"If there is an app for that"

Soar Through the Sky as Long as You Can in Swift Plane

November 11, 2016 by macjeff

Arcade games are both fun and addicting to play, especially when you’re looking for a way to keep busy. Unlike complex RPGs and other fantasy games, you can play arcade games for minutes or hours at a time.

Swift Plane is a creative and fun new endless runner that really puts your reflexes to the test.

It’s an endless arcade game that’s like Doodle Jump and others, but it has much more variety.

Concept and Gameplay:

Swift Plane, by Mustplay Games Private Limited, is a pretty simple game that’s easy to play once you get the basics figured out.

I like the fact that the tutorial shows you different maneuvers. You can control your airplane by swiping up, down, left, or right to avoid obstacles.

Swift Plane is that it’s a bit frustrating to play at first because obstacles can be difficult to judge. The game throws a few twists in by employing obstacles that move, requiring you to be on your toes.

Playing Swift Plane often means you’ll be able to unlock the various achievements that are built into the game. You’re rewarded with gems if you complete tasks, making it much easier to unlock new airplanes and maps.

When it comes to graphics and gameplay, Swift Plane is actually pretty nice to look at. I like the use of unique “low poly art” design.

Features:

As you play Swift Plane you’ll earn gems that you can spend on unlocks such as new levels and new airplanes. You can also buy more gems via in-app purchase or you can watch videos.

If you’re aiming for the highest score you can get in Swift Plane, there’s an option to continue playing even if you crash. Games can be restarted spending gems or watching a video.

Value:

Swift Plane is available to download from the App Store for free and is compatible with iPhone and iPad.

Overall, anyone who is looking for a fun and addicting arcade game will certainly enjoy Swift Plane.

There are plenty of new things to unlock like maps and airplanes. It’s definitely worth the download and you won’t have to dish out cash in order to unlock the cool stuff.

Swift Plane requires iOS 6.0 or later and is compatible with iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch.

TheiPhoneAppReview’s rating:

Mikey Jumps Back Onto the App Store for Platforming Fun

November 10, 2016 by macjeff

Mikey Jumps (Free) by BeaverTap Games, LLC is the latest game in the Mikey Shorts franchise, and it’s a perfect combination of everything that made the series great. If you love platformer games that offer a mix of speedruns and twitchy reflexes, then you must check out Mikey Jumps (as well as all of the previous Mikey games for that matter).

Ever since the first Mikey Shorts game, I’ve been a huge fan of BeaverTaps’ work. Even with Mikey Hooks and Mikey Boots , I loved it all, especially the third one. I grew up with classic platformers like Super Mario Bros., so I have a soft spot in my heart for them. And as much of a mobile game advocate I am here at AppAdvice, I know how incredibly hard it can be to find an iOS game that nails the controls perfectly, but the Mikey games have always been on-point with controls and gameplay. This is one of the main reasons why I love the Mikey games so much, but it’s also because of the quirky character and dozens of costume variations that add some humor to the game as well. When I heard that BeaverTap games was set on releasing a fourth Mikey game after a two year absence (Mikey Boots came out in 2014), I was ecstatic and could not wait to get my hands on it. And now Mikey Jumps is here, and it is a great combination of the various gameplay mechanics that the previous three games offered, but all in one nicely wrapped package.

Visually, Mikey Jumps stays true to the other games in the series with the retro 16-bit graphics and bright, vibrant colors. The level layouts are clean, crisp, and packed with nice little details like shading that give it a bit of depth on an otherwise flat aesthetic. The foreground is also a great contrast with the bokeh-style backgrounds in the distance, which include settings like the jungle, snowy mountains, hot canyons, and even outer space. Even though Mikey is a small, pixelated dude, you can see all of the details of the various hats and facial features that you can customize him with, which has always been on of the more hilarious parts of the franchise. Animations are incredibly smooth on my iPhone 7 so I had no lag, and the game comes packed with the awesome chiptunes that are a delight to the ears. Once again, BeaverTap Games knocked it out of the park with Mikey Jumps.

Like the previous entries in the series, Mikey Jumps is a level-based speedrunning platformer. In this iteration, there are only 20 levels, but each level consists of 10 sections that you’ll have to maneuver your way through to successfully clear it. While it doesn’t sound like much, the difficulty of the game gets increasingly harder, and you’ll need to dust off your pro Mikey skills to get through them all. The objective in each stage is to get from the starting point to the big star that signifies the end point. Along the way, you’ll have to avoid dangerous spikes, pesky critters, and collect coins to spend on fun accessories. If you’ve played the previous games, this is all second nature to you. If not, it’s still pretty straightforward. You can always check your progress through a level by looking at the gauge in the top left corner.

The controls in Mikey Jumps are super simple, intuitive, and responsive. Unlike the first two games, Mikey moves forward automatically, just like in Mikey Boots. To jump, just tap on the screen, and hold your finger down to perform a longer jump. As the hooks element is introduced, you just tap-and-hold on the screen when Mikey is near an anchor point (indicated by the white circle) to use your grappling hook and swing across to safety. For the gravity boots, you’ll have to collect the item first in levels that have them, and then tap-and-hold the screen as necessary to gently float and glide past danger. As you get further along in the stages, you’ll have to make use of all three mechanics (jump, grappling hook, and gravity boots) to get to the star, so it is rather challenging.

What makes Mikey Jumps different from its predecessors, aside from implementing all three game mechanics in one, is the fact that each level is split up into 10 stages, and you only have three lives to get as far as you can. You lose a heart for each time you hit a spike or enemy, or fall to your doom, and once you’re out of lives, it’s game over. You can pick up at the level you last reached, but must start from the first stage again.

The coins that you pick up in levels can be used for the slot machine that gives you three randomized selections of items for your characters, which include hats, ropes, and floaty boot trails. A spin will cost 100 coins each, and you can only pick one item to keep. The game also includes six characters to choose from because diversity is welcomed, and with over 250 items, there’s a lot of replay value here. And if you’re running low on coins, don’t worry — the game has a timer on a free gift (the wait isn’t too long) and you can get a good chunk of coins at a time from it.

I’ve been playing Mikey Jumps today as a getaway from all of the problems ailing me in reality right now, and it’s a nice escape. I’ve been a huge fan of the Mikey games from the past, so I was super excited for another entry in the series that combined everything into one awesome package, and BeaverTap Games certainly delivered. I just wish that you could buy the items you want, rather than depend on luck with the slot machine, but hey, iI guess it will just keep the game around longer for me until I get what I want.

I recommend downloading Mikey Jumps if you’re a fan of the previous games, or just enjoy a good speedrunning platformer game in general. You can find Mikey Jumps on the App Store as a universal download for your iPhone and iPad for free . There are in-app purchases.

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

credit : appadvice

from : Mid Atlantic Consulting, Inc.

Apple’s free app of the week: Perchang

November 10, 2016 by macjeff

Apple on Thursday updated its App of the Week promotion with the game Perchang. This means that for the next 7 days, you’ll be able to download the popular puzzler for free on both iPhone and iPad—a solid savings of $2.

Perchang is kind of a cross between pinball and a physics puzzler that exercises your brain and tests your coordination. Use flippers, magnets, portals, fans and other gizmos to guide tiny marbles to their goal to win each level.

From the App Store Editors’ Notes:

The virtual Rube Goldberg machines that make up Perchang’s gorgeous levels are so lovely to look at that you might forget what you’re here to do—move marbles into their proper pipes. With contraptions ranging from flippers to conveyer belts at your disposal, this inventive 3D puzzler requires an intoxicating mix of skill, smarts, and laser-sharp focus.

And here is a clip of the game in action:

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6xZlE0TwUG0?feature=oembed&w=500&h=281]

It’s a gorgeous game; one really worth checking out. Perchang is available in the App Store for free.

Source link: http://www.idownloadblog.com/2016/11/10/apple-free-perchang/

Free Apps to Download TODAY ONLY 11/10/2016

November 10, 2016 by macjeff

AirLaunch Pro - Launcher on Today Widget , Potty Training Kids Learning With Animals App Tips , Inbetween Land (Full) and more

iPhone:

Inbetween Land (Full) ( $4.99 → 1 ) G5 Entertainment A mysterious flying island has appeared high above the city and has beamed your friend Mary up to it. The only way to save her is to follow the clues she has left behind. You're able to interact with the spirits of the island's people to help solve challenging puzzles. Explore 52 fascinating locations to find missing crystals and take your friend back home. The game also includes three modes, 19 mini-games, four comics, and achievements via Game Center.

iPad:

Inbetween Land HD (Full) ( $6.99 → 1 ) G5 Entertainment A mysterious flying island has appeared high above the city and has beamed your friend Mary up to it. The only way to save her is to follow the clues she has left behind. You're able to interact with the spirits of the island's people to help solve challenging puzzles. Explore 52 fascinating locations to find missing crystals and take your friend back home. The game also includes three modes, 19 mini-games, four comics, and achievements via Game Center.

Universal:

AirLaunch Pro - Launcher on Today Widget ( $3.99 → 1 ) Feng Mi AirLaunch Pro puts the power in your hands. It provides the ability to launch thousands of different apps right from your lock screen. You’re also able to open system settings, send a message, launch your favorite websites, copy frequently used text, and so much more. Icons can take on dozens of different styles as well.

Potty Training Kids Learning With Animals App Tips ( $2.99 → 1 ) 1tucan The app is meant to engage, inspire, and educate your child in potty training. They can take an active role in bringing different animals to potty, which is intended to put your child in the right mood for their own successful potty training. The app includes narration, colorful animated environments, and a variety of familiar animals.

Monster Pinball HD ( → 0 ) Coober Ltd Monster Pinball is pure arcade bliss. It consists of six linked tables that provide endless action. Each table is beautifully rendered and offers its own set of goals and achievements. The game includes more than 500 goals in all, and leaderboards via Game Center.

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

Write Beautifully with Bear from Shiny Frog

November 09, 2016 by macjeff

Bear - beautiful writing app for notes and prose (Free) by Shiny Frog di Matteo Rattotti e C. S.N.C. is a gorgeous new app for writers and note-takers. If you are looking for a replacement for Evernote or Apple Notes, then Bear is definitely one that you should take a look at, though it may not be for everyone.

I write for a living, so it should surprise no one that I am always on the search for my next new writing app that will (or I hope) make my life easier than what I used previously. In the past several years, since I started working here at AppAdvice, I have gone through numerous text editors, such as Byword , Editorial , and Ulysses being my main go-to writing apps on Mac or iOS. I also use Drafts for jotting down quick notes and Evernote for saving things like web clippings, PDFs, email receipts, and more. Even when I have already made a solid workflow for myself with these writing and note tools, I still find it fun to see new apps that hit the App Store that have a lot of potential to fit in my workflow, for whatever purpose. Bear is one of those apps, and it’s hard to miss with the big feature it has on the App Store this past week.

In terms of design, Bear is downright beautiful and one of the prettier writing apps I’ve had the pleasure of using. Like most writing apps, Bear is composed of three parts: the Sidebar (on the left), the Notes List (in the middle), and the Editor (on the right). While you can view all of these at once on the Mac version of Bear as well as the iPad, you can only view them one at a time on the iPhone, of course, due to screen size. One of the things that I need in a writing app are themes since they affect my writing environment, and Bear offers that (though you have to subscribe to access them). Users will only have access to the standard Red Graphite theme, but if you get the sub (there’s a free trial period), you’ll have other options like Solarized Light and Dark, Charcoal, Dracula (my current favorite), Cobalt, and a few more. These themes are nicely designed and have perfect, complementary colors that are aesthetically pleasing on the eyes, making it a joy to write in. By default, Bear uses Avenir Next as the typeface, which is perfect for long writing sessions, though you can also pick from System (San Francisco standard), Helvetica Neue, or Menlo as well. Writing is made easier for most writers thanks to the keyboard extension in the editor mode that includes plenty of shortcuts for formatting your text, and the app has plenty of other simple tools that provide enough potential for the power-user. It’s also fast, fluid, and responsive. Overall, Bear is a gorgeous writing app with a design that makes it fun to use.

To get the most out of Bear, though, you will need to look into a subscription, either monthly ($1.49) or annually ($14.99). What does the subscription include? For one, it gives you access to all of the other themes (and they’re worth it), sync across all devices through Apple’s CloudKit API, which is lightning fast (changes sync in seconds), and advanced export options that include PDF, HTML, DOCX, and JPG. Fortunately, the developers do offer a free trial period with the annual subscription (an entire free month), so you can give it a nice test drive before deciding. I opted for the annual sub just to give Bear a fair shake.

A big thing that Bear does differently than all of the other writing apps I’ve used so far is the fact that it uses Apple’s CloudKit and it does not use folders. So as someone coming from Dropbox with tons of Markdown files, I wanted to import them into Bear, but I eventually found it a bit cumbersome and wanted to start “fresh” with Bear. And while it is easy to import a large batch of text files into Bear on the Mac, it is much harder to do so on iOS, as you can only import files one-by-one due to iOS limitations.

I’m also a fan of using folders, but I think I understand the idea of ditching folders and just using tags to organize everything, because sometimes you have notes that can be filed under multiple tags, rather than a singular folder. When you create a tag in Bear, all you need to do is put it in this syntax: “#tag” without the quotation marks, and they can be anywhere. A note can have as many tags as you need it to, and when a new tag is created, it shows up in the sidebar instantly. Tags can also be sub-tags with the “#maintag/subtag” format. This means that you will have the main tag “maintag” with a sub-tag umbrellaed under it as “subtag.” These work more like folders, in case you still prefer that format. And if you need multiword tags, the “#maintag/subtag multword#” syntax is all you need. As a die-hard folder user, it didn’t take me long to get used to tagging articles and notes with tags rather than putting them into their appropriate folders.

Another awesome little feature of Bear is the fact that you can link to notes within notes, kind of like a wiki. I haven’t had much of a use for this feature right now, but it is handy for those who like to include references to other notes for quick access. To do this, all you need to do is follow this syntax: [[Note Title]]. The developers say that this is a great feature when you need to easily move between multiple notes in a project, need to explain something in more than one note, or even creating a choose-your-own-adventure type of story.

In my testing, I am loving how quick the CloudKit syncing works. Since I’ve always used Dropbox for my text files, I am used to manually saving after writing a few sentences. But with Bear, all changes are saved to iCloud instantly without any effort from the user. All changes you have made will be reflected in seconds on all other devices, and you never have to think about saving because it does it for you. I wish that this functionality was available without a subscription though, but hey, the developer needs money to keep the app going.

When you end up with a lot of notes in your collection, it can be difficult to find what you are looking for. Fortunately, Bear includes full text body search that delivers results as you type. It even works in both the Notes and Trash sections, in case you have to find a note that you trashed earlier and want to recover. The app also has a “pin” feature so you can pin important notes to the top of the list and have them readily available when you need them.

When it comes to writing in Bear, the experience is as nice as it comes. Bear features it’s own flavor of Markdown syntax, though there is a toggle for “Markdown Compatibility Mode” if you prefer the traditional, classic Markdown syntax. Bear shows all Markdown formatting in real time, including headers, bold, italicized, underlined, and strikethrough text, and more. I like the fact that headers are displayed in their appropriate size and also have “H1” or “H2” or “H3” next to it, and you can tap on that to change the header size without typing. The headers and links are shown in different colors from the normal text for easy recognition, and links include a small link symbol in parentheses next to the text so you can quickly and easily find what you need while you skim. The keyboard extension includes a ton of nifty shortcuts, including adding photos, formatting headers, adding line breaks, text format options, links, lists, checkboxes for to-do lists, file attachments, and even blocks for programmers and their code syntax. Since there are so many options available, you may have to scroll through the buttons to find what you need, and there is currently no way to customize the toolbar. Hopefully that can be changed in the future, so you can have your frequently used shortcuts at the beginning of the ribbon.

As you finish writing, you’ll have several different options for getting your words out of Bear. The standard way involves just tapping on the “Share” button to bring up the iOS Share Sheet, but if you’re a subscriber, you have more options. Just tap on the “i” button to view the note information (details like date and modification time, word count, read time, device note was last edited on) and advanced export options. These include txt, md, PDF, HTML, RTF, DOCX, and JPG (good if your note includes images). If you depend on these format options, then it would be worth looking into a subscription for it if you like the other features of Bear as well.

I’ve been using Bear as my main writing app for the past few days, and I am pretty impressed so far, to be honest. Bear looks fairly simple on the surface but has a ton of powerful features under the hood, and the themes are downright beautiful and make writing even more fun for me. It’s nice to not have to worry about saving every few seconds because the app does it for me, and I love the detailed data it gives me about an individual note. I think I will continue to use the app for the remainder of the free trial period before deciding if it is something I’m going to stick with, but from the looks of it, the chances are high. Even if I don’t use it as my daily workhorse (it is currently Ulysses and Marked 2 ), I think Bear is a great tool to have around for notes and other musings.

I recommend checking out Bear if you are a writer and want a simple, clean, and fast writing app that is super flexible and just works. You can find Bear – beautiful writing app for notes and prose on the App Store as a universal app for the iPhone and iPad for free . There is an in-app purchase for Bear Pro that costs $1.49 a month or $14.99 annually, and there is a free trial period included.

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

credit : appadvice

from : Mid Atlantic Consulting, Inc.