Get Motivated To Lose Weight With CARROT Fit
January 08, 2017 by RSS Feed
CARROT Fit - Talking Weight Tracker ($1.99) by Grailr LLC is the third installment of the CARROT series of apps. If you need a little more motivation behind losing weight, how about a robot who will do this by judging you every step of the way?
I’ve been a longtime fan of CARROT since her other two apps, CARROT To-Do and CARROT Alarm. So when I heard that there was going to be a third CARROT app, this time dealing with fitness and health, I was pretty excited.
CARROT Fit features a beautiful and simplistic interface that you will instantly recognize if you’ve used her other apps. You’ll find hilarious chubby avatars to choose from to represent yourself, amusing animations of CARROT’s punishments when you gain weight instead of lose it, easy-to-read text, and of course, CARROT’s sinister, GLaDOS-like voice as she makes commentary on your progress. If you do well, she will reward you with a bit of confetti and such, you know, to make you feel special.
When you launch CARROT Fit for the first time, you’ll be asked to input your base weight, and then choose an avatar. You will have the basic chubby man or woman, but there are additional, amusing options like Gentleman and Brony.
Once this is set up, CARROT will ask that you return once a day to record your weight and earn points, depending on whether your gaining or losing. Each day, when you launch CARROT Fit, just tap on the “Record Weight” button to input your current weight. You will earn points for your weigh-ins, but only once a day, so you can’t just cheat the system. If you lost weight, CARROT will cheer, and perhaps even give you some workout tips. However, if you gained weight, you’ll make CARROT angry, and she will punish your avatar and make you cry.
As you use CARROT Fit more over time, you’ll want to check The Log for your progress. You’ll be able to get a graph of how your weight has been for the past month, three months, or even the entire year. You will also see your current weight and how much you’ve gained or lost, and you can also set your weight goal, which will then show you how many pounds you have remaining to lose. And if you input your height, CARROT Fit will also be able to give you a BMI reading.
Just like with the other CARROT apps, the more you use CARROT Fit, eventually you will “level up” and earn rewards, like the workout tips, cat facts, and hey, you could even watch your friend eat a bag of potato chips. I haven’t made enough progress in my weight loss goal to get these fabulous rewards, but I’m sure that it will be worth it.
I’m liking CARROT Fit so far, as it reminds me in some ways of Weightbot, but with the twisted personality of CARROT. I was kind of hoping that CARROT Fit meant that she would have some sort of rigorous exercising regime in store for you, and if you slacked off, she would put you to shame through her sharp words. However, it’s just another weight tracker, but maybe that can be another CARROT app in the future. Still, CARROT Fit is a nice way to get some motivation towards your weight loss goals, though I’m not so sure she should be cheering if you input an unhealthy weight like 25 lbs. or something. But that’s part of CARROT’s charm, I suppose.
If you’re looking for a slick weight tracker app with a dash of motivation, then I recommend giving CARROT Fit a try. You can get it in the App Store for your iPhone for $1.99.
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Outwit Germs in the Infinite Labyrinth of Remedy Rush
January 06, 2017 by RSS Feed
Remedy Rush (Free) by Fixpoint Productions Ltd. is the latest game from indie developer Whitaker Trebella, who has released some amazing games in the past. If you enjoyed Polymer, Pivvot, or Piloteer, then you will fall in love again with Remedy Rush.
While there are thousands of mobile game developers out there nowadays, one of the standout indies to me was always Trebella and his games. Ever since I started playing Polymer way back in the day, I knew that pretty much anything that came from this developer would be something amazing and awesome. It started with a simple puzzle game, then the twitch reflex genre with Pivvot, and then the frustratingly hilarious physics-based Piloteer, and now we have the unique maze adventure of Remedy Rush. I’ve enjoyed the fact that Trebella has always gone with a different genre for all of his games, because it means something fresh for every release. And needless to say, I am not disappointed with Remedy Rush.
Visually, Remedy Rush has a super quirky and fun aesthetic that is fairly simple looking when you actually play the game. The graphics for the various remedies look a bit like paper-craft style due to the jagged cutouts and outlines, and the obstacles and germs that you’ll encounter consist of basic shapes. Remedy Rush sports a purple background that contrasts nicely with the other colors used, which range from bright and vivid tones to softer pastel tones. Animations are smooth and fluid, so I had no lag or choppiness on my iPhone 7. To top things off, the game has a soothing, jazzy tune in the background, which is expected since Trebella composes video game soundtracks as well. Overall, Remedy Rush is beautiful both in terms of visuals and audio, so I would say that Trebella has done it yet again.
At its core, Remedy Rush is an infinite maze game that can be rather chaotic, but it can be played with different play styles. This means that you can play haphazardly in a frantic rush, or you can be a tad bit slower and use logical thought to find the most efficient path through the maze. And since it’s an infinite game, the maze is procedurally generated each time you play, so it’s never going to be the same thing twice. But it will always start off pretty easy and then get increasingly difficult the longer your survive. The concept behind Remedy Rush is that after you come down with an annoying sickness, you’ll have to dive in as an unconventional remedy in order to ward off germs in the body. On top of making your way through the maze of the body, you’ll have to watch out for the sickness that will be on your tail the entire time. However, the more days your remedy lasts, the longer you’ll fend off the sickness, though it also gets progressively more dangerous as more time passes.
There are toxins in the body that can explode and kill off germs in the body, but also kill your remedy as well if you’re not careful. The green health bursts let your remedy unleash a unique attack that can get rid of germs or decaying blocks. Once your remedy dies in a blast, gets overtaken by germs, or is caught by the sickness, then the run ends. Your score is determined by how far you managed to get and how many germs you exterminated.
Controls in Remedy Rush are simple and intuitive. To move forward, just tap anywhere on the screen. You can change the direction you move in with just a swipe. When you bump into a toxin (pink), squares will be outlined with dashed lines to indicate the blast area, so you’d better move out of those spots before it goes off, or you can bump it again to make the explosion go off immediately. These blasts can kill off the pesky orange germs, as well as you if you get caught in the blast, but can also open up new pathways if there are damaged cells adjacent to it and trigger other nearby toxins. You can also collect up to three of the green health bursts, and to activate it, just do a long-press on the screen. Each remedy has their own special passive ability that can help out during the game, so learn what each one does and take advantage of it for the best score.
In the beginning of the game, you’ll start off with the cookie as your remedy, but there are over 30 remedies available in the game. If you want more, you’ll have to spend those pink coins that you collect on prize boxes (100 coins a pop) that contain random remedies. There are also gift boxes that will award you with coins every few hours, so it’s relatively easy to get coins in the game. If you find a specific remedy that you want to play as, you can purchase them through in-app purchases. Unfortunately, if you look at all of the available remedies that you can purchase, you won’t know what their effect is until you have it, so the element of surprise is a double-edged sword here. Still, it’s not hard to get coins in the game, so you should get a few different remedies relatively quickly.
I’ve only just started to play Remedy Rush, but I’m in love with the game so far. The visuals for remedies are charming and bursting with personality, and the soundtrack is absolutely delightful. Controls are intuitive and responsive, and the game difficulty progresses at a nice, gradual pace, though things can get pretty hysterical the longer you manage to survive, but the potential points you can get make it all worth it. I must admit that the controls do take a few moments to get used to, but it’s pretty comfortable once you get the hang of things. The wide variety of various unusual remedies and their effects keeps the game interesting, and you’ll definitely want to keep coming back to unlock them all.
I highly recommend checking out Remedy Rush if you are looking for an eccentric game that will easily make hours pass by. You can find Remedy Rush on the App Store as a universal download for your iPhone and iPad for free. There are in-app purchases to unlock playable remedies.
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Drop Flip Seasons is the Physics Puzzler That Keeps on Giving
January 05, 2017 by RSS Feed
Drop Flip Seasons (Free) by BorderLeap, LLC is the sequel to last year’s hit Drop Flip!, a relaxing but challenging physics-based puzzle game. If you enjoy minimalistic puzzle games that make you think, such as Trick Shot, then you will love the original as well as this brand new version.
These days my preferred gaming platform of choice has been on my PlayStation 4, but every now and then I even need a break from that. For those times, I always turn to puzzle games, especially on my iPhone. If you’ve been following my work here at AppAdvice for a while, then this should not surprise you in the slightest. I’ve been a fan of BorderLeap ever since they released other awesome games on iOS, including the word game Alpha Omega, as well as the har•mo•ny series. I enjoyed the original Drop Flip! a lot when it first came out, so naturally I was eager to pick up Drop Flip Seasons when it came out. Needless to say, as a fan of the first game, this one does not disappoint and is a great way for newbies to start as well.
Just like its precursor, Drop Flip Seasons features a super minimalistic design that will appeal to anyone who likes simple and clean aesthetics. The game consists of solid colored backgrounds with subtle textures that you will only notice if you look closely enough, and the puzzle layouts are composed of basic geometric shapes that are colored white so they contrast nicely with the backdrops. While the original Drop Flip! game did not feature any extra patterns in the background, Seasons has a few subdued patterns, and there are even extra things like falling snowflakes in the “Winter” season. The best thing about Drop Flip Seasons is the fact that the developers are planning to add new levels for every season, so more content is already on the way. Animations in the game are buttery smooth and fluid, with no lag on my iPhone 7. Drop Flip Seasons also has a rather whimsical atmospheric soundtrack that is both captivating and engaging, and will help you focus on how to solve each puzzle. Once again, BorderLeap has done a superb job in terms of the visuals and audio in Drop Flip Seasons, but this should surprise no one given their great record so far.
Like other games of this nature, Drop Flip Seasons is level-based, but again, the twist is that only one chapter is available right now, which is Winter. If you browse the level selection screen, you’ll find Spring, Summer, and Autumn chapters, but they are locked and cannot be accessed until that particular season rolls around later in the year. I find this element interesting, because it keeps the promise of more content in the future, and the game remains fresh throughout the year as more stages are added on a regular basis. The only problem would be if you complete all of the current levels quickly and then you’re left with nothing else to do until March, June, and September, respectively. However, each season contains 40 levels with another eight bonus levels (these are coming soon for Winter), and the difficulty for the puzzles ranges from super easy to near-impossible, so it should definitely keep players busy for some time. Plus, the game is completely linear, so if you’re stuck, you’re going to be stuck until you finally figure it out on your own, as the game has no hints, but you can skip levels if you need to. The goal of Drop Flip Seasons is easy enough: drop the ball into the bucket, but things can get super tricky.
Controls in the game follow in the footsteps of the original. The ball will always sit atop a gate in the beginning of the stage. To drop the ball, just tap on the gate that is holding it, and the ball will fall. But since the goal is to get the ball into the bucket, you’ll have to make note of the level’s obstacles and other environmental objects in order to guide the ball to its destination. Some objects can be moved, and this is indicated by the dark shadow areas. If an object is in a shadow, then you can drag it with your finger to move it around, or press firmly on it to rotate if there is space. On some levels, the bucket will be moving as soon as you start, so these require you to be fast and open the gate at the right time. For these, you’ll probably have to restart multiple times until you get it. To do this, just tap on the pause button in the top left corner and then choose to reset or restart the stage, or even go back to the level selection screen. The combination of obstacles and movement can make Drop Flip Seasons much more complex than you’d originally think, so this is a game that will keep you occupied for a while as you attempt to get a “ball-in-one” or ball-in-two” at the most.
Drop Flip Seasons may have only came out last night, but so far I’m enjoying it a lot, just like the original game. I love the minimal design, but it still manages to stand apart from the original with the seasonal themes and subtle background animations. With winter being my favorite season, I love all of the appropriately themed decorations, such as snowflakes, polar bears, and hot cups of cocoa (or maybe that should be coffee). The controls are straightforward and intuitive, and the puzzles themselves range from simple to difficult, but it can all be done through trial-and-error, so there’s no need for hints, which is nice. Since it’s a free download, there will be occasional ads that pop up every now and then. I eagerly await the levels that are planned for the rest of the year.
I highly recommend giving Drop Flip Seasons a try if you’re a fan of physics-based puzzle games or just want more Drop Flip in your life. You can find Drop Flip Seasons on the App Store as a universal download for your iPhone and iPad for free with in-app purchases.
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Easily Keep an Eye on Your Health With HealthView
January 04, 2017 by RSS Feed
HealthView - Your Health & Fitness Data Dashboard ($1.99) by Funn Media, LLC is a fresh new way to see all of your HealthKit data in a single glance. With the new year off to a fairly good start so far, there’s no better time than now to get a bit more active in your life and make sure that you know how your progress is going.
Even though we are only four days into the new year so far, I’m pretty sure that a lot of you (including myself) have the resolution of becoming a bit healthier this year, or at least try a bit harder to be. Ever since I started using wearable tech like Fitbit and even the Apple Watch itself, I’ve felt much more motivated to get up and moving, even if it’s just things like walking around the neighborhood or longer days of Pokémon Go hunting. And apps like Workouts++ help out with easier exercise tracking. Ever since Apple released HealthKit several years ago now, I’ve been using it as my main go-to hub for all of my health data from every app that makes use of it, but I’m definitely not a fan of the interface that Apple decided to go with. The cards feel a bit clunky when you want to see a lot of different metrics, and everything is now the same color so it’s hard to tell things apart easily. So when I saw HealthView on the App Store, I was intrigued because it lets you see the same health information but in a much cleaner way. Needless to say, I’m not disappointed with this one.
Visually speaking, HealthView is simple and clean. In fact, it kind of reminds me a bit of the Fitbit app interface when I still used a Fitbit device. The app features a bright white background that makes it feel rather Apple-like, and because of this, the various colors used on the icons for each different metric type and graph contrast nicely and make it super easy to tell everything apart from a glance. I found the sans serif typography to be incredibly sleek and legible, fitting in with the modernized look of the app itself. Everything in HealthView is also organized so you’ll never get lost, and it refreshes the data quickly, depending on the view you’re viewing. Another nice touch is when you pull-to-refresh, because there’s a cute little heart animation to indicate that any updated data is loading. Despite being just a dashboard for your health data, I think Funn Media did a fantastic job of turning your data into beautiful eye candy.
The first thing you’ll need to do when HealthView is launched is to give it permission to access your HealthKit data, whether it’s everything or just select things. Personally, since I prefer using this app over Apple’s Health, I just let it access everything to make my life easier. Once the data gets imported into HealthView, you’ll be able to view four different sections: Day, Week, Month, and Year. You can also change what metrics are displayed by tapping on the “Edit” button in the top right corner and toggling each piece of data that you want to see or not. HealthView also lets you switch between two views for Day view: List and Goals, which you can do from the Edit view. The List view just presents you with the data in graphs, whereas Goals shows you how your progress during the day is coming along. No matter which view you’re in though, you can tap on any metric in any view to check out more details regarding it, such as the set daily goal, daily average, record high and lows, and more.
While the Day view is probably what will be used the most in HealthView, I found the option of being able to look back at entire months and years to be fascinating, especially since I have two complete year’s worth of data in HealthKit. It’s a great way to check on how my progress has come along, and I can definitely say that I’ve been much more active in 2016 than I was in 2015. Even looking back on certain months is a great way to reflect.
HealthView also includes a great little Today View widget too, so you can see your day’s progress with a single swipe. It’s also customizable, so you can go into the app settings to change the data sets that are shown in the widget. By default, it displays Steps, Distance (Running and Walking), and Burned Calories. You can change any of these to whatever else is available, such as Stand Hours, Hydration, Flights Climbed, Sleep, Exercise Minutes, and more. For those who have an Apple Watch, HealthView allows customization of the complications for each different type of Watch face, where you can pick what metric is shown in the complication as well as both Day and Week activity data sets. Having such flexible customization with the widget and Apple Watch companion app and complications truly make HealthView a winner.
While HealthView is not exactly a new app, it has gone through a lot of changes with updates and it’s a great time to have the app around for your health goals for the new year. I’ve only just discovered it recently as well, but it’s definitely a keeper for me because of the slick UI and presenting all the data I care about in one comprehensive glance. The only improvement I would like to see made is the addition of a dark theme, as I think that would work out well with the color-coded metric icons and graphs.
I recommend grabbing HealthView if you are looking for a useful app that provides you with an easy-to-read dashboard of all of your HealthKit data. You can find HealthView – Your Health & Fitness Data Dashboard on the App Store for your iPhone and Apple Watch for just $1.99.
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Start the New Year Right With Workouts++
January 03, 2017 by RSS Feed
Workouts++ ($4.99) by Cross Forward Consulting, LLC is a workout app that will help you get into shape for your New Year’s resolutions that involve getting more active. If you own an Apple Watch and want something that does more than the default Workouts app, then Workouts++ is definitely one you should check out.
With the new year off to a fairly good start so far, one of my goals is to become more active than before, especially since I have some health issues that require more physical activity. While it can be tough on some days, I have been making much more of an effort to get outside and moving, and I have found that having both my Apple Watch and even Pokémon Go is a great motivator. Even though I’ve been using the standard Workouts app whenever I get my exercise in, I have found it to be a bit lackluster in terms of features, despite getting the job done. So when I heard that the developer of other great health apps like Pedometer++ came out with Workouts++, I had to check it out. Needless to say, this is a great replacement for Apple’s Workouts app if you own an Apple Watch and have been wanting something more robust.
Like the other apps from the developer, Workouts++ is a super simple and barebones looking app. If one did not know any better, they may mistake this as a native Apple app because that’s how basic it looks from the surface. Workouts++ features three different sections that you can switch between on-the-fly: Configure, Workouts, and Stats. Changing the view that you’re in is easy and intuitive, and the app features a nice use of bright colors so that users can easily tell each type of workout apart from each other, as well as see stats clearly. Because there’s nothing too fancy in Workouts++, the app is fast and responsive, even the Watch app itself.
When you first download Workouts++, the first thing you’ll want to do is check out the Configure section, because this is where you can fine tune the app to suit your personal needs. While the app comes with the standard options, such as Indoor Walk, Outdoor Run, Outdoor Cycling, Indoor Other, and more, sometimes that just isn’t enough for what you do. In Configure, you can tap on the “+” button to add your own workout, where you can choose whether it’s indoor or outdoor, and then select the workout type, such as rowing, ellipticals, or even a stepper. You could also tap on “Edit” from the main configure screen to delete or rearrange the order that your workout selections appear in.
The real magic with the Configure section in Workouts++ is the fact that you can tap on individual workout activities to customize the layout that appears on your Apple Watch screen. If you’ve ever changed the layout of your Apple Watch face, then you’ll understand how to configure individual workout screens. Select the one you want, change the name if you need something more exciting, and then tap on the arrows to view different metric layouts that you can pick from. The layouts can range from one giant piece of info up to six different sections that include numbers, time, BPM, and even a graph of your heart rate. As you find a layout that you like, you can change what each metric box contains by tapping on it and choosing what you want it to show. Workouts++ also allows users to change the color of the text that appears on each metric box, and you can configure the strength of the haptics as well. Just being given such flexibility makes Workouts++ worth it for those who are serious about using their watch as a workout tool.
When you do exercises with or without Workouts++, they will show up in the Workouts section. This view lets you see all of your workout history, including those you’ve done through the standard Workouts app and other third-party ones too. The data to be found here is the type of workout, the date, and the timestamp from beginning to end. Tapping a particular workout lets you view a full report of that activity, including duration, heart rate, distance, pace, speed, and graphs to accompany those pieces of data. You can even filter out workouts by type, minimum duration, and change the sorting order if you’d like by tapping on the button in the top right corner. If you are the type of person who likes to check their workout data in order to find ways to improve your previous times or just want to do better in the future, then this section of Workouts++ is invaluable.
For those who like to see their own stats over time, then the Stats screen is what you want. This part of Workouts++ tells you the types of workouts that you’ve done in your device’s lifetime, and shows you bar graphs of the days of the week that you do most of your exercise and the times. It also shows total and average distance and duration for each kind of activity that you’ve done, in case you’ve ever wondered about your own exercise patterns.
I’ve been wanting to become more active for a while now, and Workouts++ is a great companion to have in my journey to become healthier, especially now that it’s a brand new year. I love how easy it is to start a workout from the Apple Watch with Workouts++ (it’s much faster than Apple’s Workouts), and the workout display is simple and easy to read while you exercise. I enjoy having such comprehensive detail about each workout session as well, as it gives me a good overall view of my progress. I think the only improvement that can be made to this no-frills workout app is adding in milliseconds for those who are serious about running, and every second matters in beating their previous times. Other than that, Workouts++ is a solid app for those who want a simple yet robust app for tracking their workout sessions.
I recommend checking out Workouts++ if you are looking for an app for your Apple Watch that offers a better way to track your workouts for this new year. You can find Workouts++ on the App Store for your iPhone and Apple Watch for just $4.99.
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