@app-review Articles on TUAW - The Unofficial Apple Weblog

Share between devices painlessly with Instashare

by Shawn "Doc" Boyd (May 18th, 2013)

There will come a time when you would like to simply transfer a file from one iOS device to another or to a Mac; it's inevitable. When the time arises, you will discover as most of us already have that the process is not as straightforward as one would think, considering how powerful these devices ...

Daily iPhone App -- Zoombies: Animales de la Muerte is cute, arcade fun

by Mike Schramm (May 17th, 2013)

Zoombies is a fascinating little game. It's made by a company called High Voltage that is probably best known for the Conduit shooter series, though they've been making licensed games for years (I remember visiting the studio for a tour back when I lived in Chicago -- they were based out in the ...

Daily iPad App: NASA's Earth As Art shows us our beautiful planet

by Kelly Hodgkins (May 17th, 2013)

NASA has a series of excellent educational iOS apps that appeal to adults and kids alike. Most have a strong scientific bent, but if you lean more towards art than science, NASA has an iPad app for you, too. Mixing a little bit of earth and planetary science with a keen eye for art, NASA has ...

Daily iPhone App: Mosaique is an original and inventive puzzle game

by Mike Schramm (May 16th, 2013)

Mosiaque is a very original puzzle game that I haven't quite figured out yet. It appeared on the App Store a little while ago from a company called Winning Blimp, and the core idea of the app is that you need to clear the screen of colored squares by firing them in from the sides. The issue, ...

iOS Review: BrightNest makes finding a start to spring cleaning a breeze

by John-Michael Bond (May 16th, 2013)

I'm not an organizational wizard. Neither is my wife. We've got busy schedules, artistic personalities, and cleaning is often the last thing on our minds. Worst of all, when we do finally find time to clean things have usually gotten so bad we don't know where to start. Enter ...

Daily iPad App: Use Moldiv to quickly create a collage

by Kelly Hodgkins (May 16th, 2013)

JellyBus, the makers of popular iOS image-editing software PicsPlayPro, recently launched a collage-making app, Moldiv, and packed it full of features that'll appeal to creative types who are looking to throw together a beautiful collage. The first thing you notice about Modiv is the large number ...

Chills and thrills for your iPad with Haunting Melissa

by Michael Rose (May 16th, 2013)

A teenage girl alone in a remote farmhouse, an absent father, a boyfriend off at college... and a locked door that conceals a tragic secret. These are the creepy, chilling tropes on display in Haunting Melissa, a serialized video horror story delivered in the form of an iOS app available today on ...

Daily iPhone App: Steve Jackson's Sorcery is interactive e-book bliss

by Mike Schramm (May 15th, 2013)

I have to say -- the iPad is a terrific platform for interactive e-books, but so far, I haven't been very impressed by the options out there. I do use my iPad for reading a lot, but the vast majority of my reading is done in either iBooks or a comic book reader. It's very rare that I will pick ...

Buycott lets you boycott evil companies while you shop

by Michael Grothaus (May 15th, 2013)

An app called Buycott is giving iPhone owners the chance to make a political statement each and every time they shop. The concept behind the app is simple: when you're in a store, scan an item's UPC code to see what parent company owns the product. "What company owns the product?" you might ask. ...

Daily iPad App: Sid Meier's Ace Patrol is an excellent game sold badly

by Mike Schramm (May 14th, 2013)

My birthday was last week on May 6, and Firaxis must have heard about that because in recent weeks they've released not one, but two great turn-based strategy games. First, Haunted Hollow was released as a great, original free-to-play title, and now the legendary Sid Meier (of Civilization and ...

Daily iPhone App: Zello lets you chat walkie-talkie style with friends, co-workers

by Kelly Hodgkins (May 9th, 2013)

After years of living in an area with no cell service -- but with a very active radio tower -- I grew accustomed to talking with my husband using a ham radio instead of text messaging. Now that cell coverage has improved, we no longer use our ham radios and have switched to the iPhone. To ...

Daily iPhone App: Wizard Ops Tactics offers well-made tactical battles

by Mike Schramm (May 8th, 2013)

Wizard Ops arrived on the App Store a couple of years ago -- it was a wild and wooly take on magical combat that played more like a shooter than a fantasy RPG. Developers Phyken Media have now returned to the world of Wizard Ops, though not the genre, with a new title called Wizard Ops ...

Feed Wrangler: A subscription-based RSS reader for web and iOS

by Matt Tinsley (May 8th, 2013)

Feed Wrangler (US$19/year) is David Smith's subscription-based RSS aggregation and syncing service for web and iOS devices. If you're a Google Reader user, you're probably aware that the service will shut down on July 1st. This means you'll either go back to browsing your favorite news and blog ...

Daily iPad App: Leviathan Warships features sweet, turn-based boat warfare

by Mike Schramm (May 8th, 2013)

First of all, go enjoy the wonderful trailer for this game. If you're not sold on Leviathan Warships (US$4.99 on the App Store) after watching that, then I'm not exactly sure what else you want. Leviathan Warships is a turn-based naval strategy game. Your job is to guide a series of ships ...

Daily iPad App: Draw This App challenges you to refine your drawing technique

by Kelly Hodgkins (May 7th, 2013)

Aspiring artists may want to grab their stylus and check out Draw This App from Peter Hamilton. The app improves your drawing skills by practicing your copying technique and challenging you to do better each time you sit down and draw. The app is basic in its scope and is designed for beginning ...