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Camera+ 5 adds 'The Lab' in free update (Updated)
Tap Tap Tap has shipped version 5.0 of Camera+ for iPhone (US$1.99) as a free update to existing users, bringing a new destination -- The Lab -- for making adjustments to your photos and adding fun. The Lab includes: Clarity Pro: an update to the Camera+ Clarity feature that adds both adjustability and a new Vibrancy Boost for making photos really pop Straighten: which gains an auto-straighten feature Tint: tone your pictures to your specs, or use a dice roll to pick random tint settings Duotone: even more control of your tinting Soft Focus: adjustable soft focus for making those selfies look professional Film Grain: miss the graininess of fast analog film? You can add grain to your images... Sharpen: fix some slightly out-of-focus shots Blur: make perfect shots slightly out-of-focus. Go figure. And a lot, lot more... I found the app to be a lot faster than I remember, although I have no quantitative proof of that. The Lab won't work on the iPhone 3GS due to processor requirements, but those users get access to a subset of the tools. One really fun feature of The Lab is the ability to make iPhone wallpaper in the iOS 7 mode. As the release notes point out, you just grab a photo, crank the blur up, add saturation, apply an iPhone wallpaper crop and you're ready to roll. Last new feature? A new, more iOS 7-ish icon. There's a lot more in the update that we'll let you find on your own -- if the update hasn't installed itself yet, manually update because this is one you'll want to jump on. UPDATE: If you use the Day One app for keeping a personal journal, do not upgrade to Camera+ if you can help it -- it breaks the former integration with Day One.
TUAW's Daily App: Darkroom Pro
I've been a fan of the Darkroom app for the iPhone almost since the beginning, only because it contained a bit of functionality I think that should have been included in the device from the start: a steady mode. The original Darkroom offered up a steady-shot mode that let you press a shutter button at any time, but then waited to actually take a picture until the iPhone's accelerometer told it that the phone was steady in place. The iPhone's camera has gotten better over the years, but especially in low-light situations, making sure the camera is steady is reason enough to use this app. And newer versions (after a short buggy delay right around iPhone OS 3.0) have added even more functionality, including a fullscreen shutter mode (no toolbar, just press anywhere on the screen to shoot a picture) and a timer mode as well. They've also added an online photo album into the app using StepCase's official service (which I've never used), but you can also just funnel pictures into your normal camera album if you'd rather upload them somewhere else. The latest update, released just this week, lets you tag your photos by place, so you can browse them later according to the location they were taken at. Darkroom Pro is definitely worth the 99 cent price if you do any regular photography with your iPhone at all. There's also a free version available, and while the functionality on that one is limited, it still does have a steady mode included, so you can at least jump in and give that a try.
One Page of Apps: 16 random reviews
Welcome to our new, irregularly-published series "One Page of Apps," where we take four to sixteen apps on a single screen of our iPhones (or iPod touches) and review them all at once. Most of these are pretty simple apps, just as Apple suggests you make for the mobile devices.To kick things off I've got a random sampling of apps on my iPhone:LemonadeFind Your MindFnorderClinometerFreshwater AquariumZen MeditateFish TycoonFS5 HockeyiDoodz LiteDecibelAmnesiaDarkroomMandalaBetaHelperPhotoSyncOblique StrategiesCheck the gallery for screenshots, and continue on to page two for the first four apps...%Gallery-43938%
