Part One: 16 – 25
Pocket Informant – While iCal is nice, sometimes we need a more robust solution – hopefully one that works seamlessly with Google calendar. This is that app. While there’s no universal app yet, we find this one to be compelling enough on either device type.

$12.99

Pocket Informant (Calendar, Tasks, Notes, Contacts)

iPhone App - Designed for the iPhone, compatible with the iPad

Our Rating: :: Huge Potential
Read Our Full Review >>

Released: 2009-03-27 :: Category: Productivity

$14.99

Pocket Informant HD (Calendar, Tasks, Notes, Contacts)

iPad Only App - Designed for the iPad

Our Rating: :: TIME SAVING
Read Our Full Review >>

Released: 2010-07-22 :: Category: Productivity

American Presidents for iPad – With over 300 gorgeous vintage images and photographs, this is an educational app for everyone. There are biographies of every US president, a historical timeline, and detailed quizzes on the text itself. Presidential history never looked so good.

$3.99

$4.99

American Presidents for iPad

iPad Only App - Designed for the iPad
Released: 2011-08-04 :: Category: Education

Camera+ – This one gets a lot of play on our personal iPhones, bringing a ton of extra funtionality we really wish the native Camera app had, including multi touch exposure adjustment, grid line compotition help, and loads of effects and post-processing abilities. Also, it’s super easy to share to a ton of different services, not just the default Apple ones.

$1.99

Camera+

iPhone App - Designed for the iPhone, compatible with the iPad

Our Rating: :: CAMERA EXCELSIOR!
Read Our Full Review >>

Released: 2010-06-06 :: Category: Photography

1Password – Seriously, we have a ton of passwords out there. Some we use a lot, and remember, while others, well, not so much. We’re guessing you do, too. Enter 1Password, the super vault of all those pesky passwords that we can’t seem to keep track of any more. There’s a version for iPhone only, iPad only, and a universal version.

$9.99

1Password for iPhone

iPhone App - Designed for the iPhone, compatible with the iPad

Our Rating: :: RECOMMENDED
Read Our Full Review >>

Released: 2008-07-29 :: Category: Productivity

$9.99

1Password for iPad

iPad Only App - Designed for the iPad
Released: 2010-04-01 :: Category: Productivity

$14.99

1Password Pro

+ Universal App - Designed for iPhone and iPad

Our Rating: :: OUTSTANDING
Read Our Full Review >>

Released: 2009-06-17 :: Category: Utilities

Sketchbook Mobile – Feeling creative? Artsy, even? Want to doodle a little while you wait for your constantly late friend to show up to the cafe? Pull out that iPhone and sketch a little, why don’t you? The smaller version of this app (there’s also a pro version available for iPads) packs quite a punch in a tiny little package, including multitouch navigation, up to 6 layers per image file, and 10 levels of undo and redo.

$1.99

SketchBook Mobile

iPhone App - Designed for the iPhone, compatible with the iPad
Released: 2009-09-17 :: Category: Entertainment

$4.99

SketchBook Pro for iPad

iPad Only App - Designed for the iPad

Our Rating: :: IMPRESSIVE
Read Our Full Review >>

Released: 2010-04-01 :: Category: Entertainment

Band of the Day – We’re huge music fans, so finding this app was a happy day indeed. Selected as App of the Year runner up in Apple’s own Rewind section, BotD updates us daily with free songs, reviews, bios, charts, sharing, videos and the like. It’s also, you know, free, which earns it some points, though we’d gladly pasy some money for this level of awesome.

FREE!

Band Of The Day

+ Universal App - Designed for iPhone and iPad

Our Rating: :: ROCK ON
Read Our Full Review >>

Released: 2011-09-14 :: Category: Music

Jamie’s Recipes – Jamie Oliver is a chef for the everyman and everywoman. Each of the included 12 free recipes is easy to make and the food is approachable by a wide range of palates. Many more recipes can be downloaded as in-app purchases, each with its own theme, making this recipe app well worth a look.

FREE!

Jamie's Recipes

+ Universal App - Designed for iPhone and iPad
Released: 2010-11-24 :: Category: Lifestyle

Instapaper – Here’s the original and still the best too-long-didn’t-read-but-want-to-read-it-later app out there. Instapaper lets users save web pages for later offline perusal with a simple browser extension and a mobile device. We’re also still happy this is a one-person operation, showing us all that independent development is still a thriving industry. If you don’t have this app yet, you should.

$4.99

Instapaper

+ Universal App - Designed for iPhone and iPad

Our Rating: :: LITERARY BLISS
Read Our Full Review >>

Released: 2008-08-21 :: Category: News

Shop Savvy – Here’s a simple idea, well-implemented, made possible by that powerful networked computing device with a camera you have sitting in your pocket. Scan a bar code at any store, and Shop Savvy will find it online as well as locally, telling you if there are less expensive options out there for you. This is a daily must have app, even when it’s NOT the holiday season.

FREE!

ShopSavvy (Barcode Scanner and QR Code Reader)

iPhone App - Designed for the iPhone, compatible with the iPad
Released: 2009-11-17 :: Category: Utilities

Localscope – This app uses the geo-tagged info from local search engines, social networks and media sharing services to connect you to the people and places around you. Walk around the places you frequent and try this one out – you’ll be amazed at how fun and informative it can be.

$1.99

Localscope

iPhone App - Designed for the iPhone, compatible with the iPad

Our Rating: :: ESSENTIAL
Read Our Full Review >>

Released: 2010-12-21 :: Category: Navigation

We hope you’ve enjoyed the best apps of 2011. Come back on Friday to see our top five favorite apps and games of 2011.

Previously, on 148Apps:
Favorite Games, 6 – 15
Favorite Apps, 16 – 25
Favorite Games, 16 – 25

This week at 148Apps.com we delved into the latest from the developers of Hipstamatic, the “disposable” Hipstamatic D-Series app. 148Apps founder Jeff Scott says, “I got a chance to try out the new app and can report that Hipstamatic D-Series does indeed bring back the nostalgic memories of sharing a disposable camera and swapping double prints into the digital age. It’s a great idea and well executed. There’s even the anxious need to burn the last shot by taking a picture of your foot, just to get the roll developed quicker. It’s indeed very fun.

Delve further by reading the full run-down on 148Apps.com.

FREE!

Disposable Hipstamatic

iPhone App - Designed for the iPhone, compatible with the iPad
Released: 2011-12-15 :: Category: Photography

$1.99

Hipstamatic

iPhone App - Designed for the iPhone, compatible with the iPad

Our Rating: :: SHOOTING FROM THE HIP
Read Our Full Review >>

Released: 2009-12-09 :: Category: Photography

At GiggleApps.com, reviewer Amy Solomon took a close look at the first interactive book from The Cat in the Hat’s Learning Library, There’s No Place Like Space. Solomon says, “There’s No Place Like Space, although a creative, fun and educational book, is not written by Seuss himself, although it is written in a Seuss-like style. I enjoy this book, as does my son, but my husband and I did comment to ourselves that the text is not as well-written as the classic books by Seuss.”

Read the full review at GiggleApps.

$5.99

There’s No Place Like Space!: All About Our Solar System

+ Universal App - Designed for iPhone and iPad
Released: 2011-11-16 :: Category: Education

Finally, 148Apps.biz site editor Rob LeFebvre reported on a new report from mobile analytics company Flurry. LeFebvre writes, “Flurry shows the fact that developers are making more money on iOS than on Android, even as the numbers of Android OS enabled smartphones continues to increase, commanding as much as 53% of the market, according to an NPD Group study released yesterday as well.”

Intrigued? Read more on 148Apps.biz.

As your advent calendar continues to count towards December 25th, don’t forget to vote for our 2011 Best App Ever, and keep track of the latest news, reviews and contests via our Facebook and Twitter streams.

This week at 148Apps, once we were all finished with our Halloween and post-Halloween merriment, writer Lisa Caplan explored the vast landscape of camera replacement apps for the iPhone. Caplan writes, “Apple has done a lot to improve the native camera app with iOS 5 and lucky iPhone 4S owners are already taking the highest quality iPhone images ever. But, even with the tune up, many of the most requested features from manual adjustments to photo bursts, darkroom effects to more sharing options (Facebook anyone?) are still lacking. But, the app store is filled with alternatives so this week we look at our favorite four camera replacement apps.”

Unlock your iPhone’s photo potential by reading the full article on 148Apps.com.

$1.99

Camera+

iPhone App - Designed for the iPhone, compatible with the iPad

Our Rating: :: CAMERA EXCELSIOR!
Read Our Full Review >>

Released: 2010-06-06 :: Category: Photography

Over at our kid’s apps headquarters, GiggleApps, Amy Solomon took a closer look at an innovative 3D comic book called The Gwaii. Solomon states, “This app does have some 3D effects as well that are best seen as one moves the device, looking at the additional angles that this provides. The 3D here is effective but somewhat overly sensitive to touch and there have been moments that I wish I would have turned this element off, trying to keep my hand steady to minimize the screen movements. I think this effect may be a distraction for some children, while others may really enjoy this effect.”

Read more about this new interactive storybook on GiggleApps.com.

$1.99

The Gwaii - 3D Comic Book

+ Universal App - Designed for iPhone and iPad
Released: 2011-07-18 :: Category: Books

Finally, AndroidRundown featured an article by Carter Dotson that attempted to address the iOS versus Android ongoing argument head-on. Dotson says, “The thing to remember, though, is that Android and iOS are different in their very natures. iOS is a piece of Apple software, following Apple principles; it is designed to run on specific hardware. That is a big part of why the experience is often smoother. Android is designed to run on many, many forms of hardware, not just what Google has intended for it to run on. Yes, Google has their stock devices that run a pure Android, but Android is meant to be something bigger, and not as something tailored to one set of hardware. That Android is on the caliber of Android is impressive.”

Add your voice to the argument after reading the full article on AndroidRundown.com.

That is the week that was. What started with Halloween ended with the first onslaught of holiday commercials on television, so keep your eye on 148Apps.com and our Facebook and Twitter streams for the latest reviews and helpful hints to get you through the holiday season. See you next week, readers!

Apple has done a lot to improve the native camera app with iOS 5 and lucky iPhone 4S owners are already taking the highest quality iPhone images ever. But, even with the tune up, many of the most requested features from manual adjustments to photo bursts, darkroom effects to more sharing options (Facebook anyone?) are still lacking. But, the app store is filled with alternatives so this week we look at our favorite four camera replacement apps.

Camera+

Camera+ has been the top camera replacement app almost since its launch in June 2010 and gets frequent updates keeping it at the top of the charts and this list. The app allows uses to users to set focus and exposure manually like a real camera, uses the iPhone 4 LED flash as a continuous fill light to brighten up dark settings, has image stabilization and a 6x digital zoom that really pulls the action in. Camera+ allows for photo editing, has a lot of effects, and has plenty of social media integration for easy photo sharing.

$1.99

Camera+

iPhone App - Designed for the iPhone, compatible with the iPad

Our Rating: :: CAMERA EXCELSIOR!
Read Our Full Review >>

Released: 2010-06-06 :: Category: Photography

Camera Genius

For still and video Camera Genius replaces the native camera app with 6x digital zoom, a full screen button to make it easy to snap pics on the fly, a timer, image stabilization and a mini burst mode which will take three action shots rapidly. The app also helps iPhoneographers and videographers shoot clean with a Photo Composition Guide and of course, lots of sharing capabilities.

$0.99

$1.99

Camera Genius

iPhone App - Designed for the iPhone, compatible with the iPad

Our Rating: :: PICTURE PERFECT
Read Our Full Review >>

Released: 2009-02-07 :: Category: Photography

Camera Plus Pro

Camera Pro Plus is all about speed. The developers claim it is the fastest camera app, and while we can’t verify that, it is zippy. This app features live video and still filters so users can preview effects before snapping and add them in one step. Burst mode is particularly useful for action settings allowing for 40 shots to be taken in rapid succession and the app has an array of editing and darkroom effects, private photo and video collection storage, even photo transfer via Wi-Fi along with the requisite social network sharing options.

$1.99

Camera Plus Pro

iPhone App - Designed for the iPhone, compatible with the iPad

Our Rating: :: REMARKABLE RECORDING
Read Our Full Review >>

Released: 2009-12-17 :: Category: Photography

King Camera

King Camera is a newcomer to the App Store. It’s a powerful, fast and responsive app with some cool features missing from others on this list including the ability to shoot time lapse photography and stop motion animation. The app controls the video camera too and adds a big button to both along with a rule of 3rds grid and integrates a flashlight feature for low-lighting situations. For stills there is also exposure and white balance lock, a self-timer, anti-shake even photo backup. The app also has some fairly robust photo editing abilities, the requisite fun filters and, you guessed it, lots of easy social media sharing with a tap. The French Canadian company behind the app even had a commercial shot for local TV using only images taken with an iPhone and the King Camera app – judge for yourselves.

FREE!

King Camera

iPhone App - Designed for the iPhone, compatible with the iPad
Released: 2011-05-29 :: Category: Photography

We were pretty impressed by Camera Plus Pro when it was reviewed last summer. Clearly developers, Global Delight, didn’t want to rest on their impressive laurels as version 4.0 of Camera Plus Pro, released today, promises to the bring the best out of the iPhone camera in terms of photography and performance. Some of these changes are simple such as the fact that the app is now 30x faster, others are much more complex such as the UI makeover, new capture engine and a plethora of different filters. The main thing to take from all this is that Camera Plus Pro is all the more essential a purchase for anyone keen to use the camera functionality regularly.

18 new Live Photo Filters have been added allowing users to preview photos in full screen while adding new filters and looks to the imagery. Camera effects like grid lines, touch exposure and a white balanced lock enhances this all the more. Live photo editing means that users can see just how much their photos are improved by adjusting brightness, contrast, saturation, hue, sharpness, tint and temperature quickly and easily. Distortion effects provide plenty of benefits as well.

9 Live Video Filters have been added for those creating videos with the app. The new Smooth Video Zoom functionality boosts video recording too thanks to its jerk-free promise.

With the capture engine being so much faster than before, instant saving is possible with the ability to capture 40 back-to-back photos at full resolution. Re-adjusting images, rotating or cropping photos is just as simple with one single motion doing everything.

It’s impressive stuff for an already excellent photography app. Camera Plus Pro is regularly priced at $2.99 but to celebrate the latest release, it’s priced at a mere $0.99 for the next week. An ideal time to check it out then.

$1.99

Camera Plus Pro

iPhone App - Designed for the iPhone, compatible with the iPad

Our Rating: :: REMARKABLE RECORDING
Read Our Full Review >>

Released: 2009-12-17 :: Category: Photography

As part of the promotional build up for J.J Abrams’s latest blockbuster Super 8, a Super 8 camera emulator app has been released on the app store.

The film – coming out June 10th – focuses on the tale of a group of friends who witness a mysterious train crash in 1979 before noticing increasingly strange things occuring around their small town. The hype has been ever growing and it’s not surprising considering Abrams’ past successes with Fringe, Star Trek, Cloverfield and of course the phenomenally successful Lost.

The Super 8 app aims to tap into the 1970s feel to photography with users able to make their own vintage movies in the typical Super 8 style that kids of the 70s will fondly remember. Users can add different lenses with the choice of seven different effects ranging from black and white, chromatic to x-ray or infrared appearance. They can add one of three animated filters as well as the good old creepy thriller movie staple: the shake effect. Adding a scratch and dirt overlay is also possible providing a great aged feel to the experience. Once the video has been created, users can then arrange clips and scenes just how they want, as well as add their own credits if they so wish. It makes for a great amateur movie kind of feel.

Once the video has been finalisd, users can then view their movies from within the Super 8 projector room, or they can export it to their PC or email it to friends. There’s even unlockables to acquire with users able to reveal missing frames from the Super 8 editing room film by playing their movies back a sufficient amount of times.

It all makes for a pretty cool interface that also happens to produce some great results.

Super 8 is a free app download available for iPhone 3Gs and upwards, 4th generation iPod touches and the iPad 2.

$0.99

Super 8™

iPhone App - Designed for the iPhone, compatible with the iPad
Released: 2011-05-09 :: Category: Photography

Calorie counting is sensible in theory, but precisely measuring every morsel is a hassle at best and at worst, impractical and ridiculous. I’m not claiming to be a nutritional or behavioral expert, but honestly, how many people do you know who faithfully record the contents of every meal? However, a new app seeks to solve this problem of inconvenience with an amusing solution to innate human laziness. Called Meal Snap, its concept is simple: take a picture of your food, and the app will report exactly what you’ve been eating.

Meal Snap lets you take pictures of the meals you eat, and then magically tells you what food was in your meal. Oh yeah, we give you a rough estimate of the calories you ate too. Food tracking has never been easier.

Makes you feel like the app is actually…intelligent. Of course, the “auto-magical” food detection isn’t perfect, so perhaps our iPhones can’t yet become self-aware and take over the world. However, Meal Snap is still very impressive in that it focuses on a key barrier to food-tracking—inconvenience—and eliminates it almost entirely. You’ll probably have your phone on you whenever you eat, and snapping a quick photo is much more efficient than manually scribbling down a detailed list of your meal. (Plus, even if the “auto-magical” detection fails, you still know what you’ve eaten thanks to the photo!)

You can do more with Meal Snap than just get instant information. The app allows users to share photos using Twitter and Facebook, and you can browse through previous days’ meals, viewing total calories per day and reviewing old pictures.

Meal Snap is certainly a very cool idea, and, if the app’s estimates are accurate, a potentially very useful app as well. We love seeing apps that make innovative use of the ubiquity and capabilities of iOS devices, and Meal Snap definitely fits that category!

If you’d like to give Meal Snap a spin, it’s available now in the App Store for $2.99.

$2.99

Meal Snap - Calorie Counting Magic

iPhone App - Designed for the iPhone, compatible with the iPad
Released: 2011-04-04 :: Category: Healthcare & Fitness

Camera+, the popular (currently in the top 5 in the US App Store) and well-received camera app, rated 5 stars here on 148Apps, is not resting on its laurels when it comes to updates. TapTapTap has introduced a new filter called Clarity to the recently-released 2.2 Camera+ update. This filter, designed as a response to the HDR feature introduced by Apple in iOS 4, is designed to draw out colors and details from photos that may have otherwise been lost, through multiple behind the scenes adjustments. TapTapTap’s site goes into how it works and provides some examples it can improve photos, but how does it work in the real world?

I decided to test out the new Clarity filter on some pictures I’ve taken with my iPod touch 4th Generation, including ones taken before the app was updated with the Clarity filter, so you can definitely use the filter on any picture you’ve taken or any you’ve imported into the app. These photos below are of Louie, the greatest dog in the world, and in these photos, he is wearing a dog Snuggie. On the left, you see the untouched photo – it is a poor lighting situation, and a lot of the details are lost. On the right is the photo after running the Clarity filter. As you can tell, a lot of the details that were lost in the original photo were lost – the colors that were too dark to stand out in the lighting are more visible now. A lot of the grain of the iPod touch camera is now more visible, but this is largely due to the mediocre camera, than the filter itself.

So while this won’t magically turn your mediocre photos into wonderful pictures, it can dramatically increase their quality to a point where they’re actually decent photos now. While it’s not a replacement for taking a great photo with proper lighting, sometimes the photos we take aren’t in perfect situations – and this filter can definitely help out a bit with correcting those imperfections. As well, the 2.2 update has a variety of other bug fixes and improvements, listed on their blog post for the 2.2 update. These updates as well as the Clarity filter are now available as a free update to Camera+, currently on sale for $0.99.

$1.99

Camera+

iPhone App - Designed for the iPhone, compatible with the iPad

Our Rating: :: CAMERA EXCELSIOR!
Read Our Full Review >>

Released: 2010-06-06 :: Category: Photography

A few months back, tap tap tap’s wonderful Camera+ app was pulled from the App Store for sneaking in a feature that was disallowed from the app in a previous build. The feature, which was wonderful, gave users the option of turning the volume buttons on the iPhone into the camera shutter so you could completely free up the screen for the viewfinder. Apple, in their own technical lingo, replied with:

Your application cannot be added to the App Store because it uses iPhone volume buttons in a non-standard way, potentially resulting in user confusion. Changing the behavior of iPhone external hardware buttons is a violation of the iPhone Developer Program License Agreement. Applications must adhere to the iPhone Human Interface Guidelines as outlined in the iPhone Developer Program License Agreement section 3.3.7.

Unfortunately for us, the feature was then snuck back into the app in an Easter egg that was widely reported on various tech blogs which forced Apple to kill the app for good. Camera+ then slinked off into iOS app limbo and was forgotten by many. Sad times indeed.

Four months and a few staff member additions later though, Camera+ has been re-released with version 2.0 and has a whopping 50 new features (minus whole volume button camera shutter). Fans of Camera+ can expect more of the same great interface that made the original app so great, as well as many speed and interface improvements that may make cause some people to abandon the old Apple standby.

The app is currently 99 cents, but pick it up fast because tap tap tap may bump the price up when they decide that their relaunch celebration is over. If anything, get it now before it gets pulled again!

Also, be sure to check back after the break for the complete list of the apps improvements.

$1.99

Camera+

iPhone App - Designed for the iPhone, compatible with the iPad

Our Rating: :: CAMERA EXCELSIOR!
Read Our Full Review >>

Released: 2010-06-06 :: Category: Photography

tap tap tap’s Camera+ was allegedly pulled from the App Store by Apple this morning for sneaking in a hidden feature that Apple had previously denied.

The feature in question was tap tap tap’s manipulation of the volume control buttons, letting them control the camera shutter rather than a button on the screen. In their own words, by using the volume controls instead of an on-screen button, “photos can be sharper because you can now hold your iPhone steadier with two hands instead of fumbling around for the shutter button on screen.”

It makes sense, as it puts the volume buttons right where the shutter button would normally be on a camera, but Apple didn’t like it. Apple, in their statement to tap tap tap regarding their reasoning for rejecting the feature, wrote that,

Your application cannot be added to the App Store because it uses iPhone volume buttons in a non-standard way, potentially resulting in user confusion. Changing the behavior of iPhone external hardware buttons is a violation of the iPhone Developer Program License Agreement. Applications must adhere to the iPhone Human Interface Guidelines as outlined in the iPhone Developer Program License Agreement section 3.3.7.

Instead of letting the feature die though, tap tap tap threw in a hidden trick in their latest version. They released in a tweet that “by visiting the URL camplus://enablevolumesnap in Mobile Safari, one could make the volume buttons on the side of the iPhone instead act as a camera shutter button”.

The tweet was pulled soon after, but tap tap tap had to have known that the feature would be widely publicized and eventually found by Apple. They said themselves in their blog post regarding the initial feature rejection that, “When Apple finds out about these incidents, they tend to crack down pretty hard on them, sometimes going so far as completely banning the developers from the App Store. So this is definitely not the smart way to go.”

Now what are the chances that tap tap tap, in order to spur sales for an app that was admittedly slumping in sales, planted the Twitter post, knew that big sites would pick up on the story, and then pulled the app themselves?

Regardless, the app is not in the App Store anymore, and it is unclear if Apple will do/ has done anything about the situation. There have also oddly been no comments from tap tap tap on their blog or elsewhere about the app being pulled, which, considering the apps popularity, would be expected if they were going to try to force Apple’s hand through public support. Media stunt or not, it’ll be interesting to see how it all plays out.

[Source: MobileCrunch, Gizmodo, tap tap tap]

tap tap tap (Convert, Voices) has done quite well in the App Store despite not being a game developer. Continuing this trend, the company has announced today in a lengthy blog post that their newest app, Camera+, has made $250k in its first month. Surprisingly enough, the app did so with no advertising (the company doesn’t advertise for its apps anymore due to costs) and quickly declining sales in the US market.

So how did they do it? Here’s the abridged version.

Since tap tap tap does no advertising anymore, John Casasanta, head of the company and writer of the blog post, says that the key is to start with a HUGE launch. Huge as in contest for $10,000+ worth of camera equipment… but the key is how to get the word out. Fortunately for tap tap tap, John Casasanta is also the head of MacHeist, so the company got a large head start, but now tap tap tap has its own opt-in list with 70,000 subscribers. Says Casasanta, “Granted, not every developer has access to such resources, but there’s no reason that anyone can’t build-up resources of this sort over time… it’s taken us years so patience and persistence is key.”

I guess in any business, you’re only as successful as the people you know, or in this case, the amount of people you know.

The rest of the success lies in the app itself. Since the US App Store is completely dominated by games, it’s imperative to have a flawless, detail oriented app with some fun touches and well done social network integration. The post talks, in detail, about making things feel right, with not too many options, but enough to work correctly. Also, developers need to be completely open to feedback, and update when the app needs to be updated, but only when the updates are necessary.

As a non-game, it’s very important to keep hope even after sales wane in the US. The app market overseas is very different from our game and entertainment app dominated store, with countries like Finland having 14 of the top 25 being non game and entertainment apps. Check out the sales chart on the right to see how foreign app store are supporting Camera+.

The post ends with a warning. “You can spend a year on an app and hardly make a dime on it. It’s not just the nature of the App Store… it’s the nature of practically any business.” Only make an app if it’s something that you love, and be sure to slave over every last detail.

So good luck to all the devs that are out to make your own $250k. If every app turns out to look as well made as any of the tap tap tap apps, the world would be a much better place.
[Source: taptaptap]

$1.99

Camera+

iPhone App - Designed for the iPhone, compatible with the iPad

Our Rating: :: CAMERA EXCELSIOR!
Read Our Full Review >>

Released: 2010-06-06 :: Category: Photography

Even since the introduction of a 5-megapixel camera in the iPhone 4, Apple’s phone isn’t blessed with the ability to take large photos. As those familiar with photography know and Apple is keen to point out, it’s not the megapixel count that determines the quality of your snaps, merely the size.

Our title doesn’t lie, however. You can achieve images equivalent to 20-megapixels from your iPhone if you make use of AutoStitch Panorama and apply a little concentration. Now updated to version 3.0, AutoStitch allows iPhone users to take multiple photos on their iPhone and stitch them together to create a poster-sized image. Ideal for when the subject you want to capture is too big for the iPhone’s screen (and lens) or you simply want to take bigger pictures.

This latest update adds enhanced compositing techniques, new algorithms to compensate for blending and exposure and automatic brightness matching between images. Users can also now share their shots to Facebook or via email right from their device.

Compatible with the iPhone 3G, 3GS and 4 as well as the iPad and iPod touch, AutoStitch 3.0 is available now for $2.99.

$1.99

AutoStitch Panorama

iPhone App - Designed for the iPhone, compatible with the iPad
Released: 2009-06-06 :: Category: Photography

Aaaand…we’re back! Phew. Is it Friday already? Well, here are our weekly five app selections, culled from recent App Store releases. We’ve got plenty of new stuff this week, from feed readers to music games, so let’s get started!

Guitar Hero
Guitar Hero was demo’d at the WWDC keynote earlier this week, and made its official App Store debut shortly afterwards. Talk about big-name apps. The game costs $2.99 and comes with six songs, allowing you to unlock others via in-app purchase. (The included songs include hits like “We Are the Champions” by Queen and “Say It Ain’t So” by Weezer.) It looks a lot like the Tap Tap Revenge and Rock Band games on the surface, but Guitar Hero introduces some new “swipe” and “strum” mechanics that add some new spice to the somewhat-stale tapping games. To put it succinctly, the game looks awesome—we’ll have a full review up later, of course.

$2.99

Guitar Hero

iPhone App - Designed for the iPhone, compatible with the iPad

Our Rating: :: OUT OF TUNE
Read Our Full Review >>

Released: 2010-06-07 :: Category: Games

Camera+
Camera+ comes from TapTapTap, makers of excellent, succinctly named apps like Convert and Voices. It includes tons of tools, ranging from digital zoom to an image stabilizer to a grid that helps you avoid crooked pictures. There are also plenty of scene modes (Beach, Night, Sunset, Backlit, etc) and filters (from a dirty Grunge effect to the more humorous So Emo). Toss in a digital flash effect, borders, and the ability to share photos across a variety of social networks, and Camera+ has just about every feature covered. The app itself is elegantly designed, and on the whole, Camera+ seems to be another worthy addition to the ranks of photo apps in the App Store.

$1.99

Camera+

iPhone App - Designed for the iPhone, compatible with the iPad

Our Rating: :: CAMERA EXCELSIOR!
Read Our Full Review >>

Released: 2010-06-06 :: Category: Photography

HECTOR: Badge of Carnage
This is not your typical adventure game, folks. HECTOR proudly declares itself to be “half-decent,” but don’t let that fool you. This point-and-click adventure game stars Detective Inspector Hector and is cheekily irreverent. The dialogue is crude (not for the young’ins) and witty, and the game features genre mainstays like interactive locations and an expansive inventory. HECTOR certainly takes a different tack than most App Store games. Point-and-click fans should check it out.

$3.99

HECTOR: Badge of Carnage Ep1

iPhone App - Designed for the iPhone, compatible with the iPad
Released: 2010-06-02 :: Category: Games

Sudoku 2 Pro
Sudoku 2 Pro is (you guessed it!) the pro version of the popular Sudoku port. This version strips out the ads, tracks your “runs” (uninterrupted win streaks), auto-deletes solved notes, and allows you to hide the timer if you so wish…among other things, of course. Naturally, the features that make Sudoku 2 loved by so many App Store customers are still intact: ease-of-use, graphics, etc. If you’re looking for a good Sudoku game and don’t want your screen cluttered with ads, check out Sudoku 2 Pro.

$2.99

▻Sudoku Pro

iPhone App - Designed for the iPhone, compatible with the iPad
Released: 2010-06-03 :: Category: Games

Pulse News Reader
And finally, one for your iPad owners. Pulse News Reader was also demoed by Steve Jobs at the WWDC. Pulse is a clean and visual news reader for iPad. It imports up to 20 news sources and then creates an elegant mosaic of your news stories. Tapping on a block brings up the article in full. Just take a look at the picture…the app looks gorgeous, and even supports both landscape and portrait. Yum!

FREE!

Pulse News for iPad

iPad Only App - Designed for the iPad

Our Rating: :: PULSING WITH PROMISE
Read Our Full Review >>

Released: 2010-05-12 :: Category: News