When the iPad was first revealed back in 2010, many people only saw it as purely a device to consume content on. Some of us saw differently. Even before I was able to get my hands on one, I already knew developers were going to seize the opportunity to turn this wonderful device into a productivity powerhouse.
Whether you’re a seasoned pro or just an Instagram junkie looking for something new, there’s guaranteed to be something in the App Store that you’re bound to love.
In this round-up, we’ll help you find the right app you need, whether it be for work or play.
In 2008 Apple opened the iOS gates to third-party developers, but its strict App Store policies severely limited app creativity. App Store submissions were rejected if the app duplicated core functionality of iOS native apps. This meant that the quality of the web browsing and emailing experience was solely controlled by Apple. Web browsers were some of the first applications to slide past Apple’s restrictive policies, and several excellent notables clawed their way above the rest.
Phillip reviewed Grazing a few months ago, and reading the review left me hungry to try it. Unfortunately, I found myself less concerned with flexibility of browsing and sharing and more concerned with download management, something that both Mobile Safari and Grazing lack. This led me to iCab Mobile, a powerful browser by Alexander Clauss.
How does iCab hold up to the competition? Can it counter Mobile Safari’s native advantage?
Platforming games on iOS are a dime a dozen, with great original titles like Paper Monsters, Castle of Magic, and Run Kitty Run, as well as re-releases of platforming classics like Sonic the Hedgehog and Megaman. But for those of us who grew up gaming on the NES, Super Nintendo or Sega Genesis, platforming on one of Apple’s glass displays can leave a lot to be desired. Bertil Horberg’s Gunman Clive rides into town with one of the best iOS platforming experiences to date, combining beautiful and artistic level design, epic boss battles, and NES-hard gameplay.
Read past the break for the full review!
Our featured sponsor this week is Toy Defense, a fresh look at the Tower Defense genre.
It’s a great game that brings back childhood memories of expansive battles with plastic soldiers, tanks, and airplanes! Prepare to become closely acquainted with flamethrowers, riflemen, ack-acks and cannons. It’s dynamic and challenging, but also a perfect time-filler.
A little graphical appetiser...
Toy Defense is already available for your iPad, iPhone and iPod Touch and will be soon available for Mac, PC and Android.
Simple poll this week, to further gauge the organisational habits of AppStorm readers – after we learned that AppStorm readers love having 6 apps in their dock!
Some people are really keen on folders, while others like to have their apps out for all to see. Some people have to fill up each screen with icons, while others will happily go around with only 1 or 2 apps on a screen.
So there here it is; how many screens of apps do you have?
I’d love to know why you have the number of screens you have, simply head to the comments, are they designated for specific tasks or organised by colour of icon?
Reddit is the self-proclaimed front page of the internet. The site receives links of current events, pictures, videos, and commentary that users can vote up or down in order to move content to the front page. The site leaves much to be desired in the user interface category, but Alien Blue on the iPad provides a better Reddit browsing experience than you’ll experience on the web.
Alien Blue is a full featured Reddit client to stay up on the latest happenings on the internet. Using the app a user can browse Reddit and also get involved in the conversation. Commenting on items is easy and visually appealing thanks to the unique animation once tapping to create a comment. Alien Blue also makes it really easy and accessible to either up or down vote content. Read on to see why Alien Blue is the preferred Reddit experience.
Winners Announced
Thanks to everyone who took part in the giveaway this week, and special thanks to the kind people at Fingerlabs! I’m excited to let you know that the winners have now been chosen. Congratulations are in order to:
Isaak
Luke Sherwin
Oliver
silentpro
Craig Hooghiem
Jenny
dunkoh
Kris Coady
Thane
Jake
Well done to the lucky winners, and we’ll be in touch soon. Sorry to those who missed out, be sure to check back for more great competitions!
Old Competition Post
We reviewed DM1 Drum Machine a few weeks ago and found it to be a great-sounding vintage drum machine app! Have you ever dreamed of creating sweet loops and beats right from your iPad? Here is your chance.
The DM1 drum machine manages to strike the balance of simplistic elegance whilst packing a feature-rich punch.
When asked what the favorite image sharing service for mobile users is, the most obvious answer of course is Instagram. It’s amazing how a free service has accumulated millions of users in a relatively short period of time and continues to grow in popularity still.
For a long time, the only platform you could use Instagram on was the iPhone. Uploading pictures is still only possible from your phone, but many of us would like to enjoy the images on a bigger screen like the Mac’s or the iPad’s. For the latter, there’s a beautiful new app that lets you immerse yourself in a beautiful Instagram experience. Readers, meet Iris.
When iOS 5 was released, one of its more advertised new features was the Reminders app, meant to bridge the gap between a static todo note and a full-fledged GTD style task manager. I love Reminders for keeping track of all those little things that are so easily forgotten, but find myself frustrated at times by the interface and the amount of time it takes to add reminders. Listbook from No Identity seeks to remedy a lot of what’s wrong with Reminders, but is it up to the task of replacing Apple’s built-in app?
Following on from the success of the popular BBC television series of the same name, Brian Cox’s Wonders of the Universe sees the popular scientist, lecturer, and former pop star present an app which makes use of both his typical style of breaking down complex scientific matters into simple stories and beautiful, immersive graphics which really shine on the last two versions of iPad (the app is not compatible with first gen iPads, unfortunately).
Wonders of the Universe contains over two hundred interactive articles and some two and a half hours of video taken from Cox’s two popular BBC TV series, Wonders of the Solar System and Wonders of the Universe. With no further ado, let’s take a look at how this promising app stacks up!
