Apr 25, 2013

Jones on Fire is a fun little runner that will probably have folks doing a double take due to the unique look of the playing characters.

It looked very, uh, Lego-ey. And somehow, that wasn’t even the best part.

Folks like me who grew up as fans of the iconic chiidren’s building blocks, or have played console games based on their form (like Stars Wars or Batman) will understand. The simplistic block figures were endearing, and I thought they blended well with the unique background. The sharp colors added to the overall experience, with walls of fire retaining a menacing look even while contrasting with localized burns on the ground. I liked the little graphical things, like the look of the game store, decked out with green text and fireman’s pole. The entire atmosphere was almost as enjoyable as the game action itself.

Jones on Fire tells the story of the heroic Emma Jones, a firefighter who risks life and limb to save feline creatures. My job (via Jones) in this left-to-right sideways scroller was to find as many cats as possible and guide them to safety, avoiding spot fires, changing terrain, felled trees and the mammoth wall flame bearing down on me from behind. One trip, a mistimed jump or too early of a slide could cause the fire wall to engulf me and my cute cats. I was always running forward by default, and had to get myself and the cats to the firehouse.

The controls clearly were created with the same eye for simplicity that seemed to be reflected in the game as a whole. Two touches… that was it. A tap on the left made me jump; a tap on the right made me slide with momentum. This way, I could avoid fires, jump to touch-collect cats in the air, and slide under logs for cats cowering there. I could also jump up get power-ups.

There were plenty of power-ups to be had, paid for with the points I got from completing runs. The game got harder and more complex as it went to higher hazard levels.

It was one of the more engaging games I have played, and should be fun across generations.

Apr 22, 2013

Okay. I’ll admit it. I have a fear of sharks. But that doesn’t make me have to, like, turn in my man card, does it? Does it really count as a fear if it involves self-preservation instincts that most living humans have? No one gets cracked on for having a fear of lions, after all.

I’ll admit something else: I wasn’t too eager to review Hungry Shark Extreme. The cover art seemed ominous, and there is something about human legs dangling out of the mouth of a great white that gives me pause. I am ashamed to say that I did overcome my reluctance, and got into the game.

First, the graphics were topnotch. The watery habitat looked sharp, with plenty of blueish background imagery. The animations were especially eye-catching, with the developer re-creating the natural swish of swimming fished more than adequately. The sharks were intimidating, with teeth bared in menacing scowl, and I liked how the game engine guided the fish to scurry away from (or in some cases, attack) me. Attention was paid to the little things; seagulls splashing, the panicked strokes of scampering swimmers, the darkened hues of fading blood… it all looked quite realistic.

The gameplay itself was a clever combination of somewhat standard game scoring and basic marine structure. It was leveled play, and I got to man an entry-level shark, which in this case was a reef shark. I had to eat to stay alive, while avoiding water hazards such as jellyfish, mines, and even target fish that could bite back. With regards to sustenance there was a lot to pick from: multiple types of fish, seabirds and humans, each with different point values. Some fish could be victim and attacker, every now and then, I was accosted by a tasty scuba diver that was packing a knife. Too many attacks caused me to lose life.

To progress, I had to stay alive as long as possible, and accumulate points which made me grow. At a given level/point threshold, I could upgrade to a bigger shark and so on, like from the reef to a hammerhead and eventually a Great White. I could also use the coins generated from points to “evolve” my sea hunter, increasing attributes like speed, and also to but things that would protect me from jellyfish venom and mines. In-game purchasing existed, but it was possible to get on without it, albeit at a much slower pace. I liked the two types of control methods.

All in all, it was a creative adventure that I enjoyed more than I thought I would. I still don’t like sharks, but that probably means this game did it’s job.

Happy hunting.

Apr 9, 2013

One of the greatest attributes of the internet is the ability to self-publish. Music, blogs, voice… we get to connect with people in ways even Al Gore could not have imagined.

Being able to listen to podcasts on the go is great. I listen to a bunch of stuff in several categories, which makes reviewing Pocket Casts an interesting proposition.

It definitely excels in delivery. Its opening layout is an interesting mix of clean cut functionality and eye-catching colors overlaid on a stock crimson base. I discovered two or three blogs that I already listen to, as well as few others that seemed interesting right from the app home listing of featured podcasts. Swiping revealed listings for Popular, Top Videos and Networks and a categorized listing.

In the top left, the “Discover” tab beckoned, and I was helpless to resist. It invoked a menu of sorts, with search functionality, settings and counter (categorized into Unplayed, Audio, Video and Downloaded). I also found the ability to set up playlists. Using the presets listed, I was able to view a pretty extensive listings of current podcasts by that particular publisher ranked by date, and was also able to subscribe. What I loved was that when deciding to listen to any specific podcast, I was able to stream or download. I loved this feature a lot; having the option to manage consumption in this way was intuitive, and for folks with access to wi-fi, it’s great. I was able to listen while downloading too.

I especially liked the ability to preview podcasts without subscribing; this truly fit in with the discovery paradigm. The podcast pages could be likened to magazine preview pages, and contained the publishing information and metadata one would expect. the quality was quite good; I could not discern a difference in quality from the same podcast accessed from a full fledged terminal, nor could I complain about the stream vs downloaded content.

I liked that the developer incorporated stuff like sharing and sleep timers to round out the app.

Pocket Casts might draw a half-blink due to its price, but my impression was that it is hard to argue its value, even for casual listeners of podcasts. For hardcore users, I’d dare to describe it enjoyably essential.

Apr 9, 2013

Mega Run – Redford’s Adventure is a cool side scrolling running game from Get Set Games Inc. It serves as a counterpart/sequel to the cross-platform hit Mega Jump. In this iteration, the fun protagonist (Redford) is in search of his kidnapped siblings, and intends to get them back no matter what.

As far as side scrollers go, I thought Mega Run was plenty of fun. It pitted me as a running creature, running through a fantasy land of greenery, structures, opposing monsters and all the power-ups I could shake a stick at.

But first, I have to pay homage to the use of color. The developer did well to use soft colors to actually emphasize game animations. It was a rich bucket of visual fun, and it was created in such a way that I was able to enjoy every obstacle and every assist. The game visuals actually lifted my spirit, and the accompanying music was just as lighthearted.

The controls mainly had to do with either jumping, or jumping higher, so simplicity seemed to be a design element. The game demanded quick wits and reasonable timing of jumps, as there were numerous moving objects to collect or avoid. Collectibles included forest gems, coins, stars and attribute-enhancing power-ups (I especially liked the magnets). I had to race against time to get to the end of a stretch, and succeed ensured the unlocking of higher levels. A three star system measured excellence, and levels could be replayed infinitely.

In-game purchasing existed to speed up the unlocking of advanced levels. it was possible to play through without real world cash, but patience was needed in this regard.

The varied runs mixed in with leveled gameplay should be pleasing to most players, and the game is easy to pick up and enjoy without being overly simplistic. With numerous characters, a couple dozen power-ups and more, it had the doctor’s recommended daily allowance of fun and more.

Mar 26, 2013

We all love our distance running and driving games; they tend to be interesting, easy to understand and allow for mindless, quick fun. The Jump: Escape The City ties in this genre to the social upheaval that will clearly occur in about 500 years.

Set in a futuristic dystopian-looking society known as Monopolis, I had to escape the ominously-named World Corp goons who were after me, and I got to try to escape by jazzy vehicle.

The gameplay was fast and furious. The play area was a three-way highway, and in true distance running/driving style, it wasn’t as simple as just any other regular road; there were several obstacles and powerups. In addition, there was an ever-present, grim-looking helicopter just over my shoulder, waiting on me to crash or simply drive slow enough to catch me.

Using thumbs (preferably), I had to tap left or right to pick up objects or avoid the obstacles. I also could swipe up to jump, and swipe down to invoke specialized powers like temporary invincibility. The obstacles were interesting… collapsed roadways, random, bulky debris, abandoned vehicles and the like. The power cells I had to collect were green orbs. Before every run, I had the opportunity to select three power-ups for the chase.Some could be invoked manually, while some started up automatically.

As an added challenge, there were “speed-up” spots on the roadway, as well as opposing slow down areas. These were useful, but also had associated drawbacks. For instance, hitting too many of the former afforded me less control due to high speed. Going too slow made dodging easier but eventually allowed the helicopter catch up with me and end my run. The scoring system gave me points, and the in-game purchasing was in place to support that if it was too slow for me.

I liked the smoky, dusky look of the game. There was something about it that made me think of Mad Max… and the dark theme of the game reflected the despair. Bright color was used when needed. The 3D graphics were nicely rendered, and the animated sequences were pretty cool. I loved the achievements; they were varied and creative. I also liked the social sharing and the optional leaderboards. I do wish the game had landscape mode, though I somewhat understand the design perspective with regards to perspective.

The game did well to keep my attention, and has plenty of upside.

Feb 11, 2013

When it comes to reputation, Carbon is one of those apps that reached mystical status long before it released. With screenshots and hype from beta users, Carbon can be said to be one of the most anticipated Twitter apps Android has ever seen.

Thankfully, the wait is over.

Carbon tries to be a clean, functional Twitter conduit, and, as an opening gambit, it did look quite sleek. The stark black background with white font looked good, with the usernames and avatars displayed prominently. The animations were fun to see; for example, pulling down on the stream screen (which invoked refreshing) angled the screen and gave it an interesting transition perspective. Sliding left or right to the different screens also had a sort of cubing effect, which just made the app seem just a bit more, well, alive.

The main screen itself maintained minimal principles, with a post button, profile button and menu button residing onscreen at the bottom.

Functionally, Carbon is no slouch. First, it is able to manage multiple accounts. Entering accounts was easy as putting in credentials and getting a token. Swiping once or twice to the right of the Timeline got me to the Mentions and Messages screens respectively, which had the same feel as the Timeline screen. Long-pressing an individual tweet gave me an opportunity to reply, quote, re-tweet or star the tweet. It took me a minute, but I eventually that swiping with two fingers up or down to the top and bottom of the screen. It worked well with images and links.

The Menu button had links to starred tweets, lists, trending hashtags, search tool, filters and settings link. I could toggle notifications for mentions and messages in the Settings tab, as well as manage my Twitter accounts.

All in all, I found Carbon to be incredibly snappy, and fairly functional within its minimalist design. For convergence feens, the lack of other social networks may be off-putting, but to be fair, Carbon only promises to be awesome at Twitter, and I think it does. Also, jump-to-top wasn’t easy for me to figure out as I would have liked, and it’s a true shame that it isn’t yet optimized for tablets.

Still, I find no difficulty in proclaiming it to be one of the best Twitter clients on Android.

Jan 29, 2013

It’s a fact: reddit is where it’s at. As the so-called “front page of the internet,” reddit is the bulletin board of the 21st Century, packing in news, entertainment and everything in between… and beyond.

It’s only natural that reddit has naturally become the go-to mobile resource for, well, everybody. In this light, mobile clients like BaconReader are very welcome on Android.

BaconReader for Reddit collates most of the reddit experience for Android devices, serving as a bridge for Android redditors worldwide. To understand BaconReader, it helps to understand how it brings reddit features to the table.

The app interface is quite clean, with minimalist touches to the menu and reader. With grayish blue and white being the default color, there was the option to pick two other themes, which are just as easy on the eyes. Additionally, the app has five different fonts, ranging from “extra small” to “extra large.” I can also toggle full-screen mode if I so choose.

Usability is a big factor, and I thought BaconReader did well in this aspect. It allowed me to customize search option and default subreddit. I could also hide read posts, dabble in notifications and pick a refresh interval. I thought the settings menu was fairly thorough and worked well to streamline reddit.com within Android guidelines. It worked will with pictures and even .gifs. The Search functionality also worked well, allowing me to find subreddits discussing even obscure stuff. The app’s Front Page precisely matched the info on the webpage opened up on my laptop, and I was able to share thread links using other apps on my device. I was also able to manage threads and reply to them using the app.

Chalk BaconReader up as another one of those forum clients that I actually almost prefer to using than the full-fledged web portal. Why not? It’s clean, functional, and quite faithful to the premise of reddit.

Jan 21, 2013

It’s a New Year. Resolutions abound. Fitocracy might just be the tool to help folks keep the ones related to healthier living.

It’s an app that uniquely melds excessive with a competitive process that “rewards” completion of tasks. In doing this, it looks to avoid being just another fitness application, and to potentially become a full-fledged life coach.

The app itself comes with a mature, clean look, with trademark purple hues making a starring appearance.

The app is made up of three main pieces, accessible via the left side pane: Feed, Track and Your Profile. The Feed maintained my interactions with other “Fitocrats” all around. I could talk, encourage and request feedback from Fitocrats.

The Track section was where the party was at. Here, my exercises and activities were tracked for points. Fitocracy has a nice system of points and leveling up that encouraged exercise and the completion of “Quests” that generated bonus points. With the Quest Explorer feature, I could pick from a host of challenges to improve my status. Color-coded to indicate difficulty, these ran the gamut; there was stuff for beginners all the way through Olympians. I could also add exercise activities. For example, adding push-ups to my list gave me the opportunity to list reps and such, and completion yielded points, as well as a chance to share said activity to social networks.

The in-app Profile had my information, and summaries of how many points I needed to level up, along with portals for updating my status and taking pictures.

I thought the developers did a good job of making the app usable and easy to understand. I found it easy to use one-handed, and the point system was a pretty fun incentive. The social aspect of the app was a great idea. Also, the app had an online companion, which was another advantage.

Jan 11, 2013

YouMail is not new in the consumer space; as a smartphone program, the folks behind it help innovate the concept of visual voicemail. It;s recently updated Android port really brings out some of the best features to the forefront.

YouMail breathes life into voicemails, bringing nice visual presentation, call management, customized greetings, transcription and more in a tidy, functional third-party package. In doing so, I think it competes well with the ubiquitous offerings from carriers.

Getting started required me getting my forwarding number setup. Visually, the app was clean, and made us of colors well, as if keeping the pop for the voice mails. The voice mails themselves retained the clean look, with great use of fonts and the corporate colors as the backdrop.

I absolutely loved the answer options (dubbed “Smart Greetings” and customizable from web portal). With this, I was able to make customized voice greetings for people who called in to my forwarded number. There was an automatic toggle that pulled in the names of the caller and based a templated response based on that, or I could make truly customized responses for folks. I could not find a way to manage this from within the app, which was a shame. I could manage text responses from within the app though.

Another big plus is the web access. YouMail is available on the web for times that I wanted to make changes and adjustments from a terminal. Ease of access is such a bonus in my book.

One major drawback is that YouMail does not work with pre-paid services, and seems to be restricted to the major Stateside carriers. That’s a lot of goodness kept from a decent amount of folks. Also, Google Voice compatibility is something I was not able to resolve while writing this review.

But still, this app does serve a valid purpose, even in an app market chock full of visual voicemail options.

Dec 28, 2012

There was a time, not all that long ago, when cameras on phones were not too hot. The hardware was rudimentary, and the accompanying software bordered on the silly. Pictures were not that great.

Since then, it has gotten better… much better. So much so, that for many people, their smartphone cameras are the cameras for everyday use.

Snapseed (from Nik Software) is an app that looks to perfect the picture-taking experience. It is a photo-editing title that incorporates a lot of the features people have come to expect with apps of this type. Being chock-full of fan favorite filters definitely makes it an interesting offering.

I found the app to have a clean, simple interface which belied its bubbly functionality. It opened up with a quick diagram fitted with a test picture and an accompanying tutorial, which was simple but effective; it let me understand the basics of photo manipulation and enhancement. There was an automatic tab, as well as tuners for color, cropping, and more interestingly labeled filters like grunge, vintage and the interestingly titled “Drama” option. “Selective Adjust” allowed me to manipulate specific areas of my image on the fly.

Additionally, there were borders that could be added to give my images a somewhat formal finish.

I found the program intuitive enough to go in and play with right after the install; I especially liked the multitude of import options. The import tool pulled photos from Dropbox, my file manager of choice, or my device Gallery. For Google+ users, the one-touch share button will be welcome; I was also able to share to other apps on my device by using the built-in share option.

The unspoken comparison will be to Instagram; this app does not have the integrated social network that the Big Guy on the Block does, but in the enhancement department, I thought Snapseed more than held its own. The share functionality and cross-platform nature of the app definitely makes it a great creator of nostalgia though.

Dec 13, 2012

Even before Google had its name appropriated as a verb, MapQuest accomplished the same thing. MapQuest opened up the door to so many road adventures, and I still have stacks of printouts. In the days of preceding standalone GPS units and mobile software, TripTiks and printouts were what the cool kids did.

With decades of cartographic experience under the belt, MapQuest is almost made to make mapping products, and MapQuest for Android looks to explore that premise.

The user interface was clean, and looked functional without being cramped. The opening map showed my location with GPS on. Graphically, the mapping portion retained a business-like feel that i would have expected from MapQuest, with pinch-to-zoom working admirably. The navigation looked crisp, with focus seemingly given more to touch functionality than loud looks. The program switched to landscape effortlessly. Clean arrows and distance icons accompanied the mapped route.

Off the bat, there were fixed buttons to search for staples like food, accommodations, gas, hospitals and miscellaneous entertainment on the concealable and sliding bottom dock. I found this to be pretty convenient; especially since looking stuff up through the dock while navigation was quite easy. The search functionality did work well, and when available, I could access business location and “go” to the location. The Action tab was also a nice idea; it gave me access to a menu that allowed me to list written directions or edit the route on the fly. The voice used was faintly human, and it did an adequate job of communicating street names concisely. I especially liked the map touching functionality, whereby I was able to touch a point on the map and generate a route to it. I also found that the app re-routed pretty well as well.

Option-wise, the developer adds in toggles for satellite and nighttime views, giving the app a bit more versatility in different situations. It also boasts the ability to show real-time traffic, traffic cams and store map tiles locally.

I would have liked a more vibrant day view, and more options off the initial data entry or search. Giving multiple choices of navigation can be a positive, especially in places the driver is familiar with.

All in all, MapQuest is a great online option… good enough to pay for, in my opinion. The price makes it that more appealing, and it does compare favorably with the Android platform heavyweights.

Dec 13, 2012

Having tried every Twitter client there is for Android, I can confidently say that Falcon Pro stands out from all others. Falcon started as a widget for Twitter only, but is now available as a fully functional Twitter client that’s even better than the official app.

The interface is not as clean and polished as the official Twitter app, but that’s not to say it doesn’t look good. On the contrary, Falcon Pro‘s double-sliding menus and dark theme creates a unique Twitter experience. Swiping the main page to the right shows follower and following details, timeline and other filters including mentions, direct messages and retweets. The app settings page is also accessible from here. Swiping to the left shows Twitter lists, if any, as well as saved searches and trending topics.

Getting new tweets are done by pulling down and releasing the timeline. Individual tweet functions like retweets, delete, mute and share are all available by holding down a tweet from the timeline page. On the settings page, one can set how often the app refreshes the timeline, notification types, and enabling the Tweetmarker.

Two notable features in Falcon Pro that’s often missing from other apps are Tweetmarker and Mute. This is not very common among other Twitter apps, and doesn’t look to be a future functionality of the official Twitter app. I like the mute function for more control of the timeline, choosing which ones I want to focus on. Tweetmarker remembers where you left off when exiting the app, so it’s easy to get back on track when using it again even from another device.

The app boasts of fast load times, and it seems to hold true to that promise. Timelines refresh at fairly acceptable speeds, even with average mobile data connection.

Photos and videos included in tweets can be viewed inline using the app’s built-in web browser and video player. However, if one prefers to view media content with an external browser, this feature can be turned off in the app settings.

There are more things to like about Falcon Pro, and it’s clearly a very competent Twitter client that is not to be ignored. With a unique interface and lots of impressive features, this app makes tweeting extremely flexible.