"If there is an app for that"

Free Apps to Download TODAY ONLY 03/30/2016

March 30, 2016 by macjeff

Paint Hack , Sago Mini Forest Flyer , Tangent - Add Geometric Shape, Pattern, Texture, and Frame Overlays and Effects to Your Photos and more

Universal:

Children get to guide Robin around a forest filled with fun interactive elements. Yellow markers will appear when Robin is nearby indicating new and exciting animations to discover. The app includes more than 30 animations, and is recommended for toddlers.

You're able to import any photo from your library or take a new one in-app. You can then choose from one of the 35 included and fully customizable styles or start fresh. All of the shapes and background patterns can be manipulated with common gestures, and you can adjust their colors and opacity levels via sliders. When you're finished messing around, share your creation via Twitter, Instagram, or Facebook. The app includes 26 shapes, 22 backgrounds, and the ability to come back and add even more layers of awesome. Additional shapes and patterns are available via in-app purchase.

Chomp is from the internationally renowned children’s author and illustrator, Christoph Niemann. The same creative genius behind Petting Zoo. Chomp allows you and your kids to step into more than 50 hand-drawn scenes with countless animations that can be swapped with a tap. Just align your face with the front- or back-facing camera and be the star of your own video. Recorded sessions can be shared via a variety of methods.

Today only: Unlock everything free of charge! Simply tap the “Unlock” button on the main screen, and enter the provided passcode to confirm your action. All current and future puzzles will be available to you and your child free of charge. Puzzle pieces appear in the top right corner of the screen, and your child must drag and drop them into the proper cutout space. As each piece is placed, a new piece and cutout will appear. The game includes a variety of adorable animal characters that react in different ways.

Paint Hack provides the biggest and craziest selection of brushes you’ll ever find in the App Store. With 90 brushes in total, including totally off-the-wall experimental brushes, there’s a tool for every artist. Paint Hack also features a smooth and versatile painting engine that’s able to assist in drawing lines, circles, and squares, and can even recognize corners and points to perfectly align shapes. The app includes support for thousands of undos and redos, stylus support, custom color palettes, video recording, and the ability to use as many layers as your iPad will allow.

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

Best app deals of the day! 6 paid iPhone apps on sale for a limited time

March 30, 2016 by macjeff

Everyone likes free apps, but sometimes the best ones are a bit expensive. Now and then, developers put paid apps on sale for a limited time, but you have to snatch them up fast. Here are the latest and greatest apps on sale in the iOS App Store.

The post Best app deals of the day! 6 paid iPhone apps on sale for a limited time appeared first on Digital Trends.

Momoka: An Interplanetary Adventure

March 30, 2016 by macjeff

Momoka: An Interplanetary Adventure ($6.99) by Felwig Games LLP is a gorgeous and charming platformer adventure game that will keep you busy for a while. If you enjoy lengthy platformer adventures like Swordigo, then you’re in for a treat with Momoka.

When I grew up, I spent a lot of my time playing platformer games on my SNES and Sega Genesis consoles, as well as my trusty old Game Boy handhelds. I’ll admit, I wasn’t very good at video games back then, but I still enjoyed them because they were just downright fun and great time wasters as a kid. But now that I’m older and know what I’m doing in games, I have an appreciation for platforming adventures so naturally, I was intrigued with Momoka: An Interplanetary Adventure. The end result of Momoka is that it feels like a homage to App Store classics, Soosiz and Swordigo.

The visuals in Momoka are beautiful, and anyone who appreciates retro-styled games will love what they see here. Momoka features 2.5D, low-poly graphics with dynamic lighting that will remind players of something like Super Mario Galaxy. Despite the rugged aesthetic, everything in the game is detailed, bright and vivid, and the animations are buttery smooth, especially as you move and everything just scrolls sideways with you. The world is circular, meaning players traverse through what seem like mazes that go deep into the earth, and it’s also possible to jump up on the rocks above, have the game flip upside-down, and continue making your way to whatever lies beyond the rocks. Be warned though — because of the side-scrolling and flipping upside-down constantly, be wary if you are prone to getting motion sickness from games. To top things off though, the game has a whimsical soundtrack that is a delight to the ears as you play, and the sound effects are a nice touch.

As with most adventure games, there are no set levels or stages since the game is about exploration and progress. Players must take control of Momoka, who sets out on a journey across Haruto to figure out why the sun is dying, and how to fix it. In the beginning, you will not be doing much besides jumping and collecting keys to advance through the story, but once you get your gun cell, things start to get much more interesting. While you jump and explore Haruto and nearby villages, there will be plenty of checkpoint flags scattered around that allow you to quickly pick up where you left off should you die due to unforeseen circumstances. Momoka starts out with two hearts, which are shown in the top left, and picking up smaller heart pieces will refill her health. Finding large hearts will add another heart to the bar, similar to how the system works in the Legend of Zelda games. If you ever get lost, it would be helpful to pause at signs, since they can point you in the right direction. Accessing the game’s pause menu will also bring up a map, as well as show you what items you’ve collected so far.

The controls in Momoka are pretty damn good, considering that I’m just using the touch screen controls due to lack of a MFi controller (also supported). In the bottom left are two buttons that let you move Momoka left or right along the round, side-scrolling world, and there is a button around the bottom right for jumping. Once you acquire the gun cell item in the game, then you will be able to use your gun by tapping the attack button, which will be adjacent to the jump button. Other action buttons will be available to you as you make your way through the game, and they will always be found in the bottom right section of the screen. To talk to NPCs or interact with objects, tap on the large, circular blue button.

While I usually think most platformer games have hit-or-miss controls, I believe that Momoka has a near-flawless control scheme here. The touch screen buttons are insanely responsive, and I have no issues with the positioning at all. In fact, I haven’t seen such great controls on a platformer since the Mikey Shorts games, so that is saying something. I give the Felwig Games many kudos for making fantastic controls for a platformer — this feat is not an easy one.

As you continue exploring Haruto on your quest to figure out why the sun is dying, you’ll encounter many different NPCs who will usually point you in the right direction as well. You can also collect “Frozen Stars” that can be traded for valuable items in the shops, and there are many upgrades available to make Momoka one tough intergalactic heroine. Plus, once you get the keys to your mother’s space ship, you can fly around in it, free to explore whatever interesting planets are out there. And with such a big galaxy out there, you’re bound to come across interesting baddies to get rid of.

I’m still early on in Momoka: An Interplanetary Adventure, but I’m loving the game so far. It’s one of the most beautiful platformer adventure games so far this year, and the music is just a treat for the ears. Plus, the controls are incredibly responsive, the game has plenty of content (with no in-app purchases), and things can get downright challenging as you have to time your jumps and attacks to survive, while also solving some puzzles along the way. The game also has Game Center support and there is iCloud for saving and syncing your game data across multiple devices.

I highly recommend checking out Momoka: An Interplanetary Adventure if you liked titles like Soosiz and Swordigo, or just love a good platformer adventure to spend several hours on. Momoka: An Interplanetary Adventure is available on the App Store as a universal app for the iPhone and iPad for just $6.99.

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

Filteract

March 29, 2016 by macjeff

Filteract (Free) by Filteract is a photo editing app that allows photographers to selectively apply filters onto images. If you are in the market for a standalone app that lets you be selective about how to apply your filters, then Filteract could be worth a look.

Ever since I got my first iPhone back in 2008, my interest in mobile photography bloomed. Even though the cameras were definitely not great back then, I enjoyed having the ability to take some decent enough pictures (at the time) that I was able to share with friends and family online. As time passed, the cameras got better and better (mostly since the iPhone 4), and one of my favorite hobbies is just going out and taking photos with my iPhone. I’m not a professional, but I opted for my iPhone 6s Plus because of the camera enhancements over the smaller counterparts, and have yet to regret my decision (though that iPhone SE form factor is tempting). Since the App Store opened up, I have downloaded many different photo editing apps to tweak my images into something share-worthy, and while I think I’ve reached peak photo editing app collection, I still enjoy checking out new things when they catch my eye. So when I saw Filteract info hit my inbox, I was intrigued because hey, an app that can make the selective coloring and filtering process magical? Why not? While the app is decent enough and works well, it may not be enough.

Filteract has a simple and clean design that tries to stay out of the way so you can focus on the photographs at hand. The app has a dark theme, as most photo editor apps do, which places the emphasis on your images for each screen section. The icons for each tool are pretty straightforward and recognizable, so there isn’t much of a learning curve here. The filters at the bottom give you a preview of what your image would look like with it applied, which means less guesswork and faster results. I found Filteract to be responsive and render filters quickly on images, which is always a good thing. Overall, Filteract’s minimalistic design makes it easy to get your photos in, edit them with a few taps and pinches, and then be on your way to share your creations.

There are two main ways to get images into Filteract: import from your Photo Library or get a new capture from the Camera. Other options that the app gives you include sample images, loading a saved session, or getting an image from your iCloud Drive account. Once you have your image, use your finger to scroll the filter ribbon along the bottom, which shows you a preview of how the filter looks on the image before you apply it. Again, this is a nice touch and means less of a surprise when you find out how bad a filter works with certain images.

There are a few ways to apply a filter to your photo. If you want the filter to be applied to the entire image, just long-press the filter and it will get slapped on the whole thing. If you double-tap a filter, it brings up the filter intensity adjustment slider, so you can make the effect stronger or weaker. By default, it seems the filters are set to 50 percent so they aren’t too weak or overwhelming.

Even after you set your first filter, the fun doesn’t stop there. Since Filteract is a selective filtering app, you can use several different filters at once on a single image. For example, you can take the color out of an entire photo by using the Mono, Noir, High-Key, or Wane effects, and that sets the stage for selective coloring of objects with the other filters. To do this, just select one of the colored filters you like, and then tap on the paint roller or magic paint tools in the toolbar to apply the color filter on certain parts of the photo.

The paint roller is your typical paintbrush tool, allowing you to “paint” the filter on wherever you want. Since there is no way to adjust the size of the paint roller, it doesn’t prove to be very accurate when your image is zoomed out so that it fits on the screen. If you opt for the paint roller tool, then it’s recommended to zoom in on the image with the pinching multitouch gesture that we are all familiar with by now.

If you are like me and don’t like to do a lot of the legwork yourself, then you can opt for the magic paint tool. This lets you touch specific parts of the photo and the color will automatically flow through. Or you can use strokes to color in specific areas. This method is better for complicated shapes and objects that you want to fill in with a colored effect, though sometimes it doesn’t get it 100 percent correct. If that’s the case, then you may want to use the paint roller to do final touchups.

Once you’re done with your image, just tap on the “Share” button to bring up a Share Sheet. You can save the image to photos, share on Facebook, Twitter, or Instagram, or email it. Other actions you can take are saving the session, open the image in another app, save to iCloud Drive, copy, or print.

However, since Filteract is a free download, it will stamp a watermark on all of your images before it saves. I found the watermark a bit too large and obtrusive, since it features the logo and is always in the bottom right corner. To remove it, you’ll have to cough up $0.99 for an in-app purchase. I’m not sure this is worth it, since you can accomplish mostly the same thing in other premium photo editing apps, such as Enlight, which also does a lot more. There are also other filter packs (Color Swap, Photography, and Vintage) that will cost you $0.99 a pop, and there is no bundle option for all of the IAPs (including watermark removal), which is annoying.

I thought Filteract was a cool-looking app at first, especially the magic paint tool, since that could make life easier. However, I’m a bit let down, as it is still tricky to use with complicated objects and lighting, and personally, I am fairly tired of the one-trick pony photo editing apps out there. When I have complete and comprehensive photo editing suite apps like Enlight at my disposal, I don’t see a real need for apps that just do one thing anymore.

But since Filteract is a free download, it can still be worth checking out if you are in the market for a selective color and filtering app. Filteract is available on the App Store as a universal download for free with in-app purchases.

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

Free Apps to Download TODAY ONLY 03/29/2016

March 29, 2016 by macjeff

Smart PDF Scanner: Scan Documents to PDF , Vidblend Video Blender: Merge & blend video clips into one single video & share on Instagram,Facebook & Vine , GeoTrend and more

iPhone:

Smart PDF Scanner is perfect for all your scanning needs. Its powerful capturing and rendering engine ensures you’ll come out with crystal clear scans every time. It’s able to automatically detect the edges of your document, and you can manually change the parameters afterward if need be. Smart PDF Scanner utilizes a simple tagging system, allowing you to color code categories and properly sort your scans. Scans can be shared via email or AirDrop, or you can upload them to the cloud.

GeoTrend taps into data servers worldwide in order to provide the most current statistics possible. It offers more than 25 comparison modes including population, energy consumption, military expenditures, fertility rates, gas prices, and arms exports. Just choose two of the more than 175 included territories and countries and absorb the data.

Universal:

Vidblend turns the ordinary into extraordinary. Start off by choosing a background video and a foreground video. They can either be imported from your library or recorded right form within the app. Vidblend will automatically combine your videos, and you can then tinker with the single merged video by applying filters, sounds, and blend effects.

You're able to draw your critter's path through the environments, or you can have it simply follow your finger around the screen. Try to complete challenges while avoiding the many guards before reaching the exit to earn a perfect rating. The game includes more than 120 levels, power-ups, and achievements and leaderboards via Game Center.

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