It’s been said that everyone has a good novel inside them. It’s just a matter of finding the time to write it all down! Book Writer might not be able to add extra hours to the day, but it can make creating a book that’s possible to read through iBooks or send to friends, much easier.

The app makes it simple to produce all kinds of books from photo books to cookbooks, manuals or even children’s stories, all through the wealth of options within. It’s simple to add photos or videos to a book, as well as resizes such images and move them around easily. It’s the kind of thing that would be great for collating memories from a special event.

Once created, it’s just as simple to share the book via iTunes, email or by printing the document, making it a great way to share creations with friends and family.

Book Writer is out now, priced at $3.99, and it’s an Universal app.

$3.99

Book Writer - eBook, PDF creator

+ Universal App - Designed for iPhone and iPad
Released: 2011-12-03 :: Category: Books

A little over two years ago, Jason Fanguy wrote up a review of Scanner Pro, a portable scanner app by Readdle (also known for other popular file management and productivity apps like Printer Pro and ReaddleDocs).

Many updates ago, when Scanner Pro was on version 1.2.5, Jason described the app as “best in class,” the interface as “refreshingly clean,” and was amazed by the clarity of the text-heavy documents he scanned. Now, many updates later, Readdle has released the 4.0 version of powerful Scanner Pro. This update focused on making Scanner Pro the best scanner app for the iPad.

Since the new iPad boasts such a powerful camera, it’s become the ideal device for an app like Scanner Pro. It’s now a universal app. But the iPad version isn’t just a scaled up version with better graphics. The app has been completely redesigned with the iPad in mind. Other important new features include faster image processing, folders to organize scans, and a search by name or date option.

Three major updates later, Scanner Pro is the same price ($6.99) as it was when Jason reviewed it two years ago.

$6.99

Scanner Pro by Readdle

+ Universal App - Designed for iPhone and iPad
Released: 2009-10-09 :: Category: Business

I used to play both the piano and guitar. And one of the minor, but quite annoying, tasks that I had to do was try to turn a page in my sheet music while still playing the song. I wish I would have had an iPad and an app like MagicReader.

Most prominent of features in MagicReader is the ability to turn a page by simply turning one’s head. The app uses the front-facing camera on the iPad to detect when the user is turning his or her head and then flips the page for them. Uses for non-musicians include reading while eating, reading while typing on a keyboard, and reading while holding a baby.

MagicReader can use PDF and Zip files formats. Also, image formats that can be used include .jpg, .png, .giff, .tiff, and .bmp.

Developers plan to update with new features including landscape mode and hands-free book selection. MagicReader is available for free on the App Store.

FREE!

MagicReader

iPad Only App - Designed for the iPad
Released: 2012-04-02 :: Category: Books

Chillingo has announced that they are partnering with Icelandic developer Plain Vanilla to publish a new children’s game for iOS. Entitled The Moogies, this app is intended to be a sort of interactive toy. Children can interact with the various characters and their environments, seeing how each item reacts to the child’s touch. As well, the Moogies react to voice input, so kids get to explore this world on iPad, iPhone, or iPod touch in whatever way they want. The app will be a premium one, with no advertisements, in-app purchases, or external links.

Joe Wee, Co-General Manager of Chillingo says “As more parents adapt to using iOS devices for educational and entertainment purposes, debuting a new children franchise on this innovative platform makes a lot of sense. The Moogies is a fantastic example of how creative apps can transform a child’s learning experience.” The Moogies will be adorabling themselves on the App Store in November as a universal app. Until then, check out this announcement trailer for the app showing what it’s all about.

Like it or not, the PDF document format is here to stay.  Originally created as Adobe’s proprietary attempt to undercut Microsoft’s document format, the PDF has not only become widespread, but in some cases it has even become the defacto standard.  One such case is when documents need to be filled out and filed on the web.  Unfortunately, the were no options to handle this kind of interaction on the iPad until PDF Expert came around.

The app was so well received that it managed to land a four and a half star rating here at 148Apps, in our official review.  Along with the obvious ability to read PDFs on the iPad, some of the other standout features included the ability to both highlight and notate the text, as well as efficiently using the real estate available on the iPad.  But the application’s developer, Readdle, wasn’t willing to rest on their laurels, despite the product’s stellar launch.

In fact, they just released an update that address a number of different issues that were brought to their attention by already satisfied customers.  Here are some of the additions that were made:

• Static Adobe LiveCycle forms are supported.
• “Submit” and “Email” actions works.
• Sugarsync support
• More than 100 small improvements related to sync, annotations and forms.

PDF Expert allows to submit values filled into PDF form fields with full compliance with Adobe specification. Mid-sized and large businesses rely heavily on this feature of PDF forms to capture the data from many people, like customers, students or focus groups.

Desktop tools like Adobe Acrobat Pro or LiveCycle allows anyone to create such form and embed “Submit” button directly into the page. Once user fills out the values, he or she only need to tap the button to send filled data to form creator.

As much as we loved the app the first time around, you can bet that these updates will help further forge PDF Expert into a well rounded product.  It is thanks to feedback from you, their customers, that aid in making products that much better.  So give yourself a pat on the back, and this irreplaceable app a download.  We’re sure you will find it just as useful as we did.

$9.99

PDF Expert - Fill forms, annotate PDFs, sign documents

iPad Only App - Designed for the iPad
Released: 2010-09-30 :: Category: Productivity

Finishing up our interview with August, I ask him about what it is like being an iPhone developer in the lime-light, or Celebrity Developer. He talks about how much fun it has been to break out of the traditional role from time to time, and how it has really helped out his programming business.

I also get his opinions on Apple’s filing to have jailbreaking iPhones judged illegal, what that means to the development community, and how jailbreaking is actually beneficial to the App Store and making the iPhone a popular development platform. August also tells us why he has avoided it.

Most importantly, August gives us the breaking story about the soon to be released app, YOWZA!!, and how it will change the way you shop and use your iPhone.

Listen to how August met Greg Grunberg (Matt Parkman on Heroes) on Twitter, and joined forces with Rick Yaeger from MacMerc, to create a whole new business model for an iPhone app, and how they have tackled the problems of turning your iPhone into a money-saving shopping tool! And it’s going to be FREE!

Here is a little taste from Greg himself.

Enjoy!

You can check out August’s digital book, Optimizing Your Website for Mobile Safari on your Kindle from Amazon, or buy it in PDF format here.

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