"If there is an app for that"

Super Stickman Golf 3 is the Latest Ace from Noodlecake Studios

July 07, 2016 by macjeff

Super Stickman Golf 3 (Free) by Noodlecake Studios Inc is the third installment of the legendary Super Stickman Golf series. If you loved the other two games, or just enjoy a good physics-based golf puzzle, then you should not hesitate to pick up Super Stickman Golf 3.

In reality, I find golf to be pretty boring, unless it’s miniature golf. To me, it’s just a slow sport, not terribly exciting, and takes a long time. But miniature golf? Now that’s a ton of fun — you have friends and family, challenging courses that will make you laugh with others, and it’s just a good time competing with your friends (unless they take it way too seriously). The Super Stickman Golf franchise is like miniature golf to me, but in digital format so it goes with me anywhere. I’ve been a fan of Super Stickman Golf since the original game many years ago, and loved the sequel that came out shortly after. Now we are on the third iteration, and I must say, it’s as good as ever.

In terms of visuals, SSMG3 stays true to its roots. The game is filled with the bright and colorful cartoonish graphics that the franchise is known for (who doesn’t love the stickman golfer), and the various courses all have their unique traits and characteristics that make them stand out from one another. The backdrops as you get further in the game are gorgeous to look at, and feel much more polished. But like anything else over time, the details and textures have evolved to match modern titles, so there is even more to love about SSMG3. Animations in SSMG3 are as buttery smooth as ever, and the quirky, upbeat music is rather whimsical and fun to listen to as you line up your shots, which are complete with awesome sound effects. Once again, Noodlecake Studios delivers in the visuals and audio for SSMG3.

In SSMG3, you have several game modes to choose from: Single Player with five different tour difficulties, and race or turn-based Multiplayer (both online and local). For those who have never played a SSMG game before, the Tours consist of four different courses each, and each course features a distinctive environment and nine holes to complete. The par for each course will be different due to the layout and obstacles that you’ll face, but that just adds to the fun. Additionally, you can strive for certain goals and objectives to get the gold star medal. Each course also features a practice mode, so you can get a feel for it what lies ahead before you go for the real thing.

Controls in SSMG3 are pretty much the same as the previous two games. It’s simple enough for anyone to pick up, but difficult to master due to, well, physics. You’ll have your stickman golfer start out somewhere on the stage, golf club in hand and ball in front of you. You can use one finger to pan the stage for a better view, or a two-finger pinch to zoom in or out. Center the camera back on your golfer with the button in the middle. Use the two directional buttons in the bottom left to control the direction of your hit, and then tap on the button in the bottom right to determine power. When the gauge reaches the level you want your hit to be, just tap on the button again to lock it in. The more the gauge is filled, the stronger the shot will be. But before you take your swing, you can fine tune your swing if need be. Once you’re ready and have the power locked, just tap on the button again to swing. If you want to use a power-up ball that you have stashed away, just tap on the button adjacent to the power/shot to reveal all of your available options, then tap the one you want to use.

As you play, you’ll see “Golf Bux” scattered around the courses. These are optional to collect, but accruing them means that you can buy packs of golf cards. These packs contain a few cards each, and there are 196 cards that you can collect. The cards give you golfer outfits, power-up balls, hats, and trails for your character. There are also trophies that you can achieve in the game that also net you Golf Bux, and card packs are rewarded when you gain enough experience (complete courses) and level up. If you’re low on Golf Bux, you can always buy more through in-app purchases in the Pro Shop (along with card packs, XP doubler, and last shot indicator), but the game gives you ample opportunities to acquire them, so you shouldn’t worry too much about that. Plus, it’s completely optional.

If you love customization and unlocking collectibles, then SSMG3 is packed full of everything. The hats that you unlock can be equipped to give you special bonus effects during the game, such as showing you a shot preview before you swing, more Airbrake activations, longer Shield Ball duration, and more. The hats end up being rather useful, so collect as many as you can and find the one that suits your play style the most. The golfer outfits and trails don’t add anything extra to your character other than aesthetics, though they’re fun to collect too.

While you can enjoy SSMG3 for free with occasional ads, there is a Premium Upgrade in the game that can be bought as a $2.99 in-app purchase. Getting the premium upgrade nets you five card packs along with a ton of extras that include downloadable courses, unlimited Daily Race attempts, a 25-turn-based match limit, and removes all ads. Personally, given the amazing track record with the Super Stickman Golf games in the past, three bucks for tons of content is well worth it. Personally, I bought it without hesitation.

I’ve just started playing Super Stickman Golf 3, but I’m in love with the game so far. Noodlecake has nailed it again with the super polished graphics, awesome soundtrack, intuitive controls, and challenging courses and content. Plus, all bases are covered with both online and local multiplayer, and daily levels that test your skill. Seriously, what isn’t there to love about this game?

I highly recommend checking out Super Stickman Golf 3 if you were a fan of the other two games or just love a fun physics-based golf puzzle game. Super Stickman Golf 3 is on the App Store as a universal app for your iPhone and iPad for free with in-app purchases.

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

Apple’s free app of the week: Loopimal

July 07, 2016 by macjeff

Apple on Thursday updated its App of the Week promotion with the app Loopimal by Yatatoy. This means that for the next 7 days, you’ll be able to pick up the critically acclaimed children’s title for both iPhone and iPad for free—a solid savings of $3.

Loopimal is essentially a building kit of handcrafted animations and sounds that teaches kids about music. The graphics are both sharp and charming, and the rhythmic/melodic content makes for endless possibilities of creations and compositions.

From the App Store Editors’ Notes:

An utterly charming way to introduce young kids to music and animation, Loopimal is simple and powerful in a way that almost defies description. Kids arrange and rearrange tiles in sequences underneath a cute polar bear, octopus, and the like, triggering a series of musical tones mirrored by adorable dances from the animal gang. There are no goals and no consequences—just a safe place to learn, play, and laugh.

And here’s a video of the app in action:

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bh_kPHw9Y7E?feature=oembed&w=500&h=375]

Loopimal is available in the App Store for free.

Free Apps to Download TODAY ONLY 07/07/2016

July 07, 2016 by macjeff

Plugs of the World , Knots 3D , Peter Potato and more

Universal:

Plugs of the World includes information about wall plugs, sockets, and voltage in over 250 countries and regions across the world. You’re able to search for a specific country or region by name or browse through the list. You’re also able to favorite countries and regions for quick access later on. You’re able to share wall plug and socket information via email, Facebook, or Twitter.

With Knots 3D, anyone can learn to tie a knot. You're able to watch each knot tie itself, and you can pause or adjust the speed of the animation at any time. You can also rotate each knot 360 degrees, and zoom in using multitouch gestures. Knots can be broken down by category or class, and they can be added to favorites for quick reference.

Peter Potato’s adventure will test your speed, skill, memory, rhythm, and intellect through 70 fast-paced mini-games. The charming and quirky story sets up each mini-game. The dialogue is not only amusing, it’s also loaded with more than 150 vegetable facts. Along the way you’ll be able to unlock new characters, clothes, and accessories.

BrainWave Hangover Relief offers advanced brainwave entrainment therapy. You’re able to select from daytime and evening programs, and choose a soothing background sound to accompany them. Then hit play and allow the app to sync your brainwaves to the deeply relaxing low frequency alpha and theta waves. The app also allows you to adjust the signal intensity and save your settings for later use.

Each level includes a single flame, movable pieces, and very little room to operate in. It’s up to you to slide the pieces every which way in order to create a path from the frozen key to the flame. Levels aren’t timed, but your moves will be counted. The game includes a total of 100 levels.

Today only: Unlock everything Monster Math 2 Multiplayer has to offer free of charge! Simply tap the “Unlock Full Version” icon at the bottom of the main screen and choose the in-app purchase on the following screen. You’ll be asked to confirm your action by entering the code supplied to you. Then enjoy! With Monster Math 2 Multiplayer, no one is left out. It allows children from grades one through five compete against one another in math duels while keeping the difficulty level of the problems aligned. This ensures a balanced playing field. Children are able to compete locally on the same screen, in the same room via Bluetooth, online via Game Center, or against the computer. While having fun they will be practicing and learning over 40 skills including addition, subtraction, division, multiplication, factors, and prime numbers. The game also includes detailed stat tracking.

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

Master iOS 10 before arrival with a lifetime all access pass to iOS online courses

July 07, 2016 by macjeff

With the enormous anticipation for the arrival of iOS 10 and Swift 3, the time is ripe for building a strong programming foundation to get ahead of the app development curve. With the iOS Online Courses: Lifetime All Access Pass, you’ll develop the necessary skills to build iOS apps and games, and even publish them to the App Store. For a limited time, this great offer is available for just $69.   Across a series of lifetime-access tutorials you’ll develop a comprehensive understanding of iOS, Apple TV, Apple Watch, GameKit, Swift, Objective-C and more. Up-to-date course content and app development tutorials will prepare you for the upgrades and evolutions en route via iOS 10 & Swift 3, while enjoying a continually updated & upgraded library of courses for the duration of your life. Explore in-depth examination of the differences between Swift 2 and Swift 3 for common usage, including Strings, Arrays, Core Graphics, Iteration loops and more. Along the way you’ll also use SiriKit to use Siri voice commands for controlling the iOS app, and code Siri command responses as well. You’ll also build an iOS 10 Message app extension, with the ability to customize conversations by manipulating text, backgrounds, layouts, links, videos, audio and attachments. The iOS Online Courses: Lifetime All Access Pass will put you squarely on track to becoming an iOS developer, with the skills necessary to confidently hit the ground running in an exciting and lucrative field. Get in the know before iOS 10 & Swift 3 hit the market, with this promising offer now available at only $69. That’s a lifetime of learning available at one great low price! Source link: http://www.idownloadblog.com/2016/07/07/master-ios-10-before-arrival-with-a-lifetime-all-access-pass-to-ios-online-courses/

Leave Your Mark on the World With File New - The Ultimate Photo Editor

July 06, 2016 by macjeff

File New - The Ultimate Photo Editor ($3.99) by Hi Mom S.A.S is an all-in-one photo editing app for your iPhone. If you haven’t yet had your fill of photo editors, or haven’t been fully satisfied with what was on the market before, then File New is an app that you should consider. It joins the ranks of other apps like Enlight and Pixelmator.

While I have never considered myself a pro, I have always enjoyed photography as a hobby, starting with some photo classes while I was in high school and college. Of course, ever since the iPhone 4 (when the iPhone camera was really good), I felt little reason to go buy a digital camera when I had a powerful one in my pocket. I still don’t consider myself a professional mobile photographer, but I do love to take photos of pretty much anything and everything with my iPhone 6s Plus, and I have thousands of images on my device to prove it. All of my photo editing is also done on my iPhone, because for me, it’s the most convenient. Even though I have a ton of different photo apps on my iPhone, I can’t help but check out new ones as I notice them on the App Store, and File New was one of them. Fortunately, I’m not disappointed by what this one offers.

File New features a simple and clean interface that is pretty intuitive and easy to understand. Like most photo editing apps, it features a black background so that the focus is placed entirely on your photos and editing process, and the app stays out of the way. The thin icons used are all fairly self-explanatory, and even if you don’t recognize something, you’ll know once you tap on it. The app is fast and responsive to touch, so you won’t be sitting there waiting around for effects and changes to render before you can move on to the next step, which is nice. On top of that, File New provides users with a ton of different filters, text options, and stickers that are all neatly organized, so it’s easy to find what you want. All-in-all, I’m pretty impressed with how File New looks and operates — it’s easy enough for anyone to pick up.

With File New, you have two ways of getting an image into the editor: by snapping a new photo with the app’s camera, or importing from your Photo Library. If you’re curious about experimenting with File New first, you can also choose from a handful of pre-loaded photographs with the “Stock” option.

Once you have an image added in File New, the first step is to crop it, if necessary. This section lets you change the aspect ratio, rotate, straighten, flip horizontally or vertically, and magically enhance the image with a clarify effect. When you’re satisfied with your canvas, just tap on the button in the upper right corner to move on to the full editing process.

File New has four sets of tools that you can use when editing photos: Adjustments, Filters, Text and Stickers, and Logos. The last one is definitely a standout feature, as not all photo editing apps aim for brands and businesses, but if that fits the bill for your needs, then File New has it.

The Adjustments section is where you go to for all of your basic photo editing needs, such as exposure, contrast, temperature, vignette, saturation, and more. When you pick one of these settings, you’ll get a slider for adjusting the strength of that setting. A large number appears in the center of the screen as you slide the adjuster, so you can make sure that the adjustment amount is exact to your needs. I did notice that the slider is accurate since it does not move once you lift your finger off of the screen, which is nice. But it does seem a bit more sensitive when you touch the slider again, as I saw the starting number was a bit off from the time I removed my finger. Hopefully the developer can make the slider a bit less finicky in an update, but it’s pretty good when you don’t tinker around with it multiple times.

If you like to add filters to your photos, then you’re in for a treat with File New. Just tap on the sunglass icon and you’re in business. File New has six different categories of filters: BW, Essential, Light, Film, Selfie, and Magic. The number of effects in each category will vary, but there is no doubt that there are enough effects to keep you busy for a while. No matter which one you pick, you can adjust the intensity of the filter with a slider, and you can star your favorites for easy access in the future. And for those who like to create unique images, File New lets you layer filters on top of one another (as long as you save your work), so the possibilities are infinite.

For those who like to add some fun flair to their photos, File New has a ton of text and sticker options. There are four categories of typefaces: Essential, Fancy, Trendy, and Fun. No matter what you’re trying to dress up the image for, chances are high that you’ll find something that suits your needs. Select a typeface, and then a block of text is added on the top layer of the photo. Double tap the text to edit it, and you can rotate and resize through multitouch pinching gestures. If you don’t like the default color, pick another color from the ribbon or even add a cool watercolor gradient or glitter texture to the text, which is something you don’t see too often in photo editors. Other tools include changing the horizontal or vertical spacing of letters and words, transparency, drop shadow, layering, and alignment.

Stickers work similarly to the text tool. There are many more categories of stickers than typefaces, though, since there is pretty much a category for anything you can think of. There are stickers for family, banners, inspirational quotes, love, coffee, drinks, nature, seasons — you name it. File New may not have literally everything, but there’s a good chance you’ll find some stickers you’ll want to use every now and then. Each sticker you add can also have the color changed to a different solid color or a glitter texture, or you can even mix and match RGB colors to create your own. Opacity can be adjusted and drop shadows can be added, and there are tools for changing the layering order (with other stickers and text), and centering the sticker.

As mentioned earlier, the unique thing about File New is the ability to add logos to your images. This is great for those who have their own business or deal with images for a bigger company. In File New, you can add up to six logos at once by double tapping on the available slots and picking from your Photo Library. If you need to delete an older one for a new logo, just long-press on it. When you add a logo layer to an image, you can change the opacity level if you want it to be a more subtle watermark, or delete it with the trash can button if you change your mind.

When you’re done editing your photos, just tap on the square “Share” button in the upper right corner. This brings up a custom Share Sheet that has options for saving to your Camera Roll, or you can share via email, Instagram, Facebook, Facebook Messenger, Twitter, iMessage, or Whatsapp. I’m a bit surprised that there is no export option so that you can dump it into another photo editing app if you desire, as most apps I’ve used have such an option. But it is not a deal-breaker.

I’m rather impressed with what File New has to offer in terms of photo editing, especially the unique textures and gradients for the text and stickers. However, I’m not sure if it is much of a difference from the other apps I’m using already, such as VSCO, Camera+, and Enlight, since I honestly don’t put text or stickers on my images most of the time. But the option for six different logos/watermarks is nice, and I can see that being incredibly useful for some brands and people. I do hope to see even more precise sliders and maybe even an export option in the share sheet in a future update though. An iPad version would be nice to have at some point as well.

Despite File New being another comprehensive photo editing application, there are plenty of good points about this one that make it worth keeping around. I recommend giving File New a try if you enjoy iPhone photography and want an editing app that gives you a lot of creative options.

File New – The Ultimate Photo Editor is available on the iPhone App Store for $3.99. There are no in-app purchases.

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