App Smart Apps That Make the Most of iOS 7 By KIT EATON Consumers have been lining up worldwide to buy Apple’s new iPhones, even braving a typhoon in Japan. The new phones are also running on new software, the iOS 7 operating system. If you are among the nine million people who bought a new iPhone 5S or 5C during the first weekend of sales, or have just updated your old device’s software, you will want to try some new apps that make the most of the new capabilities. One of the best tests for the new iPhones is the graphically intensive game Infinity Blade III. It’s a 3-D fantasy-battle game in which you fight your way through a mystical world, slashing with a sword controlled by finger swipes. The game is exciting, and the graphics are its most impressive feature. They are highly detailed and are about the same quality as graphics on a gaming PC a few years ago. Infinity Blade III’s battles are a little repetitive, but the game is remarkable enough to warrant its $7 price. Testing the new phones’ camera is also a must. But no matter how good the camera is, there’s always room for improvement. For editing photos or adding special effects like filters, try Aviary’s Photo Editor app. This app is one of my favorites for photo-tweaking thanks to its straightforward interface and powerful effects, like blurring of images or adjusting their contrast. The app’s interface has been improved to align with iOS 7’s clean, simple look. A few improvements have made it easier to use, like putting the special filters, photo frames and customizable stickers in one location — the new “Supply Shop.” Best of all, the app is free, although many effects add-ons are not. It’s around $2 for a pack of filters. A different but cool photo-effects app is TiltShiftGen 2, which adds a special distortion to a photograph so it looks like an image of a miniature or model, instead of a photo of the real world. The app looks great on iOS 7, and the controls are all simple, with intuitive gestures. TiltShiftGen is just $1. For an unusual way to read the news, try Flipboard. This app aggregates news items from many sources. It presents items in a graphics-heavy display controlled through finger swipes to “flip” the screen to the next article. You can explore news items more deeply by tapping on them, and share what you’ve discovered over e-mail or perhaps Twitter. The app is customizable by news sources and categories, and it has been updated to look at home on iOS 7 — including subtle animations of the images when you tilt your iPhone. It’s highly useful, and it’s free. Apple’s own music-playing app is built into iOS, but for a different experience check out the free Soundwave. This app is about discovering new music via a social network. For example, it can show music that your Facebook friends have played recently. More exciting is the “music map” feature, where you draw a circle on a map of your current location and the app tells you what people are listening to in that area. You can even hear snippets of music, so you can decide if you’d like to buy it later. To show off the geo-location and processing powers of your phone, try the $1 app Night Sky 2, an augmented-reality guide to the heavens. It will show an image of the stars and planets above your head along with data on each one as you hold your phone up to the sky and move it around. It’s fun, educational and futuristic. Finally, Twitter has long been one of the best social-networking apps for communicating with friends. It’s also a great way to keep abreast of the news in real time. The Twitter app has just been updated to suit iOS 7’s look so it’s visually clean and simple. The iPhone’s voice-controlled digital assistant, Siri, can now search within Twitter’s messages, making it easier to find information. If you’re new to the iPhone or haven’t yet tried Twitter, now’s a great time. It’s free. Remember to check out the “near me” tab in Apple’s App Store app, which may uncover many more cool new apps that people nearby have downloaded. Quick Call Moves is a popular activity-tracking app on iOS. It’s designed to log where you’ve been as you’ve walked or run as part of a fitness regime, and then displays the data in a simple and beautiful way. It’s just arrived on Android, and it’s free.
Posted on: Sat, 28 Sep 2013 05:08:17 +0000
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