Reviews

Hangouts for iPhone and iPad review: Google+ cross-platform messaging service

By Leanna Lofte, Thursday, May 16, 2013 a 6:27 pm

Hangouts for iPhone and iPad is Google's new cross-platform messaging app that lets you converse with your friends regardless of what phone, tablet, or computer they are using. It features a beautiful, clean design and support for video messaging.

Free - Download now

Karateka Classic brings legendary beat-em-up to iOS

By Peter Cohen, Thursday, May 16, 2013 a 1:15 pm

Legendary game designer Jordan Mechner went back to his roots in 2012 with a reimagined Karateka, a brand new game based on his original 1984 Apple II hit (it would eventually make its way to just about every other common home computer platform of the day). Now the original has returned in all its eight-bit glory.

$0.99 - Download now

Say the Same Thing for iPhone review: Try to guess the same word as your friends in this hilarious word game

By Leanna Lofte, Saturday, May 11, 2013 a 3:27 am

Say the Same Thing is a fun turn-by-turn word game by the band OK Go where you must try to guess the same word as your friend, a random stranger, or a member of the band. It's refreshingly fun and is sure to get those creative juices flowing.

Free - Download now

KitCam for iPhone review: Control the camera's exposure, white balance, focus, and more

By Leanna Lofte, Friday, May 10, 2013 a 11:11 pm

KitCam is a full-featured camera app for the iPhone that gives you full control over settings like exposure, focus, and white balance. It also comes equipped with many different lenses and filters and includes different shooting modes like multi-shot, time-lapse, multiple exposure, and more.

$0.99 on sale - Download now

The Loop Magazine: The long-form Loop you've been waiting for!

By Rene Ritchie, Thursday, May 9, 2013 a 10:07 am

I've been bitching to Jim Dalrymple of The Loop for years that, as much as I liked his and Peter Cohen's highly curated, Apple-, web-, music-, and gaming-centric link-list style, I missed their longer form pieces, the kind I remembered fondly from Macworld. Jim, of course, laughed. You might well know Jim's laugh. It's equal parts hilarious and bone-chilling. That laugh. Then, one day, he called me and said I could stop my bitching. He had a plan. He was going to start The Loop Magazine. So, how'd it turn out?

Free with subscription - Download now
Free with subscription - Download now

Spark Inspector review: Audacious real-time debugging for iOS that might just be too audacious

By Nick Arnott, Wednesday, May 8, 2013 a 10:36 pm

Spark Inspector, by Foundry376 and J. Benjamin Gotow, brings a new approach to debugging, offering developers the ability to view their apps in an exploded 3D model, as well as change characteristics of elements on the fly, without the need to recompile. Often times apps appear to be relatively flat, two-dimensional beings. After all, they are displayed on a flat glass screen. However, developers and designers (as well as many users) are well aware that apps are made up of a series of layers, with many elements changing states, hiding some layers while revealing others. This can make it difficult to understand how an app is composed and what elements you’re interacting with, even for developers. So, can Spark Inspector help? Let's find out!

$24.99 - Download now

Reduce for iPhone and iPad review: Automatically, perfectly resize your photos for the web

By Leanna Lofte, Monday, May 6, 2013 a 1:20 pm

Reduce is an iPhone and iPad app that lets you batch resize your photos and images to be optimized for the web. You simply select the photos you wish to resize, set the dimensions and file size limit, and Reduce will batch-process them for you and drop them into a new album in the Photos app.

$1.99 - Download now

Briefs 2 review: Quickly and easily prototype iOS and Android apps on your Mac

By Nick Arnott, Wednesday, May 1, 2013 a 9:06 am

"Providing a clean interface and intuitive layout, Briefs offers an easy way to prototype apps, share ideas, tweak functionality, and adjust designs as new feedback arrives and your project evolves. It’s an app made for professionals, by professionals."

Briefs 2 is a Mac app by MartianCraft that allows you to quickly and easily create, edit and share prototypes for iOS and Android apps. Prototyping allows you to hash out features and designs before full development on a project begins, when it’s still easy and relatively inexpensive to make changes. A handful of iOS prototyping tools exist, but many of them have either fallen out of date or are simply lacking in functionality. Briefs seeks to provide a truly complete and professional solution for designers and developers. How well does it do?

$199 - Briefs for Mac - Download now
Free - Briefs for Mac demo - Download now
Free - Briefcase for iOS - Download now

Currency for iPhone review: Convert between currencies on the go

By Leanna Lofte, Tuesday, Apr 30, 2013 a 6:23 pm

Currency is a super simple, yet beautiful, currency converter for the iPhone. It features a clean design and historical charts. If you're an avid traveler or have financial interest in other currencies, Currency may be an excellent app to add to your collection.

$1.99 - Download now

Horizon Calendar review: Check the weather at the location of your next appointment

By Leanna Lofte, Tuesday, Apr 30, 2013 a 1:55 am

Horizon Calendar by Applause Code is an innovative calendar app that includes natural language parsing, a clean design, intuitive gestures, and forecasted weather associated with each of your events.