Restore Peace in Star Knight, An Action-Packed Platformer
January 09, 2017 by RSS Feed
Star Knight ($0.99) by JungSang You is an action platformer game that will give you a real challenge. If you grew up with platformer games and want a real gem to add to your collection, then Star Knight is worth a look. It joins the ranks of other fine platformer games like Le Parker: Sous Chef Extraordinaire and Goblin Sword.
As someone who grew up in the late ‘80s and early ‘90s, I have many fond memories of platformer games in general because that’s mostly what I played as a child. Even though I never considered myself to be one of the best platform gamers out there (I can’t do speed runs), I always enjoyed the genre because it was just fun and was a good test of my basic hand-eye coordination and reflexes. Even though I don’t consider many platformers on iOS to be great due to the controls (physical buttons will always reign supreme), with a few exceptions like the Mikey Shorts games, I am still eager to check them out when there’s a new release. When I happened to come across Star Knight (no, not the overpowered Star Knight armor in Monster Hunter 4 Ultimate) on the App Store, I was intrigued because of the screenshots and the game itself looked incredibly fun. After spending some time with it, I’m not disappointed.
Visually, Star Knight is gorgeous, and one of the main reasons I decided to check the game out in the first place. It features a beautifully minimalistic aesthetic that will appeal to plenty of people, and personally, I find it to be like a mashup of Limbo and Alto’s Adventure, due to the soothingly colored backdrops but dark silhouettes in the foreground. The game retains a 2-D perspective, but due to the background, you get a nice bit of depth, and the vignette effect makes everything in the center pop a bit more. The character sprites are rendered nicely, as they sport a kind of “chibi” look to them. The enemies all have their own distinctive appearance and it is easy to tell them apart from each other, especially as you find yourself in new areas in later chapters. Animations are fairly smooth and fluid in the game, though it does feel like the attacking motion is a bit laggy at times. The game also has a whimsical and captivating atmospheric soundtrack that is a joy to listen to in the background, and sets the mood well. Overall, the developer did a good job with the graphics and audio of Star Knight, and it’s a good reason to dive into the game, even if you had no interest before.
Falling in the footsteps of other platformer games before it, Star Knight is level-based, and players will find five chapters available, though the later ones have to be unlocked chronologically. Each section has about 12 stages to get through, so you get a good amount of content for your buck. Up to three stars can be earned on each level as well, in case you want to be a perfectionist and go back and replay them to get a perfect ranking. Players have the opportunity to acquire coins in the game that can be spent on purchasing better weapon upgrades for their character, and there are runes that can be collected to unlock powerful skills to aid you in battle. Replay value is fairly high if you want to perfect and collect everything.
The story of Star Knight involves the peaceful planet of Gaon that is now under attack, and Dark Dragon Nidhogg took away the sun. It is now up to Naro, the Star Knight himself, to overcome all of the challenges that await him and bring back peace to Gaon.
Controls in Star Knight are fairly simple and intuitive, though the button placements are also customizable in case you don’t like the default positioning. In the bottom left corner will be two directional buttons for moving left and right. In the bottom right corner will be the other two buttons, which are used for jumping and attacking. I found the positioning for attacking and jumping to be a tad off for my liking, so I moved them so that they are next to each other instead of in a quarter-circle formation. Once the buttons were in the right spot for me, it was easy to get used to the controls and it’s pretty responsive to touch. I did feel that attacking had a bit of lag between slashes when you tap the button rapidly though, so maybe that can be optimized in the future.
As you make progress in the game, you’ll want to access the shop to check out better swords that you can purchase with those shiny coins and make sure to equip them before going into a stage. You start off with the basic wooden sword, but you can get elemental swords and even ones with magical properties later on. The more expensive a sword is, the more damage it will do, respectively. On top of getting coins and gems, you’ll want to keep an eye out for those runes that are hidden somewhere on each stage. When you collect enough of these, you’ll be able to unlock a new skill and equip it (up to three at a time) to make it easier to overcome your foes. While I think it’s pretty easy to grind for the coins, there are in-app purchases for coins if you are feeling impatient.
I’ve only just started Star Knight, but I’m finding it to be rather enjoyable so far. The game looks exquisite with the contrasting colors and silhouettes, the music is delightful, the controls are nice and customizable, and the game is definitely challenging the further you get. While it starts off easy enough, be prepared to die quite a few times later on, and the game makes sure you know how many times you’ve failed as well, since it keeps count. Fortunately, there are checkpoints so you can start from the last checkpoint if you die, which is always nice. Regardless, Star Knight is a great addition to the action platformer genre.
I highly recommend giving Star Knight a try if you are in the mood for a challenging action platformer game where you can hack-n-slash your way through minions of darkness. You can find Star Knight on the App Store as a universal app for your iPhone and iPad for just $0.99. There are in-app purchases for more coins.
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How to Open Recently Closed Tabs in Safari on iPhone or iPad
January 09, 2017 by RSS Feed
Many of us use Safari on our iPhones to browse the web, watch videos and stay on top of the latest news. It is a feature-rich browser that offers most of the essential features that a normal user would need.
There are times that you accidentally close a tab in Safari or you want to check something from a webpage that was closed recently. Luckily, Safari offers a handy feature that allows you to view and open the tabs that you recently closed. Using it is pretty simple once you know where to find it.
How to Open Recently Closed Tabs in Safari on iPhone
Step 1: Open the Safari app on your iPhone.
Step 2: Press the tabs icon located in the bottom right corner.
Step 3: Tap and hold on the + button.
Step 4: A list of all your recently closed tabs will be displayed. To open a specific webpage, simply tap on it.
How to Open Recently Closed Tabs in Safari on iPad
Step 1: Launch Safari on your iPad.
Step 2: On the top right corner of the app, you’ll find a + button for opening a new tab. Tap and hold on it.
Step 3: You’ll see a list of all the tabs that were closed recently. Tap on any one of the tabs that you want to open.
That’s all you need to do to view your recently closed tabs and re-open them if needed. Pretty simple right? Keep in mind that if you close Safari from the App Switcher, the list of recently closed tabs will be cleared.
Now that you’ve learned this, you may want to check out other interesting tips for Safari:
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Free Apps to Download TODAY ONLY 01/09/2017
January 09, 2017 by RSS Feed
Intervals - A professional interval timer , Weather Gods , Zero+ and more
iPhone:
Intervals - A professional interval timer ( $3.99 → Free ) Haim Benshimol Intervals helps you to focus on your training. Entire workouts can be set up in just a few seconds. Tap to create a custom workout and give it a title. Then define the number of sets in your workout, add as many exercises as you like, and define your warmup and cool down periods. Exercises can include custom durations, colors, and specific music. When it’s time for training, tap on your workout of choice and start the timer. You’re able to control the timer and switch between exercises with common gestures.
Parker Planner ( $1.99 → Free ) Parker Planners The app's main view allows you to see upcoming events for the day, any notes and ideas you may have, and any tasks you need to complete all at once. You're also able to view each of the three separately. Tap once on an open spot on your calendar to add an event or tap twice to add more details. The app syncs with your iPhone's built-in calendar or any of the other popular online options. It also includes multiple themes to choose from, icon badging, and sound effects.Universal:
Weather Gods ( $2.99 → Free ) Meyume Ltd Weather Gods delivers your forecast through five entities: Fire, Ice, Water, Air, and Moon. Tap on each God to view detailed information and charts regarding wind speed and direction, moon phase, cloud cover, chances of snow and frost, and chances of rain. You’re able to view all of the data in fullscreen by rotating your iDevice. The app also includes a seven-day hourly forecast, detailed 24-hour charts, lock screen widget, and custom sounds.
Zero+ ( $0.99 → Free ) SaturnBoy, LLC The basic gameplay mechanics in Zero are simple enough. You must slide positive and negative numbered tiles around the board in order to achieve zero. The first few levels consist of just ones and twos, but things get crazy pretty quickly when large numbers and new kinds of modifier tiles enter the mix. Also, keep in mind that tiles won’t stop sliding unless they run into something. The game includes a total of 120 levels.
Numbers and Counting Early Learning Math Match Games for Kids in Pre-K, Kindergarten and 1st Grade ( $3.99 → Free ) Eggroll Games LLC The app is loaded with fun and colorful items to count and match. Depending on their ability level, your child can either play with cards face down or face up to make things easier. Hints are also available if need be. The game includes professional narration for every included item, positive reinforcement, and parental controls.Source link: http://appadvice.com/apps-gone-free
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Editorial Is The Swiss Army Knife Of iPad Text Editors
January 08, 2017 by RSS Feed
Editorial ($4.99) by omz:software is a plain text editor for the iPad that comes with powerful automation tools and support for John Gruber’s Markdown syntax. If you’re looking for a complete writing solution on-the-go, then this is definitely the app to check out.
I’m writing all the time — whether it’s for AppAdvice, my own personal blog, or just random journaling in Day One, I’m always writing something, somewhere. I’ve always used mainly my MacBook Pro for the task, with a bit of jotting down while I’m out-and-about with my iPhone. I always carry my iPad with me, but it is not used frequently. However, I believe that with Editorial in my arsenal, this is all about to change.
So what exactly is Editorial? First and foremost, this is a text editor, you know, for writing, that comes with Markdown support right out of the box. It also has Dropbox syncing, and has plenty of tool panels and menus for document preview (Markdown to HTML), a Python console and scratchpad, document viewer, and even a built-in web browser for researching purposes. Basically, think of a Swiss Army knife for writing, and this is what you end up with.
The first thing I recommend doing with Editorial is to link it up to your Dropbox. I really like that it is also not restrictive on the folder of where you will save in, either. By default, of course, Editorial will make an “Editorial” folder in your Dropbox’s “Apps” folder, but you can change the sync location to whatever you please. Personally, I opted to go for the root /Dropbox (this is done by putting a / in the Sync Folder setting), so I have access to any plain text or Markdown file in my possession. Editorial was able to load up and sync all of my files fairly quickly, and I did not encounter any errors during this initial download.
Besides being incredibly useful, Editorial looks great and is quite intuitive. Your folders and files are accessed via a side panel, at which point you are able to access the editor when selecting a compatible file (plain text and Markdown only). From the editing screen, you can access the side panels with the “hamburger” button, settings with the gear button, and even search for keywords throughout your document with the search feature. To access the Markdown Preview, Python console, or in-app browser, just tap on that “side panel” button in the top right, and then select the view you want. This is also where you want to go if you need help with Editorial, as it contains the Editorial Documentation with all of the basics to understanding workflows and Python. You can also swipe horizontally to quickly navigate through all of the various views.
As you write, Editorial will also have a keyboard extension that features a row of shortcut buttons for commonly used characters. Like other text editors that feature keyboard extensions, it will take some time to get used to, but in the end you will appreciate the time that it saves, as you don’t need to switch the keyboards anymore. There is also a button for indenting your paragraphs, should you need it. Two buttons at near the right edge of this extension allow you to view and edit your current text snippets, as well as undo and redo your last edit.
The Snippets feature is great, and will help you save a lot of time with more use. If you already have TextExpander Touch on your iPad, then you will be pleased to know that there is full support for it in Editorial. However, with iOS 7, Apple has changed the API that TextExpander needs to share snippets with other apps, so at the moment, I cannot get this feature to work. Creating new snippets will consist of the text you want, and the abbreviation that will expand into the full text. The snippet editor will include useful shortcuts on the keyboard, including a button to indicate selected text, Editor (file name, extension, browser title, browser URL), Date (various formats for year, month, and date), Time (different formats for hour, minute, seconds, and a.m./p.m.), and Clipboard, which will just paste in whatever you currently have copied on your iPad.
When you start typing out the beginning of one of your snippets, Editorial will bring up some bubbles in the bottom left corner of the screen that show the first two letters of what you’re typing and the snippets that you’ve assigned to these abbreviations. This is a great way to bring up the snippets that you may have added but can’t recall, as it refreshes your memory. By default, Editorial will only bring these popups up when you type the first two letters of a snippet, but you can change it to the first letter. While this may seem like a nuisance at first, it can be a good way to bring up snippets that you have created that start with a semicolon, for example. There’s surely a use case for such a feature.
Now, the more complex parts of Editorial lays in the workflows and Python. I’m actually rather new to the automation process, and I’ve been trying to dip my toes into this stuff thanks to this app. To create a new workflow or view existing ones (the app comes with some by default), tap on the wrench in the top right, adjacent to the side panel button mentioned earlier. Workflows consist of various actions that are used together to create an automated process. If you are familiar with AppleScript, then these workflows work in a similar fashion. You can choose from Editorial’s Action Library, which will be split up into six categories: Special (conditions like If this, Then that, generating text, running a Python script, setting different variables, and more), Editor (get bookmark URLs, document content, replace selected text, and more), Interaction (compose email, console output, request text input, etc.), Text Filter (extract URLs, find/replace, remove duplicate lines, and more), Utilities (math, set clipboard, etc.), and Web Browser (evaluate JavaScript or open URL). Creating these workflows can be tricky, especially if you are completely new to it. I highly recommend checking out the Editorial documentation for a guide on how this works, as well as Federico Viticci’s in-depth review and tutorial of Editorial over at MacStories. All of your workflows can be assigned their own icon for easier recognition once you start building up a respectable collection of workflows.
When you select a workflow to use, the wrench icon will change to the spinner to let users know that it is processing and working. If it does nothing, then the workflow did not work. I do wish that Editorial would be a bit more clear on whether or not something works when you create it, as well as showing indicators of what went wrong in the process so it can be easily fixed.
The magic of Editorial doesn’t end there. The app sports two different themes, which can be toggled in the app’s settings. The normal theme will be light, and for the night owls, or those who just prefer less bright screens, there is a dark mode available. This night theme reminds me a bit of Daring Fireball, except it’s a tad darker. Users can also customize their line spacing and text width to their own preference, making it easier to write and read in Editorial. Spellcheck, auto-correction and auto-capitalization can also be toggled to make the writing process even more streamlined. The snippets and abbreviations have an option to ignore case, as well as display the suggested completions with one letter or two, or have it completely off. Markdown can be tweaked to display inline previews, as well as have a different font (10 available choices) and size for text, heading, code, and even plain text. Advanced options bring the ability to change the formatting character opacity, compatible file format extensions, and default extension for newly created documents in Editorial.
I have to say that this single app is making me use my iPad more than ever before. I have not had any problems with my writing while using Editorial for the past couple of days, and I’m pretty much in love with everything about it. While I may have only been really using this as a simple writing app (it excels even if you don’t use the more complicated stuff) with quick reference thanks to the built-in browser, I am planning to dive more into the workflows and perhaps even Python scripting in the very near future.
The possibilities are quite endless with Editorial, and it’s one app this year that will be playing a crucial part in my workflow from now on — sorry Byword. In fact, I’ve already moved it into my iPad’s dock, so it will always be ready to go.
If you are planning to do a lot of writing, and want to lighten your load with just your iPad, then you need to consider adding Editorial to your writing toolkit. You can get Editorial for your iPad in the App Store for $4.99 (requires iOS 6).
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Is Microsoft Word For iPad Worth The Hype And The Price?
January 08, 2017 by RSS Feed
After years of waiting, Microsoft's Office for iPad is here. In celebration, I'd like to take a deeper look at the three new additions to the App Store: Word, PowerPoint, and Excel, and I've decided to start with what will probably be the most popular of them all. Now that Microsoft Word for iPad (Free, requiring Office 365 subscription) by Microsoft Corporation is actually here, questions are rising everywhere. How does it compare to Apple's Pages? Can it really make an impact in the mobile office space after it's arrived this late to the game? And, most importantly, is it worth $99 a year?
In my day-to-day experiences of making simple documents, I've run into and had to find ways around the sea of limitations that Pages comes with. Want to change the page orientation? Can't do that. Want to skip lines when creating a numbered list? Can't do that. Want to change the header and footer on each page? Can't do that. And those are just the simple things, all of which Microsoft Word for iPad can do just as well as it does on the desktop.
Other winning features over Apple's document editor include more advanced formatting options when it comes to bullets and numbering, a boss of a ruler, a plethora of adjustable parameters for tables and shapes, and a whole tab dedicated to adjusting “Layout” options that is full of features Pages is missing. Finally, even those well-known fonts that are exclusive to Word have been ported over. I could spend an eternity preaching about how Word on the iPad has many more robust editing options than Pages does, but I think you get the idea.
Beyond the app's strengths, however, is one obvious drawback. This doesn't involve document creation and editing, but rather, it has to do with sharing and exporting. Users can import documents into Word from other apps using iOS' native share sheets, so clearly Microsoft knows the functionality exists. However, when getting a document out of the app, the only options available are through a link to the OneDrive file or via email.
Despite how awful sharing documents from Microsoft Word for iPad is, the app's abilities are far beyond that of Pages or any other mobile office app, so I'm more than willing to deal with the issues. Also, while $99 a year sounds crazy for an Office 365 subscription, you're getting a lot more than you think. In the end, you get what you pay for, and the pricing of Apple's iWork in contrast to Office on iOS is a prime example of that. Microsoft has been extremely diligent in including almost every feature the desktop version has, and it becomes obvious as you use the app. If you're remotely serious about creating and editing documents on your iPad, you'll go for Word, which is available in the App Store for free.
Needless to say, I'm thrilled that I won't be turning my head sideways to edit a document's settings ever again. All of my Pages users will know what I'm talking about.
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