We Are The App Experts
Every week, the 148Apps reviewers sort through the latest apps, find the good ones, and write about them in depth. The ones we love become Editor’s Choice, standing out above the many good apps and games with something just a little bit more to offer. Want to see what we've been up to this week? Take a look below for a sampling of our latest reviews. And if you want more, be sure to hit our Reviews Archive.
Files App is a pretty handy utility to have around on an iOS device. It makes it quite simple to browse as well as transfer files and hardly any set up is required. Offering a simple and clear interface, the opening screen displays everything the user could need at first glance. Folders and thumbnails of files are pictured, with it down to the user to organize things however they want. A tap of the plus sign, intuitively, leads users to adding content for themselves. It’s possible to import photos from the camera roll, as well as get files directly from within the Mail app. I’d have liked the ability to import all my photos at once with a select all button, but otherwise, it’s smooth sailing. Adding files from a Mac or PC is just as easy, offering USB based options as well as a way to browse via a web browser. This took no time at all to set up and it was very easy for me to drag and drop files between my laptop and iPhone. Import features are also available via Dropbox, Box and Google Drive. --Jennifer Allen
The only thing more daunting than reviewing a game from a significant iOS series is doing so when it’s surrounded by both hype and controversy. It’s probably fairly common knowledge at this point that Real Racing 3 has gone free-to-play, which is where the bulk of the controversy comes from as lots of fans are understandably worried about what such a change could mean for their beloved franchise. It’s also been widely publicized that Firemonkeys has incorporated what they call “Time Shifted Multiplayer” into their new baby, which is something that they feel could change multiplayer mobile games forever. These are both complex issues that warrant some discussion but the important thing to note is that Real Racing 3 is very, very awesome no matter how people might feel about it going free to play. --Rob Rich
I receive what seems like hundreds of emails a week. Many of these emails are exclusive offers and discounts to my favorite stores, but they quickly become buried as new email arrives in my inbox. While it would be ideal to send these to a separate folder, I still have to take the time to sort through them all to see who has the best deals this weekend. Sift solves the dilemma of cluttered shopping emails by combining them into an HD shopping experience. Instead of sorting and organizing to find the best deals, use Sift to create a personalized shopping list. --Angela LaFollette
The Gods: Rebellion is literally the Chinese version of God of War. Not only is it made by a Chinese developer (with some interface elements that periodically match) but it’s also the same essential story as Sony’s action series: man rebelling against the gods, but this time it involves the Chinese mythical character Fu Xi fighting for mankind’s freedom against a bunch of deities, by killing everything that stands in his way. --Carter Dotson
Other 148Apps Network Sites
If you are looking for the best reviews of kids' apps and/or Android apps, just head right over to
GiggleApps and
AndroidRundown. Here are just some of the reviews these sites served up this week:
GiggleApps
Just Going to the Dentist – Little Critter is an adaptation of the title of the same name – part of the Little Critter series of storybooks now available in application form. As the name may imply, this is the story of the Little Critter’s trip to the dentist. In this world, Little Critter is an anthropomorphic animal – a little boy who has been found to be relatable to by children for many years. --Amy Solomon
Sleep Well My Pet! is a simple and sweet collection of sleeping animals, relaxing to children, hopefully helpful in lulling them into slumber as well. Easy to use, one can watch a slide show or scroll through these sleepy, charming images of animals such as dog, panda, pig or lion – all with their eyes closed as they rest. Non-mammal animals are included such as flamingos or green frog which are interesting as well as peaceful images. --Amy Solomon
Futaba Classroom Games For Kids is a unique game app for children, educational as well as fun. This app, a digital quiz game for both multi – as well as single players, really stands out because an adult can program the questions children answer to a wide age range of abilities from preschool age through the 10th grade as well as easy, medium or hard questions for these grades. --Amy Solomon
AndroidRundown
Feb 28, 2013Share This
Amelia vs the Marathon is a fun game with a fun storyline that brings us back to the wisful times when kneecapping rivals was all the rage. Amelia is an up-and-coming marathon runner with more than a bit of talent. So much so, that the current champion decides to, uh, slow her progress, Tonya Harding style. Using henchmen and objects, the champion decides to derail Amelia’s dreams. Physically. The game was an action thriller, and it had the graphics to match. The excellent use of colors started with the stills in the cutscene. Bright primaries buttressed with changing backgrounds worked well to frame the gameplay. The animations were delightful cartoony. --
Tre Lawrence
In past columns, we have taken a look at a few different devices that were created to help silently or casually display notifications. The majority of these are lamps or LED strips that have built in WiFi or Bluetooth technology. One was a charm that attaches to a purse or bad and lit up for calls, messages, and other notifications. These are all great for lounging around the house or driving in the car but their day to day practicality remain a question mark. Being a college student I spend a lot of time in places where I would like to receive notifications but cannot because of the distraction to those around me. Obviously, my phone cannot start blaring Alice in Chains during a Circuits lecture, but I will not say that I am one to strictly abstain from texting in class. Those who work in office settings may find themselves in similar situations with email and annoying SMS notifications. Hailing from Seattle, the engineering duo of Paul Hornikx and Rudi Beijnen have an incredibly simple, elegant, and practical solution to all of these problems. Their idea is called the
Embrace+, and is an idea so ludicrously simple that I have a hard time coming to grips with the fact that I did not think of it first. --
Joseph Bertolini
Real Racing 3 is a the rare kind of stand-out title that just isn’t frequently seen on mobile. It’s the third in a long-running series from a prominent developer, EA’s Firemonkeys, born from the merger of the creators of
Real Racing,
Flight Control, and
Spy Mouse with the studio that made
Dead Space and
Mass Effect Infiltrator for mobile. It’s got production values that are rarely seen on mobile, and a hype cycle that’s out of this world by comparison. The constant release schedule on mobile platforms means that it’s always game in, game out. Done, done, on to the next one. For a mobile game to attract pre-release attention, it has to be something truly special.
Real Racing 3 is just that kind of game. It’s visually-stunning, and its business model, depending on its success, could have a massive impact on how mobile gaming works in the future. But as a game? Well, it has its fun moments, but it falls short of greatness, of being truly compelling as a game. --
Carter Dotson
