Shizen: Oceanscapes for iOS is relaxing and free
The makers of My Living Desktop for Mac OS X have released a free version of the app for iOS. Called Shizen: Oceanscapes, it features beautiful high-resolution looped movies of two tranquil scenes with audio on your iPhone or iPad for those who want some relaxation. The apps are ready for Apple's Retina display.
Shizen is the Japanese word for nature. One scene depicts a windswept beach in Washington State. The other is a colorful coral reef that beats any of the computer graphic aquarium variety. You can run the video full screen or in letterbox mode and add a clock. There is a volume control for the natural sounds.
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If you're hungry for more, the developers will be glad to sell you another eight screens for US$2.99 as in in-app purchase. I downloaded the free version to my iPad 3 and the video is truly stunning. It might be great to have running on your desk while you use a desktop or laptop computer, and it's a nice addition to a nightstand. I'd love to see a sleep function that would turn it off after a set period.
Shizen: Oceanscapes is a nice holiday gift from the folks at Amuse Inc. and I find it a nice addition to my iPad and a great demo of the screen quality.
The app is a 350 MB download (the added scenes are there waiting to be unlocked) and the app runs on any iPhone from the 3GS on up, the fourth- and fifth-generation iPod touch and the iPad. It needs iOS 6.0 and has been optimized for the iPhone 5.
I have some sample scenss in the gallery but they don't capture the detail of the real thing.
