eXtensions: AMITIAE

AMITIAE - Thursday 7 March 2013

Updated apps for iOS Devices: a Bumper List of Twelve (Dropbox, WriteRoom, Twitter, et al) - Amended

By Graham K. Rogers

Apps

I found a bumper list of 11 updated apps this morning with some of those I use daily, including:

Dropbox

While I use iCloud for synching a number of iPhone, iPad and Mac applications, such as the calendar and Photo Stream, it does not have the flexibility that Dropbox allows. I can just dump a file into the folder on my Mac at home and it is available on the office iMac; and on the way in the taxi, I can check the file on the iPhone if I need. There is no specific change to the 2.1.3 update to Dropbox which shows bug fixes and performance updates.

WriteRoom

I have found that the way WriteRoom synchronises with with DropBox on Macs and iOS devices has made this one of the most useful apps I downloaded in the last few months. The update to version 3.2.4 shows a couple of useful improvements to performance: the clipboard issues that some users found with iOS 5 have been fixed; and the Airbrake crash notifier has been removed.

Twitter

Another app that has several airings a day is Twitter. As well as local chit-chat some of the news organisations are using this now so I find a quick heads-up to what is going on. Version 5.4 has improvements and enhancements to the search facility. The notes report that "as you search, you'll see more topic and user suggestions. . ." and that these will also be seen "when adding a hashtag or username as you compose a new Tweet." A second note reports that Top Tweets from the past will appear when searching for a specific term.

More updates to the app are that when a web page is opened, the related Tweet can be seen for more context; long conversations are easier to see; blockig a user will instantly remove their Tweets; improved "pull to discover"; support for Traditional Chinese; Logout support (iOS 6); uploading videos via Mobypicture, Vodpod and Posterous is no longer supported. There are also bug fixes and other improvements.

Carat

When the Carat app was first released I reported on it then and my review is online. The is an app from Berkeley and is designed to test and report on battery usage on iOS devices. It is not instant and takes a week or so to collect data so that accurate reports are available. The 1.0.6 update to Carat has a fix for a critical compatibility bug that broke the app on devices that were running older versions of iOS.

NASA App

One of the more visible US science programs is NASA and as well as shooting for the stars, the organisation has valuable educational resources online and by way of apps. The update of the NASA App to version 3.0 is significant as this has been redesigned as a universal app (iPhone, iPad and iPod touch) with the version for the iPad receiving a new interface that matches the iPhone version.

In addition, NASA report a new global search function for the home screen; a new view for missions that allows better interaction and accessibility; a new split-screen view for videos on the iPad; easier to use feeds menu; Solar system and Beyond now on the Phone and moved to the Features section of the iPad; as well as improved browser for images, with captions and better handling of high-res formats.

Haiku Deck

Although I tend to make my presentations using Apple's Keynote on iOS devices, there are other apps that are available such as Haiku Deck. A total update bringing this app to version 2.0 has seen a large list of changes to Charts and Graphs; Lists, Image Management, Sharing, and an In-app Gallery. A number of other features and updates are also included.

WaterMyPhoto

This simple app has the basic feature of adding an upside-down mirrored image to the bottom of a photograph, to make it look as if the subject is in water. This can be very effective if the right subject is used (as well as having a joke effect with some subjects). The update of WaterMyPhoto to version 2.1 tells us that this app has now been optimized for the iPhone 5.

Huffington Post for iPad

As an alternative news source the Huffington Post has a certain place in the collection of those interested in staying up to date although the methods and content may not suit all. Nonetheless, it does carry a lot of news and the latest update of the Huffington Post for iPad app brings this to version 4.0.1 with a number of improvements: Big fixes; bookmarked articles are saved for offline reading; text size can be adjusted using the menu; and there is faster loading of images.

Tango Text, Voice, and Video

There are a number of ways that it is possible to communicate with others using iOS devices (FaceTime, Skype, Line, What's App, Viber et al). Tango has a certain value and a number of those I work with use this from time to time. The update of Tango Text, Voice, and Video to version 2.7.39546 (that really is the number) has a new design that apparently makes it easier to find a number of features (that are in-app purchases); photographs may be customized with filters and text; and the app is now available for the iPad.

Evernote

I downloaded Evernote as one of the first apps when I had an iPod touch, version 2 a couple of years or more ago, but while many people rate this highly, it did not suit me. Nonetheless, it is now at version 5.2.3 and this update to Evernote addresses a security issue that was widely reported earlier in the week when Evernote reset all passwords to protect its users.

Dolphin Browser

There is an alternative to Safari on iOS devices. There are a couple actually and one of these is the Dolphin Browser which is nicely organised, although not as well integrated into other apps (like Twitter or Facebook) to make it the automatic choice. A number of improvements are reported for the update to version 7.2.1 with fixes to the orientation and the keyboard issues; more stable server support; and optimized memory utilization.

Genius Scan - PDF Scanner

A later release that I saw initially on the iPhone, brings the apps updated to twelve today. The Genius Scan - PDF Scanner app is one of my favourites and gets a lot of work thrown at it, especially if I have to pay money into a bank and the company wants visible evidence of the pay in, as happens with some companies here. Although I originally reviewed this in June 2011, I made that review available again late last year when I examined a similar app.

Genius Scan is an excellent example of a developer's work and I use it often. The Grizzly Labs who created the app have updated it to version 3.1.8 with a fix for a bug that caused large PDF files to be generated even when small ones were selected; and there is a fix to non-English translations in the camera view.

Graham K. Rogers teaches at the Faculty of Engineering, Mahidol University in Thailand. He wrote in the Bangkok Post, Database supplement on IT subjects. For the last seven years of Database he wrote a column on Apple and Macs.

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