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Daily iPad App: UpNext 3D delivers free maps
I love maps. I've had printed atlases for years, I have globes all over the house, and I had some of the early mapping applications for the Mac like DeLorme Street Atlas. Sadly, DeLorme abandoned the Mac years ago. Suffice it to say that any new mapping application will get my attention right away. Let me direct your attention to UpNext HD Maps. It's a free app for the iPad that gives you searchable, zoomable maps with 50 of the cities rendered in 3D, and 23 with extremely enhanced details. You can click on a building and see what businesses are inside. You can search for recreation, dining, shopping and more. The app is connected to Yelp so you can often find reviews of places that might interest you. There is also a deal finder which will show you any discounts at nearby locations. The app requires an Internet connection, but can pre-cache recent places you've been when you're offline. In terms of performance the app was pretty peppy on a Wi-Fi connection, but frankly it would be very slow on most 3G connections. The data needed to render buildings realistically in 3D is not small. You can find maps of everywhere in the United States, but you will only get the detailed 3D renderings in Atlanta, Austin, Boston, Chicago, Cincinnati, Cleveland, Dallas, Denver, Detroit, Fort Lauderdale, Honolulu, Kansas City, Las Vegas, Los Angeles, Miami, Minneapolis, New York, Philadelphia, San Francisco, Seattle, St. Paul, and Washington DC. I did have a few crashes when using the app, and I noticed that once you venture outside the center city area, you quickly lose the 3D display. There are big gaps in information, so don't expect detailed info everywhere you click. Even so, this is a worthwhile app to play around with, and the price is exactly right. I'm hopeful that the app will get more stable, add more information, and include more cities. The app works with any iPad and requires IOS 4.0 or later. It's a 16 MB download. I've grabbed some screen shots which you can browse below. %Gallery-145339%
Daily iPad App: AntiCrop extends the edges of your photos
There are plenty of photo cropping applications for iOS. Here's a new wrinkle that caught my eye. The app is called AntiCrop, and it's a US $0.99 universal iPad app that does the opposite of cropping a photo. It actually adds new data to the top and sides of an image, allowing you to reframe something that didn't come out right in the first place. AntiCrop is kind of the reverse of Photoshop's content-aware fill. Content-aware fill allows you to take something out of a photo by blending in nearby pixels. Anti-crop works at the edges, and pretty accurately gives you new data that doesn't look especially fake or blended in after-the-fact. The application is pretty easy to operate. You load a photo in from your existing photo library, and by dragging on handles at the edge of the photo you reframe the aspect ratio and watch the new pixels fill-in. It's pretty incredible to watch, and most of the time, it works exceedingly well. You can run into problems if you drag the borders too far away and force the program to fill in pixels that obviously repeat data that is in your image. I only saw that behavior a few times, and when it appeared I was really extending the frame quite a bit, which is asking a lot of the algorithms the program uses. Another use is to straighten a tilted horizon. Normally we have to crop to fix the edges of the tilted photo, but anti-crop just puts in new data at the edges and the problem is solved. Of course you can do the reverse, to tilt a horizon that was originally shot level. This is a very clever application that can make sloppily taken pictures come back to life. Like anything, it can be overused, and of course the technology has limitations, but I like AntiCrop for its innovative thinking and low price. AntiCrop is perfect for when you are on vacation and want to fix some less than ideal photos. I can think of a lot of other uses, too. The app also runs on an iPhone or a 3rd or 4th generation iPod touch; it requires iOS 3.1 or later. To get a good idea how the app works, take a look at this tutorial video and check my gallery examples below. %Gallery-145020%
Daily iPad App: Fathead
There's something intriguing about Fathead, but honestly, I don't really know what it is. The game is pretty standard -- similar to other titles like Jelly Car or Epic Truck, the goal is to drive a physics-based vehicle across a 2D world, landing jumps and flips as you can. And Fathead has the same issues that those games have: The physics can be a little sticky, and the gameplay is a little simple, given that you really only have one button to control. But Fathead remains fascinating anyway -- maybe it's the well-rendered little motorcyclist, but I found myself trying again and again to get to the next checkpoint and beat my previous score. I do wish there was a little more to the gameplay -- maybe there could be items to collect as you played along, some more tricks to do, or a little something else to mix up the gameplay just a little bit more. But I can't argue that what's there is still well-done, spare and simple as it may be. There is Game Center integration for leaderboards and achievements, and I can only guess that updates are on the way as well. But for 99 cents for the universal version there's a solid chunk of entertainment to be had here.
Daily iPad App: Tiny Places HD
Tiny Places is the latest title from Big Fish Games, which typically releases games on PC (mostly casual stuff like find-an-item and puzzle games), but lately has been making a big push on iOS as well. What's interesting about Tiny Places is that it borrows from from iOS games rather than Big Fish's PC catalog. Specifically, from Cut the Rope. Tiny Places is similar to Chillingo's other physics title (the one that's not about angry birds), in that it features a cute little protagonist trying to reach a goal in a colorful 2D level while using real-time physics to move around. In this case, you play as a chameleon who uses his tongue to hang from various objects, trying to collect "starflies" while moving towards a hole in the wall that kicks off the next level. To start, you can fling the little chameleon around, but as the game progresses, there are other objects to interact with. Tiny Places is harder than Cut the Rope as precise, airborne is required. Especially if you want to get all of the stars and extras, you'll need to make some pretty tough jumps. But resetting the level is quick and easy, so the game encourages replaying to get things just right. The polish isn't quite as good as Cut the Rope, but if (like me) you've already run through all of the levels of that one, Tiny Places offers a worthy alternative and a fun time in and of itself. The iPad version is US$1.99 while the iPhone version is just a buck, and there are free versions of each to try out as well. Tiny Places isn't a classic, but if you enjoy physics games, the many levels on display here (with lots of updates to come, according to the app itself) will provide plenty of entertainment.
Daily iPad App: Sound Sorting Beginning Sounds
Lakeshore Learning is well-known for its excellent educational supplies, and now the company is making a name for itself in the iPad market with a trio of outstanding learning apps. Its Beginning Sounds Interactive Game for the iPad introduces the concept of beginning sounds to younger children in a fun and engaging manner. The app starts with a grid of pictures and each one represents a different sound. You have a sun for "s", a ball for "b", a cat for "c" and so on. The child (or parent) has to select three picture sounds and tap "Enter" before the game begins. The game immediately grabs the attention of the child by spinning the three pictures into columns and dropping a bunch of balls down the right side of the screen. The child must identify the beginning sound of each picture on the ball and drag it to an empty spot underneath the three pictures the child selected at the beginning of the game. Children who need extra help can tap on a picture to hear the word pronounced. If the child answers correctly, the ball pops into place, and the game plays a happy sound. If the answer is wrong, the ball disappears and jumps back to the end of the line. The game also plays a sound that some kids may interpret as a reward for an incorrect answer. The game continues until the child has placed all the balls into the correct columns. The Sound Sorting app is designed perfectly for young children. The balls are easy to select. The picture are recognizable to most children, and the app has a nice mix of interactivity, sound, and rewards. I only wish it had more content. I know this is a beginning sounds game and it's free, but I would love to see middle and ending sounds as well. I would gladly pay for the app if it included all three sounds in a word instead of just one. The Beginning Sounds Interactive Game is a universal app and available for free from the iOS App Store. As this post was going live, we were notified that the price has gone up to $0.99.
Daily iPad App: Air Harp
The Air Harp is an interesting stringed instrument. It produces breath-taking sounds, yet it's relatively easy to play. It's so easy that many elementary schools use the instrument to teach children music. If you enjoy the sound of a harp and don't want to worry about tuning the strings, you should check out Air Harp, an iPad and iPhone version of the stringed instrument. You'll never replace the feel of the instrument with an iPad, but the Air Harp app does an excellent job reproducing the sound of a harp. The virtual harp has 15 strings representing two octaves of notes in G Major. You can tap the strings to create your own tune, or use sheet music to play a well-known song. The app includes several pieces of sheet music, and you can buy additional collections for 99-cents each. Playing the harp is easy, even for the musically-challenged individual. All you have to do is follow the notes on the sheet music. It helps if you have a basic understanding of music, but even if you don't know the difference between an eighth note and a quarter note, you can still play the harp. You just have to know the tune well enough to tap along. If you want to get a little crazy with the harp, the app lets you pluck or strum the strings without changing any settings. This tap-and-strum mode was a much-requested feature missing in previous versions of the app. Overall, Air Harp is enjoyable and relaxing for the music-oriented adult. Unlike other music apps which require you to tap falling dots on a screen, the app uses real notes and strings which makes it an excellent learning tool for children. Air Harp is a universal app and available from the App Store for $0.99.
Daily iPad App: Sonic CD
Honestly, I can't really profess to be that big a Sonic fan. I like and have played most of the 2D iterations of Sega's headline platformer series on the Genesis, the Game Gear, and most recently, iOS. But I'm not a superfan by any means, and if I've ever played Sonic CD before, I don't remember. I certainly never owned it (though I do remember renting a Sega CD with a friend and playing Night Trap and Sewer Shark over a few weekends). All that said, Sonic CD, release just recently as a universal app for iOS, seems to me to be an exceptionally faithful port of what I do remember about Sonic, offering up colorful graphics, strong controls (performed with a virtual pad and jump button, and all of the standard complaints that come with virtual controls), and a great Sonic soundtrack. I do know that Sonic CD is heralded as one of the best Sonic 2D games, and this version of it comes off as a loving recreation of the original title. Especially on the iPad, these varied and well-designed worlds are big, bright, and beautiful to behold. And Sonic CD for iOS also offers a nice mix of old-school spareness with modern features. There are achievements and online leaderboards, but they're buried in very old-school style menus and are out of the way as you play the old games. I recently said that the Grand Theft Auto port was the best console recreation I'd seen on the iPad, but Sonic CD definitely gives that title a run for its money. It's very well done. Plus, the game's only $2.99 for the universal app, which makes this one a no-brainer. You do have to enjoy Sonic's frenzied platformer gameplay, but whether you're a Sonic CD veteran or never got a chance to play this version of the running hedgehog, this one's worth a look.
Daily iPad app: OneNote for the iPad
After years of developing mobile tools for its own platform, Microsoft has finally released a series of apps for the iPad including Lync, OneNote and Kinectimals. Hands down, the most anticipated of the bunch is OneNote, Microsoft's popular desktop app for taking and organizing notes. It's the premier solution for the desktop, but, unfortunately, it falls short on the Apple tablet. The app pulls OneNote documents down from SkyDrive and lets you both view and edit the documents on your iPad. Unfortunately, most of the document formatting is not available on the iPad. I had some beautiful OneNote documents with colorful text, tags, tables and different-sized fonts. You can see an example document below and compare it to the iPad version above. When I viewed the documents on the iPad, tags were missing, and all the text appeared in a small, bland, black font. Even worse, tables were formatted as images and not editable. Creating new OneNote documents is also very limited on the iPad. You can't create new notebooks or pages; you're only allowed to add new notes. Notebook security is also an issue as you can't view notes or add notes to a notebook that has a password. Overall, OneNote for the iPad is disappointing. I was hoping for additional editing options and better support for some of the basic attributes of a document. It's not like these features can't be edited on a mobile device. Microsoft's Windows Phone operating system supports OneNote document editing and it gives you excellent access to most of the document properties. If you only need an app to view plain OneNote documents, you may want to download and try OneNote for the iPad. It's free and it does let you view simple documents. Syncing on the iPad also works well, and changes were uploaded almost immediately. Reliable syncing, though, doesn't make up for an app that's only half as capable as it should be. If you want to try OneNote for the iPad, you can grab it for free from the iOS App Store.
Daily iPad App: LostWinds
I really enjoyed LostWinds when it came out on the Wii a couple of years ago -- it's a physics-based platformer, essentially, but the twist is that you don't just control a really beautifully rendered little kid named Toku wandering around a very artistic world, you also control the wind spirit that can push him and various objects in the environment around. On the Wii, this was accomplished with an on-screen cursor and a swing of the Wii remote, but on the iPad and iPhone, it's accomplished with a swipe across the screen. As a result, this version seems less tactile and a little less control-intensive, which I'm not convinced is necessarily a negative, just different. On the Wii version, for example, you could move the joystick and press a button to get Toku to jump, and then swipe across the screen at exactly the right time to carry him with a gust. On the iPad, however, you just need to swipe him around (and more often than not, I found myself just pushing him around with the wind rather than just controlling him by tapping on the screen). That might destroy a little bit of the game's atmosphere, but honestly, the atmosphere is strong enough (with a really great artistic palette and some excellent musical backing) that it can handle a little playfulness. While the game has the same strengths of the Wii title, it also suffers from some of its weaknesses: It's relatively short, and the puzzles aren't really too tough to figure out. Unfortunately (unless they've hidden it really well), Frontier Developments hasn't included the sequel that arrived on the Wii in this release, so presumably it'll come out on iOS later on. Then again, at only $3.99 for a universal version, the game's priced much more reasonably than the $10 it cost me when it came out on the Wii. LostWinds is a really excellent title, and the game's wind-based physics have been translated quite well to iOS with this one. If you never got to play through it the first time on WiiWare, you probably shouldn't let it breeze by you this time around.
Daily iPad App: Mini Motor Racing HD
Developer The Binary Mill has been trying a number of different approaches on iOS (including the Penny Arcade-approved Decide-o-Tron game recommendation app), but Mini Motor Racing HD is the company's most solid release yet, in my estimation. It's a top-down mini car-racing game with a pretty exceptional amount of polish. The controls are well-made, there's a lot of fun progression options for a number of different cars, and the cars themselves are really well-rendered, so much so that on the iPad especially they really do look like real little toys. The game only has one option for multiplayer, you can only play with one other player, either over WiFi or Bluetooth. But the single-player campaign mode is pretty filled out anyway, with more than 20 tracks and plenty of cars to unlock and upgrade. There's Game Center integration for leaderboards as well, so there's plenty of game to play through. Mini Motor Racing HD is a solid mini racing game -- the cars feel solid, handle well, and the tracks are short and fun enough that the game's enjoyable even when you don't come in first. It's available on the iPad right now for $3.99 or on the iPhone for $1.99.
Daily iPad App: Grand Theft Auto 3
I'm not quite willing to call Grand Theft Auto 3 old school -- I spent so much time on the original top-down versions of the series that those are still more retro to me than the fully 3D graphics and living, open-world city that GTA3 made famous on the consoles (a tradition that continues right up into Saints Row: The Third, which I recently played on my Xbox, and next year's Grand Theft Auto 5). But it's been ten years since we first saw the streets of Liberty City from the ground up, and Rockstar Games has now brought this classic to iOS as a universal version. And especially on my iPad 2, I'm willing to call it the best console port I've ever seen. The graphics look and run terrific, and the virtual controls, while still a little creaky, actually work really great despite all of the various things you can do. Newcomers to this one used to modern console games will probably notice all of the polygons, but as a reproduction of the original game, it really does look and play very well. And though it's only been ten years, it's really awesome to drive around the streets of Liberty City once again, and listen in to Lazlo's Chatterbox and all of the other great radio stations, checking out all of the open world city conventions (from grabbing any car to escaping the cops) that originated right here. If you've never played this game, you might find it a little aged. The missions are a little unclear compared to today's more simplistic fare, and there's no line to follow on your minimap: All you get is a little dot to go after. But for those of us who really enjoyed the heck out of this one all those years ago, this is great to see, and it's clear that Rockstar has brought it over to this platform with great care. This is an excellent version of this great game, and playing it on my iPad 2 took my right back to those days in my parent's basement when my friends and I would just drive around trying to get four stars and try to escape the cops. One note of warning: The game says it's built for all current iOS devices, including the iPad 1, but a lot of the iTunes reviews say it doesn't run great on those older machines. If you have an iPad 2 or an iPhone 4S, however, it should run quite well. I had one audio glitch while playing, but it definitely wasn't gamebreaking. Grand Theft Auto 3's anniversary iOS edition is available for $4.99 right now.
Daily iPad App: Master Your DSLR Camera
Those wanting to upgrade to a DSLR might find there's a steep learning curve involved. Instead of relying on automatic controls, you're faced with a slew of new tools and concepts. And while you can get decent photos with a DSLR's automatic settings, it's nothing like learning to use the manual controls on a camera. The new $9.99 Master Your DSLR Camera from Open Air Publishing is an absolutely luscious interactive book with video tutorials, an in-depth look at how your camera works, how to fix common image problems and answers to just about any question you have about using a DSLR. The app, built using Inkling, is geared toward beginners, but I can see professionals using this as well. It allows you to take notes and saves highlights and bookmarks. All of these are accessible from anywhere in the app. You can set up an account to share highlights and notes, useful if you're a teacher and want your students to have this book. I really enjoyed the detailed shooting guide for taking pictures of everything from pets to forests. It doesn't just teach you what the camera controls are for but how to use it in real-life situations. Even if a DSLR isn't in your immediate future, this book teaches you basic photography principles. Most point-and-shoot cameras have a few manual controls, and you can learn how to use to get the most out of the camera you already have. If you have an interest in photography and want to know more, Master Your DSLR Camera is the best purchase you can make.
Daily iPad App: Monster Fruit
Monster Fruit is a game that, on the surface, looks to be incredibly easy. There's fruit in the tree. You need to keep the fruit away from the overexcited monster trying to turn it into a nummy snack, and to do this, you tickle the monster to distract it. If the monster gets the fruit before the timer is up, you fail the level. Once the monster calms down at the end of the allotted time, you can reward him with the fruit. Parents with toddlers know this scenario all too well. At first, I thought I'd mastered the game. I figured out to keep tickling the monster in the first couple of levels until the timer was up. Then on the third level, both monsters work together to steal that piece of fruit, and the game suddenly veered from deceptively easy to incredibly hard as I tried to tickle both monsters and keep the fruit away from them. I've yet to get past the third level, though I got close at one point. I passed the iPad to my husband to see how well he'd do. The inventive cursing that came as a result really isn't suitable for TUAW, but he did pass the level and got a better score than I did. He said the game is probably best played on a table, where you can use both hands to control the fruit and the monsters. There are a couple things I feel the game lacks. I think it could use a difficulty setting so I could keep it to just one monster that can be played over and over again, suitable for a small child. It could also use a separate one-page help screen that explains how you can get up to a 3-star score in a level. But overall, I really like it. The challenge combined with cute graphics and a cheeky sense of humor and catchy music makes this game a keeper. Monster Fruit is US$1.99 in the App Store.
Daily iPad App: Defenders of Ardania
Tower defense is a genre that's almost run its course, if you ask me. But Defenders of Ardania is still a really solid tower defense title for the iPad that does find some innovation left in the process of setting up towers and letting them take out the incoming bad guys. The twist here is that while you're building towers for defense, you're also purchasing your own invading forces, which are then sent to wander out towards your enemy's castle. In other words, it's a kind of reverse tower defense, where you both attack and defend against an enemy doing the same. Unfortunately, that makes things a little complicated -- you still have a gold pool which you refresh by killing bad guys (as usual), but you need to use that pool to summon both towers and invading forces. And as if that's not enough, you also have various spells to buff up your troops, and you can also lay down traps on incoming troops to stop them in their tracks, all while trying to bring down the enemy base's health and keeping yours up. Like I said, it's complicated. That may appeal to some players -- the graphics are 2D but very well-designed and functional, and while there's lots to do, the UI itself is pretty well designed. Fans of more straightforward tower defense will probably want to look elsewhere (I'll recommend the great Gem Keeper yet again here), and those on the fence can check out Defenders of Ardania's free version. Those up for a challenge who want something a little different from the tower defense genre should definitely give this one a look. There's a full campaign mode, multiplayer battles with Game Center integration, and lots of complex tower defense/attack gameplay to be had for just $4.99.
Daily iPad App: Boinx iStopMotion brings stop motion animation to iOS
Boinx Software is one of my favorite Apple development companies. I use their Boinx TV app to produce TUAW TV Live every week, and all of our onsite video from Macworld Expo 2011 went through Boinx TV. Their Fotomagico software has been a slideshow favorite for years, and their You Gotta See This! iOS app does a cool job of creating photo collages on the iPhone. Now the company is moving the powerful iStopMotion Mac app to the iPad, and has created a new iPhone app (iStopCamera) to act as a remote camera for iStopMotion for iPad. iStopMotion for iPad (US$4.99) is an app that is designed to get younger iPad users into the thrill of making animated movies through the magic of stop motion animation. When the app is launched, a pair of clay figures are animated to show you how to use iStopMotion. The "star" of the tutorial, a little yellow figure with spiky hair, will be named in a user contest coming up shortly. The app itself is available on Thursday, December 15 -- TUAW was given a preview of both iStopMotion for iPad and the companion iStopCamera app. You can either use the front or back camera on an iPad 2, or use a free companion app -- iStopCamera -- on another iOS device to send frame photos to the iPad on which you're creating your masterpiece. I found it ridiculously easy to link my iPhone 4S camera to the iStopMotion app via Wi-Fi and then use the app to snap each frame by tapping a button on the iPad app screen. %Gallery-141667% The app defaults to a frame rate of 12 frames per second. For a 16-second animation like the one I produced, that means you're looking at 192 frames. In between each frame, I moved one of the objects just a little bit. iStopMotion shows you the location of the objects in the last frame, and then you can see where the new locations are going to be. There's a setting to add a grid to the screen for more accurate movement. If you'd rather make a time-lapse movie by shooting frames at regular intervals, there's a mode for that as well. You can have the app take a picture at any interval between 1 second and one hour. How easy is iStopMotion for iPad to use? The 16-second animation was made after just watching the intro video with the "claymation" figures, and I think it went pretty well. At any point, you can tap a play button to view your animation up to the last frame, and when you're done, you flip back to the gallery to name your animation and share it. Sharing can be done via email, the Photo library on your iPad, or YouTube, and in a number of resolutions. I chose to keep mine at 1280 x720 pixels. iStopMotion for iPad doesn't offer any way to add audio to your animation, so I chose to export it to the Photo library, import it onto my Mac through iPhoto, then export the file to my Mac desktop. Next, I imported the movie into Garage Band and added an audio stinger from the standard Garage Band set. The result isn't perfect, but considering it's a first attempt, I think it's pretty darned good! Once again, Boinx has done an excellent job of taking something that could be rather difficult to accomplish and making it easy to do. iStopMotion for iPad isn't just good for kids -- I can think of situations where I'd like to put together fun little stop motion animations for TUAW or special occasions, and with this app it's a piece of cake. Is anything missing from this first version of iStopMotion for iPad? Yeah, I'd like to see a simple way of adding titles and credits to an animation (sure, I can export the video and then bring it into iMovie for iPad, but wouldn't it be cool to do it in one app?), and it would also be nice to have a way of adding a soundtrack and effects to an animation. But heck, this is version 1.0, so I'm sure we're going to see some additions in a future update. All in all, iStopMotion for iPad is a lot of fun for $4.99. If you've ever had the desire to make stop motion animations and you own an iPad, be sure to buy the app when it arrives on the App Store on December 15. In the meantime, you can watch my little animation to see how well the app works and look at the screenshots of the app in action.
Daily iPad App: Michael Jackson The Experience HD
Ubisoft released a version of its Michael Jackson Experience game for iOS recently, and it's actually a pretty good time. The game was originally created for motion controls with the Xbox Kinect, the Wii, and the PlayStation Move, but here on the iPad, you "dance" by swiping across the screen in various directions, and hitting on or pulling your finger off at certain times. The dance game is solid, and the production values are actually quite well done. If you like Michael Jackson's library, there's some great music here to "perform" and listen to, and the various songs are all accompanied by really well-done cinematic sequences evoking the original music videos and images that went along with the original songs. Unfortunately, the one big drawback is that there's not a huge selection of music to pull from. The console versions boasted a choice of about twenty songs, but this version only includes four when you purchase it, and then you need to buy other songs and costumes via in-app purchase. The game itself is $4.99, and then other songs are $1.99 each, though there are only three to choose from. So if you really want to play a game like this and have one of those consoles, you might just be better served finding the game on sale somewhere. On the other hand, as a taster, this version is not a bad game at all, and once you get all of the moves rolling and have figured out how to do them, it's fun to play through "Smooth Criminal" or "Beat It" and try to score as many "Perfects" as you can. As a sampler, this one's pretty good. It's on the iPad right now for $4.99.
Daily iPad App: Doodlecast
Doodlecast is one of several Doodling applications for the iPad that targets kids from 3- to 5-years-old. What separates Doodlecast from its competition is the ability to narrate the Doodle while your child is drawing. The app has a record option that'll record the drawing as the child creates it and will capture the child talking using the iPad's microphone. It's an appealing combination that makes creating doodles fun for the child and enjoyable for parents who can watch the doodle after it's done. Doodlecast has many features that help with doodle creation. It launches with several preset doodles like sky and park that contain pre-made drawings. The child can add to this template, and record what they draw. There are also some idea-based doodles like "big," which ask the child to draw something he or she thinks is big. If your child wants to start with a blank slate, there's that option, too. The drawing canvas uses the entire screen of the iPad and has a straightforward interface. At the top, there is a new button, a recording button that can turn the recording feature on and off, and a done button that'll let you export the video. At the bottom is a color selector that changes the color you are using, and a clear button to erase the entire drawing. There's no tool to change the width of the finger stroke, but you don't need that option in an app meant for young children. When your child is done doodling, you can play back the video of the drawing's creation before you export it. You can save it to the iPad, or export it to YouTube to share with friends or relatives. Saving the video places it in your photos library where you can email it, watch it on your iPad or use AirPlay to watch it on your TV. If you decide to upload it to YouTube, the app lets you add a title, description, tag, and category. You can also set the doodle video to public or private. Uploading it to YouTube is as easy as hitting the publish button and it takes about a minute to prepare and upload the video over Wi-Fi. Doodlecast is an excellent app for kids. Just make sure you have a lot of space on your iPad. I handed my iPad over to my kids to check it out; my iPad disappeared for an hour and returned to me chock full of videos. The app appealed to my younger children who just doodled and my 9-year-old, who enjoyed using it to tell a story. The app costs a reasonable US$1.99 and will give your children hours of fun.
Daily iPad App: Weather Live
We've reviewed plenty of weather apps for the iPad on TUAW. Matter of fact I think the high number of weather apps we've reviewed is due to the fact that we're still looking for the perfect iPad weather app. Weather Live isn't that app. It's good, just not the holy grail. First the good. I like Weather Live because it does have beautiful backgrounds (see gallery below) and makes it easy to navigate between cities (just swipe right or left). The app also offers five different layouts and generous display settings. You can of course choose between Fahrenheit/Celsius and miles/kilometers. Like most weather apps for iPad, Weather Live offers a clock, which you can display 12-hour or 24-hour time with or without seconds as well as local or regional times. The app's brightness control is unique. Instead of a slider, you can just drag your finger up or down the screen to adjust the brightness. This is useful if you disable the iPad's auto-lock feature through the app, which lets you use it as a clock on the nightstand. You can see the current time and weather as soon as you get up. Another nice feature puts current temperature as a badge on the icon on your homescreen. Unfortunately, Weather Live suffers from several UI problems that plague other weather apps. Yeah, animated backgrounds are nice, but sometimes the images don't contrast with the text enough so that it's hard to read the forecast. Also, the black and white icons representing weather conditions look too similar, and it's hard to tell them apart when looking at the week view. I'm still looking for an iPad weather app that closely mimics Apple's Weather app on the iPhone: clean design, not a lot of eye candy, easy to get the forecast at a glance. If you're like me and want the same thing out of a weather app for the iPad, Weather Live is not for you (but then again, no iPad weather app is yet). However, if you do like weather apps that are more beautiful than bare-bones-informational, Weather Live is a great choice. It's only US$0.99 and is a universal app, so it works on both the iPad and iPhone. But for me, my search for the perfect iPad weather app continues. %Gallery-140326%
Daily iPad App: eHarmony
When eHarmony first brought its iPad app to us a couple of months ago, I had the great idea (I thought) to put together a feature for TUAW around the idea of only the iPad app to access the very popular Internet dating service, find a date, and then review both the app and the date itself. So eHarmony kindly provided me with a couple months of membership, and I set to work using the iPad app to craft my profile, find some nice women to date in Los Angeles, and eventually go out with one of them. Unfortunately for eHarmony, my lack of appeal outlasted their service, and despite chatting with a few nice women, none of them wanted to meet me over dinner or drinks. But I can't fault the iPad app itself. The whole experience is really impressive, featuring an interface that I actually enjoyed using more than the official web site. If you're a real loser like me, eHarmony still won't guarantee you a girlfriend or boyfriend. But if you're already using the service and have an iPad, the app is definitely worth a look. The whole process is surprisingly quick and clean on the iPad -- the app's interface is modeled around a big circular table of sorts, with the view zooming and rotating around to look at various physical items portrayed on the screen. Your sign-in page is a notebook, for example, where you can write your name and password, and then the view zooms to another book where you can enter your information and fill out your profile with the usual dating site information (likes, dislikes, personal information and questionnaires). After it's filled out, you can browse around the rest of the site, checking out a "Book of You" that has information about your personality and who you're compatible with, and your "matches" which are laid out like a series of Polaroid photos on the wooden desktop. The physical metaphor is really effective, and the iPad is an excellent medium for browsing through photos and information. The app works smoothly (though my iPad is only WiFi, so I'm not sure how it loads over 3G), and there are lots of really fun touches, which surprised me a bit. When you first log in, there's a coffee cup on top of the screen, and you can actually play with it, causing ripples and splashes on the surface of the java. When you touch a match's picture, you don't just get transferred to their profile, their picture actually zooms over to another section of the table and then gets inserted into their profile page. This is all with sound effects, too. The app shows a surprising amount of design thought and consideration. I'd guess that's because eHarmony probably hired an experienced Mac and iOS development house to make it, but I don't know who that is (and the companies in those kinds of work-for-hire agreements don't usually talk about that anyway). At any rate, the eHarmony app is terrific, and I actually did come to prefer it to using the main web page, mostly because the web itself doesn't offer up pictures of matches before you actually go and see their profiles. There were a few settings that I had to go in and change that I couldn't on the iPad version (specifically where my matches were supposed to come from. Being in Los Angeles, I obviously wanted to meet someone who lived close to me), but when actually browsing the service and reading and responding to messages, I found being on the iPad was the ideal. The app is free, but to use it, you'll need an eHarmony membership, which comes with a few different prices. You'll have to decide for yourself whether or not that's something you're interested in. Some folks have found a lot of good relationships with apps like this, while some have a better time just going to a bar. As for me, my search continues. Ladies, if any of you are looking for a smart and funny professional blogger who knows a lot about iPhone games and enjoys running around Santa Monica, I'll be here!
Daily iPad App: A Charlie Brown Christmas
Forty-six years after it debuted on prime-time television, the beloved Christmas classic A Charlie Brown Christmas comes to a new medium -- the iPad. But instead of simply releasing it as a downloadable video, the A Charlie Brown Christmas app turns the story of an incredibly depressed child (yeah, you Charlie Brown) into a wonderful animated storybook that is sure to delight a whole new generation of children. The developers at Loud Crow Interactive who designed the app deserve high praise. I'm in my 30s and still the app has managed to keep me enthralled. The A Charlie Brown Christmas app features the original music and voices from the television special, plus read-along narration by Peter Robbins, the original voice of Charlie Brown. The book itself is made up of twenty beautifully rendered pages, each depicting a scene from the show. But what's really cool about this app is the interactivity. Children both young and old can tap on any word to hear it pronounced. Every page features elements that can be interacted with, whether is changing the sign on Lucy's doctor stand, playing Schroder's piano or popping snowflakes. I showed the app to my one year-old nice this past Thanksgiving and even at her age she had a blast tapping the characters, making them sing, ice skate and dance. A Charlie Brown Christmas is actually a universal app, so its compatible with the iPad, iPhone and iPod touch. In my opinion, the smaller screens don't do the app justice. You really need to use it on the iPad to get the full experience. A Charlie Brown Christmas is available in the App Store for US$6.99. %Gallery-140325%
