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Best Mac Apps of July 2014

I’ve already shared my best Mac games of July 2014, so here are my picks for the best Mac apps of July. We’ve got a great presentation app, a super tool for users concerned with on-screen graphics elements (in app and web design, especially), an important update to a popular music app, and a terrific productivity app.

Flowboard

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Flowboard is presentation software that started its life on iOS, as an excellent tool for building compelling presentations on the iPad. That same sensibility informs the Macintosh version of the app, which came out mid-July. Flowboard presentations are almost like interactive apps: navigation elements, links to documents, videos, image galleries and more. It’a a remimagining of how presentations work — a very different take on the idea that PowerPoint or Keynote. The presentations can be viewed on any platform by anyone.

If you’re already familiar with Flowboard on iOS, the Mac version incorporates some new features like shape creation tools, a full color wheel and opacity control, rich text support, Vimeo videos, very exact positioning and sizing tools, and a full array of Mac keyboard commands.

Xscope 4

Xscope in action

OK, Xscope 4 actually came out late in June, but I’m including it anyway because it’s really cool. If you work with on-screen graphics and layouts, Xscope is a terrific tool for measuring, inspecting and testing your designs. You can compare your layout with how it will look on various screens using different templates, display guides, use rulers and more.

Xscope 4 adds new text tools with search, text deciphering, reformatting and conversions; also new are overlay tools to help you check elements on your page, grides with breakpoints to simplify responsive web design and more.

Capo 3.1

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Capo is a musician’s tool to help learn how to play the songs you love. Listen to anything in your iTunes library. Capo can slow it down without affecting its pitch, so you can practice along to learn the track. It will automatically generate tablature for you, displays chord shapes in various tunings, lets you loop regions and more.

The 3.1 release, which came out in July, sports two important new features: Chord Intelligence, which now automatically detects chords when you open a song, and iCloud sync. Why is iCloud sync important? Because it works with the equally awesome (and brand new) Capo Touch for iOS, syncing your project seamlessly.

LaunchBar 6

LaunchBar

OK, again, I’m cheating, because LaunchBar 6 came out in June, but I’m technically not cheating because it was updated in July. Anyway, LaunchBar is a fantastic productivity tool that provides you with instant access to apps and documents, speedy file management, searching on the web and desktop, clipboard history, snippet management and more. LaunchBar keeps you fingers on the keyboard where they belong, making you faster and more productive.

LaunchBar 6 was completely redesigned user interface that can now be themed, support for the anonymous web search tool DuckDukGo, live Calendar input feedback, new indexing rules to support emoji and Mavericks Finder Tags, and more.

What are yours?

I’m sure I left some out. What new Mac apps did you discover in July that are worthy of note? Let me know in the comments.

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Weekly Photo Contest: the Birds and the Bees

Photo submission by co_mtn_grl

With summer in full swing, there is no shortage of sunshine to enjoy, and you can’t help but see all kinds of flying things while you’re out there. This week the photo contest theme is Birds & Bees, because they are both plentiful this time of year! Have some fun with this one, but be careful and don’t get stung. Take your best shot and maybe you’ll be the winner next week!

The contest begins now and ends Tuesday August 5th at 11:59 PDT. Good luck!

It’s also time to announce the winner of our last photo contest! And the winner is…

iPhone 5 edited with snapseed, tadaa slr & dramatic black & white

Congrats to forum member Pulsedriver for snagging a win in our Black & White photo contest. We were mesmerized by this shot. The composition is just fantastic. Great job Pulsedriver! We’ll be contacting you shortly to collect your prize!

Now on to the details of this week’s photo contest…

The prize: $25 iTunes gift card

The winner of this week’s photo contest will snag a $25 iTunes gift card to use towards whatever they want in both iTunes and the App Store! Been eyeing some new photo editing apps you’d really like to get your hands on? Here’s your chance to snag some of them, compliments of iMore!

The rules

Submitted photos must have been taken with an iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch.

We’ll check the EXIF data of the original file to verify and any edits must have been done with an iPhone or iPad app. No Photoshop, Lightroom, or other external editing programs! If you have external lens accessories such as an Olloclip or other snap-on lens, you are more than welcome to use them.

You can submit as many photos as you’d like, but remember, this is a contest, so make sure you submit your best work!

Resources

Now, before you run off to take your photo, remember that it’s not technical skill alone that will claim this prize. Even if you’re not the best photographer (yet!), a great eye and a great subject can still get you the win.

However, a little help can never hurt, so make sure you check out our iPhone photography series for some tips.

How to submit

Submitting your photos is easy. just head over to the iMore Photography Forum and post your photos to the official contest thread. Don’t forget to state what device you have and which apps, if any, you used to edit your photo!

That’s it! Now go out and shoot!

ENTER NOW

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Sprint expands 4G LTE network to 17 more markets

Sprint expands 4G LTE network to 17 more markets

Sprint is making an aggressive roll out behind its 4G LTE network, bringing its high speed mobile broadband access to n additional 17 more markets. The addition of these markets span across the United States.

Here are the 17 new additions to Sprint’s 4G LTE network:

Eureka/Arcata/Fortuna, CA
Redding, CA
Bethesda, MD
Dubuque, IA
Danville, IL
Marion/Herrin, IL
Mt. Vernon, IL
Hopkinsville, KY
Rochester, MN
Hattiesburg, MS
Auburn, NY
Buffalo, NY
Utica, NY
Bloomsburg/Berwick, PA
Indiana, PA
Pittsburgh, PA
Eau Claire, WI

Keep in mind that this appears to be just regular 4G LTE coverage for the Now Network, and not the more advanced Sprint Spark network. Sprint Spark takes into account network conditions, location, and other information to connect to the best frequency to get the fastest, most reliable connection speeds.

Are you living in one of these 17 new markets? Let us know how you like the new LTE speeds that Sprint is bringing to your area.

Source: Sprint via Android Police

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1Password leverages Touch ID, iOS 8 extensions to make passwords easy

1Password shows off the convenience of passwords with iOS 8

1Password creator Agile Bits is showing off the convenience and security of having passwords in third-party apps while using its software and iOS 8′s extensions. Because of the new extensions system in iOS 8, third-party apps can now better communicate with each other along with Apple’s fingerprint Touch ID system.

What this means is that if you’re logging into your Yelp or Chase online banking app, a pop-up will appear asking you to either enter a password, or authenticate yourself with 1Password if you have your user name credentials or ID secured and stored with the service. 1Password will pull that information and insert it into the app and allow you to securely sign in.

This way, you won’t need to remember a billion different password entries.

Developers interested in integrating with 1Password should check the code at GitHub.

Is this quick way to secure your apps and services while having the convenience of easily entering your password information through Touch ID and password management services like 1Password a compelling enough reason to upgrade to iOS 8? Are you looking forward to this feature?

Source: Agile Bits

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Apple allegedly shaving down Beats workforce

Details of the transition of Beats employees to Apple are now starting to come to light. It’s been two months since Apple acquired Beats Music and Beats Electronics for $3 billion, but we’re now seeing who will stay with Apple and who will get left behind.

According to anonymous sources, Apple executives have been visiting the Beats’ Southern California headquarters in Santa Monica over the past two weeks. Those Apple executives are offering groups of Beats employees position at Apple, while informing others that they won’t be included in the transition.

Beats employees in creative roles and development are being offered positions at Apple and space in Apple’s offices in Cupertino. However, Apple will keep the Santa Monica offices and some engineers on the Beats Music streaming service can stay and work out of those offices. Hardware employees at Beats will join Phil Schiller’s team in Cupertino.

Those making Beats Music and Beats Electronics seem to be safe during the transition so far. However, those in ‘overhead’ positions aren’t likely to be included. Support, finance and HR departments have already been dismissed and won’t be joining Apple. A special hotline has been set up within Apple’s HR department to help laid off Beats staff.

Bodies aren’t the only thing moving from Beats to Apple. Word is that some of the Beats Music technology has started to be worked into the iTunes infrastructure. Though it’s not as compatible and will most likely need to be re-worked.

Beats co-founders Jimmy Iovine and Dr. Dre will continue to work with Apple. Beats Music CEO Ian Rogers and Beats Chief Creative Officer Trent Reznor haven’t committed to joining Apple yet.

Source: 9to5Mac

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Debug 43: Marco Arment on Overcast

Rene Ritchie

Editor-in-Chief of iMore, co-host of Iterate, Debug, Review, The TV Show, Vector, ZEN & TECH, and MacBreak Weekly podcasts. Cook, grappler, photon wrangler. Follow him on Twitter and Google+.

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Best invoicing apps for iPhone: Ditch paper and get paid faster!

Looking for the best iPhone apps for managing your invoices? Whether you’re a contractor or freelancer, one of the most important aspects of running a successful business is invoicing clients on time. Unfortunately, it’s something that sometimes is easier said than done. It doesn’t help that traditional invoice software can be cumbersome and difficult to use, and who wants to deal with that on a regular basis? Luckily the App Store is full of awesome apps that make the process a lot less painful. But which invoicing apps for iPhone deserve the title of best?

Invoice by Wave

Invoice by Wave is a free to use invoice app that lets you send unlimited invoices to clients and track your business performance. Since Wave specializes in providing services for small business owners, many of Wave’s other products and services tie right into Invoice by Wave such as accepting credit cards in many countries. If you only want to invoice, you can do it for free with no strings attached. As for interface and design, it doesn’t really get much better than Invoice by Wave.

If you want an easy to use invoicing solution for your small business with no strings attached, give Invoice by Wave some serious consideration.

Hours

Hours may technically be a time tracking app but it also does a great job with invoicing. If you’re self employed and live and die by tracking your time in order to translate it into billable hours, Hours is a unique and convenient way to do it. The time tracking portion of Hours works as a series of timers. You can then see a well laid out overview of your day and where you spent your time. You can then send professionally looking invoices to your clients right from the app.

If you’re self employed and want an elegant time tracking and invoicing solution wrapped into one, look no further than hours.

Invoice2go and Invoice2go Plus

Invoice2go is a complete invoicing solution that ties in with many other apps such as Calendar2go, Maps2go, Receipts2go, and more. Like Zoho, setup is easy and there are lots of templates to choose from. You can add custom rates and taxes as well. One thing Invoice2go does that some invoice apps don’t is parts and labor. If you need to separate them out for tax purposes, this is something Invoice2go does well. It’s worth noting that Invoice2go has two versions, the regular version and the Plus version. If you don’t need cloud sync and plan on being the only person using Invoice2go, go with the regular paid version. If you need cloud sync and access for multiple users, the free app with subscription service is the best option.

For a complete solution with an entire ecosystem of apps available to support it, you can’t go wrong with Invoice2go.

Quickbooks Online

Best invoicing apps for iPhone: Quickbooks Online

Quickbooks Online is the companion app for the Quickbooks Online accounting service. You can invoice clients and customers, track expenses, and view most of the data contained in your Quickbooks account. While it isn’t as full featured as the actual web version of QuickBooks Online, it still serves as an easy and intuitive way to invoice clients and customers right on the spot.

If you use QuickBooks Online to manage your business, the QuickBooks online app for iPhone is a must have.

Freshbooks

Best invoicing apps for iPhone: Freshbooks

Freshbooks is a complete cloud accounting solution for billing and expenses. Not only can you cut invoices right from your iPhone, you can get paid online as well via PayPal integration. If you have expenses you need to categorize and track, Freshbooks lets you take photos of all your receipts and track them. If you need to organize clients and view how much time you spent on projects, you can use Freshbooks for that too. If you have less than three clients, Freshbooks is completely free.

If you’re self employed and need an accounting solution that isn’t too terribly complicated, Freshbooks is one of the best available.

Zoho Invoice and Time Tracker

Zoho is an invoicing and time tracking service that has a no fuss setup. Just enter a little bit of information about your business, tax rate, and client rates. Pick and invoice template and start invoicing. You can also use Zoho to track expenses and time for multiple projects at a time. One unique thing about Zoho is that it also allows you to take credit card payments, a huge plus for those that want an all-in-one solution. Zoho is free for up to 5 clients, after that you’ll need a subscription.

If you don’t want to go through a lengthy setup process or want to process credit cards, check out Zoho.

Your favorite invoicing apps?

If you regularly have to invoice customers or clients for products sold or services rendered, what invoicing apps for iPhone do you use regularly? Do you use any of the ones above regularly? Why or why not? Let me know in the comments!

Note: Originally published, April 2014. Updated, July 2014.

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Star Admiral Review

Star Admiral Review

While this new digital CCG may feel a bit familiar, Star Admiral offers a sci-fi twist and galaxy’s worth of solid gameplay for free.

I hate to keep returning to Hearthstone as a point of reference throughout this review, as Hardscore Games’ Star Admiral most definitely stands as a solid offering in its own right, but it quite clearly treads strongly on the path that Blizzard’s wildly successful digital collectable card game has already paved. Take the core CCG formula, strip away excess complexity, and distill what remains into a refined essence wrapped in a visually appealing skin. Only Star Admiral takes it a touch further still.

While Hearthstone replaced the visuals of cards in play on a virtual tabletop with stylish little cameo portraits that shake and thump and slide their way around the virtual tabletop, Hardscore rips the tabletop conceit out completely and tosses the whole mess into deep space. Cards? What do you mean, cards? We’re battling with spaceships, baby!

With ships replacing the various monsters and minions, Traps taking the place of Secret cards, and Strikes serving to fill the gap for other generic spells, players of Hearthstone will feel instantly comfortable with Star Admiral’s basic format and pacing. However, it only sports three playable factions: Empire, Moxxu, and Shadow. These factions function kind of like the other game’s character classes in that each one has certain exclusive cards, but they sadly lack any sort of inherent class-specific powers of their own. There’s also a crafting system and a number of Elite variant skins to please the completists and collectors out there.

Where things begin to differ a bit is in Star Admiral’s resource management mechanic. Instead of a steady forward march of one extra mana per turn, the energy pool used to draft units in Star Admiral is increased by sacrificing a card from the player’s hand at the beginning of each turn. This adds some thoughtful consideration to the proceedings. Do I want to scrap this expensive card I drew early in favor of being able to get more of my weaker ships out sooner? Or do I sit on it and instead scrap Traps or Strikes that may be weak now, but could potentially turn the tide later in the game?

In its current state, Star Admiral really only suffers in that matches (at least in my experience) tend to be a bit one-sided and the overall presentation is a bit on the dry side. Also, the interface, relying on large graphical elements as it does, can sometimes take a bit of scrolling around (mostly in the crafting and deck… err, sorry, “fleet” management screens). And it would certainly be nice to have more factions on offer, or at least something more than a smattering of exclusive cards to make them feel distinct from one another. But these quibbles are tiny in the face of how much enjoyment Star Admiral provides without demanding a single penny from you.

As more board and tabletop games are making their way into the virtual space with digital adaptations, it’s inevitable that a new generation of natively digital products, built by the players who loved and were inspired by these classics, would follow the groundwork they laid without ever printing a single card, plastic token, or game board. Star Admiral is just one of the offerings on this vanguard crest of the new digital tabletop that exists inside of our smartphones and tablets. And while there may not yet be as much competition in this space as there is in other corners of the App Store, Star Admiral still rides comfortably high on the strength of a well-executed concept.

Posted in: Games, iPad Apps and Games, iPad Games, iPhone Apps and Games, Reviews

Tagged with: CCG, Collectable card game, free, Hardscore games, review, Star Admiral, TCG, trading card game

Review disclosure: note that the product reviewed on this page may have been provided to us by the developer for the purposes of this review. Note that if the developer provides the product or not, this does not impact the review or score.

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Zap! Pow! Become a Badass Wizard in Phantom Rift this September

Phantom Rift by Foursaken Media, is an adventure/RPG where players control a powerful wizard who has become lost in the Phantom Rift: a dark place full of man-eating monsters. Wizards will be tasked with side quests as they explore the world and meet NPCs.

A player’s wizard is fully customizable with a full array of equipment. The five levels of rarity with passive abilities and different stats mean plenty of different combinations for collectors.

The innovation of Phantom Rift is its battle system. Similar to a card-based battle, players have a spell pouch that can hold up to 30 of the 120 unique spells that can be found in the game. Players can equip their wizard with different spells to form different strategies, focusing on things like elemental magic or summoning.

The game also has multiplayer integration. Wizards can fight in PvP battles and win spells from their enemies’ pouch as trophies.

Foursaken Media is shooting for a September release for Phantom Rift.