iPad

All of the apps that we have reviewed that have iPad support and are available to use natively on the iPad. If an app is in this index, you won’t have the 2x iPhone app interface.

Photography / Reviews
LIFE_Digital_Photo_Guide

LIFE Digital Photo Guide for iPad

I had the great pleasure of reviewing Joe McNally's new book – The LIFE Guide to Digital Photography and at the time I had no idea that it was also available as an iPad App. If you're even remotely interested in digital photography this is one of those books that you just can't put down. I'm not sure what I expected in the iPad App. Sure I assumed I'd be able to flip through the pages, see and zoom in on the photos, etc. However, what I didn't expect was such an immersive experience complete with video. This App is a prime example of not only how to do it right, but what's to come in terms of digital learning on devices. As a kid I wasn't that interested in reading. I was easily distracted and even to this day I probably write more books than I read :-) Had there been these kinds of books/Apps as I was growing up I'd probably be a lot smarter today. While I certainly learn from reading what Joe has written here. I feel like I haven't really read the printed book at all. The reason is that in the App there are videos where Joe is explaining things and to hear his passion and the way he explains and illustrates a subject just can't come through in the printed word. Don't get me wrong, the printed word is important and is there in the App, but the use of audio, video and imagery makes this a totally different experience. 

 

Easy to navigate with onscreen help

One of the first things I noticed was the onscreen help telling you at glance what all the icons are for and how to navigate the App. This is important because otherwise you may miss something. I also like how it tells you with a side bar when there  are more pages to scroll down. This way you don't waste your time trying to flick every page up to see if there is more. If there is a shot that you want to know how it was captured you can usually tap and see the exact camera settings. 

This App is an example of how books should be done. I feel sorry for any "print only" publisher that isn't embracing this kind of technology. While the App does perform there were a couple of little glitches for example if I started watching a video and then rotated my iPad the page would refresh and the video would stop playing. Not the end of the world, but something that needs to be tightened up in an update.

You can get the LIFE Digital Photo Guide for iPad for $14.99 here from the iTunes If you're a photographer and you want to be inspired you'd be crazy not to get it!

Productivity / Reviews
SneakPeek

Preview InDesign and Illustrator CS5 Files on your iPad/iPhone with SneakPeek

 

The iPad is a popular gadget amongst graphic designers. With SneakPeek it just became a whole lot more useful. SneakPeek for iOS allows you to preview your Adobe InDesign CS5 and Adobe Illustrator CS5 directly on your iPad, iPhone or iPod touch. The concept is really quite simple. Both InDesign CS5 and Illustrator CS5 now have the ability to save embedded "previews" in their respective file formats. SneakPeek can use those previews to display on your iOS devices. This is extremely useful for viewing artwork from Illustrator, but it becomes even more useful because InDesign CS5 can now save ALL of the pages in the preview as well. With SneakPeek you can thumb through an entire InDesign document right on your device. The next question becomes: "how do I get these files into the App?" SneakPeek takes advantage of the "Open In" command found in Apps like Safari, Mail and yes…..Dropbox! I just wrote a post the other day on "5 Ways To Take Advantage of Dropbox" and now we have a great 6th way. 

 

How does it work?

The first thing you have to realize is that while this App does what it says, you still have to change a preference in InDesign to take advantage of it. InDesign CS5 by default will only save a "medium" quality preview and only of the 1st 2 pages of the file by default. You have to change your InDesign Preferences to save a larger preview (if you want it to look good on the iPad) and enable the All Pages option. Yes, this will make your InDesign files a little larger, but it is soooo worth it.

For Illustrator CS5 just make sure you have PDF Compatible File enabled in the Save dialog box.

Now that you've made your file the next question is "how do I get it on my iPad?" You have a few options. You can email it to yourself and use the Mail Open In command to Open the attachement in SneakPeek. You could post the file on a website and do the same command in Safari. Lastly and probably the best way is to put the file in your Dropbox  (get a FREE 2GB Dropbox account here) from your Mac or PC. Then using the FREE Dropbox App you can select the file and choose Open In SneakPeek to view it. Once the file is open you can just swipe through the pages and pinch to zoom. Awesome!

 

But wait, there's more

Seeing the file is cool, but you could do that already with a PDF version of the file. So SneakPeek takes it up a notch by also allowing you to see which fonts were used in the document, which images are linked as well as which colors and swatches were used.

 

The Bottom Line

This App is a must have for the InDesign and Illustrator users out there. It's also an Art Director's dream come true. While it does work there is one thing I'd like to see added in the next update and that is DIRECT support for Dropbox. Instead of having to open the document in the Dropbox App first and then move it over, I'd love to see the ability to log into my Dropbox account directly in the App. This is possible because I have other Apps that allow this. No need to stop there either. Might as well add direct support for MobileMe and FTP too. These direct connections would definitely earn a 5th star from me. However, there is no reason for a Creative Suite user not to grab this one immediately.

You can get SneakPeek for $9.99 here from the iTunes

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Games / Reviews
iTrivia

iTrivia: All about Apple

How well do you think you know Apple's history? Apple has millions of fans. Some just like the products, others are fanatics that eat, breathe and argue everything about Apple with anyone who will listen. Many are somewhere in between. The iTrivia App aims to test your knowledge of all things Apple.  This game randomly selects 10 questions per game. Some questions are super easy, some are very hard. I've owned a Mac since 1984 and there are still several questions that I've gotten wrong. I guess that puts me somewhere in between the typical customer and fanatic. :) In any case this is a fun game to play when you have a few minutes to pass the time.

There is also a catch

You only have about 25 seconds to answer the question. Not quite enough time to Google it :) There are over 500 questions/answers in the game so you're not likely to get bored to quickly. The questions range in the categories of Hardware, Software, People, History and Miscellaneous. This game is a Universal App so that it looks great on all iOS Devices. Sadly there's no option to phone a friend.

While the game is GREAT, I'd love to see some mult-player options as well as sharing scores via social media. 

You can get iTrivia for $0.99 here from the iTunes

Photography / Reviews
DSLR_Camera_Remote_Pro

DSLR Camera Remote HD for iPad

One of the things that I've always wanted to do from day one with my iPad is to somehow work it into my photography workflow and shoot tethered directly to it. Unfortunately this has not become a reality quite yet due to the restrictions that Apple imposes on what can connect and be controlled directly to/by the iPad. The good news is that onOne Software has come up with the closest, best solution to the problem that I've seen to date. Granted it requires a computer in the middle of the process, but it's really either that or nothing at all. 

 

How does it work?

The first thing you need is a compatible DSLR. It works with the most popular Nikon and Canon DSLRs. The next thing you'll need is a Mac or PC running the DSLR Camera Remote Server (free download). Your Mac/PC will need to be on the same WiFi/network as your iPad. You'll also need a long USB cable to tether your camera to your computer. You then turn on your camera and fire up the server App. At this point you should be able to connect to the server over your WiFi network from the DSLR Camera Remote HD App running on your iPad.  You can control many of the settings on your camera directly from within the App on your iPad. You can even bring up Live View (if your camera supports it) and see exactly what your camera is seeing in real-time on your iPad. This latest version not only supports my New Nikon D7000, but it also supports video controls too. I can use the App to start/stop recording as well as take still photos. This new version also allows you to save a low res version directly to the iPad's Camera Roll for quick sharing.

 

Lightroom Integration

By default the images captured from your camera are merely dumped into a folder of your choosing when you setup the server. There is an option to have a copy of those images automatically go into a Lightroom Watched Folder for auto import. This is the best of both worlds as someone could be reviewing and making picks on the computer in Lightroom as the photographer continues to shoot and review on the iPad. 

 

Use Case

While it would be nice to just be able to use the iPad connected directly to your camera, there are some cool use cases for using this setup wirelessly. One great scenario is shooting an event like a wedding. You could have a camera setup in a location like behind the minister/priest to get that angle of the bride and groom. This is sometimes a difficult location to have a physical person stand in as it detracts from the wedding itself. This way as the photographer you could see on your iPad exactly what's going on and know when to fire the shutter without being anywhere near the camera. Since it's WiFi you could even be in a different room. 

 

The Bottom Line

The onOne DSLR Camera Remote HD App is an elegant solution to a large (almost unsolvable) problem. They've done an excellent job in giving photographers the freedom to be almost anywhere nearby and not only control the camera, but also see the images that are being captured. All this in the palm of your hands with the iPad. While the App performs exactly as advertised I'd like to see a couple of small things addressed. For example, when you save a local copy of the image on the iPad there is no indication that it worked when you tap the button. It would be nice if it perhaps put a check mark on the thumbnail indicating that you saved that one to the iPad's camera roll. Also if you fire up the App and you don't have the server running you can't do anything. It just sits there with a blank screen and I know that really there's not a whole lot that you could do without the camera connected, but it would be nice to see perhaps the last cached thumbnails in the app. 

If you shoot in a studio environment or on location where you can setup an adhock WiFi network, this is a GREAT solution to have in your tool bag. 

You can get DSLR Camera Remote HD for $49.99 here from the iTunes

You can also get DSLR Camera Remote Professional Edition for your iPhone/iPod touch for $19.99 here from the iTunes

 

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Games / Reviews
Fantasy-Girls

3D Coloring Book For Kids: Fantasy Girls

I talk a lot about learning Apps for kids. I buy almost any App that I feel can make my twins learn faster, or easier, but like the old saying goes “you can’t have all work and no play” so I also buy up the best kids Apps that will keep my twins happy and entertained. Fantasy Girls is one of those Apps. One of four coloring Apps of the same design and function from this developer, each with their own set of characters to color; Fantasy Girls brings with it 10 cartoon girls, each with their own fantasy outfits and accessories. The simple, intuitive interface allows anyone from a toddler on up to get up and painting quickly.
 

How it works

Like I said, this is a very intuitive interface. Upon launching the App you are presented with an ornately decorated screen and the first cartoon character. A quick familiar swipe to the left will bring the next option to the screen. You continue to swipe until you find the character you wish to paint, at which point you tap to enter the painting screen. Once inside of the painting screen, the figure is devoid of all color. Your paint color options are on the right side of the screen (in horizontal viewing mode) with a small paintbrush hovering over the current selected color. Painting is easy. Once you have selected your color, you simply tap the area on your character that you want to fill with it and that area is instantly filled. Some areas (like the skin) will fill in with the same color even if the areas aren’t touching. The painting is aided by the ability to spin the figure a total 360 degrees by simply tapping on the half circle with the arrows in the upper left and upper right of the painting area. If you fill in an area by accident simply tap the undo button located in the lower left of the screen.

Once you have your figure painted the way you want, you can then add your character to a premade scene by tapping the two stars in the lower right corner. This takes you to the new “fantasy” background with decorating options replacing the paints on the right side of the screen.
 

A couple of additons

Once you’re done coloring and decorating that’s it. The only real option is to start over and do another picture. There isn’t an option (that I could find) to output the image other than taking a screen shot. I would like to be able to save the image to the camera roll or email it. The other thing I would like to see is the ability to pinch to zoom like in other iOS device Apps.
 

The kids love it!

My twins love this App. They will paint, and decorate over and over again. It really keeps their attention and allows them to develop their creative sides. As much as I want them to constantly learn things, I also want them to have a good time, this App allows them to do that.
You can get 3D Coloring Book For Kids: Fantasy Girls for the iPad for $2.99 here from the iTunes

You can get 3D Coloring Book For Kids: Fantasy Girls for the iPhone for $1.99 here from the iTunes

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