Keyboard Battle! SwiftKey vs. Swype vs. Minuum

With iOS 8s arrival comes a slew of new features (and bug infestations), one of which Android users aren't completely unfamiliar with, keyboard apps. This hasn't ever been a huge thing that'd make people swap over but it did pique my curiosity. Now that I have the capability I went to downloading a few and the top 3 that appear to be making the rounds are SwiftKey, Swype, and Minuum. Now I don't need 3 keyboards but I wanted to give each their fair chance and have been rotating them every time I typed anything on my iPhone 5C. After a couple of weeks, here are the results.

Jasmine Review

When they removed the YouTube app from iOS 6, it took Google awhile before they got their own app out there. Ever since this event, I found and chose an app called Jasmine to take over and never went back to YouTubes app even after the subsequent release ceremoniously topped the Best Free Apps list. Now I'm here to talk about my 2+ years experience with Jasmine and the ups and downs to bring me here to this moment in time.

Manga Rock (Best Manga Reader) Review

I've reviewed quite a few manga reading apps in the past. For the last several months I've settled down with one I find to be quite amiable to all my needs. Unless Manga Meow or Manga MF have had significant updates in the past year or so and fixed some of the problems I had with them that I'm unaware of, I'm sticking with alternatives that work. Disk space is an important concern after all. If I've firmly planted my feet down, Manga Rock must be good right?

IFTTT

I'd like to review this app, but it'd really be a review of the service itself. If you've never heard of If This Then That, it's a social service that automates your online experience. And it's wonderful.

Layton Brothers Mystery Room

The Professor Layton franchise is a long running series of puzzle games for the Nintendo DS platform which combines deep gripping plot, a creative art style, and a variety of clever puzzles that make full use of the touch screen. When a spin off was announced and quite unceremoniously released for the iOS platform, I was looking forward to solving similar puzzles on the go. But that wasn't the game I should have been expecting apparently. Layton Brothers Mystery Room is something a little different.

Har-mon-y

A smartphone screen is a blank canvas for game developers to tinker about with. The result? Intuitive and unique gameplay and controls as well as big company cash grabs. As for puzzle games the sky is virtually the limit, or at least as limited as the devs imagination. Somehow I got my hands on har-mon-y, a stylish and serene tile based puzzler which caters to peoples need to organize. Sounds fantastic, right? Right?!

SketchBook Ink

Let me tell you about one of my favorite drawing apps for the iPad. While it's bittersweet to bemoan apps that just cannot find a place in my heart, I love to celebrate the ones that I can somehow accept despite the glaring, painful flaws. SketchBook Ink is one of those, boasting the same Autodesk flawed brand of mobile spit shine that offers a unique drawing experience that Procreate, ArtRage, or Paper can't quite emulate. Only Adobe Ideas practices the same bold line execution but SketchBook Ink has a better streamlined interface which feels more like a free spirited tool. iPad artists looking for something new and interesting should read onwards to see if they want to get Inked.

Pot of Legend

I’m succumbing to an addictive and very strange game for iOS (and it’s NOT Flappy Bird.) As I’m writing this, I’m popping my hand up every five seconds to swipe my hand across my iPads screen like some sort of servant. The name of the game is Pot of Legend, and I’m deeply concerned over my own wellbeing. Stranger yet? It’s NOT asking me for a single dollar.

Tweetbot 3

Of all the Twitter apps on the iPhone (and there are quite a few) I have fallen for Tweetbots simplicity to be downright addictive. Although I can't speak for Twitterific which I hear many lovely things about, many if not all other Twitter apps have steered me the wrong way and that includes the official app. When I heard that they released Tweetbot 3 I was thrilled, until I learned that I had to cough up more money for nearly the same app.

Head to Head: Drafts vs. iA Writer

Word processing for iOS is a bountiful well of possibilities with a lot of variety. During the day when you're out and about, it's easy to pull out your iPhone or iPad Mini to do a little bit of creative and productive writing during those small pockets of time. Many apps are thrown out there in this department like Evernote, Byword, My Writing Spot, Write 2 or Apples own Pages. While these are all valid options, I find that the best of the bunch that are the most effective is Drafts and iA Writer. But the real question is which one deserves your hard earned money more?

Procreate! What's Great? What Could Be Better?

I LOVE Procreate for the iPad. I love the way it works, how quick it runs and it's the PRIME example of what apps of this caliber should be striving for. I've stopped buying others to test against it other than the main ones when they go on sale. So why do I choose to open Procreate and keep using it rather than expanding my horizons to check out what the competitions doing? Here is a complete breakdown of my thoughts on Procreate, point for point and tit for tat where it shines the most, can use a little polish and where it stands up against every art app on the market.

Manga Meow

There are times when I test a new app despite having one that works extremely well. I use Manga MF and have found it quite useful for reading unlicensed manga straight from Japan. If I'm looking for something new to read I simply browse through the massive library and download the first dozen or so chapters to take with me. If I like what I read, I keep moving. If I don't, I delete, regret and forget. So why oh why did I give Manga Meow a go?

Drafts for iPad

My goto writing app of choice is iA Writer. At least I thought so. I saved to Dropbox or iCloud and pick it up wherever. I thought it was as simple as that (and it is) but I heard about this other app. When I hear about other apps I tend to perk my ears up like a sleeping cat. What was I missing out on? Write 2 was also good but my heart was encased in stone and loyally enamoured with iA Writer like some doe-eyed teenaged girl smitten by some guy from the 'wrong side of the tracks.' So what's so great about Drafts (for the iPad)?

Foolproof Art Studio

Do you know what the App Store isn't short on? Photo apps! Tons upon tons of photo apps. Apps that take photos, edit them with all sorts of lightweight Photoshop effects and share them all within the same slice of software. For me, the standard photo app is always within reach on the home screen for lifes quick moments. I love Camera+ but with each update on my iPhone takes much longer to open and navigate to take a photo. So why am I reviewing another photo app? Because unlike others that slap filters onto pictures and makes it into art, I believe Fool Proof is a fresh break from the mould.

 

DrawQuest

Creative types such as myself (puff up chest) can benefit with regular exercises for our talents. In these instances frequent tasks with a general premise are helpful like writing a brief entry about cows or in the case of todays app, drawing assignments. Sketching on my iPad? My word!

Art Rage: iPad Version

Now that I have the proper hardware to better run apps I already own, its time to finally throw in my two cents on ArtRage. Before using it on the 1st Gen iPad was excruciating because it kept saying I need to close a lot of processes for it to work (which was still very sluggish.) Now that I have an up to date iPad, does it still have trouble keeping up or has this been the app that’s been sitting under my nose all this time?

Evernote for iPhone/iPod

Let’s get one thing clear, I LOVE Evernote. Any service which cleanly keeps notes, files, pictures in the cloud has my attention and I use Evernote to the fullest. SimpleNote was my first but I bit into the Evernote fruit because it does more than just written notes. Now Evernote is an essential part of my app and tech arsenal but I’m still left wondering. Why do I have the iPhone app?

30/30

Personally, I love it when an app becomes an integral and useful part of my life. This year my resolutions are to be more organized and productive which I started with a system of dedicated time towards writing this blog and other such projects I’d like to get started on. Going hand in hand with this I got the 30/30 app, a productivity timer to help me get some work done. Does it though?

Wonderputt

Golf games and touch screen devices go extremely well together like steak and potatoes. You can have a full on golf experience like EAs Tiger Woods franchise that's easily playable on iPad and iPhone alike and also have an arcade game like Flick Golf! Wonderputt is one such game that is only playable on the tablet and is interesting even if you don't like golf.

Road Trip 2

iOS games have a rep for being a platform not for hardcore gamers and I tend to stand in the middle of that statement. The platform has matured to include an array of classic games from older home consoles and it's own unique blend of games that follows a singular gameplay dynamic. Whether its achieving multiple set missions or goals or striving for 3 star scores on every level, it's liberating and fitting to have a pick up and play game that's convenient. Road Trip 2 has that prior mechanic of jumping and flipping to achieve similar goals that keeps the game going. But is it another run of the mill game that's quickly done and forgotten? Or does it stand up to the big boys of iOS gaming?