"If there is an app for that"

fire + rain Review: The Prettiest Weather App for iPhone

February 15, 2017 by RSS Feed

Fire + Rain is a gorgeous weather app for iOS. It may not pack in the most weather data nor do so as efficiently as it could, but its elegance shines through. Those who want basic information about the day or work week would do well to give this weather app a go.

Download Fire + Rain for iOS:

➤ Fire + Rain in the App Store (free)

In 2017, it’s extremely hard to argue that there is an even slight shortage of weather apps in the App Store. Just searching “weather” brings up hundreds if not thousands of results. Yet more seem to pour in every single day. Developers always think they have the perfect weather app whether by sheer number of features or the most impressive UI. Fire + Rain is yet another new weather app that clearly tries tackling the latter goal.

Fire + Rain has one of the most unique, yet gorgeous designs I’ve seen in a weather app. It almost feels like something that would fit in on a Windows Phone device. It comes with three themes: fire, rain, and Earth — each just change the color palette a bit.

Fire + Rain’s Gorgeous Design

Navigating Fire + Rain is largely done using gestures. Double-tapping anywhere on the screen switches between forecasts: hourly, the next 36 hours, or a full 14 days. Then swiping up and down scrolls through the timeline for that forecast. For instance, swiping through the 14-day forecast advances the weather details per day while swiping through hourly advances them per hour.

With each swipe, a new background takes over to express the weather conditions for that timeframe. If it’s going to rain, you’ll get a dark blue with some light rain drops. If it’s sunny, the background is a gentle orange. These colors will also depend on which theme you use, but I’m using the default which is fire — both by name and by colloquial description.

The app lists hours or days you already scrolled by on the right. They elegantly fade into the background the further along the timeline you browse. I also appreciate how an animation follows my finger as I swipe. It almost looks like I’m lightly ragging my finger through water.

Fire + Rain displays the weather conditions for the given time on the bottom along with an ellipsis to expand further details. Underneath that you can tap the current displayed location to change it or the search icon to find a new one.

Weather and Forecasts

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If you’re looking for an in-depth weather app complete with radars and data customizations, you’ve come to the wrong place. Fire + Rain is not a weather app for the “pros” and it doesn’t try to be one. Instead, it gives you the basic information you need to get through the day.

Before you scroll through hours and days, Fire + Rain gives you current conditions at a glance. You can see the current temperature, what it feels like and a brief description of the weather. If you tap the ellipsis, you also get wind, wind gust, humidity and pressure. For periods when precipitation is possible, the app also gives you measurements for predicted rain and snowfall.

The app description in the App Store also says that push notifications let you know when rain or snow is coming down to the nearest 10 minutes. I didn’t get to test this out because it’s been pretty calm where I am, but I imagine it works similarly to Dark Sky.

Speaking of which, unlike many other third-party weather apps, Fire + Rain doesn’t get its data from the Dark Sky API. The Weather Network powers the app instead. TWN actually makes one of my favorite Apple TV weather apps both in terms of UI and accuracy, so I have no doubts that translates well here.

When compared to Dark Sky and data from The Weather Channel, Fire + Rain’s forecasts were quite similar. It’s hard to find wildly inaccurate weather apps nowadays anyway. Plus, if one forecast is inaccurate, they tend to all miss the mark. We all know that happens from time to time as well.

Gorgeous Isn’t Always Ideal

As pretty as Fire + Rain is, I do have one complaint about the UI. All the scrolling means it takes much longer to get the information you’re looking for. In other weather apps, you can pop in, get an immediate glance at the week, and pop out. Because Fire + Rain only shows one day at a time, that’s not possible here. You have to scroll to get to a specific day or hour, and even then you may miss it and have to go back.

It’s not a huge concern if you aren’t in a rush, but does have a noticeable delay compared to other apps. This is one aspect of Fir + Rain that seems to prefer form over function.

Ultimately, Fire + Rain is a gorgeous weather app for iOS. It may not pack in the most weather data nor do so as efficiently as it could, but its elegance shines through. Those who want basic information about the day or work week would do well to give this free app a go.

Download Fire + Rain for iOS:

➤ Fire + Rain in the App Store (free)

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Remember AppGratis? It shut down today.

February 15, 2017 by RSS Feed

After seven years and more than fifty million installs globally, the app discovery service AppGratis announced it’s shutting down today. Founded in 2010 by French engineer Simon Dawlat, AppGratis curators found and recommended apps that were featured to download for free or at a significantly reduced price. As some of you will recall, Apple in a controversial move nuked the app from orbit back in April 2013 over a violation of App Store rules regarding third-party app promotion and marketing. After it was dumped from App Store, AppGratis launched an Android version of the app. The discontinuation of the service has nothing to do with Apple, however, or its broader crackdown on apps which might be similar to or confusing with App Store. According to the blog post, the team has simply come to the terms with the realities of running a startup. They discovered that startups are hard and take a big chunk of one’s life, with no guarantees of success. Here’s an excerpt from the post:

AppGratis lived, AppGratis died. It was an OK product with a strong first-mover’s advantage in a time of novelty. Some people liked it, some didn’t, but that doesn’t matter anymore. The world evolved and so have we. We had ups and downs, we were a passionate bunch, we had fun and we were very, very lucky—until we weren’t so lucky anymore, but we didn’t quit.

I would say that AppGratis has actually realized that the popularity of their service has slowly but surely diminished over the years due to the spectacular rise of the freemium software distribution model and other app promotion services and websites. The AppGratis team says they ultimately made it through to a new project that’s now reportedly “taking off nicely.” Going forward, the team will be pouring all their collective energies into this unknown new project. Are you saddened that AppGratis was shut down and discontinued? Source: AppGratis Source link: http://www.idownloadblog.com/2017/02/15/remember-appgratis-it-shut-down-today/

Free Apps to Download TODAY ONLY 02/14/2017

February 14, 2017 by RSS Feed

Love Test Meter - Relationship Compatibility , Tube for YouTube , Nommons: Math Universe and more

iPhone:

Love Test Meter - Relationship Compatibility ( $0.99 → Free ) Tekton Technologies (P) Ltd. Love Test uses the power of numbers to determine compatibility between two people. Enter your name along with the name of the person you want to test compatibility with. If you’d rather use a shortened version of your first name or even a nickname, that’s fine. Use whatever name you go by. Then hit “Go” and watch the meter crank up.

Universal:

Tube for YouTube ( $0.99 → Free ) Lifelike Apps, Inc Tube’s unique interface allows you to browse your search results, featured videos, and playlists all while watching a video in full screen. All of your browsing and search options are located on the left side of the screen, and all of the results are located on the right. You’re able to download and save videos for later, add them to playlists and favorites, comment on them, view detailed info, and share them. The app also includes auto play, the ability to adjust video quality, and the ability to filter searches.

Nommons: Math Universe ( $0.99 → Free ) YummyYummyTummy Inc. Nommons: Math Universe will help your child improve their addition, subtraction, multiplication, division, and mental math skills through a series of mini-games. The intelligent tuning system automatically adjusts the difficulty based on the amount of correct and incorrect answers, so your child will never be left feeling frustrated. After solving a series of math problems, your child will be rewarded with fun spaceflight games and the ability to design their own universe.

Solve - A colorful graphing calculator ( $1.99 → Free ) Pomegranate Apps Solve is not only the best graphing calculator around, it’s also the best overall calculator thanks to its unique colorful interface. The colors aren’t there just to pretty things up. They also serve as separate calculators that can interact with each other. For example, if you store an answer within one calculator, you can swipe across the color bar to recall and use it in another calculator. Whenever you have an equation with variables that can be plotted a “Touch to Plot” button will appear, allowing you to quickly turn it into a graph. The app is loaded with other great features, and thankfully in-depth tutorials are available to help you take full advantage of all of them.

Baby Apps for Baby Pics & Pregnancy Photo - Giggly ( $1.99 → Free ) AKM Masuduzzaman Today only: Unlock the Doodles art pack free of charge! Simply begin to edit a photo, tap on the “Add Stickers” button, and scroll down and tap on the Doodles pack. Tap to confirm your action. Giggly allows you to record and share your pregnancy moments with the world. Snap a photo of a moment you want to capture, whether that’s your announcement or your baby bump, and begin editing. You’re able to add text and choose from a variety of colors and fonts, and finish with stickers that perfectly reflect the moment. Giggly also includes a collage option. Then save your photo or share it with the entire Giggly community. As a Giggly member, you’re also able to browse photos for inspiration and like other users’ photos.

Source link: http://appadvice.com/apps-gone-free

Find Fame, Fortune and Dragons as the Maze Lord

February 13, 2017 by RSS Feed

Maze Lord ($1.99) by Crescent Moon Games and Jetdogs is a roguelike puzzle game that will have you using your noggin’ to traverse through a dangerous dungeon to face off against an insidious dragon. If you enjoyed games like Dungelot: Shattered Lands and The Nightmare Cooperative, then chances are high that you will enjoy Maze Lord.

Over the past few years, there is no doubt that roguelike puzzles have risen in popularity, and nowadays they’re pretty much a dime-a-dozen on the App Store. I’ve grown to love them since I was introduced to them several years ago, but let’s face it — most of them are the same thing with a different skin now. Despite that fact, I still enjoy seeing what’s new in the world of mobile gaming, so naturally, when I heard of Maze Lord, I was intrigued as it combines two of my favorite genres together: roguelike RPGs and puzzles. Plus, it’s from Crescent Moon Games, which is a developer that I’m a big fan of after releases like Legend of the Skyfish, Pocket RPG: iPhone Edition, and Shadow Blade: Reload, so Maze Lord was just another title I had to have in my mobile game collection. And I must say that Maze Lord does not disappoint.

In terms of visuals, Maze Lord features a rather cartoonish aesthetic that definitely reminds me of the Dungelot games. Despite the cartoon-like art style, the game is packed with fine details that include textures for the maze-style dungeon rooms, the lighting effects, and the nicely rendered character models for your protagonist and all of the different enemy types that you’ll be encountering. The color palette used ranges from bright and vibrant hues for character sprites and items to darker, earthy tones for the room floors, walls, and doors. All of the animations in Maze Lord are smooth and fluid, and character sprites come alive with bouncy idle animations. The game has an adventurous yet soothing soundtrack in the background, and the sound effects when you perform various actions is rather realistic. Overall, the developers did an excellent job with Maze Lord’s visuals and audio, in my opinion, and it’s one reason I’ll keep coming back to the game.

Unlike other roguelike games, Maze Lord sets itself apart from the rest by having levels (it’s more of a puzzle game), so it’s more of a pseudo roguelike in that matter. On the first launch, players will go through a brief tutorial that consists of the first few levels to explain the basics of the game. After that, you’re on your own to solve the puzzles and make your way to fame and fortune, as well as defeating a tough dragon. The goal of the game is simple: get your character through each room grid by making his way to the door in order to reach the next area. While it sounds simple enough, players will find that the labyrinth of the dungeon gets much more intricate and complex the further you go, and there will be many more obstacles and enemies that stand in your way. And unlike games like Dungelot, Maze Lord consists of actual puzzles that can only be solved in certain ways, so if you make a mistake, chances are high that you’ll have to restart and try to figure out the proper solution. Up to three stars can be earned on each stage as well, depending on how many steps it takes you to solve the puzzle, and netting three stars will get you special artifacts that can be traded in for rewards in the Shop. The number of steps you’re allotted is shown on the door that you need to reach.

Controls in Maze Lord are pretty intuitive and responsive. To have your character move, just tap on the square that you want to move to and, assuming that it’s possible, he will go towards that particular square. But as you go, you’ll encounter doors that require keys, and enemies that will take away a heart (you start with three) when you get past them by attacking. Potions will restore a heart, and sometimes keys need to be “bought” by trading a gold coin for it, so you have to get the coin on the stage first. If you get an item and don’t need to use it right away, it gets held in your stash, which you can access with a tap from the bottom of the screen.

Like I mentioned earlier, the further you get in the game, the more complicated the puzzles get, and sometimes there is only one specific solution to clear it. If you make a mistake, just tap on the gear icon in the bottom left corner to access the game menu, where you can choose to go back to the level select screen or restart the current level. For quick restarting, you can just tap on the restart button in the bottom right corner as well. Experience points are earned when you complete a puzzle, with more points awarded to you if you solve it in fewer moves. The artifacts you find can be exchanged for red crystals, which you can use to resurrect your hero if you die or run out of steps. As you are introduced to new game mechanics in the puzzles, new items become available for your use, like torches to get rid of spider webs.

I’m still in the early stages of Maze Lord but I’m enjoying the game a lot so far. The graphics look fantastic on Retina screens, the music and sound effects are fun and calming, the controls feel natural on touch screens, and the puzzle gameplay is rather challenging at a nice, gradual pace. This is certainly a game I’ll continue playing for a while.

I recommend giving Maze Lord a try if you’re in the mood for a little hidden gem among the roguelike puzzler category. You can find Maze Lord on the App Store as a universal download for just $1.99 for a limited time (30 percent off the regular price). There are no in-app purchases.

Source link: http://appadvice.com/reviews

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from : Mid Atlantic Consulting, Inc.

Free Apps to Download TODAY ONLY 02/13/2017

February 13, 2017 by RSS Feed

RadioApp - A simple radio for iPhone and iPod touch , Magnifier Flash - A magnifying glass with light , Tiggly Story Maker: Make Words and Capture Your Stories About Them and more

iPhone:

RadioApp - A simple radio for iPhone and iPod touch ( $1.99 → Free ) Tal Shrestha RadioApp operates like a classic radio, analog tuner and all. Just swipe across the tuner to change stations. RadioApp will display the name of the station and song as long as they’re available. You’re also able to favorite stations, search for something specific, and set a sleep timer. The app includes an AM tuner and international stations as well.

Universal:

Magnifier Flash - A magnifying glass with light ( $0.99 → Free ) Tekton Technologies (P) Ltd. Sometimes the simplest apps can be the best. Magnifier Flash proves that point. It allows you to zoom in on your subject at up to 6x magnification, and you can light it up with your iDevice’s LED flash. You can even snap a photo of what you’re looking at while zoomed in to save it for later.

Tiggly Story Maker: Make Words and Capture Your Stories About Them ( $2.99 → Free ) Tiggly Your child is presented with two consonants that sit at the bottom of the screen with a space in the middle. They get to pick any vowel they wish from the top of the screen to create a word. If the word is valid, an object, person, or animal will appear. If it’s invalid, it will be ejected from the screen. When they’re done generating words, they can use any or all of them to create an animated story.If your child has an endless imagination, you need to download Tiggly Story Maker for them.

Cigar Notes - Humidex ( $4.99 → Free ) Michael Kral Humidex digitizes your entire cigar collection. You’re able to search for your favorite cigars or add them manually. When cataloging a cigar, you’re able to attach a photo, humidor, rating, quantity, and price. Humidex allows you to keep detailed notes of your smoking sessions in order to visualize how the flavor profile changes. The app also includes the ability to share review notes and flavor profiles via your favorite social networks.

Pixel Boat Rush ( $0.99 → Free ) XperimentalZ Games Pixel Boat Rush requires you to not only race but also destroy your opponents. Touch the right side of the screen to accelerate across the choppy waters. It’s in your best interest to stay close to the water, but you will need to utilize waves to clear obstacles. The left side of the screen is devoted to your weapons and defenses, which can be upgraded along the way. The game includes 15 tracks, 116 events, 64 unlockable and customizable boats, and MFi controller support.

Source link: http://appadvice.com/apps-gone-free