Welcome to our weekly installment of Picks of the Week at iSource where we provide our expanded coverage of Apple accessories and applications. Here we will promote our favorite iPhone, iPad, iPod, Mac and Apple TV related items, as well as bring you occasional tips and tricks. Hopefully many of our favorite items will also be of interest to you. Please feel free to comment on our selections, and suggest picks of your own. Check out this week’s picks after the break.
HBO Go [ v 1.4 ]
Picked by: Jay
This week I am highlighting the service HBO GO as my pick. Similar to Netflix, Home Box Office is offering access to their library of shows – movies, sports, series, documentaries, etc. – as an online service as well as an app for iOS, Android, Samsung, XBox, and Roku. The iOS app isn’t without its critics who point out that it doesn’t work with Apple TV or AirPlay (or even HDMI), but if you don’t own those things, it’s hard to be critical.
According to the website:
Get unlimited access to your favorite HBO shows, including original programming, hit movies, sports, comedy, and much more. Plus, get extra bonus features and special behind-the-scenes extras. Enjoy every episode of every season of the best HBO, free with your HBO subscription through participating television providers.
Recently, my cable company showed up on that list of participating television providers which means I finally I feel like I am getting my money’s worth! Using my cable company-owned DVR to find a movie on HBO is a pain, and few movies I really want to see are in the recycling list of offerings. For months I’ve considered dropping HBO, but I am grandfathered in on a plan that doesn’t exist anymore – familiar to those of us still using AT&T unlimited.
Using HBO GO, I can create a Playlist of shows, start, stop, and return to a show where I left off, such as watching in bed with earphones on so as not to disturb my wife. So my original iPad and I enjoy streaming shows that I have heard a lot about (including Curb Your Enthusiasm) but had never seen.
If you have an HBO subscription, why not take a look at using HBO GO? After all you deserve something for your customer loyalty to television!
Free [ iTunes ]
Byword for iOS [ v 1.0 ]
Picked by: Alex Jordan
My pick this week is Byword for iOS. As of late, I’ve been trying out different word processors to do my writing with. For years I would write up short posts in MarsEdit, or a longer post in Pages. I have been using iA Writer lately, on both the Mac and iOS. The syncing of documents over iCloud is a wonderful thing. Now, I’m trying out Byword on iOS. It is based on th same principle as iA Writer. That is, the concept of minimalism. Byword is dark, but feels lightweight, while iA Writer has a comforting big blue cursor. Not to be outdone, Byword also has iCloud syncing, while also offering far better (Multi)Markdown support for nerds like me. It’s definitely worth a try, and as of right now, I think I like it better than iA Writer. For a side-by-side comparison with iA Writer and WriteRoom, check out Thomas’ recent review.
$2.99 US [ Link ]
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Taposé – Collaborative Content Creation [ v 1.0.0 ]
Picked by: jhrogersii
This Pick of the Week comes with a few caveats, but is still definitely worth your time and consideration. Tapose is an new app for the iPad that allows you to do some very unique things. It is so unique, in fact, that it took four months of back and forth with Apple to finally get the app approved. So what sets Tapose apart? It is the only app in the App Store that allows you to essentially do split screen multitasking on an iOS device.
Thanks to Apple’s restrictions on multitasking and widgets, Tapose’s split screen views are limited to elements that Apple makes available to any app, such as the Webkit Browser, Maps, Contacts, and Audio Recording. However, it’s the way that the app presents this information side by side, and then allows you to work with it that really sets it apart. For example, you can have a drawing page open to take notes, have an audio recording of a class lecture or meeting open, and in the other side of your split screen, a browser window open where you can look up additional information. You can also copy and paste images, or selected areas of the web page (as well as a map view, or Contact’s information), and paste them right into your notes. And, when you are done, you can easily export your work to Evernote or Dropbox.
So Tapose is the best thing since sliced bread, right? Not exactly. That’s where the caveats come in. I love the creativity of this development team, and the fact that they were willing to fight Apple tooth and nail for their idea. It was worth fighting for. I love what this app can become. Unfortunately, probably thanks in large part to all the work necessary just to get Tapose in the App Store, it isn’t fully baked yet. Sure, I can draw and type text with the app. Everything works…sort of. Does it always work together? Not so much. Unfortunately, the refinement just isn’t there yet.
Nowhere is this lack of polish more evident than the extremely clunky operation of Tapose’s text zoom box.
It advances sometimes when you don’t expect, and sometimes doesn’t advance to the next line when you need it to. Also, the fact that it covers the majority of the drawing screen that you are working with means you can’t see what is below. Add to this the fact that the text doesn’t auto-align to the grid when you choose lined paper, and you are missing key elements that will be found in competing products. When you consider that Tapose is, at its core, a notetaking app, the fact that it can’t even come close to the features you would find in other more established apps in this category for the iPad makes it hard to choose it when its time to get down to business.
With all that said, however, I still bought this app for $2.99, and I am not at all sorry that I did. The more people that buy Tapose early on, the more money that will flow into its continued development, and that is a good thing. We should all want this app to succeed, both because of how unique it is in the App Store, and for how it may blaze a trail that will inspire other developers, and get Apple to relax some of their policies. All in all, $2.99 is a small down payment on what I think will be eventually be an amazing app. Click here to see Tapose in action.
$2.99 [ iTunes ]
Tracey Browne Everyone Is Ordinary [ v 1.2 ]
Picked by: PratrickJ
This is an album / app – an album released initially as an iPad app. I like this as a concept – I think when done well this takes you back to the days of vinyl albums and all the things that came with them – background on the making of the album, artist photos, lyrics and so forth. This app offers some great behind-the-scenes photos in a nice gallery, lyrics that can be toggled on and off on each song, and a few videos. The reason I listed album before app is that the best thing about this is the great music. This is one of those very rare albums where there’s not a single bad track. Browne has a unique voice, and is a talented songwriter.
I also just love the backstory on this. Browne has no manager and no record label. In addition to being a singer and songwriter she’s an experienced sound engineer – so she was heavily inolved in the production side of this as well. Oh, and it was all recorded in a church near Manchester. I’d love to see more artists do album apps for the iPad.
Free [ iTunes ]
Paper [ v 1.0.6 ]
Picked by: AliciaB
My Pick this Week is Paper for iPad. This drawing app is deservedly getting praise and attention this week for its innovative and deceptively simply UI and jaw-droppingly gorgeous brush effects. It’s a free app that comes with 1 brush but its makers know that you won’t think twice about buying at least one of the 4 remaining ones. And I did end up buying all brushes. They make these things too easy.
I feel “Paper“ may be a bit of a misnomer. It’s an app all about colour and sketching. In its current offering, the app offers an ink pen, coloured pencils, markers, a ballpoint pen and paintbrush and includes a basic palette of 9 colours. Yet that description does not convey the outstanding execution of the tools and canvas and the myriads of possibilities that they offer. The sky is already the limit with this toolbox. Kids will love it. Adults will love it. Heck, professionals will love it.
Using the ink pen or paintbrush for the first time is quite simply a revelation. Who could have imagined being able to paint with watercolours on a tablet? The results are stunning. This is an app that you can use to show naysayers and sceptics what the iPad is capable of. To quote Apple, don’t ever let anyone say that you can’t create content on an iPad.
Indeed.
Free [ iTunes ]
There you have it! Hope you enjoyed this week’s installment of Picks of the week. Please let us know what you think, and share with us some of your favorites.
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