Hex codes and RGB values might sound like another language to many but they’re vital tools of the trade for designers and developers. Every color has its own hex code and RGB value which in turn can be used to re-use the color elsewhere such as on a webpage or when programming a new app or game.

Finding out the codes is not always as easy as it should be though.

Enter Color Matcher, an app that takes out all the trouble. Simply run an image from the photo library or directly from the camera, and take a look. Colors can then be put into palettes to be easily organized and a recent history section makes it easy to consult earlier color entries.

It’s the kind of tool that will instantly become a firm favorite with designers and developers alike thanks to its simple yet effective layout that works just perfectly.

Color Matcher is freely available for all iOS devices now.

FREE!

Color Matcher

iPhone App - Designed for the iPhone, compatible with the iPad
Released: 2011-05-17 :: Category: Utilities

If you’re a designer, creative person or just like viewing the latest projects that people are working on, Dribbble is for you. It’s a community created by Dan Cederholm for designers, developers, artists and other people that show off their work in small, cropped “shots”; and its free to sign up, start browsing and following creative people from around the globe.

Dribbblr is the perfect companion to the site; developed by Tapmates, it makes use of Dribbble’s API to offer up an extremely well-crafted experience that’s tailored for the iPad’s display. Shots are shown four to a page in landscape mode, and two to a page in portrait mode; these are full-size images so it’s easy to navigate through. You can use the app to browse through everyone’s work even if you’re not a member of Dribbble, but signing up for the service will allow you to browse shots from people that you follow.

It should be noted that the Dribbble API is still in beta form, so any app that uses the API can only read data from Dribbble’s server. That means that commenting, uploading, liking a shot and following other users isn’t currently possible. This is why the developers have bundled a browser with the app, so that the website is only a tap away.

So why download this one, anyway? Well, for one, it’s free (paying $2.99 will remove the unobtrusive advertising), but two it’s also a strong application both in design and usability; comments slide in with a barely audible click, the title bar has a lot of personality with the handwritten typography, and the main loading indicator is a bouncing basketball, tying into the Dribbble theme. It’s the perfect “coffee table app”; like a virtual magazine that updates itself whenever new shots are posted to the website. Dribbblr will also inspire without an Internet connection with a nice collection of wallpapers for the iPad and so is a great one to get, especially if you’re itching to show off your device.

FREE!

Dribbblr

iPad Only App - Designed for the iPad
Released: 2010-09-28 :: Category: Reference

Remember .™? If you don’t, the title was the debut of London-based iPhone development studio ustwo™. The game was 2D and involved the user guiding a white dot around a playing field, trying to avoid red matter (triangular), and collecting blue matter (circular). It hit the mainstream for a number of reasons, firstly for its design ethics, but secondly and most importantly being that it was the first ever application to have hit the App Store, whilst having been designed from concept to final within a 48 hour period.

This had never been done before. The thought of developing a polished title such as .™ within such a short period of time, to most other developers I imagine may have started their worst nightmare. There are going to be 6 titles within this ‘exclusive’ set of apps – sorta a “collect em’ all” diddy. The first was .™ which we profiled a few weeks back, and the next is supposedly Inkstrumental™ CRAZO™ (although as we mentioned in our previous first look, the studio themselves isn’t sure if that’ll ever see the light of day, yet.)

In the meantime the studio isn’t standing still, today announcing the sequel to their debut hit title. Calling it ..™. Having not seen the game yet myself, or had chance to play with it, I can only go off this visually stunning teaser trailer which the company has just released above, which to me seems to convey we might just be in store for some 3D goodness – (well .. I hope so)! While it’s not clear if this sequel will follow the 48 hour development method ustwo™ are now famous for, you have to admit that ..™ trailer is pretty damn trippy.

Having played .™, it’s addictive nature tends to bring with it high replay value, and as with any title, high replay usually means value for money. With no word on price yet, it’s hard to judge if ..™ will live up to it’s original – but according to ustwo™ we won’t have to wait long to find out. The title is expected to hit very, very soon.

Update: In a stark move, the studio has created a fully interactive online version of the upcoming game. Part of their new ’48App’ section, you can now play both .™ and ..™ flash versions – here. Looks like ..™ will be 3D after all! Although, it’s still unclear whether the game will use touch and drag gesture controls, or take advantage of the accelerometer. We’ll see!

$0.99

DOT™

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

Delayed but not forgotten! Ok, so this is the most people I’ve ever had to apologize to at once, well except for that night in Vegas…on stage with Cirque Du Soleil…I’ve said too much. Regardless I must apologize for the delay of our Design A GelaSkin contest, as it turns out even we are not immune to the technical difficulties of the interwebs. Alas it’s all done, our galley is set up and awaiting submissions, our voting plan is setup, and I’m just itching to see what kind of creativity you, our readers, are really made of.

If you haven’t a clue as to what I’m talking about here’s a brief recap of my blog post a few days ago. Today we are beginning a new contest called Design A GelaSkin, if you’re not familiar with them, check out their site, each case is truly amazing and we need you to design one for us. If yours is chosen not only will you get a free skin for yourself and your very own 148Apps T-Shirt but also your design will be on a limitless amount of skins that we will be sending out for promotions and giveaways around the world!

Even if your not an artist we still need your help on picking out the best design so please come vote!

More contest details after the break…
Continue reading Design A GelaSkin: It’s Begun »

Welcom to the Design A GelaSkins Gallery Page. All submissions are added the night of submission so if you don’t see yours right away don’t fret, it will be there in the morning. To keep things honest voting will not take place until all the submissions have been made. In the mean time feel free to make comments about them at the bottom. Click here for more contest details. Spread the word!