus activities add a reward element and the tutorials are particularly useful for getting children off to a flying start. The only problem we found was a lack of stability from time to time.

A variety of maths-based games that children should find fun. It can be unstable, however.

O Android | OS 1.5 | £1.69/$2.67 | v1.0

O iPhone+ | iOS 5.1 | £1.99/$2.99 | v1.0.1

O iPhone | iOS 5.0 | £1.99/$2.99 | v1.03.1

GEEKBENCH 3

ROUNDR EXTENSIONS

TADAA 3D

02 AKINATOR THE GENIE Real or fictional, whatever person you think of this ‘telepathic’ app can guess it with just a few questions.

+++++ O Android | OS 2.2 | £1.49/$1.99 | v2.41 O iPhone+ | iOS 4.3 | £1.49/$1.99 | v2.4.0

03 SAYHI TRANSLATE A pocket-sized interpreter, this app will translate conversations in up to 100 languages in real time – it even includes regional dialects!

+++++ O iPad+ | iOS 6.1 | £1.49/$1.99 | v3.6.0

04 SOUNDHOUND ' Discover the name of a song and find it on Spotify or Rdio just by humming the tune.

+++++ O Android | Varies | £3.99/$5.99 | Varies O iPhone+ | iOS 5.0 | £4.99/$6.99 | v5.3.3

05 BIRD SONG ID Like Soundhound specifically for twitchers, this UK-only app can identify birds based on their calls and songs.

+++++ O iPhone+ | iOS 4.3 | £2.99 | v5.0


Geekbench 3 is unusual in that it offers data about your phone or tablet that you would not normally be privy to. You can view everything from processor details to the software version, which is normal, but benchmarks can also be taken to offer speed scores. These can then be analysed to make sure your device is operating within an acceptable range. It is an app for those who have a real interest in such things and most users will not need it, but maybe the geek in all of us will want to look anyway. A great way to look under the hood of your mobile device – but it may have a limited audience. O iPhone | iOS 7.0 | £0.69/$0.99 | v3.1.2 O Android | OS 4.0 | £0.69/$0.99 | v3.0.0

Roundr is an app that lets you adjust the look of the corners on your mobile device screen. It is an aesthetic tweak, but when Roundr Extensions is installed it adds much more variety. You can now use more intricate corners to add some personality to your screen and also blacklist apps if you need to, but we were left wondering how many usability improvements it offers. It works well for those who like to tweak the look of their device and it can change the entire feel of a screen, but it’s not for everyone. An original solution that some users will love, but not everyone will find uses for it.

tadaa 3D claims to be able to let you create 3D illusions from any photo; in some ways it works as intended, but there are some drawbacks. We found it very difficult in our tests to create photos that looked realistic and could take advantage of the software on board. Still, when it did work, it did so wonderfully and the effect was great. The ability to move your phone and see an object not move while the background does is clever, but again, it took too many attempts to get right. It has lots of promise, but needs a little more attention before it can be considered great. The promise of being able to add 3D effects to photos is a brilliant one, but only if it works.

O Android | OS 2.2 | £1.28/$1.99 | v1.0

O iPhone | iOS 6.0 | £0.69/$0.99 | v1.2

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WORK | REVIEW RIGHT:

You have the choice of a range of different colours to form your Morning background

ABOVE: In order to get started you must enable the weather, reminders and events features

ABOVE: Auto-location tailors the app to your specific locality so that you get the right information

MORNING – WEATHER, TO-DO, NEWS AND MORE SHAKE OFF THAT BLEARY FEELING WITH A MORNING DATA BLAST PROS/CONS VA clean, effective and easy-to-read interface

VIt taps into your ot her apps and location for spoton service

WMore panels are needed to create a true one-stop app

WIt could use some more flexibility in its design

DOWNLOAD NOW!

If you are anything like some of the Apps Magazine team members, then you will wake up each morning, grab a cup of tea or coffee and start to play around with your iPad to check the latest information and get your day going. The Morning app caters for this very use, delivering a wealth of information on a single, well-designed screen so that you can see at a glance all of the vital details that will get you on your way. When you load the app for the first time you will see that it has a large clock with the date in the top-left of the screen, as well as blocks for weather and events. These need to be connected to your location and to your calendar, with the reminders block needing to be synced with your Reminders app. When you have done this, you begin to see the app’s use. Suddenly you can view any specific tasks that you need to do that day, view the weather forecast and get a flavour of where you are expected to be without having to flick from one app to another.


Morning, however, goes even further than that. Although the interface is a relatively simple one, it actually masks a complex series of tasks that can be performed. For a start, you can change and customise all the blocks on the screen; so you could decide not to have the weather in the top left-hand corner, for example, and place it elsewhere or even drop it entirely. You can also add in any extra functions with a host of panels available for you to tailor the page in the way that truly suits you. For example, by tapping each box and selecting the icon to the left, you can choose one of eight different panels. These include Commute which lets you know what to expect on the roads when you leave the house, News allows you to pull in various different RSS sources, Stocks is there for keeping a close eye on

the stock market and Countdown so that you know how long you have left before any important events starts. By selecting these, the panel you have tapped will alter, changing the dynamic of the page and bringing in the information that you want to see and use. You can have these in any order you wish, and make the page suit your requirements. For example, having the weather app in a larger panel allows you see the humidity, wind and changing times of the day, whereas having it in a smaller one will simply show you the current weather and the highs and lows of the day. It means you can prioritise the information to a greater degree. There is another icon when you press the panel too. The one to the left allows you to alter the settings of each of the windows so again, you can have more

“ALTHOUGH THE INTERFACE IS A RELATIVELY SIMPLE ONE, IT ACTUALLY MASKS A COMPLEX SERIES OF TASKS THAT CAN BE PERFORMED”

REVIEW | WORK HOW TO…

Add a news feed to your Morning

01 SELECT PANEL To get started, simply select a panel that you would like to change to a news feed and tap the icon on the righthand side. This should bring up an additional menu of options.

02 SELECT NEWS Simply scroll through the list of available options that has just appeared and select the option for News. This will in turn bring up a new screen for you to customise.

ABOVE: The app can be set to auto-lock if you so wish

03 ADD SOURCE

bespoke and personalised services. Perhaps you want your weather in Celsius rather than Fahrenheit (a thoughtful option), or you want your calendar to only display a specific event from birthdays to home to shopping, or even lectures and leisure activities. Unfortunately, it’s not all perfect. You can’t add in your own extra panels, for example, so for now you’re stuck with the predetermined sizes. Additionally, while you can alter the colour of the screen, you can’t tell the app to colour individual panels, which would be a handy feature. That said, this uniformity does make for a more sleek, less fussy and complex design that works well, so perhaps we are just being picky. Alarm clocks and alert systems would be nice addition, though, and it would be good if you were able to input the countdown using scrolling menus rather than having to write it using text. More of an issue is not always being able

to pull in the news feeds wanted and having to scroll down or wait to see each one, rather than simply being able to display the headlines at a glance. Yet, we found ourselves always coming back to the app. We used it day after day, making it our first port of call. It cut down on the time spent jumping from one app to another which, when getting ready for work, can be quite annoying and potentially time-consuming. To that end, Morning is a fine example of a one-stop shop information app. It needs more panels; eight is a good start but there are others that would come in useful – social media, for example). Still, for the price, it’s well worth investing given the time it will save. Morning ensures you know exactly what you have to do when you wake up and it’s a great accompaniment throughout the day.

Tap the Plus button located next to the word Source, or else select one of the options already presented. You can also select the number of articles that appear.

04 ADD URL Add a URL or RSS/ ATOM feed is easy. Simply type in the relevant web address and the app will verify it. You should also include an identifiable title for the feed.

05 CONFIRM After you have tapped Add, select the source you want to use from the list and you should now see it displayed in your panel for you to view every morning. It’s as easy as that!

O iPad | iOS 6.0 | £1.99/$2.99 | v1.0.5

SHOWCASE Make your routine run more easily

01 ADD LOCATION

One of the most helpful features, use your location to determine helpful information such as the weather, or how long your commute will take.

02 ARTICLES

The app allows you to view the headline and first paragraph of articles. Should something take your interest, you can tap to read them in full.

03 CUSTOMISE

Feel free to personalise the app and make alterations to the settings. Doing so means that each of the panels will work in the specific way you want it to.

04 EXTERNAL FEEDS

To make the app even more useful, you also have the option to add in some external feeds. This could be for news, updates from the stock markets and more.

05 REMINDERS

Create lists from your native Reminders app and then tick them off as you go along, keeping track of tasks and making sure your day is productive.


57

WORK | REVIEW

ABOVE: Write your own text if you wish by using the built-in keyboard

ABOVE: If you have copied a URL from Safari, it will be available to you

SYLLABLE

ABOVE: Swipe each of the articles to the left in order to delete them

ABOVE: Up to five words can appear at once and you can alter fonts and reading speed

INCREASE YOUR READING SPEED WITH LOTS OF PRACTICE

With so much information available at our fingertips these days and so much going on in other media – from traditional newspapers and television to online magazines – being able to consume it all at great speed is something of an advantage. Syllable aims to help you speed up your reading rate so that you can absorb information much quicker and have time to do all of those other things. The first thing it asks you to do is add articles that you would like to read, either by URL or via Source (for example a third-party app such as Pocket). You can also add your own text, which is great if you want to read back your own words or cut and paste lengthy novels or textbooks. The app then displays these words to you at a

set rate, defaulting at 50 words per minute. You can change this, however, increasing the speed so that your reading becomes faster and faster. Words are displayed up to five at a time and the idea behind the app is that you stop ‘subvocalising’ the words. Subvocalisation, it explains, is when words are said to yourself in your head. Instead, Syllable wants you to concentrate on the pacing of the text and this, over time, will lead to you reading much faster. The wealth of customisation options, from text size to the number of words being displayed and the speed at which they are played back, put you in control of your own learning. By using your own articles, you are able to tailor it to texts that you are most likely to be reading each

day. It will help you speed through your Pocket and Instapaper articles and it works really well. The major bonus, of course, is that the app actually works; we found our reading speed increasing with time (and in our line of work, that is very handy indeed). Of course, the downside is that you have to be disciplined enough to stick with it – but that is no fault of the app, just human nature. The presentation and ease of use of Syllable makes for a very pleasant learning experience – and given that it yields decent results and actually delivers, we were more than pleased to pay the asking price. An app that surpassed expectations and did exactly as promised.

DOWNLOAD NOW! Pros/Cons

VEasy to set up and use

VYou can use your own texts

WCan feel like a bit of a chore

WMore sources would be a nice addition

OiPhone+ | iOS 6.1 | £1.99/$2.99 | v1.0.2

HOW TO… Add articles and learn to speed read

01 ADD CONTENT

When you start the app, you will be prompted to tap the Plus icon in the top righthand corner.


02 CHOOSE SOURCE

Choose whether to add text, a URL or a Source (Pocket or Instapaper) by tapping the relevant option.

03 URL ARTICLE

On this screen you can add a URL, which you will need to find by navigating to the Safari web browser.

04 CONFIRM

We have added the URL here. If you had chosen Text, you’d be prompted to write some words at this stage.

05 FINISH

Our first article has now been added to the app, ready to be tapped and displayed a few words at a time.

REVIEW | WORK

DYNAMIC KEYBOARD – PRO WORRY NO MORE ABOUT PREDICTIVE TEXT FAILS

Keyboards generally have you tapping at them to get the words on to the screen. But Dynamic Keyboard – Pro joins the merry ranks of those numerous alternatives which not only allows for the use of swiping but provides a keyboard that responds to the way that you type and second guesses what you are going to write next. As well as predicting the words you write and letting you type without moving your finger off the keys, this app goes further. It enlarges letters that you use most often, giving you the option of a split keyboard for extra comfort and allowing for different customisations. You can choose to have a translucent background if you wish and you can tell the app that you want to change the shape of the keys or that you wish to have a different keyboard layout. You can also choose from colours and presets and have multiple languages. All of this is great, but the app comes unstuck a little when using autocorrect in a different language. Additionally, you can have vibration feedback but the app doesn’t allow for sound. While it’s not perfect by any means,

ABOVE: You can tailor make the keyboard to fit the way you type

ABOVE: Installation and enabling of the app is very easy to do

the developer does seem to look at comments posted on the review part of Google Play and appears to take note, so we can expect some alterations in the future. Sometimes this level of after-development care is worth its weight in gold so we applaud the developer for that. It’s another alternative keyboard but one that responds to the way that you type and use it. O Android | OS 2.1 | £0.50/$0.99 | v.1.9.3

SILO – SHARE YOUR LISTS GOING SHOPPING? LET OTHERS SEE WHAT YOU’LL BUY

Joining the ranks of the many list management apps – many of which are now gesture-controlled and try to make the compilations of lists second nature – is Silo. Here you are able to pull down to add new lists, pull down again to add items to that list and swipe left and right to either delete those lists or else share them with others. The sharing aspect of the app is the real killer feature that Silo has, and what sets it apart from the many other offerings on the App Store. For sharing to happen, the app needs to access your contacts; from there on it’s a simple case of tapping in an email address and submitting it. It works well and it’s great that you can sync the lists between your iPad and Mac – plus you can still make use of a website when you don’t have an Apple product to hand. The design of the app is pleasant with a nice shade of red forming the background. It would be nice if there were other colours available to make it easier to colour code your lists though, and the user interface can take a little bit of getting used to. The fact that you have to keep pulling down to add more to your list is a little annoying and could use some improvement.

ABOVE: In order to start a list you need to first pull down on the app

ABOVE: You need to pull down for each additional item you want to include

Still, the potential is there, but we are expecting to see more in updates. A sorting function would be good and the ability to jot down notes would improve the app more. This is a promising start with some good ideas behind it.

An app in its early days with decent functionality and usability – it just needs some extra features to be worthwhile. O iPhone | iOS 6.0 | £1.49/$1.99 | v.1.0.7


59

WORK | REVIEW

3DM

STAY IN THE BLACK

01 DOLLARBIRD Track where you money is going with this colour-coded calendar, complete with graph projections and the opton to set reminders to pay bills. +++++

The way this app has been built and the subject matter it covers highlights just how many areas mobile apps cover today. It is purposefully aimed at those in the religious field who want to share and give their message out to a group of people, and in most areas it does this effectively. It may be difficult for some to understand initially, but eventually the way it works should become clear, at which point it will come into its own. This is obviously not an app for everyone, but it shows what can be done. Specialist maybe, but potentially capable of aiding those who feel they have a need for it. O iPhone+ | iOS 5.0 | £6.99/$9.99 | v1.2 O Android | OS 2.0 | £6.39/$9.99 | v6.2

PROMISSORY

Splitting bills is a task that is required often in the workplace and historically apps have tended to focus purely on the activity itself. This app, however, not only makes the bill splitting process simple, thanks to its clean look and easy-to-use navigation, but it also stores all of the information should you need it later on. It is not pretentious in any way but manages to fit the iOS look perfectly. This is a great example of a tool doing the job it is intended for seamlessly from start to finish. A brilliant and useful addition to any home screen. An effective solution for sharing expenses in a matter of seconds. O iPhone+ | iOS 6.1 | £1.49/$1.99 | v1.2

READQUICK SPEED READER

It is all too easy to collect long articles from the web with the intention of reading them when you have spare time. If this time is at a premium, however, that can be difficult. This app presents articles from your Instapaper, Pocket and other service accounts in a unique way. One word pops up onto the screen at a time and you get to choose how many words per minute are shown. It takes time to get used to, but the end result will speed up your reading. A flexible solution for reading when you have little time to spare.

O iPhone+ | iOS 5.0 | £2.99/$4.99 | v1.5.1

O iPhone | iOS 6.0 | £1.49/£1.99 | v1.1.1

02 MONEYWIZ Sync all of your accounts and import your bank statements in order to crunch the numbers and get a forecast of your spending.

+++++ O iPad+ | iOS 4.3 | £2.99/$4.99 | v1.4.2

03 NEXT EXPENSE TRACKING Monitor how much you’re spending at Starbucks or in the App Store with this easy-to-use interface.

+++++ O iPhone | iOS 6.0 | £1.49/$1.99 | v2.0

04 DEBT MANAGER Got into arrears? Dig yourself out of trouble with this low-cost download.

+++++ O iPad+ | iOS 4.0 | £0.69/$0.99 | v1.5

05 SPENDEE Snap photos of your bills and store them in-app or enter them manually to view on a chart.

+++++ O iPhone | iOS 6.0 | £1.49/$1.99 | v1.2.1


THE CONVERTED TINY SCAN PRO: BY IDEON PDF SCANNER

Conversion apps are incredibly common, but The Converted takes a different approach by showing more than just numbers. Their presentation uses imagery to show the difference between two units and great care has been taken to offer a perspective that is understandable to the user. The number of different units supported is high, so there is little to complain about here. The only problem is that it may not do enough to make you move from your current solution, but for new conversion app users it will offer a huge number of benefits. A visual app that works as a new take on an old solution. O iPhone+ | iOS 6.0 | £1.99/$2.99 | v1.0.2

No matter how digital the world becomes there will always be the need to store paper documents or scan them for safe keeping. This app brings all of your paper documents into one place and makes the scanning process quick and extremely effective. It is able to add clarity to the most obscure documents and allows you to organise everything in the most logical way for you. The more you add, the more useful it becomes. A potentially gamechanging app that will offer benefits to users. O iPhone+ | iOS 5.0 | £2.99/$4.99 | v2.8.1 O Android | v3.0 | £0.99/$1.99 | v1.1

ZTASKS PRO: ZIMBRA TASK LISTS

ZTasks Pro is likely the most effective way to use Zimbra on a mobile device because it includes support for all of the main features Zimbra users will use every day. The search facility is wide-ranging, as is the ability to use multiple accounts, but it is in the presentation that the app works so well. The specialist nature of the service means that the app will never be hugely popular, but for servicing a particular audience and offering many efficiencies, it does exactly what it needs to. Users of Zimbra will appreciate the clean way in which it has been ported to the mobile world. O Android | v4.0 | £2.99/$2.99 | v1.2

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GAMES | GROUP TEST

FUN WITH PHYSICS GAMES

MOBILE MIND BENDERS THAT PIT YOU AGAINST THE FORCES OF NATURE

NANO PANDA

WHERE’S MY MICKEY?

CUT THE ROPE

This game echoes Cut the Rope but is sufficiently original to be its own animal. The objective is to get the titular pandas from their launch tubes into the mouths of one or more hungry atoms. The obstacles will be familiar to fans of Om Nom but one of the twists here is that there can be multiple pandas and they attract each other. This extra movement must be accounted for when predicting where the pandas will go, and you also have to consider what order to launch them in to ensure they reach their destination and you get maximum points. Cuddly central characters and puzzling challenges make this more than bearable.

This is Disney’s second spin-off from its original Where’s My Water? game and puts the company’s most iconic character at the forefront. The objective is to direct the flow of water through a cross-section of Mickey’s world, from the source to his collection point. The puzzles are simple to start with but quickly get harder – and to mix things up you can unlock screens featuring Goofy. There is a charming retro feel about the colourful animation and the emphasis is more on fun than physics – but the result is an enjoyable distraction that Disney fans should love. There’s not much new here but Mickey’s appeal keeps it from being a damp squib.

With his goofy smile and big eyes, the candy-crazy central character in this game has won over the hearts of mobile gamers young and old. This is despite the fact that all he does is open his mouth to grab passing sweets and look sad if they don’t fall his way. What makes the gameplay addictive is the combination of a lighthearted tone and brain-teasing challenges that require an understanding of geometry and motion. Like other hit mobile games, this has expanded into a franchise but the original adventures of Om Nom are as sweet as any of the sequels. Amusing, exasperating and absolutely impossible to give up – just like candy!

O Android | OS 2.0.1 | £0.59/$0.99 | v1.2.3 O iPad+ | iOS 3.0 | £0.69/$0.99 | v1.2

O Android | OS 2.2 | £0.62/$0.99 | v1.0.2 O iPad | iOS5.0 | £0.69/$0.99 | v1.0.2

O Android | Varies | £0.74/$0.99 | Varies O iPad | iOS 4.3 | £0.69/$0.99 | v2.3.1


GROUP TEST | GAMES

JENGA

CUBES VS. SPHERES

PLASMA PIG

Jenga is an ideal party game because it’s easy to understand but challenging to play. Reproducing it digitally is difficult because complex physics have to be accounted for to make the tower topple convincingly. This app succeeds thanks to the nicely rendered bricks and the realistic way they interact as play proceeds. You can challenge someone online, compete with friends in pass-and-play mode or do some solo deconstruction. Different settings are unlocked as you progress and if you want to show off your brick pile, it’s easy to snap and share a picture in the app. An impressive simulation that is much quicker to set up than the real thing. Great fun.

The challenge in this game is exactly what the name suggests: armed with spheres, you defend your position against approaching hordes of cubes. The spheres pop up from a central point at your command and you launch them or roll them at oncoming blocks. Points are amassed when you hit cubes, which explode on impact. You can use your device’s gyroscope or swipe to aim and as you progress, you have more weapons to choose from. You need a grasp of speed and trajectory, though, because as the levels increase in difficulty the cubes come thick and fast. Proof that a simple idea cleverly implemented can make for compelling gameplay.

Plasma Pig takes the idea behind games like Bad Piggies and Bridge Constructor and flips it on its head. Instead of creating something that allows you to negotiate a tricky landscape, you essentially design the landscape itself. You swipe across the screen to create plasma platforms that will get the purple pig to a wormhole. When you think you have a design that works, you set Pig on their way and watch them roll towards the destination, tilting your device, if necessary, to keep them moving in the right direction. Don’t turn your nose up at this tricky twist on a popular physics game formula.

O Android | OS 2.0 | £2.22/$2.99 | v1.83 O iPad | iOS 4.3 | £0.69/$0.99 | v1.6.2

O Android | OS 2.2 | £0.65/$0.99 | v1.24 O iPhone | iOS 3.2 | £0.69/$0.99 | v1.2

O Android | OS 2.2 | £0.69/$0.99 | v3.0 O iPad | iOS 5.1 | £0.69/$0.99 | v2

OSMOS

SIMPLEROCKETS

ANGRY BIRDS STAR WARS II

In this biology-based game you control a mote, a single-celled organism that needs to grow by absorbing other motes. Your mote floats in a sea of others and you move it around by tapping the screen. This creates a current that drives it towards its targets and away from the red motes that would suck it up. Normal gameplay is slow but you can speed it up with a swipe. Sometimes, though, you should take a moment to appreciate the impressive graphics and plot your next move, because natural forces don’t always move things in the directions you expect. Not one for action-oriented gamers but original and absorbing if patience is in your nature.

This cool app from the developers of SimplePhysics allows you to design your own rocket and launch it into space. How far it gets before it runs out of fuel or crashes depends on your design and how effective you are at controlling it. Every design starts with a Command Pod by default, but after that you’re on your own. There are various parts you can add and the excellent tutorial encourages you to be as crazy as you like – as long as you remember to take along enough fuel and include detachable stages, like the ones real rockets have. It might start out as a simple five-minute mission, but you’ll soon get addicted.

This entry in Rovio’s feathered franchise is a prequel to the original Angry Birds Star Wars game, featuring the Emperor, General Grievous, Qui-Gon Jinn and other characters from Episodes I to III of the movie series. The format will be familiar to anyone who has played these games before but this time you can swap allegiances and play as Darth Sidious’ minion pigs on the Pork Side. You can also use Telepods, which are plastic minifigures that can be integrated into the game by scanning their QR codes with your device’s camera. The hilarious spoofing of Star Wars and challenging gameplay mean this never gets old. Brilliant fun.

O Android | OS 2.2 | £0.99/$0.99 | varies O iPhone | iOS 4.3 | £0.69/$0.99 | v2.3.1

O Android | OS 2.2 | £1.24/$1.99 | v1.4.2 O iPhone | iOS 4.3 | £1.49/$1.99 | v1.3.1

O Android | OS 2.3 | £0.79/$0.99 | v1.0.2 O iPad | iOS 4.3 | £0.69/$0.99 | v1.0.1


63

GAMES | REVIEW

ABOVE: There are lots of missions to master. You can play in regular mode or as an experienced veteran

ABOVE: Make use of the bird’seye view during battle and direct your troops to attack or take cover

ABOVE: At every stage in a campaign you are told what you must do and where to go

CALL OF DUTY: STRIKE TEAM A FIRST-PERSON SHOOTER AND REAL-TIME STRATEGY – THIS GAME HAS IT ALL PROS/CONS VIt features both RTS and FPS modes

VA ction packed or slow and steady – it’s your choice

WT he FPS controls could use a bit of work

WL ack of multiplayer games might disappoint some

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The Call Of Duty franchise is now a decade old, and there have been numerous variations and scenarios released over the years. Each console version was eagerly awaited and played to death by millions of enthusiasts. This is perhaps the reason why Call Of Duty: Strike Team has had such a lukewarm reaction on the iPad and iPhone. People have high expectations having played it on a PlayStation or Xbox, but Call Of Duty: Strike Team for iOS is a fraction of the price, it runs on more limited hardware and there is no controller, just a touchscreen. It’s wrong to compare it to the console version and if you forget your preconceptions and expectations of the game, then you should have great fun with this £4.99/$6.99 iOS app. Call Of Duty is a war game and in this iteration the United States is under attack by an unknown enemy. You and your team are tasked with taking down the bad guys. This involves entering enemy bases patrolled by guards, hacking door locks, disabling alarms,


breaking security codes and retrieving vital information. Oh, and killing bad guys – a lot of bad guys. The action is as fast and furious as a machine gun. The app mixes real-time strategy (RTS) with first-person shooter (FPS) and it is an interesting idea. In FPS mode there are thumb controls at either side of the screen and the left is used to move forward, back, left and right, while the right is used to look, aim and fire. Touchscreens aren’t ideal for this type of action and it is a little awkward, if only there was a decent physical controller. Still, there is the option to tap the left and right screen edges in order to snap right onto the next target. Some might consider this to be cheating, but you don’t have to use the feature. You can switch to another team member and

take control with a swipe across their name. You can even hide them in lockers and dumpsters where they will be hidden and protected from the enemy while you concentrate on one person. Tapping at the top switches to RTS mode where you’ll have a bird’s eye view of the battlefield or building. Team members can be selected individually or together and then instructed to move to new positions. Enemy soldiers can be targeted and engaged or taken out with a sniper rifle. You cannot play the game entirely in either FPS or RTS modes and to make progress you must switch from one to the other as best fits your current situation. You might need to use FPS to take over a gun turret and blast the enemy at close range, or you could use the RTS overview to position your team

“IF YOU FORGET YOUR PRECONCEPTIONS AND EXPECTATIONS OF THE GAME, THEN YOU SHOULD HAVE GREAT FUN WITH THIS APP”

REVIEW | GAMES SHOWCASE

Wage war with these great features 01 USE STEALTH

As it turns out, Call Of Duty isn’t all about blasting with machine guns, sometimes stealth is required. Here you must sneak up and dispatch the enemy with a knife.

02 REVIVE AND CONTINUE

ABOVE: Take advantage of available cover – you can even hide inside lockers and dumpsters

Health kits come in handy when team members are injured. You can apply an adrenaline shot or revive them and then carry on playing.

03 PICK YOUR WEAPONS

so as to ambush the enemy, draw their fire or attack on their unprotected flank. It’s a bit slow and clumsy when switching modes, but it does add a bit of interest to the game and you need to consider which mode is best at any time. There are lots of campaign missions and a moderately interesting story that links them together. As you work through the missions you gain experience points and new and better weapons become available. You can choose the weapons for each team member at the start of each mission, but until you’ve tried it and failed, you won’t know which weapons to take with you. Thinking about the specific situation will certainly help you – for example, do you need a sniper rifle or a machine gun? The weapons at your disposal are limited at first, but there are in-app purchases that enable you to unlock items early to provide extra firepower if you can’t wait to earn the experience points. If the

team is injured or killed, you can restart the mission or revive the men with health kits. They cost you, but you earn game money for completing missions. There are a lot of one-star reviews in the iTunes store and this is because the app is big and pushes the limits of the iPad. It is a 1.3GB download and 2GB installed. You must then quit all apps and power off the iPad. Restart and it will then run smoothly. If you don’t, it stutters and crashes a lot. Call Of Duty: Strike Team isn’t as good as the console versions and it lacks any online multiplayer action. However, it makes an entertaining iPad game. It will appeal more to those new to the series rather than old hands that will compare it with the console experience. With mixed FPS action and RTS strategy, this attempts to create the Call Of Duty experience on iOS.

Having the right weapons for each mission is incredibly important. Customise each team member specifically to give them the tools they needs to do the job.

04 USE THE STORE If you can’t wait to get all the better weapons, there is always the option of visiting the store. In-app purchases enable you to add lots of goodies early on, if you have the money.

05 USE FPS MODE You can gain control of some incredibly powerful weapons when you’re in FPS mode. Being in the right mode at the right time is the key to success in this game.

O iPad | iOS 6.0 | £4.99/$6.99 | v1.0.0

ALTERNATIVELY… If you like Call Of Duty, you will love these alternatives

COMBAT 3: 01 CALL OF DUTY: ZOMBIES HD 02 FRONTLINE COMMANDO 03 MODERN FALLEN NATION This combines the Call Of Duty gameplay with mindless zombieslaying fun. It’s surprisingly popular and worth a try. O iPad+ | iOS 3.2 | £2.99/$4.99 | v1.3.3

As the solesurviving commando, you must save the day. O iPad+ | iOS 5.1 | Free | v3.0.2 O Android | iOS 2.1 | Free | v3.0.3

Features a 13-mission campaign and multiplayer. O iPad+ | iOS 4.3 | £4.99/$6.99 | v1.4.0 O Android | iOS 2.1 | £2.99/$4.99 | v1.1.3

04 TINY TROOPERS

Less realistic than Call Of Duty and in a cartoon style. Good fun. O iPad+ | iOS 5.0 | £0.69/$0.99 | v1.3.1 O Android | iOS 2.2 | Free | v1.0.6

COMBAT: 05 MODERN SANDSTORM HD

This is an old game, but it’s still great. Complete ten missions set in the Middle-Eastern desert. O iPad+ | iOS 3.2 | £2.99/$4.99 | v1.0.4


65

GAMES | REVIEW

ABOVE: This game marks yet another step forward in terms of the graphic quality on mobile devices

INFINITY BLADE III

ABOVE: There are enemies of all shapes and sizes for users to engage in battle

THE MOBILE HACK-N-SLASH HEAVYWEIGHT CONCLUDES ITS TRILOGY It’s taken some time to surface, but the third instalment of the Infinity Blade series has finally arrived on iPhone and iPad. Much like the previous titles, this game sticks to what it knows best in terms of the gameplay, with the repetitive slash-heavy battles still the centrepiece. What you will notice is how much bigger the game is, and how much better it looks. Things are much more polished this time, and considering Infinity Blade has never been a bad-looking game, it means things really do look gorgeous now. The world you play in is also on a much bigger scale, and though there is less of the path choice and exploration

that we found in Infinity Blade II, there is a suitable impression of size and general epicness that developers Chair seem quite keen to get across. In terms of gameplay things are very much familiar, with the same gestureladen combat the focal point of your gaming. A few layers have been added to and around this though; users can now add a finishing move to their combos thanks to an on-screen swipe prompt. It’s a great way to do some extra damage at the end of a flurry. The new achievement system also rewards players for varying up how they fight, with valuable chips on offer for hitting certain numbers of parries, dodges and blocks, so it pays to mix things up a bit. Isa is a playable

character for the first time too, and you can level her up independently to Siris. There’s also a blacksmith and potions master to work with in this game, and while some of their processes can take a fair chunk of time, there are rewards in using them. Rather than a massive overhaul this is very much a polished continuation of the story. Some of the narrative will be lost on you if you haven’t played the previous games, but don’t let that stop you from playing what is a benchmark in iOS gaming. This new addition adds some layers to the gameplay that fans of the previous titles should appreciate. O iPad+ | iOS 6.0 | £4.99/$6.99 | v1.0.4

Pros/Cons VVisually, it’s a wonderful world to explore

VA second playable character and new features freshen things up

WN othing hugely revolutionary in the gameplay

WT he repetition and difficulty curve can drag at times

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SHOWCASE Features to be excited about in Infinity Blade III

01 HIDEOUT

Adding a bit more scale and breaking up the relentless fighting is your new hideout. Here users can retreat to create potions and work with the blacksmith.


02 PLAY AS ISA

For the first time in the Infinity Blade series, users can switch between two playable characters and upgrade them both as they go along, a nice bonus.

03 COMBO FINISHERS

Users can now make combo attacks even more lethal thanks to the finishing move. These appear as gesture prompts on screen at the end of combos.

04 VISUALS

Each game in this series has got steadily better looking, and the third instalment is no different. Look out for sweeping panoramas and plenty of lens flare.

05 ACHIEVEMENTS

As an added incentive, the achievements system has been overhauled and Goals introduced, rewarding users with valuable chips.

REVIEW | GAMES

HEROES OF LOOT

A GRINDING DUNGEON CRAWLER THAT KEEPS YOU ON THE EDGE OF YOUR SEAT

Old-school games have a certain charm to them, but they can also be extremely hard. Heroes of Loot harks back to the style of the Eighties with a pixelated set of characters but, thankfully, it places this within a game that has been made less difficult than it could have been. That will be extremely refreshing for all of those who would otherwise have sweated their way through what turns out to a high-action dungeon crawler.

ABOVE: The enemies come at you in huge waves and it can be really difficult to keep on top

With this game, you can forget indepth plot lines of the likes of Grand Theft Auto V and instead leave your brain at the door while you choose a character from one of four classes – Elf, Warrior, Wizard or Valkyrie – and get to grips with all of their attributes. At first you may just start tearing around the place, losing lives and wondering just how you’re going to open doors. You’ll discover secret rooms by accident and pick up all manner of goodies. What you need to do here is stick a plaster over your thumb and keep hammering away at that fire button to dispatch the nasties that have come to spoil your day. There is a story, but it matters little, even if the cutscenes are a welcome relief from the relentless gameplay. The main point is embarking on random quests, finding your way around and trying to remain as

unscathed as you could possibly hope to be when a swarm of enemies decides to envelope you en masse. Everything about the game smacks of retro in the positive sense. You really could be looking at a game that was available on one of the more colourful home computers of the early video-gaming era. There is speed as well as a lot of wit, and you soon learn the various skills of your classes and just how invaluable they are to clean up the mess before you. You will find this game hard to put down, and yet it is really geared up for short bursts of play. The game is available on both iOS and Android, and it plays equally well on either format. A high-octane game that evokes past memories and a great dungeon crawler.

Pros/Cons VWonderful visuals and fantastic sound

VSo much action it might just make your brain hurt

WT here is no multiplayer available within the game

WT he maps can become a little repetitive

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O Android | OS 2.1 | £1.72/$1.99 | v1.3.0 O iPhone+ | iOS 4.3 | £1.49/$1.99 | v1.2.1

ABOVE: Death is inevitable but the idea is obviously to not see this screen and instead collect the loot

ABOVE: The control buttons are located in the bottom corners of the screen, as is traditional

ALTERNATIVELY… Indulge in these epic dungeon crawlers

01 DUNGEON HUNTER 4

An epic RPG saga that seems to get better with each iteration. O iPhone+ | iOS 5.0 | Free | v1.2.1 O Android | OS 2.3 | Free | v1.2.0

02 HEROES OF DESTINY

With four heroes to control, this is great real-time strategy fun. O iPhone+ | iOS 5.1 | Free | v2.0.1 O Android | OS 2.1 | Free | v2.01

03 ORC VENGEANCE

The icon may look like an evil Shrek but there’s nothing nasty about the gameplay of this excellent RPG. O iPhone+ | iOS 4.1 | £1.99/$2.99 | v1.2

04 NIMBLE QUEST

Beautiful, pixel graphics make for an engaging, fun game. O iPhone+ | iOS 5.0 | Free | v1.0.8 O Android | OS 2.2 | Free | v1.0.4.1

05 THE BARD’S TALE

The 3D graphics place this into console territory. Amazing stuff. O iPhone+ | iOS 4.3 | £1.99/$2.99 | v1.2.1 O Android | OS 2.3 | £ 1.85/$2.99 | v1.4


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BLACKBAR

BATTLE ROBOTS

01 EPOCH In this FPS war of the machines, you upgrade your robot from the parts of the enemies you kill. +++++ O iPad+ | iOS 4.0 | £1.99/$2.99 | v1.4.1 O Android | OS 2.3 | £1.76/$2.83 | v1.4.4

02 CORDY 2 Help to save the world from

It is rare for a game to be so simple and yet be as compelling as Blackbar is. You read a series of communications that have been censored and your goal is to work out the censored words and then type them in to proceed. The writing is wonderful, and this alone makes you want to jump to the next page. Some of these pages are relatively simple, while others require a lot of thinking to decipher exactly what the missing words are. The presentation is supremely simple and so is the way the game plays, but it works very well.

SIMON THE SORCERER

SKYLANDERS CLOUD PATROL

This game may look like it was designed for children, but as you dig deeper you realise there is a lot of depth here – and it is this that makes the game very addictive. There is a sense of achievement throughout and despite the in-app purchases, you can progress quite easily without having to spend money. As you shoot the aliens and practise your movements, you will find great satisfaction in killing more. It’s not original, but it is very good.

This is a classic game that started life back in 1993, but it still holds up today in terms of how deep and addictive it is. The graphics certainly feel retro; while this makes the control mechanisms a little fiddly in some areas, the charm has remained and for anyone who is a fan they will enjoy it immensely. Unfortunately there are some bugs and we experienced a few crashes, but hopefully these can be fixed in the future. Until then, it’s still an impressive piece of gaming history. 20 years since the original, it’s back – but with a few bugs in tow.

A classic shooter with entertaining graphics and addictive qualities that will keep you entertained.

O iPhone+ | iOS 6.1 | £1.99/$2.99 | v1.0.1

O iPhone+ | iOS 2.2 | £1.49/$1.99 | v2.4 O Android | OS 2.2 | £2.70/$3.99 | v1.0.2.1

O iPhone+ | iOS 4.3 | £1.49/$1.99 | v1.8.0 O Android | OS 2.3.3 | £1.28/$1.99 | v1.8.0

STICKMAN DOWNHILL

THE LAST EXPRESS

WUNGI PIRATES

Completely original, and very interesting. An amazing game.

the evil Boogaloo’s mechanical minions in this classic enjoyable platformer.

+++++ O iPhone | iOS 3.2 | Free | v1.0.7765 O Android | OS 2.2 | Free| v7765

03 DEUS EX: THE FALL Technically featuring cyborgs and not robots, you can choose to fight or conspire with the factions trying to take over the world in this RPG.

+++++ O iPad+ | iOS 5.0 | £4.99/$6.99 | v1.0.4

04 REAL STEEL The big-screen adaptation of the Rock’Em Sock’Em Robots comes to smartphone as you compete in a futuristic boxing tournament.

+++++ O iPhone+ | iOS 4.1 | £0.69/$0.99 | v1.11.0 O Android | OS 2.0.1 | £1.99/$2.99 | v1.3.4

05 CUBEMEN 2 Battle against other blockshaped bots in this fastpaced 3D strategy game that also supports multiplayer mode.

+++++ O iPhone+ | iOS 3.1.3 | £1.49/$1.99 | v1.14


Stickman Downhill has already proved to be very popular and with good reason. It is very well designed and lets the gameplay shine through with a host of progressively more difficult challenges to keep you amused. It does most things well, but over time we found that it could get repetitive if played a lot. It is still worth picking up for the low price, but we would like to see more variety and different challenges in the later levels. A great game that is very well designed, but can get dull when played over a long time. O iPhone+ | iOS 4.3 | £0.69/$0.99 | v1.3 O Android | OS 2.2 | Free | v1.6

The Last Express has long been admired by many as one of the true classic adventure games and here we have a modernday version for mobile devices. The graphics and sounds come together to create an atmosphere which not only retains the charm of the original, but works perfectly today. It can take you hours to play and you need to be careful with your actions as they can affect the entire game. This is without a doubt a must buy. An excellent port of a classic that works well on the small screen. O iPhone+ | iOS 4.3 | £2.99/$4.99 | v1.03 O Android | OS 2.3.3 | £3.00/$3.99 | v1.0.2

Wungi Pirates is a visually impressive children’s app offering huge amounts of fun as the child navigates through the various screens; younger children in particular may find lots of replay value. The games and interactivity work well and the theme is consistent throughout, offering an atmosphere in which users can immerse themselves. The games are challenging and the sense of achievement as the child succeeds is great, lifting the title above its rivals.

This is a carefully and creatively designed app that should work very well with children. O iPad+ | iOS 6.0 | £1.99/$2.99 | v1.3 O Android | OS 4.0 | £2.54/$2.99 | v1.1

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CREATE YOUR OWN WORLD

01 MINECRAFT – POCKET EDITION Build a world out of digital blocks by yourself or work together with friends. +++++ O Android | Varies | £4.99/$6.99 | Varies O iPad+ | iOS 5.0 | £4.99/$6.99 | v0.7.5

02 TERRARIA Chop wood, dig holes, build

BEACH GAMES

MECHO WARS

CONTRA: EVOLUTION

Beach Games is a curious title and one that will likely polarise opinion. On the one hand you are given a series of minigames that will help pass some time, but each of these requires a lot of practice and near-perfect timing. On the other hand, some may find it all too simplistic and may wonder what the real appeal is. It certainly has charm and acts as a fun diversion, but we lean more towards the idea that it needs additional content to make it truly enjoyable. At least the graphics are lots of fun. A game that some will love and others will be confused by. It is still worth a try, however.

Games like Mecho Wars tend to be adored by a sub-set of gamers who like the turn-based elements and simplistic 2D graphics. It would be easy to look at this game and presume it to be made only for geeks, but there is actually a lot of depth involved and the areas you travel in feel huge. You need to think hard on occasion and it’s not a title for everyone, but if you like a challenge you will enjoy spending time building up your resources and progressing further. An impressive and immersive game. The turn-based gameplay may not suit everyone, but this is a compelling game.

The original game was released in 1988, and this version has been tweaked to make it feel much more modern. Graphically it does well and the control mechanism works quite efficiently, but it could be a little more natural to use. There is a sense of frantic pace to the gameplay and you will feel part of the environment as you play through, but you may not be playing it week after week without getting bored. It is a decent port of a classic, which just about stands up today. The game may be 25 years old, but it still plays quite well today.

O iPhone+ | iOS 4.3 | £0.69/$0.99 | v1.02 O Android | OS 2.3.3 | Free | v1.01


O iPhone | iOS 4.3 | £0.69/$0.99 | v1.1.1 O Android | OS 2.1 | £0.63/$1.00 | v1.1.2

SIEGECRAFT DEFENDER

TWISTED LANDS: WINGSUIT PRO ORIGIN

houses and interact with every aspect of this expansive 16-bit world.


03 MEGACITY HD More a puzzle than an open world, arrange buildings in a set order to earn more land and create a sprawling metropolis.

+++++ O Android | OS 2.2 | £0.69/$0.99 | v1.81 O iPhone+ | iOS 5.0 | £0.69/$0.99 | v1.80

04 DUNGEON VILLAGE Help to create a thriving medieval village by inticing heroes to defeat monsters and raid dungeons for you.

+++++ O Android | OS 1.6 | £2.99/$4.99 | v1.0.7 O iPad+ | iOS 5.0 | £2.49/$3.99 | v1.0.1

05 POCKET GOD Exercise omnipotent power over an island of pygmies – but will you be good or evil? It’s completely up to you.

+++++ O Android | OS 2.0 | £0.62/$0.99 | v1.4.1 O iPhone | iOS 5.0 | £0.69/$0.99 | v1.47


Tower defence games are common, and the good ones make you want to try the same level over and over again to progress, but this one offers a more impressive environment than any other. There are multiple towers and a host of levels with more than enough variety to keep you thinking hard. This is great, but there are stability issues present that need tweaking to allow the brilliant gameplay to shine through. It could well be one of the best tower defence games available.

Stunning graphics, excellent gameplay, but with a few bugs. O Android | Varies | £1.92/$2.99 | Varies

Hidden object games need a few things to make them worthy of your time; in Twisted Lands: Origin we have a title that offers pin-sharp graphics and many intelligently placed objects that will keep you occupied for a long time. The atmosphere is brilliant, as is the story, with the game fast becoming a relaxing experience that offers enough intrigue to keep you coming back. This is a brilliant addition to the Twisted Lands series. Hidden object games often offer a more intriguing experience that you may imagine. O Android | OS 2.3.3 | £1.24/$1.99 | Varies O iPhone | iOS 4.0 | Free | v1.0.2

You may have imagined jumping hundreds of feet in a wing suit, but not had the nerve to consider doing it in real life. This game gives you the opportunity to experience the sensations, but in an environment that is safe. You get to try and beat your best score as many times as you like and can also watch detailed replays of each jump – if only just to experience everything all over again. It is a hard game to explain, but trust us when we say that once you start, you will struggle to put it down. Perfect for those with a dardevil steak. Few games offer a sense of extreme realism as much as this.

O Android | OS 2.3 | £0.69/$1.08 | v1.504

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t iPhone

CAPTURE MOMENTS IN MORE DETAIL THAN EVER

Using the new burst and slowmotion modes on the iPhone 5s makes getting the perfect photo even easier

A

s Apple often tells us, the camera in the iPhone is now the most popular and widely used camera in the world. Even the most novice user now wants to be able to effortlessly snap a quick photo on the fly and be able to look back on it without worrying about lighting or a lack of stabilisation ruining the shot. The iPhone 5s has taken one of the biggest steps forward in some time of terms of upgrading the hardware, and combined with the launch of iOS 7 to boost the software, it almost feels like a completely new approach for users to work with. Among the extensive amount of overhauling that has been done to the hardware is the quicker and better focus, which lends itself perfectly to the two main features of this tutorial – burst mode and slo-mo. Burst photography is not a new concept on smartphones, it’s been available on some Android devices for a while and makes capturing those ‘blink-or-you’ll-miss-them’ moments more achieveable than ever. The great touch from Apple has been to add some AI to this, with the Camera app offering its own input to your bursts, highlighting which shots it thinks are the best. In addition there’s the very cool slo-mo feature, where users can drop in a slow-motion section to a video they’ve recorded. It’s all the rage on TV these days, so the chance to see a super-slo-mo clip of your dog catching a Frisbee is something that will appeal to plenty of users, and this tutorial is going to show you how to go about it.

PICKING YOUR FAVOURITES

>How to get the most from your burst shoots Cancel If you want to try again, tap the Cancel button and return to your Camera Roll, where bursts are shown as a single entry and must be tapped for access.

Tick off To keep images, simply use the tick in the bottom-right corner. Once you’re happy with your selection, hit Done and the remaining images will be erased.

Apple hints Users will notice the grey dots that appear beneath certain photos in the roll. These are the shots the app believes are the best of the bunch, based on lighting and other factors.

Burst Along the bottom of the screen you’ll see a roll of the various images you took in a single burst. You can scroll through all of these with a swipe.

LOVE EDITING PHOTOS? SEE OUR REVIEW OF PHOTO EDITOR KIT IN ISSUE

38


About the app…

CAMERA

Boasting some cool new features to aid your iPhoneography iPhone+ | iOS 7.0

The iPhone’s camera and native Camera app have long been criticised for being behind the competition. Clearly this is something Apple has focused on in the iPhone 5s, and this latest version of the app. As well as the awesome new burst and slo-mo features, the new app takes advantage of two different LED flashes for the first time, meaning better lighting for your snaps. Arguably, Apple is giving their rivals a run for their money. A serious step up from previous versions in terms of photography and user experience.

“THE iPHONE 5s HAS TAKEN A BIG STEP FORWARD IN UPGRADING THE HARDWARE”

TIP

CAMERA

Slow-motion timing To get the best results from slow motion, look for moments involving lots of speed where the change of pace is obvious, or involves jumps. Something hanging in the air looks very cool.

1

2

3

4

5

6

CAMERA > Capture the perfect photo

1 PHOTO

2 BURST CAPTURE

3 FAVOURITES

4 SLO-MO

5 RECORD

6 SLO-MO PLACEMENT

Burst mode is built right in to the Camera app, so doesn’t need to be turned on. Head to the app and swipe through to the standard photo option so you can get ready to snap away.

If you’re looking for something more exciting then the slo-mo feature might be worth a shot. Swipe along from the Photo option in the Camera app to find slo-mo on the far left.

Taking a burst of photos is effortless, simply tap and hold the camera trigger button and the app will keep taking photos until you let go. An onscreen counter tracks the number you’ve taken.

Here little changes from recording regular video, just tap the Record button to start and stop. For best results, shoot fast movement to emphasise the change of pace later on.

Tap the photo thumbnail in the bottom-left corner, and then Favorites to enter a mini menu. Choose your preferred shots from the burst, while the app gives its own judgement.

Below the familiar frame bar is the slo-mo placement bar, where you can move the start and finish point of the slow-motion capture to time it perfectly in your video.


73

TUTORIALS t Android

BOOST YOUR BATTERY LIFE WITH ONE FREE DOWNLOAD

Use DU Battery Saver to monitor and optimise the power you get from your smartphone, and give it a new lease of life hile our smartphones are getting smarter, faster and more powerful, users can end up paying for this advancement with their precious battery life. This is because of the processing power needed to support such hefty operating systems. As a result, there is a burgeoning market of battery efficiency apps on the Google Play and App Store, each aiming to optimise your battery by closing background programs, but also by providing the user with analytics. This means you can make better judgement calls on the apps to run, and how to generally improve your digital housekeeping. DU Battery Saver is one such app, and it does a very good job of not only using its own capabilities to improve your phone’s efficiency, but also to give you the power to control which apps your phone is running at any one time. Add to this the ability to log and monitor your charging history, and the app will be able to build a picture of the health of your smartphone. DU Battery Saver then shows you this information on its main dashboard, giving you a real-time overview of the battery life you have, and various breakdowns of specific usage times. This tutorial will show you how to not only make sense of this intuitive dashboard, but also how to put DU Battery Saver to good use among the accumulated clutter of all your apps.

W

THE KEY FEATURES OF DU BATTERY SAVER

>Find your way to the core areas of the interface 1 Battery summary The battery infographic at the top of the screen gives a visual representation of how much life you have left, as well as the time in hours.

2 Optimise This is the most powerful button in the app, as this button begins the process of analysing your device and its battery performance.

3 Live figures Should you be interested to see your device’s temperature and battery capacity shift as they do, then the live figures at the centre of the screen will be of significant use to you.

4 Bottom tabs

FOR MORE ANDROID CUSTOMISATION, SEE OUR REVIEW OF TENDERE IN ISSUE

38


There are a range of options at the foot of the screen that lead you to charging stats and links to the Pro version, which has a extra features.

About the app…

DU BATTERY SAVER &MakeWIDGETS your battery last longer with this app Android | OS 2.1 | Free | v3.3.0

There is no shortage of battery power and optimisation apps available to download in the Google Play Store, but finding the right one to optimise your power usage can be a difficult process. DU Battery Saver is available for free with the option of an upgrade to a Pro version should you wish to get more in-depth in your tweaking of the programs you’re running, and monitoring how you use power. A simple yet powerful tool for increasing your smartphone’s battery efficiency.

“IT GIVES YOU THE POWER TO CONTROL WHICH APPS YOUR PHONE IS RUNNING”

TIP

DU BATTERY SAVER

Tailor your housekeeping DU Battery Saver has a Protected List under the Settings app. Here you can place apps you wish to spare from the virtual spring clean – your music player, for example.

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4

5

6

DU BATTERY SAVER >Supercharge your smartphone 1 HOME

2 OPTIMISE

3 THE LIST

4 RUNNING APPS

5 MONITOR

6 CHARGE

The first screen is the central dashboard. Here you’ll get a general overview of the battery life you have remaining and stats like temperature and capacity. These are live figures.

The Saver Recommendations section has check buttons next to its entries. If you spot any that can go, DU Battery allows you to close them.

Tap the large Optimize button to launch an analytics sweep of your device, creating a list of energy-saving recommendations as well as extra manual things you can do.

Return to the dashboard and tap Monitor for a list of all the apps running in battery usage order. Scroll through and stop them as necessary.

The list created is split in two with a Saver Recommendations list, showing which apps are running, and the Manual Power Options list, with check boxes you can action instantly.

Tap the Charge icon at the bottom of the screen to be shown how to correctly charge your phone, resulting in extended battery life.


75

BOOKS iPad

WAR HORSE

Children’s story read aloud by author Michael Morpurgo, plus musical performance and a historical timeline of WWI.

BUSINESS iPad

iPad

Scan business cards for easy storage and import contact details directly into your address book.

View hi-res, rotating images of every element in the periodic table.

Use all those tools in exactly the same way on your iPad as you would on a real canvas, mixing your paints with great results.

CAMCARD

iPhone/ iPad

iPad/Android

iPhone/iPad

iPhone/iPad/Android

Piece together the interweaving stories of an archaeologist and a mental patient from a multimedia map of Glasgow.

Create documents, spreadsheets and presentations and view PDFs on the go.

This augmented reality app lets you explore the stars, planets and constellations in the night sky in real-time.

Stream music and video from your desktop, and enjoy content from Plex’s channels.

OiOS 4.3 | £2.99/$4.99

OiOS 5.0 | £13.99/$19.99 OOS 3.0 | £14.71/$19.99

iPad

iPhone/iPad/Android

@Knowyourapps

OR RECOMMEND THEM ON FACEBOOK

/AppsMagazine

SEND US AN EMAIL TODAY WITH YOUR FAVOURITE APPS

[email protected]


Gain remote access to your desktop from your device.

STAR WALK

OiOS 4.3 | £2.99/$4.99

PLEX

OiOS 4.3 | £1.99/$2.99

OiOS 5.1 | £2.99/$4.99 OOS Varies | £3.21/$4.99

Android

iPad

Pinpoint all the major cities of the world and learn their locations with this addictive geography game.

Paints, inks and abstract shapes are available, so you can achieve the effect you’re looking for.

MAPMASTER

PROCREATE

OiOS 5.0 | £10.49/$14.99 OOS 2.2 | £9.35/$14.99

OOS 1.6 | £1.40/$1.65

OiOS 6.0 | £2.99/$4.99

iPhone/iPad

iPhone

iPad

iPhone/iPad

In this novel experience you are given bits of people’s lives as you weave the story together in your own mind.

Speak into this app and have your words translated into 40 languages, either spoken back to you or sent as a message.

Learn about the work of five great painters, including van Gogh and Monet, and then experiment with their style.

In this game you literally have to sneak up on your phone from a distance to capture photos of the shy monsters.

OiOS 4.0 | £4.99/$6.99

OiOS 5.0 | £0.69/$0.99

OiOS 4.3 | £2.49/$3.99

OiOS 5.0 | £1.49/$1.99

iPad

iPhone/iPad

iPad

iPhone/iPad/Android

Create a stunning CV with this step-bystep app that creates a polished final product that can be easily exported.

View the pyramids and temples of Giza in stunning 3D and examine the treasures that were once inside them.

Includes a full set of sketching tools in a streamlined and intuitive user interface.

OiOS 5.1 | £2.99/$4.99

OiOS 5.0 | £1.49/$1.99

OiOS 5.1 | £4.99/$6.99

OiOS 5.0 | £1.49/$1.99 OOS 2.2 | £1.32/$1.99

iPad

iPad

iPad

iPhone/iPad

Discover TS Eliot’s epic and revolutionary poem, view interactive notes, and watch related videos.

Visualise seating plans, schedule meetings, save notes and record audio for taking minutes in this business app.

Takes you deep into the human body, with video content and annotated graphics. A fine app on the iPad.

Watch the world go by with this unique app that lets you view thousands of public video cameras in real-time.

OiOS 5.0 | £9.99/$13.99

OiOS 5.0 | £2.99/$5.99

OiOS 4.0 | £4.99/$6.99

OiOS 5.1 | £0.69/$0.99

iPhone/iPad

iPhone/iPad

iPad

iPhone/Android

Interactive illustrations and music bring the macabre magic of Edgar Allen Poe’s haunting poetry to life.

All-in-one scanner JotNot can be used to scan text files, business cards, bills and more using your smart device.

A broad approach to the history of the world, combining science, culture and politics in a handy timeline.

Prank your friends and family with classic phrases from the cult TV show.

OiOS 4.3 | £4.99/$6.99

OiOS 4.3 | £0.69/$0.99

OiOS 4.3 | £2.99/$4.99

OiOS 4.3 | £0.69/$0.99 OOS 1.6 | £0.60/$0.99

iPad

iPhone/Android

iPad

Android

Explore 600 million years of evolution with a fossil timeline and multimedia treatments that explain the science.

The ultimate virtual pet, Tom will repeat what you say and you can also dress him up and customise his appearance.

CHOPSTICKS NOVEL

THE FANTASTIC FLYING BOOKS OF MR MORRIS LESSMORE Breathtaking visuals and a heartwarming story. Essential.

iPOE

THE LAND OF ME: STORY TIME Pick and choose the plot lines of stories in this interactive children’s app.

SAYHI TRANSLATE

CV EXPRESS

MEETING MINUTES

JOTNOT SCANNER PRO

SPLASHTOP – REMOTE DESKTOP Gain remote access to your computer anywhere.

PLAYART BY TAPOOK

PYRAMIDS 3D

DK THE HUMAN BODY APP

LITTLEBIGHISTORY

NHM EVOLUTION

SNEAK

SKETCHBOOK MOBILE

iSPY CAMERAS

FONEJACKER

TALKING TOM CAT 2

OiOS 4.3 | £1.99/$2.99

OiOS 3.2 | £4.99/$6.99 OOS 2.2 | £3.23/$4.99

OiOS 4.3 | £9.99/$13.99

OOS Varies | £0.69/$0.99

iPhone/iPad/ Android

iPad

iPad

iPhone/iPad

The classic horror story is brough back to life in this interactive adaptation.

Share your portfolio with clients instantly in this impressive app, and even access it without a web connection.

Discover alien worlds outside of our solar system with this immersive app.

FRANKENSTEIN

TWEET US WITH YOUR FAVOURITE APPS

POCKETCLOUD REMOTE DESKTOP PRO

OiOS 5.1 | £9.99/$13.99

OiOS 5.0 | £3.99/$5.99

THE WASTE LAND

OAndroid | OS 2.2 | £3.23/$4.99 | v1.6.6.5

ARTRAGE

OiOS 5.0 | £1.99/$2.99 OOS 2.0 | £1.90/$2.99

This interactive history includes maps of key battles and is packed with 500 photos.

With this one-off download there is no need to buy an office suite for your smartphone or set up cloud storage to get your favourite files on your device. Splashtop allows you to remotely access and control everything on your PC or Mac desktop, including smoothly streaming highdefinition video and audio, so that you can even play your PC games on your mobile device.

THE ELEMENTS: A VISUAL EXPLORATION

OiOS 5.0 | £4.99/$6.99

TIMELINE AMERICAN CIVIL WAR

OiPad+ | iOS 4.3 | £2.49/$3.99 | v1.1

ENTERTAINMENT

iPhone/Android

DEVIL’S PLANTATION QUICKOFFICE PRO HD

As the nights draw in, this spooky puzzle game is definitely a recommended download. Set in a snow-covered forest in Sweden, your character is on a vision quest for a glimpse of the future. Making the most of your touch controls, you must interact with on-screen elements to complete tasks and solve puzzles for macabre woodland spirits.

EDUCATION

OiOS 4.3 | £2.99/$4.99 OOS 4.0 | £2.99/$4.99

SHOWCASE APP

OiOS 5.0 | £2.99/$4.99

JOURNEY TO THE EXOPLANETS

VLC STREAMER

OiOS 4.0 | £6.99/$9.99

The renowned streaming service comes to iOS, sharing media from your desktop to your device. Supports AirPlay.

OiOS 5.0 | £1.49/$1.99

Android

iPad

iPhone/iPad

iPad

Part story, part puzzle, bluff your way into getting the killer to confess in this interactive whodunnit.

Ensure people get feedback, direction and encouragement with this stylish project management app.

This educational game is a fun way to master the Pythagorean Theorem with great graphics and examples.

Very realistic effects in this app, with textured oil paint, virtual pressure sensitivity and smudge blending.

OOS 2.2 | £0.65/$0.99

OiOS 5.1 | £2.49/$3.99

OiOS 4.3 | £1.49/$1.99

OiOS 4.3 | £0.69/$0.99

DEATH OFF THE CUFF

PROOF

PYTHAGORAS THE GAME

ART SET

TOP 200 | GREATEST APPS EVER

FINANCE

FOOD & DRINK

GAMES

iPhone/iPad

iPhone/Android

iPhone/iPad

The price you pay for this app is fully justified, thanks to its superior functionality and the useful tips it divulges.

Step-by-step photo recipes, plus extra kitchen tips such as how to sharpen knives.

Hand-painted scenery, evolving landscapes and a reactive narration creates a one-of-a-kind game.

POCKETMONEY

JAMIE’S 20 MINUTE MEALS BASTION

OiOS 4.3 | £2.99/$4.99

OiOS 3.1.2 | £4.99/$6.99 OOS 2.0 | £4.99/$7.69

iPhone/Android

iPhone

Track your earnings and expenses with this app, and transfer money between accounts.

Its superb recipes, detailed videos and excellent expert advice make it a great app for cooks of all skill levels.

MY BUDGET BOOK

OiOS 5.0 | £0.99/$0.99 OOS 2.1 | £1.99/$2.99

GREAT BRITISH CHEFS

HEALTH iPhone/Android

ENDOMONDO SPORTS TRACKER PRO A mix of fitness tracking and social networking.

OiOS 5.1 | £2.99/$4.99

OiOS 5.0 | £2.99/$4.99 OOS Varies | £3.99/$4.99

iPhone/iPad/Android

NEED FOR SPEED MOST WANTED Hi-res, high-octane street racer. Absolutely great fun.

LIFESTYLE

MEDICAL

iPad

iPhone/iPad/Android

Plan everything, from your big day’s budget to the colour scheme and the seating plan with this detailed wedding app.

View rotatable 3D images from Gray’s Anatomy of selected organs or regions of the body.

WEDDING PLANNER FOR iPAD

VISUAL ANATOMY

OiOS 5.1 | £6.99/$9.99

OiOS 4.3 | £1.99/$2.99 OOS Varies | £1.60/$2.49

iPhone/Android

iPhone

iPhone/iPad

Run to stay alive in a world infested with zombies in this immersive AR workout.

Type in a URL and select a date, then discover how websites used to look with this web history time machine.

Gentle songs and ambient sounds set to child-friendly graphics will soothe your baby off to sleep.

ZOMBIES, RUN!

TIME BACKER

LULLABY!

OiOS 4.0 | £2.99/$4.99

OiOS 4.0 | £2.99/$6.99 OOS 2.3 | £3.21/$4.99

OiOS 6.0 | £2.49/$3.99 OOS 4.0 | £2.79/$3.99

OOS 4.0 | £0.69/$0.99

OiOS 6.0 | £0.69/$0.99

iPad

iPhone

iPhone/iPad

iPhone/iPad/Android

iPhone/iPad

iPad

This is one of the best finance managers around, with easy-to-use functions.

An absolute must for all foodies, this app features mouthwatering fullscreen photos and some clever features.

Spooky game set in 19th Century Sweden. Solve puzzles using logic, touch and sound. Contains adult themes.

Simply hold your thumb over the camera lens to monitor your heart rate.

This dissection of the human skeleton goes into incredible detail with plenty of room for adding your own notes.

OiOS 4.2 | £2.99/$4.99

OiOS 5.0 | £2.99/$4.99

OiOS 4.3 | £2.49/$3.99

OiOS 4.3 | £1.49/$1.99 OOS 1.5 | Free

Record your life with this magazinelike app for your memories, ideas and photos. Share online or keep private.

OiOS 6.0 | £2.99/$4.99

OiOS 5.0 | £6.99/$9.99

iPhone/iPad/ Android

iPhone/iPad

iPhone/iPad/Android

iPad

iPhone

iPhone/iPad

StockPulse keeps you updated with the price of your shares and the latest business news.

The app is perfect for any level of cooking experience and can teach you some great new skills in the kitchen.

Protect your convey of troops and attack alien invaders in this top-down strategy game.

One of many fantastic health apps from 3D4Medical, this breaks away from most by focusing on fitness.

Minimalist, gesturedriven alarm clock and stopwatch that will launch your favourite apps for when you wake up.

OiOS 6.0 | £1.99/$2.99

OiOS 5.0 | £0.69/$0.99

MONEYWIZ – PERSONAL FINANCE FOR iPAD

STOCK PULSE

OiOS 4.3 | £1.99/$2.99 OOS 2.2 | £1.85/$2.99 iPhone/iPad

DEBT MANAGER

OTTOLENGHI

YEAR WALK

HOW TO COOK EVERYTHING ANOMALY KOREA

CARDIOGRAPH

iMUSCLE 2

DAY ONE JOURNAL

SKELETON SYSTEM PRO III

START BY TACK

COMPLETE RELAXATION – GUIDED MEDITATION Relax with these comforting words set to ambient music.

OiOS 4.3 | £2.99/$4.99

OiOS 5.0 | £2.49/$3.99 OOS 2.2 | £2.99/$4.99

iPhone/iPad

iPad/Android

iPhone/iPad/Android

Android

iPhone

A revolution in physics gaming, this game breathes new life into the franchise.

A real-life workout videogame for men and women. Complete levels as you get fit.

Customise your home screen with these stunning widgets for current time, weather forecasts and other utilities.

An app worth having, but one you hope you never have to use. It stores your emergency contacts in one place.

THE PHOTO COOKBOOK – QUICK & EASY

ANGRY BIRDS SPACE HD

GORILLA WORKOUT

OiOS 4.3 | £0.69/$0.99

iEMERGENCY+

HD WIDGETS

Clean, simple interface allows you to visualise your debt, organise your incomings and outgoings, and pay it off.

With images of every ingredient and step to each recipe, it couldn’t be easier to follow.

OiOS 4.0 | £0.69/$0.99

OiOS 5.0 | £2.49/$3.99

OiOS 4.3 | £1.99/$2.99 OOS 2.2 | £1.99/$2.99

OiOS 4.3 | £0.69/$0.99 OOS 2.3 | £0.62/$0.99

OOS 2.3 | £1.99/$1.99

OiOS 3.0 | £0.69/$0.99

iPhone/iPad

iPhone/iPad

iPhone/iPad/Android

iPhone/iPad/Android

iPad

iPhone/iPad

Compatible with Excel, Google Docs and Open Office – manage all of your finances on the go with this app.

Videos show you how to select your ingredients and make your own rice and sushi in this detailed Japanese cooking app.

Devilish difficulty and a simple design combine in this addictive puzzle game.

Military-grade workout app that requires no fitness equipment bar your device.

OiOS 4.0 | £2.99/$4.99

OiOS 5.0 | £1.99/$2.99 OOS Varies | £1.99/$2.99

OiOS 5.1 | £6.99/$9.99

Aimed at medical students but suitable for general interest, this app features six tests to revise how the body works.

OiOS 4.3 | £1.99/$2.99

OiOS 4.3 | £1.99/$2.99 OOS 2.2 | £1.99/$2.99

This app starring Sir Paul Smith follows the history of bicycle design.

iPad

iPhone/ Android

iPhone/iPad/Android

iPhone

iPhone/iPad

iPad

Keep track of your incomings and outgoings with this app that filters paid, planned, and overdue payments.

File away your favourite web recipes in this dedicated cooking database.

A fast-paced work out with 12 exercises, instructional videos and health and weight tracker.

Unique icons in a range of colours and styles, including animal fur and pastel sweets, for your device.

Includes five different ways to explore the musculoskeletal system and a pop quiz.

OiOS 5.0 | £1.49/$1.99

OiOS 4.3 | £0.69/$0.99

OiOS 5.1 | £2.99/$4.99

iPhone/iPad/Android

Android

iPhone/Android

Eat more healthily with this handy meal-planning and tracking app.

Get smooth, rotating 3D effects for your home screen, smart folders, panels and other assorted widgets.

Reduce stress and see your breathing patterns displayed in colourful graphics.

iSPREADSHEET

BILLS FOR iPAD

TEACH ME SUSHI

PAPRIKA RECIPE MANAGER

OiOS 4.3 | £0.69/$0.99

OiOS 5.0 | £2.99/$4.99 OOS 2.2 | £3.11/$4.99

Android

iPhone/iPad

MONEY TAB

SUPER HEXAGON

GRAND THEFT AUTO: VICE CITY

Control the criminal underworld in this epic mobile version of the classic game.

OiOS 4.3 | £2.99/$4.99 OOS 2.3 | £3.21/$4.99 iPhone/iPad

GREEN KITCHEN – HEALTHY BEAT SNEAK BANDIT VEGETARIAN RECIPES Part puzzle, part

YOU ARE YOUR OWN GYM

7 MINUTE WORKOUT CHALLENGE

CALORIE COUNTER PRO

Update your expenses in real-time with this tracking app with stylish Holo-design. View stats and export to MS Office.

Stylish interface and inspiring recipes prove healthy eating doesn’t need to be bland or boring.

stealth, all rhythm action. Tap your screen to the beat of the music to navigate levels.

OOS 2.2 | £0.69/$0.99

OiOS 6.0 | £2.99/$4.99

OiOS 3.1.3 | £1.99/$2.99

OiOS 4.3 | £2.49/$3.99 OOS 2.1 | £2.57/$3.99

Android

iPad

iPhone/iPad/Android

iPhone/iPad/Android

Spending tracker in a clean interface with a unique twist, indicating how guilty you should be for big expenses.

Recipe app for those with specific dietary needs, such as gluten and soy allergies, and fans of the Paleo ‘caveman diet’.

Create your own world, block by block.

Plan your workout in this stylish app and receive motivation from the voice coach.

OOS 4.0 | £1.26/$1.99

OiOS 4.3 | £3.99/$5.99

iPhone/iPad

iPhone/iPad

iPhone/iPad/Android

iPad

Compare mortgages side-by-side, work out what the true price would be and manage your payments.

Import and organise your favourite online recipes so they are all in one place and easy to find when you want them.

Visually stunning open-world fantasy adventure with intuitive gesture controls.

OiOS 4.0 | £1.49/$1.99

OiOS 5.1 | £1.49/$1.99

GUILT

MORTGAGE MENTOR

NOM NOM PALEO

MY RECIPE BOOK

MINECRAFT – POCKET EDITON

OiOS 4.3 | £4.99/$6.99 OOS Varies | £4.99/$6.99

HORN

OiOS 5.0 | £4.99/$6.99 OOS Varies | £5.07/$6.99

CYCLEPEDIA – ICONIC BICYCLE DESIGNS

ICONS PRO

ANATOMY & PHYSIOLOGY 2

OiOS 3.0 | £0.69/$0.99

MUSCLE & BONE ANATOMY 3D

BREATHING ZONE

SPB SHELL 3D

OOS 2.1 | £9.45/$14.95

OiOS 3.2 | £2.49/$3.99 OOS 2.2 | £2.49/$3.99

iPad

iPad

Create decorative cards in-app with hints and tips from Martha herself.

Life-like depictions of the heart and circulatory system that can be rotated 360° to appreciate its complexity.

OiOS 5.0 | £2.99/$4.99

OiOS 5.0 | £6.99/$9.99

iPad

iPhone/iPad

This app is packed with photo, video and audio tutorials to help you reach your peak level of fitness. Also includes yoga.

Aspiring novelist? My Writing Desk for iPad is your space to express yourself in a clean, distraction-free environment.

Keep a digital diary of your family’s shots, vaccinations, medicines, illnesses and more.

OiOS 5.0 | £2.49/$3.99

OiOS 5.0 | £2.99/$4.99

OiOS 3.1.3 | £1.49/$1.99

RUNTASTIC PUSH-UPS PRO

OiOS 6.0 | £1.49/$1.99 OOS 2.2 | £1.49/$1.99

FITNESS FOR iPAD

MARTHA STEWART CRAFTSTUDIO

HEART PRO III

MY WRITING DESK

FAMILY ILLNESS AND SHOT TRACKER


77

MUSIC

iPad

iPhone/iPad

With a multitude of instruments, plus multitrack recording, this is a magical music box that anyone can enjoy.

View near real-time air traffic maps that let you track the paths of aircraft above you.

Newspaper skin for reading your favourite new media news sites in an old-fashioned but intuitive interface.

The final piece in the iLife puzzle for iOS, iPhoto comes with an astonishing suite of editing tools to tweak images.

PLANE FINDER

OiOS 5.0 | £2.99/$4.99

OiOS 6.0 | £2.99/$4.99

iPhone/iPad

iPhone/Android

Android

iPad/Android

Make music in minutes with this easy-to-use interface. Export results to iTunes Audio Sharing.

Join the world’s biggest treasure hunt by becoming a Geocacher. It’s great fun.

Easily sync your favourite subreddits for later offline viewing in this clean, easy-touse Holo interface.

Edit images on the go with a range of touch-control tools using this essential software.

GEOCACHING

OiOS 5.0 | £0.69/$0.99

OiOS 5.0 | £6.99/$9.99 OOS Varies | £6.99/$9.99

iPad

iPhone/iPad

Android

iPhone/iPad

Take tracks from your iTunes library and start mixing them together on this full-featured turntable app.

Crowdsourced maps with offline functionality to save on data costs.

Great on the iPhone and iPad, this moviemaking app allows you to capture, edit and share footage anytime.

OiOS 6.0 | £6.99/$9.99

OiOS 4.3 | £1.49

Another popular choice for viewing Reddit, with new Slideshow mode for easy viewing.

OOS 2.0 | £1.23/$1.99

OiOS 6.0 | £2.99/$4.99

iPad

iPhone/iPad/Android

iPad

iPhone/Android

Explore three centuries of classical music with this interactive mix of music and video content.

Download more than 7,000 maps from around the world for offline use on your device.

Toggle easily between original news sites and an elegant magazine reader, and save articles for offline use.

Create time-lapse and stop-motion videos with this sleek app with adjustable frame rate.

THE ORCHESTRA

GPS NAVIGATION 2 – SATNAV BY SKOBBLER (UK/ROI)

CITY MAPS 2GO

Go star spotting and track comets with this map of the night sky.

LAPSE IT – TIME LAPSE PRO

iPhone

iPad

iPhone/iPad

Ideal for the mountains, view 3D maps and aerial images and plan your route.

Learn to speed-read while taking in the news headlines. Set the pace that words appear one at a time to train yourself.

Create a comic book starring your friends and family by applying speech bubbles and borders to images.

Create music with this clever app that includes synthesisers, samples and oscillators.

OiOS 4.3 | £6.99/$9.99 OOS 2.2 | £7.19/$9.10

LONGFORM

iMOVIE

OiOS 5.0 | £1.49/$1.99 OOS 1.6 | £1.99/$1.99

Holy photo effects, Batman! Create a comic book out of your own photos with this geek chic app.

REACTABLE MOBILE

BACONREADER PREMIUM FOR REDDIT

OiOS 5.0 | £1.99/$2.99

iPhone/iPad/Android

RED SHIFT - ASTRONOMY

ADOBE PHOTOSHOP TOUCH

OiOS 5.0 | £2.99/$4.99 OOS 3.1 | £6.99/$9.99

MEXTURES

It's alive! This gothic horror classic is brought back to life on Android. O OS 4.0 | £2.99/$4.99

REDDIT SYNC PRO

OOS Varies | £1.59/$2.00

OiOS 5.1 | £1.99/$2.99 OOS 2.3.3 | £1.99/$1.99

FRANKENSTEIN

iPHOTO

OiOS 5.1 | £2.99/$3.99 OOS 2.2 | £1.99/$1.99

OiOS 6.0 | £9.99/$13.99

OiOS 5.0 | £0.69/$0.99

PULP

OiOS 5.1 | £2.99/$4.99

DJAY 2

OiOS 5.0 | £2.49/$3.99

PHOTO & VIDEO

iPhone/Android

FIGURE

Complete with a new look for iOS 7, this easy-to-use app is a great way to store up to 500 articles for offline reading.

NEWS

iPhone/iPad

GARAGEBAND

INSTAPAPER

NAVIGATION

MAPS 3D – GPS TRACKS FOR BIKE, HIKE, SKI & OUTDOOR

READQUICK

HALFTONE

OiOS 5.0 | £2.49/$3.99

OiOS 5.0 | £2.99/$4.99

OiOS 5.0 | £0.69/$0.99

iPhone/iPad/Android

iPhone/iPad/Android

iPad

Android

Hum a tune or sing a lyric and SoundHound will give you the full name of the song and artist.

Maps work offline; however, online use also includes Google, Wikipedia and Yelp searches.

OiOS 5.0 | £4.99/$6.99 OOS Varies | £3.99/$5.99

OiOS 6.0 | £19.99/$28.99 OOS Varies | £19.99/$29.99

This iPad exclusive RSS reader is perfect for viewing the latest news, with multiple themes to add a personal touch.

The fastest camera on Android, this app will take ten shots per second and offers a range of filters for your images.

OiOS 5.0 | £2.49/$3.99

OOS 1.6 | £1.79/$2.99

iPhone/iPad/Android

iPhone/iPad

iPhone/iPad/Android

iPhone/iPad/Android

View guitar tabs, create lists of your favourites, and view chord diagrams.

Augmented reality navigator and compass that lets you track your location and work out bearings in real-time.

Save feature articles and blog posts for later offline reading in this paper-like reader.

Transform your photos into works of art with this picture editing and painting app.

OiOS 4.3 | £2.49/$3.99

OiOS 5.0 | £2.49/$3.99 OOS 2.3.3 | £1.93/$2.99

OiOS 4.3 | £3.99/$5.99 OOS 2.2 | £3.82/$5.99

SOUNDHOUND '

ULTIMATE GUITAR TABS

COPILOT LIVE PREMIUM

SPYGLASS

MR. READER

INSTAPAPER

CAMERA ZOOM FX

PHOTOVIVA

O iOS 4.3 | £7.99/$11.99

OiOS 4.3 | £1.99/$2.99 OOS 2.0 | £1.93/$2.99

ANOMALY KOREA

iPhone/iPad

iPhone/iPad

Android

iPhone

In a unique take on the tower defence genre, rise up against the alien invaders in this strategy game. O iOS 5.0 | £2.49/$3.99

Record live airplay, set up a radio alarm clock on your iPhone or iPad, and AirPlay radio stations to other devices.

Provides geographical details for highland, hilltop and mountain walks across the UK and Republic of Ireland.

This RSS client for Feedly offers a customisable interface, as well as the option to have articles read to you.

Create and combine your own filters for truly individual Instagram photos.

OiOS 3.0 | £2.99/$4.99

OiOS 4.3 | £1.49/$1.99

OOS 2.1 | £3.19/$4.99

Android

iPad

Android

iPhone/iPad/Android

Wirelessly sync your Android device with your desktop iTunes so you can enjoy your music on your smartphone.

All-in-one compass, GPS, map, zoom camera (photo and movie), range finder and twoaxis inclinometer for iPad.

Simply swipe through this clearly laid out app to read articles offline with ease. Double-tap images to zoom in.

Apply paper texture and cartoon effects to your photos and real-time video shooting.

OOS 2.2 | £4.99/$4.99

OiOS 4.3 | £2.49/$3.99

OOS 4.0 | £1.93/$2.99

OiOS 4.0 | £0.69/$0.99 OOS 2.1 | £1.19/$1.99

iPad

iPhone/iPad

iPhone/iPad

iPhone

Add authentic crackle to your digitised music and watch as your album art ‘discolours’ with time.

Get off the beaten track with this map app, ideal for planning, tracking and sharing hikes and off-road cycle paths.

Download and listen to your favourite podcasts directly from your iPhone or iPad without the need to sync with iTunes.

A replacement for your native camera app. Don’t just point and shoot, add effects to your images in-app with ease.

OiOS 5.0 | £0.69/$0.99

OiOS 5.1 | £9.99/$19.99

OiOS 5.0 | £1.49/$1.99

OiOS 5.0 | £1.49/$1.99

OOTUNES RADIO

AIRSYNC iTUNES


@Knowyourapps


/AppsMagazine


[email protected]


VINYL THE REAL RECORD PLAYER

HILL LISTS

THEODOLITE HD

VIEWRANGER OUTDOOR GPS & MAPS

gREADER PRO

PRESS (RSS READER)

DOWNCAST

MEXTURES

OiOS 5.1 | £1.49/$1.99

PAPER CAMERA

CAMERA+

TOP 200 | GREATEST APPS EVER

PRODUCTIVITY iPhone/iPad

NUMBERS

REFERENCE iPhone/iPad

BRIAN COX’S WONDERS OF THE UNIVERSE

SOCIAL iPad

TWEETBOT FOR TWITTER (iPAD EDITION)

SPORTS

TRAVEL

WEATHER

iPhone/iPad/Android

iPad

iPhone

The live map tracks every race, with detailed profiles for both cars and drivers.

Whether you’re taking a flight or keeping track of your friends and family, Flight+ is one of the best apps around.

This app keeps itself from getting cluttered by using gestures to display info. For example, slide right to view a 3 day forecast.

F1 2013 TIMING APP CP

WEATHER POD

FLIGHT+ FOR iPAD

This spreadsheet was designed for your touchscreen, allowing you to calculate figures and create graphs with ease.

With wonderful images, animations and video content, it’s a must-have for any stargazer.

Perfect for heavy Twitter users, it includes multiple timelines and smart gestures.

OiOS 5.1 | £6.99/$9.99

OiOS 5.0 | £3.99/$5.99

OiOS 5.0 | £1.99/$2.99

O iOS 5.0 | £15.49/$21.99 OOS 2.1 | £15.49/$21.99

OiOS 5.0 | £2.49/$3.99

OiOS 4.3 | £0.69/$0.99

iPhone

Android

iPhone/iPad

iPhone/iPad

iPhone/iPad

iPhone/ iPad/ Android

This purely gesturebased app has one of the most innovative and intuitive interfaces of any app around.

Based on satellite imagery, view the Earth displayed at any time, in any location. Also works as a live wallpaper.

Make friends and have lively group conversations with this video chatroom app – or remain silent and just watch.

Pennant displays stats in a brilliantly animated way, and one that is simultaneously cool and traditional in feel.

Book a room, track a flight or rent a car and view maps of hundreds of airport terminals with this all-encompassing app.

Create your own weather station with customisable features and great graphics.

OiOS 7.0 | £1.99/$2.99

OOS 2.0 | £1.99/$2.99

OiOS 4.3 | £0.69/$0.99

OiOS 4.3 | £0.69/$0.99

OiOS 7.0 | £0.69/$0.99

OiOS 4.3 | £1.49/$1.99 OOS Varies | £1.29/$1.99

iPhone/iPad

iPhone/iPad/Android

iPhone/iPad/Android

iPhone/iPad

iPhone/iPad/Android

iPhone/iPad

This versatile app allows you to create, edit and view documents – and create attractive, customised pages.

Find essential information that is well-presented and easy to use in this clever app.

Includes extras for Twitter, such as dictated tweets, scheduled posting and more.

Get live departure and arrival times for trains and download timetables for offline viewing.

OiOS 5.0 | £2.99/$4.99 OOS 2.0 | £3.07/$4.99

Vivid, real-time animated radar images of weather across the United States, with storm alerts and bookmarks.

OiOS 5.1 | £6.99/$9.99

OiOS 5.0 | £1.99/$2.99 OOS 2.1 | £1.86/$2.99

All the latest football news, transfer gossip, confirmed transfers and tweets from sports journalists.

iPhone/iPad

iPad

CLEAR+

PAGES

GRAFIO – DIAGRAMS & IDEAS For a little brainstorming session at work, you can’t go wrong with Grafio.

TERRATIME

WOLFRAMALPHA

TINYCHAT

TWEETCASTER PRO

TRANSFER WINDOW

iPhone/iPad

iPhone/Android

message new people near you or around the world.

View maps and track your position on golf courses across the world with this GPS app.

A combination of lifestyle and travel tips in a stylish magazine interface covering cosmopolitan cities.

Get seven-day forecasts and radar imagery of the USA and much of Europe.

GOLFSHOT: GOLF GPS

OiOS 4.3 | £20.99/$29.99 OOS 2.2 | £18.57/$29.99

Android

iPhone/iPad

iPhone/Android

The innovative keyboard learns the words you use for more accurate auto-correction and predictive text.

This exquisite app brings the night sky to your device with all major planets and constellations displayed.

Meet new people who live near you with this locationbased chat room app.

OOS Varies | £2.99/$3.99

OiOS 4.3 | £7.99/$11.99

OiOS 5.0 | £1.99/$2.99 OOS 2.1 | £1.99/$2.99

iPad

iPhone/iPad

Android

Endlessly large canvas for simple sketching that you can export as PDFs.

Interactive 3D globe for children, beautifully rendered with details of all the countries of the world.

Manage your social networks in one place and view your Facebook and Twitter accounts in one timeline.

OiOS 5.0 | £5.49/$7.99

OiOS 5.0 | £2.99/$4.99

OOS 2.1 | £1.89/$2.99

OiOS 6.1 | £2.99/$4.99 OOS 4.0.3 | £3.30/$4.99

Android

iPhone/iPad

iPhone/iPad

iPhone/iPad/Android

Wake up to the tranquil sounds of dogs, trains, or coffee brewing instead of a siren.

Browse Wikipedia using this excellent reader, which offers great formatting and customisation options.

WARMLY - AN ALARM CLOCK

BAREFOOT WORLD ATLAS

ARTICLES

NOAA RADAR PRO

iPhone/iPad/Android

OiOS 4.3 | £1.99/$2.99 OOS 2.0 | £1.90/$2.99

SYNCSPACE: INFINITE SHARED WHITEBOARD

MYTRAINS

iPhone/iPad/Android

OiOS 5.0 | £2.99/$4.99

REDSHIFT – ASTRONOMY

WEATHER LIVE

OiOS 5.0 | £2.99/$4.99 OOS 2.2 | £2.99/$4.99

OiOS 5.0 | £4.99/$6.99

SWIFTKEY 3 KEYBOARD

KAYAK PRO

O iOS 5.0 | £0.69/$0.99

DICTIONARY.COM – SKOUT+ DICTIONARY & THESAURUS Create and manage a profile and instant– HD iPAD An amazing resource to have available on the iPad.

TOPPS PENNANT

BADOO PREMIUM

SEESMIC PRO

MY FOLLOWERS ON INSTAGRAM PRO Find out when someone unfollows you on the photosharing site.

CITY GUIDES

OiOS 5.0 | £2.49/$3.99

WEATHERPRO

OiOS 5.0 | £2.49/$3.99

OiOS 5.0 | £1.99/$2.99 OOS 2.1 | £2.49/$2.99

iPhone/iPad

iPad

iPhone/Android

All the latest footy news and transfer gossip in one app with notifications for your favourite team.

The interactive bucket list offers photo-laden travel features of dream global getaways.

FOOTBALL RUMOURS 2

1,000 PLACES TO SEE BEFORE YOU DIE

FIZZ WEATHER

A slick UI with a wealth of useful data, you get weather info for over 58,000 cities.

OiOS 4.3 | £2.49/$3.99

OiOS 4.3 | £0.69/$0.99 OOS 2.1| £0.99/$1.62

iPhone/iPad/Android

iPhone/iPad

iPhone/iPad

Improve your team’s performance with video analysis and draw directly onto images.

A list-making app specially designed for your holiday packing, with a detailed pre-departure to-do list with over 100 tasks.

Simple and accurate seven-day forecast for UK tidal times. Scroll through hundreds of locations on the coastline.

OiOS 5.0 | £1.99/$2.99

OiOS 4.3 | £0.69/$0.99

Android

iPad

Keep track of your position using GPS or switch to offline maps when out of mobile signal range.

A retro weather app with beautifully designed dials and gauges that appear in stunning Retina display.

OiOS 4.1 | £0.69/£0.99

COACH’S EYE

BOATIE

Navigation and reference guide for ether sailing for all boats, yacht or dinghy.

PACKING PRO

TIDE TIMES

BACKCOUNTRY NAVIGATOR PRO GPS

PEEPOMETER

OiOS 5.0 | £0.69/$0.99

OiOS 5.0 | £4.99/$6.99 OOS 2.2 | £4.99/$7.65

OOS Varies | £6.99/$9.99

OiOS 4.3 | £1.49/$1.99

Android

iPad

iPhone

iPhone/iPad

Android

Create a world-class presentation with this top app with a range of impressive themes and customisable features.

View all of human history on a colourcoded timeline and tap for detailed descriptions of specific events.

Designed to use your iPad’s touch functionality to manage your blog. Drop media into your posts with ease.

Create winning football strategies with this animated playbook app.

Discover great adventures around the world, then create your own wish list of places you want to visit.

Visualisation of real-time space weather affecting our solar system, such as solar flares and winds.

OiOS 5.1 | £6.99/$9.99

OOS 2.3.3 | £2.53/$3.50

OiOS 5.0 | £2.99/$4.99

OiOS 4.0 | £1.49/$1.99

OiOS 4.3 | £1.99/$2.99

OOS Varies | Free

iPhone/iPad

iPhone/iPad/Android

iPhone/iPad

iPhone/Pad

iPhone/iPad/Android

iPad

Write a list and sync it between devices so that you and your flatmates can all keep track of who’s buying what.

Clear, accurate and occasionally witty definitions, plus a detailed thesaurus.

View all of your social networks in one place with StatNut and display them in a simple, colour-coded interface.

Multipurpose playbook includes features for a variety of sports, from soccer to hockey to roller derby.

Turn your device into a radar dish and see what air traffic looks like in real-time.

View animated hourly and weekly weather forecasts for up to nine different places around the world simultaneously.

OOS 2.3 | £1.49/$1.99

OiOS 6.1 | £1.99/$2.99

iPhone/iPad

KEYNOTE

GROCERY LIST

WORLD HISTORY

CHAMBERS DELUXE

BLOGSY

STATNUT

THE MASTER TACTICIAN MOBILE PRO

COACHNOTE

SULLIVAN’S LIST

SPACE WX

FLIGHTRADAR24 PRO

MAGICAL WEATHER

OiOS 5.0 | £1.49/$2.99

OiOS 4.3 | £6.99/$9.99 OOS 2.2 | £6.13/$9.99

OiOS 4.3 | £0.69/$0.99

OiOS 4.3 | £2.99/$4.99

OiOS 4.3 | £1.99/$2.99 OOS Varies | £1.99/$2.99

iPhone/iPad

iPad

iPhone/iPad

iPhone/iPad

iPhone/iPad

iPhone/iPad

Freeform draw and write notes when you’re in a hurry. Tilting will create a new note.

Explore 2,000 years of one of the world’s greatest cities with articles, photos and video.

Keep your username, followers and direct messages, but delete your tweets with this social network spring-clean app.

The rules to 74 major sports from golf to Greco-Roman wrestling, with illustrations.

Use Google Maps’ Street View and your device’s GPS to create an intuitive map that responds to your movements.

Charming animated weather illustrations belie the useful functionality of this five-day forecast app.

OiOS 5.0 | £1.49/$1.99

OiOS 5.0 | £9.99/$13.99

OiOS 5.0 | £1.99/$1.99

OiOS 4.3 | £0.69/$0.99

OiOS 5.0 | £0.69/$0.99

OiOS 3.2 | £0.69/$0.99

REAL MEMO PRO – HANDWRITING

LONDON – A CITY THROUGH TIME

TWEETICIDE

CURLY’S POCKET GUIDE TO SPORT

LIVE STREET VIEW

OiOS 5.1 | £1.49/$1.99

WEATHER DOODLE


79

BOOKS

iPhone/iPad/Android

For functionality and design we would take Kobo every time. Free books and cool reading stats.

One of the most powerful educational tools around, with full university courses available directly on your device.

Track your accounts and bills all in one place, with the ability to set budgets thrown in as well.

phenomenon is one of the best free downloads you can make.

From banks to bars, scan for nearby business instantly. O Android | OS 2.2 | v4.2.3

Apple’s own native bookstore comes with iCloud features, as well as the ability to change reading settings to suit you.

A library of over 3,000 videos to help users learn pretty much anything they want, no matter what their interests.

Bloomberg is a must for City traders and anyone interested in the stock market.

A real challenger to Temple Run, this endless platformer has one-touch controls.

OiOS 5.0

OiOS 6.0

OiOS 3.2 OOS 1.6

OiOS 4.3 OOS 2.2

iPhone/iPad/Android

iPhone/Android

iPad

Android

Essentially a portal to read over 12,000 comics, and over 500 of them are free.

Everything NASA in one place, including news on missions and stunning imagery.

OiOS 4.3 OOS Varies

OiOS 5.0 OOS 2.1

Monitor your spending and ultimately save money thanks to the charts, graphs and stats that are provided here.

The Angry Birds franchise collides with Star Wars, complete with lightsabers and the Force to help you.

OiOS 5.0

OOS 2.3

iPhone/iPad/Android

iPhone/iPad/Android

iPhone/Android

iPhone/iPad/Android

A great app for book recommendations, Goodreads also has wishlists and social links.

Learn a new language for free, from grammar basics to translating entire websites.

Send money between accounts using just a mobile number, from your device.

Gem-matching and settlement management have been neatly fused together.

OiOS 5.0 OOS 1.5

OiOS 5.0 OOS 2.2

OiOS 5.0 OOS 2.2

OiOS 4.1 OOS Varies

iPhone/Android

iPhone/iPad/Android

iPhone/Android

iPhone/iPad/Android

Regular programming with remarkable speakers and lectures for free via this app.

Check your current balance, view your account and send money via 16 currencies.

A fantastic-looking game for a free download – just try to survive a zombie onslaught.

OiOS 6.1 OOS 2.2

OiOS 5.0 OOS 2.2

OiOS 4.2 OOS Varies

AUDIOBOOKS FROM AUDIBLE Part of the Amazon family, so you have plenty of choice.

OiOS 5.0 OOS Varies

BUSINESS

@Knowyourapps


/AppsMagazine


[email protected]


KHAN ACADEMY

NASA APP

DUOLINGO

TED

ENTERTAINMENT

BLOOMBERG

SPENDING TRACKER

BARCLAYS PINGIT

PAYPAL

JETPACK JOYRIDE

ANGRY BIRDS STAR WARS

TRIPLE TOWN

DEAD TRIGGER

FOOD & DRINK

HEALTH

iPhone/iPad

iPhone/Android

iPhone/Android

Remotely access your desktop PC or Mac, so you can take your business along wherever you should be going.

So much more than an extension of the iPlayer catch-up service, with a great interface.

An essential destination for when you want something great to eat.

OiOS 4.3

OiOS 5.0 OOS 4.0

OiOS 7.0 OOS Varies

OiOS 5.0 OOS Varies

iPhone/iPad/Android

iPhone/iPad/Android

iPhone/Android

iPhone/iPad/Android

Cloud storage so you can save and access all your key files across all your devices.

Keep up with your favourite shows anywhere; just sign in with your Sky ID.

Your ultimate kitchen companion, Whisk helps you order ingredients for portion sizes.

Your ultimate calorie guide with a massive database as well as exercises and social links.

OiOS 5.0 OOS Varies

OiOS 5.1 OOS 2.2

OiOS 5.1 OOS 2.3

OiOS 5.0 OOS Varies

iPhone/iPad/Android

iPhone/iPad

iPhone/iPad/Android

iPhone/Android

A very clever workbased network where users across a team can delegate tasks.

Give your home videos some epic Hollywood effects with this brilliant free app for your iOS device.

BOX

PODIO

OiOS 5.0 OOS 2.2

iPLAYER RADIO

SKY GO

ACTION MOVIE FX

FOODSPOTTING

WHISK

EPICURIOUS RECIPES & SHOPPING LIST

An absolute must for culinary masters and budding chefs alike.

iPhone/Android

ENDOMONDO SPORTS TRACKER Endomondo is the most social fitness experience around.

CALORIE COUNTER

NIKE+ RUNNING

This app requires a pair of Nike shoes that have an insert for the Nike+ sensor.

OiOS 5.0

OiOS 4.3 OOS 1.5

OiOS 6.1 OOS 2.3.3

iPhone/iPad

iPhone/iPad

iPhone/Android

This handy app lets you connect to iTunes wirelessly and play music and movies that are on your Mac or PC.

The app that’s perfect for any level of experience, from oven wizards to toast burners.

check symptoms and conditions, but you can also get drug information.

OiOS 5.0

OiOS 5.0

OiOS 5.0 OOS 2.1

iPhone/iPad

iPhone/iPad/Android

Android

iPhone/Android

This app instantly translates the spoken word into text. Send notes and reminders to yourself, and so much more.

Cross-device viewing thanks to the cloud. An absolute must for subscribers to the service.

Find and book a restaurant table in just a few taps, last minute or planned.

Post your concern and a qualified doctor will respond with a diagnosis fairly swiftly.

OiOS 5.0 OOS 2.2

OiOS 5.0 OOS 2.3.3

OiOS 5.0 OOS Varies

iPhone/Android

JAMES CAAN BUSINESS SECRETS


OiOS 4.3 OOS 2.1 iPhone/iPad/Android

LOGMEIN

AROUNDME

OiOS 5.0 iPhone/Android

GOODREADS

This fitness tracking app has been upgraded for the iPhone 5s. O iPhone+ | iOS 6.1 | v4.3.1

OiOS 5.0

POCKET EXPENSE TEMPLE RUN The free-running PERSONAL FINANCE

iPhone/iPad

COMICS

NIKE+ RUNNING

iTUNES U

iPhone/iPad

iBOOKS

Book your hotel, track your flight and create trip itinerary in one place! O iPad+ | iOS 7.0 | v27.0.1

GAMES

iPhone/iPad

OiOS 5.0 OOS Varies

KAYAK

FINANCE

iPhone/iPad

KOBO

Duolingo offers free courses in French, German, Italian, Portuguese, and Spanish. To learn a language you have match images with text, translate sentences and speak phrases out loud. Earn points as you go to compete against your Facebook friends top the leaderboard. OiPhone+ | iOS 5.0 | v3.0 OAndroid | OS 2.2 | v1.3.4

EDUCATION

iPhone/iPad/Android

Find out about hiring staff, raising money, and more in this app.

OiOS 4.0 OOS 2.1

DRAGON DICTATION

OiOS 4.0

REMOTE

NETFLIX

HOW TO COOK EVERYTHING WEBMD ESSENTIALS Not only can you

TOPTABLE

HEALTHTAP

TOP 100 | FANTASTIC FREE APPS LIFESTYLE

MUSIC

NEWS

PRODUCTIVITY

SOCIAL

TRAVEL

iPhone/Android

iPad

iPhone/iPad/Android

iPhone/iPad/Android

iPhone/iPad/Android

iPhone/Android

Standing for ‘Want, Need, Love’, this is perfect for finding unique products and trends.

Quite literally a wall of sound for users to interact with, as each ‘brick’ hosts an artist, their music and cool photos.

It’s not only one of the best news apps around; it’s also great fun to use on your device.

Create a note on your device and save it to the cloud, where it can be picked up and edited.

The official app of the social network heavyweight to share your thoughts and more.

Sets the standard and changes the way people order taxis on iOS or Android.

OiOS 3.2

OiOS 5.0 OOS 2.2

OiOS 7.0 OOS Varies

OiOS 5.0 OOS Varies

OiOS 5.0 OOS 2.2

iPad

iPhone/iPad/Android

iPhone/iPad/Android

iPhone/Android

iPhone/iPad/Android

iPhone/iPad/Android

This app is not only great to keep up with your shopping, but also a wonderful place to browse for bargains.

Build customised playlists from millions of tracks and share them with the world.

Bring together your favourite RSS feeds in one place for easy access in a stylish interface.

With cloud syncing you can create your lists and share your tasks across devices.

The ultimate social networking tool has regular updates. Easy to use and fairly foolproof.

This excellent app even goes beyond the booking phase to give you tips for on your trip.

OiOS 5.1

OiOS 6.0 OOS Varies

OiOS 6.0 OOS 2.2

OiOS 5.0 OOS 2.2

OiOS 5.0 OOS Varies

OiOS 7.0 OOS 2.1

iPhone/iPad/Android

iPhone/Android

iPhone/iPad/Android

iPhone/iPad/Android

iPhone/Android

iPhone/iPad/Android

Searching and sharing on Fancy is all about becoming a curator of cool.

Discover new music with this running feed of what everyone is listening to.

Pocket lets you save any article, image or video you find online and read it later.

Essentially giving you Microsoft Office on your device, completely free for all.

This growing community is a great way to discover new things, and a hell of a timesink.

This is one of those definitive apps, giving you access to pretty much anywhere on the globe.

OiOS 5.0 OOS 2.2

OiOS 5.0 OOS 2.2

OiOS 6.0 OOS 2.2

OiOS 5.0 OOS Varies

OiOS 5.0 OOS 2.2

OiOS 4.3 OOS Varies

iPhone/iPad/Android

iPhone/Android

iPhone/iPad/Android

iPad

iPhone/Android

iPhone/iPad/Android

This is a handy app to use in an unfamiliar place when you need to find local amenities.

An extraordinary app, Shazam can identify songs by listening to them for a few seconds.

This app allows you to watch live news feeds over Wi-Fi, so you can always stay current.

A simple and satisfying interface that Facebook and Twitter can only dream about.

OiOS 5.0 OOS 2.2

OiOS 6.0 OOS Varies

OiOS 5.0 OOS Varies

A wonderfully character-filled sketching and creative app where users can purchase other themed tools.

iPhone/ iPad

Android

This communitydriven guidebook is a wonderful resource. Browse its many topics and get all sorts of handy tips.

OiOS 6.0

WANELO SHOPPING

OiOS 5.0 OOS 2.2

EBAY FOR iPAD

FANCY

AROUNDME

SNAPGUIDE

AWEDITORIUM

SPOTIFY

SOUNDWAVE

SHAZAM

FLIPBOARD

PULSE NEWS

POCKET

BBC NEWS

EVERNOTE

WUNDERLIST

CLOUDON

PAPER BY FIFTYTHREE

TWITTER

FACEBOOK

HAILO

KAYAK

GOOGLE EARTH

PINTEREST

PATH

TRIPADVISOR HOTELS FLIGHTS RESTAURANTS Hotel and restaurant reviews, cheap flights and virtual tours.

OiOS 5.0

OiOS 5.0 OOS Varies

OiOS 5.1 OOS 2.2

iPad

iPhone/iPad/Android

iPhone/iPad/Android

iPhone/Android

This cloud of music bubbles is one of the most innovative ways to discover new music. Intuitive and fascinating.

Watch live streams from the TV station in the palm of your hands. Feature-rich, brimming with content and totally free.

Access your images, documents or any other type of digital file you like, anywhere.

Bring your loved ones closer to you with the free video and audio calls of Skype.

Download full city guides, plus maps, for over 60 of the most exciting destinations.

OOS 2.2

OiOS 5.1

OiOS 5.0 OOS 2.2

OiOS 5.0 OOS Varies

OiOS 5.0 OOS 2.1

HITLANTIS

MEDICAL

NAVIGATION

SKY NEWS FOR iPAD

DROPBOX

PHOTO & VIDEO

iPhone/iPad/Android

iPhone/iPad/Android

iPhone/iPad/Android

This app tests your vision through a series of exams, and includes an optician finder.

Back on iOS and still the undisputed king of the mapping world. This app is all you need.

Stream videos from the popular website, now with voice search and picture to picture.

OiOS 4.0 OOS 2.2

OiOS 6.0 OOS Varies

OiOS 6.0 OOS 2.2

iPhone

iPhone

Monitor your baby’s development week by week with 3D visualisation, plus a log to record doctor’s appointments.

SKYPE

REFERENCE

SPORTS

WEATHER

iPhone/ Android

iPhone/iPad/Android

Covering a wide range of sports, the app includes news, videos and stats.

Fill your screen with some great themes to accompany your weather forecast.

OiOS 6.0 OOS 2.2

OiOS 5.0 OOS 2.2

OiOS 4.3 OOS 2.2

iPhone/iPad

iPhone/iPad/Android

iPad

iPhone/Android

A quite brilliant example of just how engrossing and stunning navigation apps can really be on iOS.

Give your images an impressive boost with the range of filters and editing tools on offer in this app.

Translate to and from 64 languages, speech from 17 languages, and listen in 24.

A solid and professionally produced app, it offers very detailed info.

OiOS 5.0

OiOS 5.0

OiOS 5.0

OiOS 3.0 OOS Varies

The Sky Sports channels on your device, as well as some impressive in-game stat screens and graphics.

iPhone/iPad

iPhone/iPad/Android

iPhone/iPad/Android

VISION TEST

PREGNANCY+

BLOOD PRESSURE MONITOR Comes with data visualisation and stats so you can track the whole family, and medication.

GOOGLE MAPS

RECCE – NEW YORK

WAZE SOCIAL GPS & TRAFFIC

A social app for drivers to share info on traffic delays.

YOUTUBE

CAMERA AWESOME

iPhone/Android

GUIDEPAL CITY GUIDES

SCRIBD – THE WORD’S LARGEST ONLINE LIBRARY All the reference books you’ll need, available offline.

GOOGLE TRANSLATE

BBC SPORT

WEATHERWISE

SKY SPORTS FOR iPAD

THE WEATHER CHANNEL

OiOS 5.1

OiOS 6.0 OOS Varies

iPhone/iPad/Android

iPhone/Android

iPhone

This app has quite simply become the go-to image editing app across all devices.

The place to go with your burning questions, with the community providing answers

For the amount of info at your fingertips, this app is a must for every sports fan.

You never need to aimlessly trawl the coastlines looking for the big waves again, thanks to this free app.

SNAPSEED

QUORA

YAHOO! SPORTS

SURF REPORT

OiOS 5.0

OiOS 5.0 OOS 2.2

OiOS 5.0 OOS 4.0

OiOS 5.0 OOS 2.2

OiOS 5.0 OOS 2.2

iPhone

iPhone

iPhone/iPad/Android

iPhone

iPhone/iPad

iPhone

Offering 1TB of online storage, this app is great for showcasing and sharing your best photos.

An excellent client for easier Wikipedia access, including the ability to bookmark entries and sections within them.

Watch the hottest action live with this streaming app (monthly subscription fee).

Forecasting with a difference as this app is truly social, allowing users to share their climate and what they’re doing in it.

uHEAR

As hearing loss usually happens over a period of time, uHear is a good app for monitoring your hearing.

OiOS 2.2.1 iPhone/iPad/Android

PROGNOSIS: YOUR DIAGNOSIS

Uses case studies for better diagnosis in patients by doctors.

OiOS 6.0 OOS 2.3.3

HOPSTOP TRANSIT DIRECTIONS Get real-time subway, bus, train, taxi, walking and biking directions.

FLICKR

OiOS 6.0

OiOS 6.0 OOS 2.3.3

iPhone/iPad/Android

NAVFREE GPS LIVE UK & ROI

Voice directions and no data connection needed. Great stuff.

OiOS 4.3 OOS 2.3

WIKIPANION

OiOS 2.2.1

EUROSPORT PLAYER

WEATHERMOB

OiOS 4.3

OiOS 5.0 OOS 3.2

iPhone/Android

iPhone/iPad

iPhone/iPad

iPhone/iPad

With a wide range of cool filters and a great community you can create amazing photos.

Everything you could wish to know about the sky above you is in this very handy reference app. Keep looking up.

Another great official app with comprehensive highlights and news.

Share real-time forecasts so you can see the latest weather from around the world, thanks to other users.

INSTAGRAM

OiOS 6.0 OOS 2.2

SKY MAP

OiOS 4.3

OiOS 6.1

MLS MATCHDAY

OiOS 5.0 OOS 2.3.3

WEZZOO

OiOS 4.3


81

Imagine Publishing Ltd Richmond House, 33 Richmond Hill Bournemouth, Dorset, BH2 6EZ +44 (0)1202 586200 Web: www.imagine-publishing.co.uk www.knowyourapps.com www.greatdigitalmags.com

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01202 586279 Reviews Editor Martyn Landi Sub Editor Victoria Richards Photographer James Sheppard Senior Art Editor Will Shum Editor in Chief Nick Jones Head of Publishing Aaron Asadi Head of Design Ross Andrews Contributors David Crookes, Charlotte Crooks, Megan Davies, Abbi Deney, Eden Frankham, Shaun McGill, Michael Simpson, Gavin Thomas, Roland Waddilove, Greg Whitaker

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Printing & Distribution Printed by William Gibbons, 26 Planetary Road, Willenhall, West Midlands, WV13 3XT Distributed in the UK & Eire by Seymour Distribution, 2 East Poultry Avenue, London, EC1A 9PT 0207 429 4000

Mega multiplayer online games Mobilegamestoplaywithfriends

Reviewed: FIFA 14, Clear+, Cotracks, Pocket Trains, Toy Story: Story Theater, Type: Rider, Crowded Fiction, Lucy Ladybird, Music Maker Jam

…Over 400 apps and games reviewed

Distributed in Australia by Gordon & Gotch Corporate Centre, 26 Rodborough Ro ad, Frenchs Forest, NSW 2086 61 2 9972 8800 Distributed in Rest of the World by Marketforce, Blue Fin Building, 110 Southwark Street, London SE1 0SU 0203 148 8105

Disclaimer The publisher cannot accept responsibility for any unsolicited material lost or damaged in the post. All text and layout is the copyright of Imagine Publishing Ltd. Nothing in this magazine may be reproduced in whole or part without the written permission of the publisher. All copyrights are recognised and used specifically for the purpose of criticism and review. Although the magazine has endeavoured to ensure all information is correct at time of print, prices and availability may change. This magazine is fully independent and not affiliated in any way with the companies mentioned herein. If you submit material to Imagine Publishing via post, email, social network or any other means, you automatically grant Imagine Publishing an irrevocable, perpetual, royalty-free license to use the images across its entire portfolio, in print, online and digital, and to deliver the images to existing and future clients, including but not limited to international licensees for reproduction in international, licensed editions of Imagine products. Any material you submit is sent at your risk and, although every care is taken, neither Imagine Publishing nor its employees, agents or subcontractors shall be liable for the loss or damage. © Imagine Publishing Ltd 2013 ISSN 2047-1580z

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Apps Magazine Uk Issue 39

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