"If there is an app for that"

Switch Things Up With Color Switch

May 18, 2016 by macjeff

Color Switch iPhone Game

The whole world is obsessed with Color Switch. But, does this game deserves all the attention? Is this the best game of the year so far?

Maybe not THE best, but it is still one of the best. With its addictive gameplay, interesting obstacles, upbeat music and colorful surroundings, Color Switch has conquered the iOS devices of more than 50 million users.

This is maybe due to intensive but relatively smart marketing the developers do on Facebook, but still it is a number that needs to respected.

Let’s see the features, design and concept of the game.

Design and Concept

The game has extremely unique design and concept that was new to the market when the app first launched.

Now, there are many clones and copies of the game that simply want to cash in on the popularity of Color Switch. When people copy you, that guarantees that you are doing something great.

So, the design and the concept of the game I outstanding and that is the base of the app’s success. The gameplay requires from you to pass through the circles with the ball at the right time and through the right color.

Color Switch iPhone Game

But things get a lot harder as you progress, and we think that the gameplay should’ve been little easier.

In this way it can get frustratingly hard at the beginning. But on the other hand, maybe, that is making the game more addictive.

Features and difficulty

You must control the ball pass it through the circles and different shapes and avoid all obstacles.

In the game there are several powerups that will largely help you when the going gets tough. You need to explore these powerups yourself, however you must watch out, if you touch or try to pass through other color, you will lose the game and return to the start.

Since recently there are new game modes and over 50 new levels and 3 new balls added. So, if you know about the game and you think you have mastered it you have a new challenge. These features in combination with the gameplay are making the game irresistibly addictive. The music and the sounds play large roll in this as well.

In terms of difficulty this game is somewhere in the range of medium and hard games. It’s not too hard, but it can really get frustratingly difficult at some point.

Is that level of difficulty a good thing or a bad thing? You be the judge. All we can say is it gave Color Switch, and previously Flappy Bird (the original king of difficult games) worldwide attention and success.

Conclusion

With the smooth design, lovely ball jumping physics and overall with the interesting concept and idea, Color Switch is still the game to beat this year and it is still the most cloned game at this particular moment.

But let’s face it, no matter what, it’s all about the game and this game is fun, enjoyable and addictive.

Color Switch requires iOS 7.0 or later. Compatible with iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch. A small expedited fee was paid by the developer to speed up the publication of this review.

Apple’s iOS app design and development accelerator coming to India in early 2017

May 18, 2016 by macjeff

As was rumored yesterday, Apple CEO Tim Cook during his India trip announced an accelerator program for iOS developers. The facility is expected to open in early 2017.

According to a press release issued yesterday, the iOS app design and development accelerator will open in Bengaluru, the home of India’s startup scene.

The initiative will support engineering talent and accelerate growth in the populous country’s iOS developer community, which counts tens of thousands of programmers that write iPhone and iPad apps.

"India is home to one of the most vibrant and entrepreneurial iOS development communities in the world," said Tim Cook, Apple’s CEO.

"With the opening of this new facility in Bengaluru, we’re giving developers access to tools which will help them create innovative apps for customers around the world."

Apple’s team will instruct developers on best practices regarding iOS development, helping them hone their skills and transform the design, quality and performance of their apps on the iOS platform.

Weekly briefings will provide one-on-one app reviews for developers, support and guidance on Apple’s Swift programming language and more. According to developer placement firm Toptal, jobs requesting Swift rose 600 percent in 2015.

Source: Apple

Log Your Work with iMedSuite

May 16, 2016 by macjeff

Reviewed by Marilyn Chau

iMedSuite by Ageant Medical Pty Ltd is a group of medical apps all geared towards improving the workflow of physicians.

For busy doctors iMedSuite makes it easier than ever before to stay organized throughout the day.

Features:

iMedSuite is an app that certainly offers a lot of features all in one convenient location. Specifically, users can use the “iCallLog” section of the suite to record all of their working hours, keeping detailed records regarding specific conversations and consultations on specific patients.

A separate app, iProcLog, is designed to help interns and residents document their fulfillment of various tasks more easily as well.

Printing out documents for medical charts is also an option through these apps. The interface of iCallLog is simple enough to make these notes on patients relatively quickly.

iMedSuite iPhone App

We definitely see the advantages of this well designed app in many situations.

However, most hospitals and clinics requiring in-house charting for patient medical records to be completed on the hospital’s electronic medical records system. Thus, taking even this little time to make your own notation in your own app might seem like an unnecessary additional step.

Additionally, with current HIPAA requirements being as they are, any users of iMedSuite would definitely need assurance that the information stored within the app is very secure at all times; recording patient information in a personal app may be a potentially problematic situation.

Appearance and Layout:

iMedSuite is a simply designed app. It offers its users a clean, minimalistic interface that is free of unnecessary distractions.

Setting up your account is easy to do, and navigating through the app is very intuitive. In-app graphics are basically kept to important labels only. I felt that the opening screen logo didn’t display well on the larger screen of a full iPad, but on an iPad mini it didn’t look blurry at all.

As a whole, the appearance and layout of iMedSuite can best be described as “functional.” While the graphics of the app are nothing to write home about, they also don’t really leave any room for complaints either.

Value:

As noted previously, iMedSuite is a free app, with additional optional companion app purchases also available through the iTunes Store.

The concept of this collection of apps is definitely an appreciated one; keeping a detailed log can be an important part of the medical field, both for protecting physician’s liabilities and for improving patient safety.

Whether or not use of iMedSuite can really help you save time in the long run probably really depends on the particular requirements of whatever hospital/clinic you happen to work in yourself.

Most hospitals all have their own electronic medical record requirements regarding documentation of patient services, and these documentations would most likely be completely separate from your use of this app.

Because of this, if the hospital you work in has its own system, it’s hard to imagine how residents or other physicians would have time to really utilize iMedSuite in addition to in-house documentation requirements during their already busy schedules.

iMedSuite requires iOS 8.0 or later and is compatible with iPhone, iPod Touch, and iPad. A small expedited fee was paid by the developer to speed up the publication of this review.

Periscope for iPhone now lets you search videos and broadcast live from DJI drones

May 12, 2016 by macjeff

Periscope, a Twitter-owned app that lets anyone start a live video broadcast from their iPhone, today received a pretty substantial update on the App Store. Bumped to version 1.4, Periscope for iPhone now lets you search videos and broadcast live to the service from a compatible DJI drone.

In addition, the team shared a preview of their full beyond 24 hours approach that will be available in the coming weeks.

Broadcast search

This feature addition in Periscope 1.4 for iOS lets you search for broadcasts you may be interest in by tapping on the new Search button found in your Global List.

In addition to keyword-based search, you can tap on any suggested topic to broadcast about it. Simply add the relevant hashtag, or add the hashtag to your title directly, and you can start broadcasting about a topic.

Some of the topics to search for include #Travel, #Music, #Food and more. Tip: search for a special topic titled "First Scope" to welcome new broadcasters to the community.

Broadcasting from a drone

Today’s update extends Periscope’s existing support for GoPro cameras to drones. The application supports select drones from the popular Chinese company DJI, including the Inspire, Phantom 4, Phantom 3 Professional or Advanced and Osmo.

After connecting an iPhone to your drone’s remote, Periscope will automatically pull in drone’s video feed and let you switch between it, your iPhone cameras and GoPros. It’s especially cool that you can narrate from a bird’s eye view using your phone or sketch on the live drone broadcast to highlight different sights.

Tip: search for the "GoPros and Drones" topic to find clips from GoPros and drones.

The full list of supported DJI drones and additional instructions for drone broadcasters can be found in Persicope’s help document. As an example of the new built-in drone support, watch Zagat’s drone broadcast from a New York farm.

Broadcast from a bird's eye view with drones! Available on iOS soon.https://t.co/J3GfdW4JRX

— Periscope (@periscopeco) May 9, 2016

Coming soon: save beyond 24 hours

"Soon, your broadcasts will be automatically saved on Periscope and Twitter with comments and hearts," said the team. This will work in conjunction with the #save hashtag that you can add to your broadcasts to keep them beyond 24 hours.

Of course, you’re in control of your broadcasts and can delete them at any time via the post-broadcast screen or in your profile. If you prefer to have your broadcasts removed after 24 hours, you’ll be able to do so by flipping a switch in account settings.

Periscope is available for free on the App Store.

Instagram revamps app with new icon and monochromatic interface

May 12, 2016 by macjeff

Facebook-owned Instagram today announced a major new version of its iPhone app with an overhauled user interface with bigger photos and an updated app icon for your Home screen. The refreshed Instagram for iPhone app can be downloaded at no charge from the App Store. Developing…

Here’s the promotional video highlighting the design changes in Instagram for iPhone.

[vimeo 166138104 w=500 h=281]

Source: Instagram