Each of these games operates less from a real sense of story than a suggestion of a narrative. Temple Run is little more than an endlessly long expansion of that scene from Raiders of the Lost Ark where Harrison Ford runs away from the boulder (except instead of a boulder it’s a bunch of angry spirit-chimps that are chasing after you). Canabalt, by contrast, sort of feels like the early scenes of The Matrix or The War of the Worlds. Something bad is happening and it involves giant evil robots. You’re not sure why you’re running, or where you’re supposed to go. In both, you just keep going. Instead of words, there are only frantic footsteps and the occasional grunt of effort.
Well written, fairly thought provoking essay on the simplicity of both popular iOS games. Yannick also makes a case for the addictive qualities of running, both in game and in real life.
Clever, streamlined note taking app from Agile Tortoise. Its speed is really slick; I’m able to write a quick note almost as fast as I tap the icon, and it’s exportability to Markdown really comes in handy for WordPress on the go. With a single action I can easily fire off a message as a tweet in Tweetbot, a nice touch.
Nevertheless, a lack of Dropbox integration is pretty much a deal breaker for me at this point. I can manually copy clipboard contents over to Notesy, but it’s cumbersome and it largely defeats the speed benefit this app has over others. I really liked Ben Brooks’ suggestion on an integration path:
I want Drafts to have a button that I can send the .txt file for the Draft to a folder in my Dropbox. Not every note needs to go there, but I want to be able to send one if needed.
If Drafts gains Dropbox functionality in a later version, I’d probably give it another shot. Then again, my workflow is far more Dropbox centric than probably most. It’s well worth a look for almost anyone else, especially at its very reasonable $0.99 price.
Minimalist text editors of the likes of WriteRoom have been growing in popularity lately, both in terms of their user base and the download options in the Mac App Store. That’s a great trend. I’ve found text editors to be a wonderful tool for writing, and the more users that come to the same conclusions, the better. But which app is the best option for your money? I’ve spent the past few weeks on this subject comparing three popular options: Byword, iA Writer and WriteRoom.
Byword is the newest of the three text editors I tested. The app offers some, but not all, of the customization of the more mature WriteRoom. It’s a hybrid approach that picks and chooses elements from both programs and spins them off in a new direction.
On the positive side, I found Byword’s features set striking a good balance between flexibility and minimalism; enough customization for users to write in a way they feel comfortable, yet not so much to feel overwhelmed. In addition, I’d predict Byword will push the ball forward more than its competitors for raw functionality in future releases. I already find its markdown and HTML export support to be more robust than its competitors, along with providing a slick HTML and Markdown preview functionality the other tested text editors don’t offer at all. Finally, I can’t overlook that at $10 it’s half the price of its competitors. That’s a factor for those on the fence about spending money for a text editor with such a seemingly simple purpose.
Like its iOS counterpart, the Mac App Store excels in its variety; I regularly scan the top download lists and I?ve stumbled on a few inexpensive, focused apps that fit my interests well.
While there?s been at least six such apps that I?ve tried since the App Store?s debut, two have gotten by far the heaviest use: Folder Watch, a file syncing utility and Minutes, a simple, colorful timer app. I?d recommend checking out both. Continue reading…
Since the Mac App Store opened yesterday and general online hysteria ensued (seemingly around 30% of my Twitter content focused on the App Store) I, like almost every other tech guy on the planet poured over the interface and content in depth. Now that I’ve had a day to get my hands dirty, I wanted to elaborate with a few thoughts and, in a sea of 1000 plus initial applications, a few download recommendations. Continue reading…
As attention turns to Mac applications with Apple’s upcoming launch of the Mac App Store, it’s worth highlighting the work of three small, independent teams that I use regularly: Helvetireader, Alfred and Hibari. All have the hallmarks of what makes the indie Mac software scene so great, namely focused functionality, minimalist design and excellent value for the money (two of the three apps are free.)
The three I’m highlighting today cover high trafficked areas of many users’ workflow: Quick app launching and web browsing, RSS feeds (in the form of Google Reader) and staying abrest of the latest on Twitter.
There’s something paradoxical about the current state of the iPad that I find both thrilling and disturbing. On one hand, the iPad is clearly a commercial success: Sales are very high and the device has been almost universally praised by the tech press for its hardware. Yet what about the software? While the iPad app market has increased exponentially, I find the often conservative design and nature of what’s out there a bit disheartening.
Too many purchases are simply an upscaled version of an existing iPhone app with the surface area quadrupled, an “HD” slapped on the title and a doubling (or more) of the price. The UI can often be slower, more cumbersome and at times flat out boring compared to a similar iPhone counterpart.