"If there is an app for that"

CodeKit Transforms Your iPhone Into a Powerful QR Tool

April 07, 2021 by RSS Feed

Reviewed by Sarah Hanlon

QR codes are useful coded images that can be scanned with your phone so you can access a wide variety of information quickly.

Unfortunately I don’t think people take advantage of them enough, mainly because it’s a fast way to zip to a website or read more information about a product without having to search for it.

However, finding a reliable app that allows you to process QR codes and barcodes quickly can be challenging.

CodeKit does a stunning job of making QR codes simple and easy for you. It not only allows you to scan QR codes out in the world, but you can generate them as well.

Concept and Functionality:

Personally I feel like QR codes have fallen to the side, which is very unfortunate because I believe they’re incredibly practical and efficient. Similar to barcodes on products you buy, QR codes are unique and can be customized to great lengths.

To begin using the app you need to create a group. Once you’ve done so, you can quickly scan whatever QR codes you need to and CodeKit, developed by Zane Carter,  automatically saves the scanned results in your history.

Perhaps the best part of this feature is that you don’t have to wait for scan animations or anything like that – the iPhone camera always stays awake so you can scan quickly.

Something I really like about CodeKit is the fact that it keeps track of what you’ve scanned in the past, kind of like the history feature on your internet browser.

The app even allows you to take things a step further by not only letting you use filters and flags while browsing your code generation history, but also by supporting deep linking and shortcuts.

Features:

CodeKit iPhone App

One of the things that really impressed me about CodeKit is the fact that you can use 21 different code generators in order to find what works for you.

This includes creating QR codes for email addresses, Wi-Fi network information, text messaging, web links, deep links, and even sharing your phone number. As I mentioned above, CodeKit allows you to create customized groups in order to keep things that you’ve scanned organized.

This is incredibly helpful if you tend to rely on QR codes because it’s very easy to get them confused and mixed up.

Value:

CodeKit is available to download from the App Store for free, but you can choose to upgrade to the Pro version of the app via a 6 month, yearly, or lifetime subscription if you find it very useful.

The pro version allows you to create unlimited scanning groups, generate PDFs, access additional code generating features, and unlock a wide variety of other helpful tools.

Overall, CodeKit is a very helpful QR code app that definitely accomplishes what it was designed to do; help users generate and scan QR codes quickly and easily.

I definitely think this is an app that you should download and keep on your iPhone so you’re good to go the next time you want to scan a QR code.

CodeKit requires iOS 14.0 or later and is compatible with iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch.

Source link:https://www.theiphoneappreview.com/codekit-iphone-app-review/

Roblox is Setting the Internet on Fire

March 21, 2021 by RSS Feed

Reviewed by Jimbo

The beauty of having cellular data and/or Wi-Fi access with you wherever you go is the fact that you can communicate with anyone anywhere in the world.

With the Internet constantly at your fingertips, you have the entire world in the palm of your hand 24 hours a day.

And now, with Roblox by Roblox Corporation, users may utilize this convenience to connect with gamers and developers around the globe.

Roblox is enormously popular, with over 115M users as of Jan 2021, and has usurped Minecraft as the game-du-jour and as such it has attracted the interest of kids, and concern of parents, all over the world.

It isn’t a game as much as it is an environment. Essentially, kids create an avatar and can also easily create games that they then invite their friends to play as well as play games that others have created. They also wander around exploring and interacting with others in a virtual immersive 3D world. All of this is incredibly fun and addicting hence the enormous success of this app.

Players start out with a modest amount of game money so they can rent a house and get their online existence going. Outfitting your home requires real-world money, however, and it ain’t cheap.

It’s an incredibly well done environment and the whole experience is difficult to quickly describe since it is so varied.

No matter which game you decide to play, or if you just roam around exploring, the controls and visuals have been meticulously crafted to make the whole time you in the Roblox world quite enjoyable.

One game on the platform, Royale High, is a fantasy school role-playing and dress-up game that has been played over 5 billion times!

Since games on Roblox are typically played amongst existing friends, as well as new fast friends who get to know each other via their avatars, there is a good amount of pressure to keep upgrading various aspects of your online persona.

The other key to this game is the aforementioned ability to meet new players. This is done by wondering around and chatting it up with other avatars that you run into. The issue here is that the interactions are unmoderated and since you’re meeting an avatar, the actual person you’re talking to can be anyone of any gender and any age with any agenda.

Roblox iPhone Game

Of course this is largely benign and the players have a great time but the costs and interactions are two areas where some oversight is needed.

It’s important to note that these issues are not peculiar to Roblox as all online connections tend to be anonymous and hidden costs add up fast with many games (did someone say Candy Crush?).

The good news here is that while some abuses are inevitable with a platform such as this, there are some privacy options. For example, parents can use controls that make sure younger players can only chat with their friends.

Overall Roblox is not only an incredibly well crafted gaming environment but it is also a glimpse of the future where more and more time is spent in virtual worlds and anyone can be not just a player, but also a creator.

Roblox requires iOS 13.0 or later and is compatible with iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch.

Source link:https://www.theiphoneappreview.com/roblox-iphone-game-review/

Clubhouse Sounds Awesome But Tread Carefully

March 07, 2021 by RSS Feed

Reviewed by Jimbo

Apps have made it incredibly easy to connect with those you care about. Remember actually going places to engage with people? Wow, how old are we? LOL!

That’s all behind us now, just open an app and you can hang out and chat with people who you never would have had the chance to meet.

Clubhouse is a well-designed and easy-to-use app whose focus is drop-in audio conversations with friends and others around the world.

What’s so cool about this app, and why it’s taking off like a rocket, is that you can drop-in to a session just to listen to someone you follow and hear what he or she, and the whole group, is talking about.

Concept and Functionality:

Signing up for Clubhouse, a free app by Alpha Exploration Co., is incredibly easy – although in these days of privacy concern having to provide a phone number is a bit of a red flag.

Most people don’t mind this but they also require access to your contact list. All told this aspect of the app is something we’d like to see come up to speed with other social apps that are more sensitive to those who want to opt in to more privacy.

As far as the actual audio conversation or listening-in experience goes, we like the fact that Clubhouse covers new ground by moving users away from texting or just dropping comments, images and videos for others to see and waiting for feedback.

In a world of emojis, it’s actually quite refreshing to hear actual voices expressing actual emotions.

It seems like a strange concept at first, but being able to just drop-in an listen in on an ongoing discussion hosted by someone you’re interested in, is really pretty cool.

One thing to be aware of, though, is that the app is in its early days so don’t expect much in the way of content generally considered to be offensive being moderated out. When it comes to hateful speech or spreading known false conspiracies, it’s caveat emptor.

Features:

What seems to make Clubhouse click is that once you’re in a room you can see who’s on stage and who is speaking. It can be a challenge when the number of people increases but overall we like how it’s set up.

As you listen to different people speaking their avatars increase in size indicating they are the one speaking. Expect to do some scrolling though in a crowded session.

Unfortunately right now it’s invitation only so you may or may not be able to set up an account. That said, this is a smart move that makes it seem a bit exotic and probably helps them figure out what people like, don’t like, and make sure their tech is spot on to handle big user loads.

Value:

Clubhouse is available to download for free from the App Store. There are no ads or in-app purchases, which makes this a completely free app to use and enjoy. No subscription fees, no paid extras, and no nonsense.

Overall it’s a worthwhile download and, if you can create an account, an interesting experience that we think you’ll find quite compelling. However, we hope the devs will pay more attention to user privacy and moderating extreme content.

Clubhouse: Drop-in audio chat requires iOS 13.0 or later and is compatible with iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch.

Source link:https://www.theiphoneappreview.com/clubhouse-phone-app-review/

Kitty Letter is the Perfect Game for Your Spare Time

February 26, 2021 by RSS Feed

Reviewed by Jimbo

Word games are great for whiling away the hours. Not only for a challenge against ‘enemies’, but also for pure enjoyment and maybe to boost your vocabulary.

Kitty Letter is an exceptional game designed for iPad that has taken off with word-game gamers and could easily be the best word game of 2021.

Developed by Exploding Kittens, Kitty Letter is one word game you absolutely must try if you’re looking for an alternative to Words With Friends and other uninspiring games.

Concept and Gameplay:

The first thing that you’ll notice when you start playing Kitty Letter is that it sports a unique gaming mode. If you’re expecting Boggle, the popular game that requires you to make as many words as you can with the letters you’re given, think again.

Kitty Letter isn’t difficult to figure out at all, but it’s definitely fun to play. The goal of the game is to avoid being overrun by exploding cats – but don’t worry, no real cats are harmed in the course of playing this delightful game ;-)

The simplicity of the game is touted by the developers as one of its key strengths. They tell you flat out that there are “no collecting cards, coins, or leveling up anything. Just play the game”.

In order to create words you must tap letters using your enchanted language vortex from the multiverse of infinite vocabularinities.

One nit we do want to pick is that the input play controls need some improvement. As we, along with a number of player who posted reviews noticed, it can be difficult to select the letter you want and unselecting is a pain.

Features:

Kitty Letter iPhone Game

Kitty Letter features online and local gameplay options so you can play it wherever and whenever you like. Playing solo is a great way to practice and hone your skills so you can later crush your real-life opponents.

The creativity of the game is outstanding and we just hope the UI folks are paying attention.

Value:

Kitty Letter is available to download from the App Store for free and is designed for iPad but is universally compatible with iPhone and iPad.

There are some in-app purchases but it’s all frivolous stuff, you don’t have to buy coins to advance past difficult situations. We’re looking at you Candy Crush.

Overall, Kitty Letter is a fun game with a creatively theme that is the perfect game for both solo and online players alike.

Kitty Letter requires iOS 10.0 or later and is compatible with iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch.

Source link:https://www.theiphoneappreview.com/kitty-letter-ipad-game-review/

Pouces Will Amplify Your Typing Efficiency

February 26, 2021 by RSS Feed

Reviewed by Sarah Hanlon

Being able to find a keyboard that suits your typing style can be an invaluable improvement for anyone, especially if you frequently use your iPhone to communicate.

Even if the only typing you do on your iPhone is with iMessage, think about how much time you spend composing messages. Wouldn’t a more efficient keyboard be a huge help?

Pouces is an ingenious keyboard app that has a unique layout specifically designed for speed and efficiency.

While it may be unlike anything you’ve used before, if you’re willing to go through a bit of a learning curve, this app could be perfect for you.

Concept and Functionality:

Experimenting with keyboards is something that took me a bit of time to try, mainly because I’m one of those iPhone users who isn’t a fan of change.

However, imagine easily typing a text message with one finger or being able to compose a lengthy email in a just matter of a couple minutes. That’s the benefit to using the right keyboard.

Pouces, created by Charles Clement, features a keyboard layout you’ve likely never seen before.

Just about every keyboard app, including Apple’s default keyboard, uses the QWERTY format that was created when keyboards were part of clunky physical typewriters and typing had to be intentionally slowed down.

Unlike QWERTY keyboards, Pouces was designed specifically to make typing faster and easier. This was done by redesigning how the keyboard is organized, which is why it’s divided into six different zones with a vowel in the middle of each zone.

In order to type, you tap on the middle of a zone and swipe in the direction of the letter you want to enter. Instead of making broad sweeping motions like you normally would when using a swipe gesture keyboard, you’re making many tiny motions to type out what you need.

Pouces iPhone App

Perhaps the steepest learning curve comes with figuring out where letters are on the keyboard. The only pattern I can find is a location of a vowel in the middle of each zone. There is seemingly no rhyme or reason as to where other letters and symbols are placed on the keyboard.

Features:

Along with a brand-new layout, Pouces helps soften the learning curve by guiding new users through a very comprehensive tutorial that covers nearly everything you need to know about the keyboard.

This tutorial is incredibly helpful and I definitely recommend going through it a few times.

Pouces also includes fast access to accented letters and numbers, which is especially helpful if you frequently type in other languages besides English.

There’s also support for text replacement and switching back to your previous keyboard layout if you need to.

Value:

Pouces is available to download on the App Store for $1.99, making it a bit pricey for a keyboard app.

If I could make one recommendation, it would be to either offer a free demo version of Pouces so users can see if it’s something they could use or offer an in-app purchase to unlock the full version of the keyboard.

With Pouces being as complex as it is, new users might be fearful of investing in an app they may not enjoy using.

Overall, Pouces is an iPhone keyboard app with plenty of potential benefits for users who stick with it.

However, it will take plenty of patience to master, so don’t expect to start using it like a pro right away.

If you’re looking for a better typing experience and are willing to learn a completely new keyboard layout then it’s definitely worth a try.

Pouces requires iOS 12.4 or later and is compatible with iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch.

Source link:https://www.theiphoneappreview.com/pouces-iphone-app-review/