Travel – National Parks by National Gepgraphic
How you feel about national Parks will
largely hinge on whether you run the app on your iPhone or iPod touch or on
your iPad, and whether you download the add-on park guides.
National
Parks by National Gepgraphic
On a smaller device, it’s a competently
organized but not breath-taking set of facts and figures for 20 national parks,
describing weather, location, directions, sites, and facilities. On an iPad,
however, the view is outstanding. National Geographic uses the larger screen to
full effect, so there’s less tapping around to do. The How To Visit and About
The Park sections appear on each park’s main page, and helpful pop-up windows
lead you to park info, directions, and camping data. The map tab could still
use more-helpful labeling on the iPad. Each park section gives you the option
of downloading a full guide. You get one download for free: others are
available for $1 or $2. The Photo Tips section is a highlight, with an
impressive selection of park photos and tips on re-creating the images using
your own camera. Though National Parks is a worthwhile trip-planning tool, its
scope is limited to fewer than half of the 58 national parks. I’d like to see
other destinations such as Lassen Volcanic and Carter Lake given the same
treatment.
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Details
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App on
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iPhone/ iPad
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Price
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free;
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The Applier
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National Geographic Society
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Rating
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4/5
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Games – Disc Drivin’
Disc
Drivin’
Asynchronous turn-based games have been a
popular addition to the App Store. But Disc Drivin’ may prove that even the
most popular format has its limitations. Both the iPhone game and its iPad
counterpart, the $3 Disc Drivin’ HD, put you in control of a disc as you race
around a track. But that “race” is hardly pulse-pounding: the turn-based play
means you push the disc along with your finger, and then wait patiently for
your opponent(s) to do likewise before you can move again. Disc Drivin’ looks
to add some action with power-ups and obstacles. Unlike word games, drawing
contests, or even Battleship knockoffs, however, racing games don’t really lend
themselves to a turn-based approach. You can try a free, ad-supported version
to see if you can live with its slow pace. Me, I prefer to live life in the
fast lane.
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Details
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App on
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iPhone/ iPad
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Price
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$2
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The Applier
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Pixelocity Software
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Rating
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3/5
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Creativity – Paper by FiftyThree
Paper
by FiftyThree
paper, from design studio FiftyThree, may
be one of my favorite drawing apps ever to grace the iPad. The company has
found some magical way to turn charcoal, watercolors, markers, and inkwell pens
into lines of code that make beautiful artwork on the iPad. Paper has the best
digital rendering of any pencil tool I’ve seen, and its bright, gorgeous
watercolors have just the right texture on digital paper. The simply laid-out
app lets you sketch in notebooks or flip from drawing to drawing. Sadly, Paper
has a few major flaws: You can’t zoom in on the canvas, and it has limited
color swatches. Also, the watercolors don’t always work well with Paper’s
“pressure” rendering engine. FiftyThree has hinted at updates to fix some of
these issues; in the meantime, Paper is still well worth downloading.
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Details
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App on
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iPad
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Price
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Free
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The Applier
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FiftyThree
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Rating
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3/5
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Weather – Solar
Solar
app
Whether Solar tips what you already get for
free from Apple’s built-in Weather app depends on how much you value aesthetics.
The stripped-down interface is awfully pretty, relying on what Hollr calls
“Rothko-esque colorscapes” to describe current conditions: bluish hues for
cooler temps, orange and red tones for heat. Solar takes advantage of your
phone’s location-awareness features to display the local temperature, and it
can store up to 20 cities. Eye-catching though Solar is, I prefer Weather’s
five-day outlook. But the location-based component is handy, and Solar takes a
colorful approach to describing the weather.
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Details
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App on
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iPhone
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Price
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$1
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The Applier
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Hollr
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Rating
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3/5
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Finance – Personal Capital Baking and Investing
Personal
Capital Baking and Investing
The Personal Capital Web app is a great
tool for tracking your financial assets on any computer, but you can’t use it
with iOS devices. For that there’s the free Personal Capital iOS app, which can
track and manage personal financial info while you’re on the go. It also offers
a feature that isn’t available on the website: Universal Checkbook lets you
take a picture of a check from an account you track in Personal Capital, and
transfer money between accounts or send payments from your iOS device. You can
also connect with your financial advisor using FaceTime on your device. These
iOS apps extend the capabilities of an already excellent financial management
tool.
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Details
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App on
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iPhone/ iPad
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Price
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Free
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The Applier
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Personal Capital
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Rating
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4/5
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Games – SpellTower
SpellTower
The simple design of this iOS word game
hides some pretty diabolical challenges. Though the app’s controls can be a
little too challenging to use – particularly on an iPhone’s tiny screen – it’s
a great game for people who love wordplay. SpellTower scatters a bunch of
lettered tiles across a grid, and it’s up to you to formulate words from those
tiles. You can form words vertically, horizontally, diagonally, backward, or
forward. You’re not committed to any one direction: If you want to zigzag
across the board and reverse course. SpellTower lets you do so. The words you
form must be at least three letters long (although numbered tiles require
longer words). Once you’ve tapped out a word, those tiles disappear from the
board. The game throws in a few obstacles and bonuses, and offers multiple game
modes that keep things lively. The multiplayer feature is a lot of fun.
SpellTower is an entertaining way to flex your vocabulary, and one of the
better word games on the App Store.
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Details
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App on
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iPhone/ iPad
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Price
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$2
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The Applier
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Zach Gage
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Rating
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4/5
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Essential Apps
·
Task Masters
When we need to stay on task, these are the
iPhone to-do managers we turn to.
·
Todo:
4½/5 Doesn’t require a Ph.D. in
the Getting things Done system.
·
Toodledo:
4½/5 Combines customization and
intuitiveness to earn a prime spot on our iPhones.
·
Checkmark:
4/5 Offers a superior implementation of
location-based reminders.
·
Task Eater:
4/5 Colorful take on task management.
