Tag: Lists »

Hey, that iPad of yours has a nice big screen. Why keep it all to yourself? Grab some friends and play some games together with them! Here's four of my favorites.

Fingle: It's time to get intimate with this two-player iPad game. It starts out simply enough: each person moves their finger to the dashed box on screen. Sure, we can do that! Then multiple fingers get involved. Then the target boxes keep moving. Then the targets move in and out of the other person's hand, and action is getting incredibly touchy-feely here. Oh, and the game's use of innuendo means that it knows what's up. So grab a friend and be ready to become really close...or make things really awkward. Great memories or terrible memories are sure to come.

Bloop: Some of these games are fun for just two people, but here's one for up to four people. The objective? Each player picks a color on the screen, and when the action starts, they need to tap it whenever it pops up. Oh, and the colors are rapidly popping up all throughout the game, so reacting quickly to where colors are coming up is extremely important! Expect to be shoving others' arms out of the way all while playing this. It's got the best facets of an iPad multiplayer game: an easy concept to pick up on and plenty of chaos that creates for memorable moments.

Monkey Boxing: Sure, abstract competition is great. But sometimes friends just need to beat each other up by using simian avatars. That's exactly what this game provides, with two players on one iPad. The two-button gameplay is easy to dive in to, and there's enough variety to keep things from ever being monotonous. Don't just jump in to the game, though. Make sure to customize your monkey's outfit before fighting. Half of success is looking good while doing so. That's a fact.

Hundreds: This is something of an out-of-left-field choice in that it's not really a multiplayer game, right? Well, what you made you think that it was explicitly a singleplayer game? Given that the game is very much based around multitouch, get some other people and try to solve some of the fiendish challenges that the game throws out. However, more independently-working fingers means more opportunities to screw up, so it really just brings a different approach to the title that can really change the game.

This week at 148Apps.com, everything was about end of the year wrap-ups and countdowns. Carter Dotson compiled an extremely helpful multi-part 148Apps Top Apps of 2012, and he also gave us his Favorite Things of 2012: "In particular, Super Crate Box and Super Hexagon both left me in states of constant desire, wanting to get that high score while tackling the immense difficulty both games presented. Yet there was one consistent thread in both: failure was usually my fault, the factor of poor execution rather than random chance. It makes success feel all that more empowering. The byproduct of it is constant failure, and frequent profanity usage."

Oprah has nothing on Carter. Read his full list of Favorite Things on 148Apps.

What's a New Year's celebration without pizza? Is it any wonder, then, that Amy Solomon at GiggleApps.com reviewed Bamba Pizza: "This is the fourth year my son will receive play food as a large part of his holiday and birthday gifts from my husband and me. Although he has different hobbies as well that are demonstrated in the other toys he plays with, not a day goes by that it isn’t a birthday for a doll or stuffed animal where pizza is always served, along with cake, cookies and many other selections.

Although I would never expect Bamba Pizza or other apps like it to take the place of playing with toys in the real world, my son also enjoys playing with these types of apps when away from the house or when lying in bed before or after a full night’s sleep, when play food items are not welcome."

Read all of Amy's review at GiggleApps.

The holidays also present endless opportunities for taking photos. AndroidRundown.com reviewer Tre Lawrence showcases a venerable iOS photo app, now making the transition to Android: "There was a time, not all that long ago, when cameras on phones were not too hot. The hardware was rudimentary, and the accompanying software bordered on the silly. Pictures were not that great.
Since then, it has gotten better… much better. So much so, that for many people, their smartphone cameras are the cameras for everyday use.

Snapseed (from Nik Software) is an app that looks to perfect the picture-taking experience. It is a photo-editing title that incorporates a lot of the features people have come to expect with apps of this type. Being chock-full of fan favorite filters definitely makes it an interesting offering."

Read Tre's full review at AndroidRundown.

By this time next week, we will be in 2013, so all of us at 148Apps would like to take this moment to thank you for your constant readership throughout 2012. Without you, loyal reader, we simply wouldn't exist! Thank you, and Happy New Year from 148Apps!

Village Voice publishing recently launched an app to help you find the Best Of... anything, in one of thirty major cities in the US. If you're looking for the best pizza, best art gallery, best spa, best ice cream, best music venue. All in, there are more than 10,000 listings for in the Best Of, like having the yearly rundown for each city published right in your pocket.

Unlike other apps that offer users opinions, and the possibility of ballot-stuffing scoring, each and every entry in the Best Of app is selected from the writers and editors from the publications from which these entries were taken. You're getting the top opinions as researched by Houston Press, LA Weekly, Village Voice, Miami New Times, and many other cities weekly publications. You're going to receive expert opinions based on years of experience and familiarity with these locations.

Search for the Best Of near you, the app offers a location based searched based on your location. You'll be able to find what's been recommended as The Best Of nearest you, as you never know what might be just around the corner! Perhaps you're only steps from the Best Cupcakes in Denver, or the best Sushi in Chicago. You're also going to be delighted to find quite a few unique and surprising lists too within each city, like Best Hangouts for Lefties or Best Winter Golfing.

Facebook check-in is integrated so that you can share your findings with your friends, and have your say about where you've been or would like to go. Earn badges for your check-ins, and take pride in your travels from city to city. Perhaps you'll want to try the Best Coffee in every city you visit? Especially if you travel a lot, for business or pleasure.

The app is completely free, while it is ad supported. You should check the iTunes description page before downloading as there are only 30 major cities included at this time, however Village Voice boasts of not only adding to each list, but adding additional cities in the future as well.

Everyone knows that in order to organize their lives, sometimes lists are a necessary evil, just to help maintain the sanity.  Further helping to cut through the mental fog, timed schedule reminders will can once again aid in burning through the mental clutter.  But what if there was another way to keep your head straight that didn't necessitate a specific time frame or list?  While it may not seem completely apparent, geographical location can play a big role in choosing what tasks you choose to tackle on a daily basis.

Seeing this niche, and taking the phrase, "If you're ever in the neighborhood..." to heart, Hillcrest Lab has created an app that keys on the innate need to make life as efficient as possible.  Regions is your one stop app for reminders based on your location. It is so simple to use, they can describe it in no time flat:

Regions is a simple iPhone app that reminds you to do things based on where you are. It won't kill your battery either. It does one thing and does it well. Regions provides just enough functionality to get the job done and avoids getting in your way.

So how simple is the software to use?  All you need to do is place a pin on the map, set a notification reminder and warning radius, and the tool does the rest.

It is always awesome when functionality meets a need that we never even knew we had.  That said, I can't even count the number of times that I have driven past a store and though that I would take care of something next time I passed through, only to kick myself later when it slipped my mind.

Those days are a thing of the past, as Regions hopes to revolutionize the travels of a multitasking mind.  For under two bucks, it is bound to make an instant impact.

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There aren't many people who don't love Tweetie for iPhone. In mid-October of this year we saw Loren introduce to us his completely re-vamped version. Hyped to high heaven, Tweetie 2 saw a more simplistic UI, a new (coined revolutionary) way to refresh your timeline, better account management, a new tweet composing experience, custom URL endpoints, the ability to save tweets as drafts for later publishing and more. It was seen as a great step up to the original Tweetie.

But with recent changes to Twitter's API, new service introductions, and with Tweetie 2 not having any support for these out of the box, it was clear it was in for an update, very soon. Cue, 2.1. If you happen to follow me on Twitter, you'll probably (almost definitely) know that I've been closely involved in the beta-testing of Tweetie 2.1, and I have to say it's an update well worth attention. Most notably, this version brings support for Twitter's new 'Lists' feature.

If you're not already aware, Twitter Lists are the new universal way to categorize your followers, and for them to categorize you. It's as simple as selecting which 'list' you want that person to appear on. Other people following you then have the option to follow that specific list, meaning if you make a list called 'Favorites,' and add all your favorite Tweeters, anyone who follows that list will essentially see the best content from your followers. The Twitter list feature has become so popular in the short space of time it has been live, that people are now starting to judge 'influence level' on how well you are listed, and in what categories.

In Tweetie 2.1, lists are pretty much the same as they are on Twitter.com, but it's how they've been implemented which makes the experience a whole lot more user-friendly. Tapping the 'More' tab in 2.1, you'll now see all the 'Lists' you belong to, or have been added to, including the one's you're not even following. Choosing a list will throw you into a specialized, scrollable time line which only consist of the members of that list. Want to see the stats of a list? In the bottom left you'll see an 'i' info button. Tap it, and the current list being viewed will flip over to reveal the owner of that particular list (and tapping on him or her will take you to their profile page), alongside the list's following and follower counts.