Android – Iphone – Applications

Freedom App is a really good idea. The kind of idea that I’m surprised hasn’t been done before. It’s an app that keeps track of whenever other apps become free.

It’s cleverly done and appears to root out every app as and when it becomes free. Updated regularly, there’s a whole wealth of apps and games to investigate. The layout of Freedom app looks just like the App Store but with prices crossed out as obviously they’re free.

You can search according to how new the app is, how popular it is and across categories and the top 25. To make you feel even more content, Freedom App keeps track of just how much money you’ve saved so you can check back and feel smug at your bargain hunting.

My only real bugbear with it is that the prices listed are all in dollars even when I log in as my UK account. It’s not a huge problem admittedly as you can still click on the app/game and go straight to its position in the app store, but visually it’s a mild annoyance.

The actual content is down to whatever becomes free at the given time so it is a bit of a mixed bag and the cynic in me wonders just how much you’d save, or whether you’re just downloading things for the sake of them. However it’s a great idea for an app. Sure it might cost a bit to buy initially but I’ve no doubt that in the long run, you will save money by using the Freedom App. Just make sure you check back regularly before you consider purchasing anything!

[ Freedom App Review is a post from 148Apps ]

written by j4352 \\ tags: $3.99, device-reviewed, Games, Iphone, iphone apps and games, price, rating, re-use-value, review, richard-madison, saving money, sure-it-might, utilities

Bullet hell shooters on the iDevice certainly require a certain kind of manic personality. Being an old fashioned guy (but not old!), I am more accustomed to the bullet hell shooter that gives you a glimmer of hope. I like to upgrade my weapons, get power-ups, and fight bosses — you know, the normal stuff that you do in video games. This new crop of bullet hell shooters don’t aspire to be beaten though, they just want to be cool.

As a “cool” bullet hell shooter, Techno Trancer does a good job of sucking you in with bright flashes, crazy glowing objects, and a techno beat to keep you moving forward. The screen stimulation overdose has your little ship shooting at masses of enemies flying in patterns shooting red blobs that seem to follow you. When the enemies die, more blobs fly out of them, as well as little gold things (apparently called energy bits) which give you more score and a boost to your “energy bar. Between all the glowing blobs following you, flashing gold things falling, and enemy flight patterns (and their subsequent explosions), you really have no idea what’s going on. The only break you ever get in the game is if you shake the screen, shooting all the red blobs away from you. I have no idea how often you can use it, but I found myself shaking the screen quite often.

With no clue as to what is happening, your best bet is to avoid the red blobs that equal immediate death. Avoiding them is no easy task due to their sheer numbers, but hovering as best you can around the middle of the screen seems to be the key. Once you blow up enough and collect their energy bits, you get a shield of some kind that lasts for what seems to be an arbitrary period of time. There’s just too much going on to really tell.

By the end of a few plays, instead of feeling like a champ I just sat there and wondered what happened. Did I really just play a game or did I download a techno infused light show? I don’t think that there is an ending to the game, and there doesn’t seem to be any bosses, so what’s the point?

The point is that Techno Trancer is the bullet hell version of an endless runner. The whole goal is to play for as long as you possibly can until you die. Maybe this works for some, but the reason the endless runner genre works so well is that you can learn from your mistakes, something that is pretty much out of the question in Techno Trancer. I like the overall style of the game, but the sheer amount of punishment will repel most sensible gamers. It takes a certain type of individual to enjoy a game that offers you no hope.

But man is it cool.

[ Techno Trancer Review is a post from 148Apps ]

written by iieevvn \\ tags: Application, bullet, bullet hell, Game, giga-rensya, Iphone, overall-rating, price, rating, screen, techno trancer, weapons, well-as-little

I have met the future of recipe apps, and it’s named after celebrity chef Mario Batali.

For those not familiar with the preeminent Iron Chef, Mario Batali is the culinary master of all Italian cuisines. His knowledge and expertise are expansive, and his unusual personal style marks him as an eccentric “artiste” even among cutting-edge chefs. So it’s no wonder that Mario’s app is well beyond what most have come to expect from a foodie app. Mario Batali Cooks! is comprehensive, well designed, entertaining, educational and, best of all, imminently useful.

I’ve watched Mario for years, even his instructional cooking show Molto Mario, yet I never felt I could attempt many, if any, of the dishes he presented. Sure, they were pretty and looked amazingly tasty, but they simply seemed way, way beyond my limited skill set. What an amazing thing to discover, then, that Mario Batali Cooks! features a large number of recipes that appeal to me as an amateur cook. Some push that envelope pretty heavily, but most are entirely approachable for anyone willing to learn a few new techniques.

Currently, the app features over 60 recipes, each with step-by-step text instructions and a custom video from Batali. There are a variety of ways to search through these recipes, but my absolute favorite is the map view, where you are treated to a map of the various regions of Italy. Tap a region and you then see that area broken into its component locations as well. From there, just choose one of these smaller regions to get an overview of the area from Batali and a list of all recipes available from that part of Italy. Most of the recipes, while slightly more advanced than the conventional Joy of Cooking type, are easily prepared in under an hour, and many make easy yet sophisticated weeknight dinner fare. Once you pick a recipe, a simple tap will load all of the ingredients into a custom shopping list which you can then export to email.

All of the elements of Mario Batali Cooks! – from the map navigation to the videos to the shopping lists – are carefully configured on a simple dial-based home screen. It’s this dial that truly pulls all of the disparate pieces of the app together and makes for a truly cohesive experience. Sure, I’ve seen recipe apps before that have multiple features, and that feature a slightly similar interface, but none present such a comprehensive overview of one chef’s point of view and expertise in such an elegant manner. It’s like carrying Batali in your pocket – and if you’ve ever seen him, that’s no easy feat.

I like other recipe apps out there. Honestly, I do. But nothing compares to Mario Batali Cooks! It is in a league of its own, which is only appropriate for such a singular chef. Every aspect – from videos to recipes, to shopping lists to interactive maps – is seamlessly stitched together, making it an app that rises above the sum of its parts. There are other recipe apps, certainly, but none that give you such a wealth of specific knowledge from a culinary genius. If you are interested in Italian cooking whatsoever, you owe it to yourself to give Mario Batali Cooks a spin. It’s that good.

So, why does this app deserve a perfect score? To me that comes down to what the app attempts and whether or not it is successful in that attempt. In this case, Mario Batali Cooks! doesn’t attempt to be an all-encompassing recipe app. Rather, it is designed to showcase the culinary skills of master chef Batali and teach you some basic skills in order to improve your Italian cooking. That it teaches some history of the various culinary regions of Italy is just the proverbial icing on the cake. That it does all of this using a clever, easily-manipulated design pushes it over the top of most other food apps. This one’s a clear winner, folks!

[ Mario Batali Cooks! Review is a post from 148Apps ]

written by rockingevil \\ tags: celebrity, culinary, device-reviewed, food network, instructional, italian, lifestyle, mario-batali, rating, recipes, shopping, television, videos

There are two basic types of text editors / note takers on the iOS system: those that shoot for complexity, and those that emphasize simplicity. PlainText definitely falls in the latter category, but as the best text editing apps do, it turns its simplicity into a core feature. But what really makes PlainText awesome is its ability to sync with Dropbox. It’s nothing fancy, but PlainText is nevertheless very useful.

For those who haven’t used it, Dropbox is a fantastic, free program for syncing files across multiple computers. See our review of Dropbox for iPhone. Basically, with Dropbox sync, you never have to worry about saving versions of your files or moving them from computer to computer; all of your Dropboxes are kept in sync. Only recently could third-party apps edit files in a Dropbox; PlainText is one of the few (but increasing) iPhone apps with the feature.

Of course, you don’t have to use the Dropbox sync with PlainText. Open PlainText for the first time and you’re greeted by a crisp, off-white interface that clearly strives to mimic paper. From this Documents view, you can create and edit folders and files.

Editing text using PlainText is as simple as you’d expect. Because all files must be regular text files (.txt), there’s no italics, or bolding, or, well, anything other than characters. But typing using the regular iPhone keyboard is fine, and the interface is good; you can also turn on rotation lock, which is a lovely feature. PlainText also handles large text files pretty well.

For DropBox syncing, you’ll need to log into your Dropbox folder and pick a folder to limit PlainText to. By default, PlainText will create its own folder within Dropbox—but then you won’t be able to edit any other .txt files in your Dropbox folder. I personally set PlainText to access the main Dropbox folder, and it’s working great.

There are a few quirks you should be aware of. I can’t figure out how to move files into different folders within the PlainText app, though it’s possible to do so using a normal computer. There’s no search feature. Customization options for background, text size, etc are absent. And PlainText is strictly for .txt files; anything more complicated won’t work.

However, take these criticisms with a grain of salt—I’m looking forward to updates, but PlainText is completely free, which is great. ($5 cures you of the iAds.) And compared to the virtues of rock-solid Dropbox syncing, they’re relatively small issues. If you’re a Dropbox user, or even just someone looking for a super-simple Notes alternative, check out PlainText. You owe it to yourself!

[ PlainText Review is a post from 148Apps ]

written by tanloc2t \\ tags: access-the-main, documents, dropbox, dropboxes, files-or-moving, iphone apps and games, looking-forward, plaintext, price, productivity, rating, replay-value

Stoneship comes from the makers of Myst, which makes it all the surprising just how lightweight the game is. Fortunately this is hugely to its benefit as it makes for an entertaining turn based strategy game that’s simple to drop in and out of as you please.

You play ship-based adventurers who must explore each level while vanquishing all the pirates and monsters. To achieve this you must explore the map by tapping on each available square. Along the way you can find harbors that can increase the number of crew members as well as weaponry and treasure to boost your score and firepower.

It’s a simple little game to get the hang of. The key to success is clearly to acquire as many crew members as possible before the time limit runs out and the pirate ship appears for you to defeat. Once a battle does occur, gameplay switches to somewhat of a rhythm game, whereby tapping the respective fire buttons quickly is the name of the game.

It’s not an overly deep game: providing you memorize the pattern to each level, you can always return to earlier stages in order to acquire better high scores and medals. You can also unlock ‘first mates,’ which provide additional bonuses — these come in handy at later stages. Its visuals are very charming and cartoon-like which further enhance the casual nature of the game.

Stoneship makes a wonderfully light distraction. It’s the kind of game you plan to play for five minutes then realise an hour has passed already. The promise of future updates offering new levels and first mates just makes it all the more appetizing a product.

[ Stoneship Review is a post from 148Apps ]

written by tmunzke \\ tags: cyan worlds, device-reviewed, overall-rating, price, rating, respective, time, turn based strategy