Total Pageviews

Sunday 28 September 2014

Best iPhone and iPad apps of the week: FIFA 15 Ultimate Team and more!





It's been another week, and another batch of awesome iPhone and iPad apps are ready for the downloading. Football fans have a new version of FIFA to enjoy, plus there are a bunch of utilities that make use of new iOS 8 features.


Grab your iPhone or iPad and dive into our top ten favorite new iOS apps.


Asphalt Overdrive



Though there are cars on roads, and they're often doing the unlikeliest of barrel rolls after launching off ramps, this isn't quite an Asphalt game you'd expect. Instead of a full-bore racing game, Asphalt Overdrive is more of an endless runner, which has players quickly swiping to steer between lanes, trash competitors, and dodge obstacles.


Asphalt Overdrive follows a distinct 80s vibe in the game's background music and the cars available to unlock and upgrade. Many brand-name cars are available, and cosmetic customizations like paint jobs and decals will be available on top of more performance-based upgrades. Individual stages will require players smash other racers or get as far as possible in a limited amount of time, for example. Though Gameloft has dropped in-app purchases for the next Modern Combat game, they're alive and well in Asphalt Overdrive for accelerated progress.


For a fast, light, and retro-styled racer, Asphalt Overdrive does very well.



Just Dance Now



Players in Just Dance Now use their smartphone as a motion controller, and any screen with browser access as the primary game display. You need to match up with the movements of the dancer on the TV, laptop, or tablet, and are scored based on how closely you mimic the movements. If you're feeling brave, you can share video clips of your sweet, sweet dance moves to social media. Every day there are five new songs free to play, but if you want access to the full library, you can pay for playtime as short as an hour or as long as a year.


Just Dance Now is innovating mobile gameplay in a number of ways, and it will be interesting to see how the title pans out.



Anomaly Defenders



Anomaly Defenders brings to a close what is arguably the best tower defense series on Android. Mankind has finally pushed the alien menace back to their homeworld, and now players are tasked with repelling the counter-invasion. Like usual, you need to upgrade towers, expand research to improve their efficacy, and make split-second decisions based on how attacks change and environmental effects. The graphics are still gorgeous, and a rich campaign to chew through.


Strategy fans will have a ton of fun with Anomaly Defenders. If you're looking for more, Anomaly Korea, Anomaly Warzone, and Anomaly 2 are fantastic predecessors.



FIFA 15 Ultimate Team



FIFA 15 Ultimate Team is the latest game in the widely-known football franchise. Players pick their team from a current, real-world roster, set up formations, then hit the pitch. Bluetooth controller support is there for those that want to take the experience seriously, or you can opt for simplified touch controls if you want to take it easy. The freemium influence is strong here, with in-app purchases employed to help you build up a squad with your favorite players.


Footie fans will have a hard time resisting FIFA 15 Ultimate Team.



Smarter Than You



Smarter Than You is a bizarre online game of Rock, Paper Scissors about lying. Every turn, a player matched up with another over Game Center will pick one of three attacks, and include a cryptic message before locking in their decision. These messages are designed to mess with your opponent's choices. Over time you earn cosmetic rewards for your simplistic avatar, and can tip particularly wily rivals.


Smarter Than You is as much an interesting social experiment as it is a game.



GIF Keyboard



GIF Keyboard lets you drop animated images right into your iMessage and other conversations. Search for the perfect reactions straight from the keyboard, and save new ones locally in one tap from Safari. GIFs can be dropped in as direct files or links into WhatsApp, Twitter, Messenger, SnapChat, and e-mail.


Custom keyboards on iOS are still new, and if you haven't tried one out yet, this is your cue.



Manual



Manual offers just what the name implies: manual camera settings. In this case, you can adjust shutter, ISO, white balance, focus, and exposure compensation. Swipe up or down on any control to change it or hold down to turn it to auto. As you change any of these settings, you can also see what aperture your iPhone is going to pair it with, which can be useful for certain settings. After taking an image, you can see in-app all information on what settings were used in just a tap.


For a beautifully designed manual control camera app that's powerful and straight forward, be sure to check out Manual.



Jordantron



80s music fans will be familiar with rock band Dream Theater. Their keyboardist, Jordan Rudess, has launched an app for those looking to tap into their sound. 57 instrument samples can be employed either within the app with an included keyboard interface, or you can plug in your own MIDI-compliant keyboard and play from there. Store 32 different sets of settings to quickly and instantly change your sound.


Dabbling and serious musicians alike will likely find a few treats in Jordantron.



FitPort



FitPort is one of the first HealthKit-enabled apps out there, and it's built to track all sorts of body-related data. Steps, walking and running distance, flights climbed, cycling distance, calorie counts, weight and body fat percentage. Drop the data in manually, let your iPhone 6 or iPhone 6 Plus figure it out, or draw data from Bluetooth-connected fitness accessories via the Health app.


FitPort is a great-looking central hub for health data, and likely to be the first of money.



Post-it Plus



Post-it Plus is a simple note-taking app that turns real post-it notes into digital copies that can be organized and shared among colleagues. Just take a picture of your Post-it notes whereever they're stuck, and digital copies will be cut out from the background. Notes can be shared out to PowerPoint, Evernote, Excel, Dropbox, and exported as a PDF. Use this to collaborate with teams at work or just keep your grocery list



Your favorite new iPhone and iPad apps?


There's a lot of stuff that comes out in the App Store in a week. Let us know in the comments about your favorite new apps!
























from iMore - The #1 iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch blog http://ift.tt/1qInnYz

via IFTTT

No comments:

Post a Comment