All posts by Tucker »
[iPhone] Amazing Breaker is an addictive, semi-unique puzzle game
There’s only one app that I’ve had on my iPhone since Day 1, and have never uninstalled or re-downloaded. That app is the addictive puzzle game Amazing Breaker. My only beef with this game is that it takes forever for new level packs to come out. Finally, Level Pack [...]
[iPhone] Research prices and reviews before you buy with Decide Shopping & Price Predictor
I’m a bargain hunter. I fully believe that paying full price is for suckers. I shop clearance and overstock sales, and generally find some amazing bargains. One of our recent acquisitions was a new H/K receiver that retails for about $500: we scored it for $175 thanks to careful shopping. [...]
[iPhone] Find local restaurants, gas stations, banks, and more with NearMe
I’ve been thinking about moving lately: some interesting job listings and offers from friends have come across my desk lately, and it might be kind of fun. One thing I wouldn’t relish, however, would be having to find new restaurants, hang-outs, and amenities in a new city. I mean, that [...]
[iPhone] Is Moldiv yet another photo collage editor app or something unique?
The App Store is jam-packed with “copycat” apps. In certain “genres,” there are tons of options that are all quite similar, without much to distinguish between the options. One genre of app that seems to be crazy popular right now are photo collage apps, by which I mean apps that [...]
[iPhone] bSafe provides a “panic button” that notifies friends and family when you are in danger
My family comes from Wisconsin, so naturally I have a Green Bay Packers “Cheesehead” hat in my collection. In college, when I had to walk across campus late at night, I’d sometimes wear my cheesehead hat, joking that it was my “security” device. I’d joked with my friends that no [...]
[Mac OS X] Watch tweets and trends with ‘Echelon: a passive Twitter client’
We’re lucky enough to live in an age where Twitter news of an earthquake travels faster than the quake itself. Twitter is a great tool to harness the power of crowdsourcing, discover trending topics and news events, or showing the reach of your brand. More and more often, professionals in [...]
[Mac OS X] Easily switch between the alphabets of different languages with Transliteration
I took two semesters of Japanese in college, and it was so much fun. But one thing that was challenging was getting used to an entirely new system of writing. I was big into Japanese pop music back then, even before I took the class, so I would find transliterated [...]
[iPhone] Get a better understanding of food labels and allergy triggers with the Gluten Free app
If you’re anything like me, you have at least a couple of friends in your social circle who are doing the whole “gluten free” thing. Some people do it for health reasons, while others are just trying to cut back on food ingredients that could cause bloating or weight gain. [...]
[iPhone] Get restaurant recommendations, directions, and reviews with MyPref
There’s one question most people ask themselves (or their significant others) every day: “What should we do for dinner?” For such a simple question, the answer can be really elusive…especially if you’re not having any particular food cravings. Thankfully, there are tons of iPhone apps out there that can help [...]
[iPhone] Is Localmind really “the future of local crowdsourcing”?
Crowdsourcing really is amazing. Whether you need recommendations for dinner, funding for an artistic project, or ideas on how to improve your company, harnessing the “power of the people” is a great way to make your life better. So when I stumbled across an iOS app that was called “the [...]
[iPhone] Floris is a gorgeous puzzle game
When it comes to puzzle games, Tetris still reigns supreme. It’s a classic that will never go out of style…which explains why so many iOS puzzlers are just variations on the Tetris theme. But let’s be honest: most of those Tetris clones are abysmal. And even the good Tetris games [...]
[iPhone] Survive the zombie apocalypse in Into the Dead, an addictive platformer game
Is there anything finer than a zombie game? From The Walking Dead to Zombies, Run!, there are tons of amazing iOS titles that revolve around avoiding the undead. And yet, despite my love of zombie-centric games, it took me a long time to come around to Into the Dead. [...]
[Mac OS X] Play Pathways Into Darkness, Halo’s predecessor, for free!
I absolutely adore old-school games. Whether it’s an arcade cabinet from the late 70s or a polygon-laden bit of nostalgia from the 90s, I have a real affection for old, retro, and forgotten games. I also love modern video games, and I’ve spent more hours playing Halo than I’d care [...]
[iPhone] Floop provides an interesting blend of real-time graphs and social polling
Nobody likes to be interrupted in the middle of dinner by a telephone call from a pollster. And yet, as a country, we’re totally obsessed with polls as a way to measure interest or affection towards a certain subject or personality. Obviously, our polling obsession reaches a fever pitch during [...]
[Mac OS X] ChronoSlider Lite offers super-fast, super-simple one-click timers
Back in February, we took a look at a little timer app called Pomodoro. This customizable timer was somewhat inspired by the Pomodoro time management technique, whereby you break down your working day into short increments of active working time (25 minutes), and take 5-minute breaks between each 25-minute block. [...]
[iPhone] Use Invoice ASAP to quickly send payment requests, estimates, and more
As much fun as freelancing can be, one thing that no freelancer likes is the invoicing process. Whether you’re an independent contractor or a small business owner, submitting invoices is tedious, time-consuming, and just plain annoying! It’s often difficult to submit your invoices while you are on the go, which [...]
[Mac OS X] Get a Microsoft Paint experience with Paint Pad Lite for Mac
After converting to the Cult of Mac in 2008, I was totally won over. I don’t think I could ever go back to working on a Windows computer. But that being said, I do get a bit nostalgic when I think about the Windows machines of my youth. I’ll say [...]
[iPhone] Knotch is a social networking app for the opinionated and the passionate
Back in high school, everyone was crazy about Hot or Not? Back in the day, Hot or Not? wasn’t the quasi matchmaking service that is today, but rather just a site to rate the photos of random strangers. At our core, I think people love to share opinions and pass [...]
[iPhone] Check out Comic Chameleon, a brand new reader for your webcomics
One of my all-time favorite webcomics is Questionable Content, written and drawn by the massively talented Jeph Jacques. In a recent news post on his site, Jacques revealed that his comics were officially available for iOS fans to read through a new iOS app called Comic Chameleon. Being a [...]
[Mac OS X] Share your screengrabs online with Gyazo: Instant Screen-Grabbing
There are tons of reasons you would want to share a screenshot. True, most funny images online already have a shareable URL…but other things, 
like personal documents and movie stills do not. If you want a very simple app that can help you share screenshots and keep a record of [...]
[iPhone] TripColor automatically turns your travel photos into a gorgeous, interactive portfolio
As much as I do enjoy taking pictures when I’m on vacation, I almost never get around to putting them in an album, or even organizing them in any way. Thankfully, there are some helpful tools that can automate the process of organizing your photos. Apps like Flayvr go a [...]
[iPhone] Scout GPS offers alternative maps for users frustrated by Apple and Google Maps
Apple fans recall the frustration and hilarity that ensued during the infamous Apple Maps debacle. Months later, there are still plenty of Apple Maps users who aren’t happy with the app’s performance. I had a really bad Apple Maps experience over the weekend: we were trying to get to a [...]
[iPhone] Morning Worm is an alarm clock that forces you to wake up… by making you solve a puzzle to close the alarm
I am not now, nor will I ever be, a morning person. As much as I want to be the kind of person who wakes up with that “carpe diem” feeling. My brain is just wired to stay up late, and I’m usually far more productive and creative at 9 [...]
[Mac OS X] FGDesktopLoupe helps you divert attention to a specific part of the screen by darkening the rest
Sometimes, communication is hard. If you work on a team where you need to collaborate with people who work in a different office, it can be really hard to clearly explain what you’re looking at. After all, a screengrab or screen-share can only go so far. If you need to [...]
[iPhone] Clone, augment, and ghost yourself with Split Pic, a photo manipulation app
If you can’t help but laugh when you see pictures of tourists taking pictures where they appear to be holding up the Leaning Tower of Pisa, then you probably like trick photography. If you want an app that will let you clone or augment your subject, you should check out [...]
[Mac OS X] Find useless junk that wastes hard drive space with FindSpace
Feel like your hard drive has a bunch of stuff on it that’s superfluous? One app that can help you clearly and quickly review disk usage is FindSpace, developed by John Holdsworth.
What is it and what does it do
Main Functionality
FindSpace displays disk usage in a simple-to-review- [...]
Read More »[iPhone] Create sharable photo collages with Pic Stitch
Sometimes, one image just isn’t enough to capture your favorite moments in time. Whether you want to capture a stunning vista from your favorite vacation spot, or need to get a couple of different angles of the guests around the table at your birthday dinner, a photo collage is often [...]
[iPhone] Days is a visual photo and GIF diary that lets you share your favorite memories
Almost as soon as it was invented, photography was used to commemorate important people, places, and events. Whether you prefer physical photo albums or flicking through the pages of a digital album, we love photography. Now, a new app promises something quite cool: a “visual diary” that builds animated gifs [...]
[iPhone] Calendo Event Discovery makes personalized recommendations about stuff to do in your area
Summer vacation is right around the corner, and that means households all across America will soon be resounding with that all-to-familiar refrain, “I’m bored!” Whether you’re looking for a family-friendly activity to do with your kids, or looking for a great event to attend in the evening, Calendo Event Discovery[...]
[iPhone] Addictive and pixel-tastic Random Heroes is a fun iOS platformer
Gamers of a certain age will always have a soft spot for bad graphics. As much as I might love games with silky smooth graphics and amazing frame rates, I’m always gonna crack a grin when I’m playing a game that’s built on pixels. Half the reason I enjoy web [...]
[iPhone] Easily identify and unfollow people who unfollowed you, people who have never followed you, and inactive users with ‘unfollow for Twitter’
I don’t know what it is about warm spring days that makes people want to clean house, but spring cleaning is a very real and very powerful impulse. And in our digital age, spring cleaning isn’t just something you do to your house: it’s something you do to your devices, [...]
[Mac OS X] Cleanly uninstall or delete apps and programs with AppCleaner
This past weekend, I decided to clean out my hard drive. I had tons of applications and old files that I needed to get rid of, and I cleared up a ton of space. But there’s one thing that annoys me about clearing out old applications: I can never seem [...]
[iPhone] Organ Trail got a new update: Has this cross-country zombie game improved?
If you’re of a certain age, then you undoubtedly have fond memories of playing Oregon Trail…and some not so fun memories of having your oxen die every time you tried to ford that darn river! In the summer of 2012, iOS users got their first look at Organ Trail, a [...]
[Mac OS X] Paper Train Lite is an addictive puzzle game
Th
e great thing about the App Store is how easy it is to find a hidden gem, even years after the app was initially released. The right string of words in the search box, and pow!– there’s a game you missed when it first launched that’s still worth checking [...]
[iPhone] Crowdsource the decision-making process with Seesaw
There’s nothing worse than indecision. But sometimes, it is simply impossible to pick between two or more options. If you ever need a second opinion, you can ask a friend for advice. Or, with Seesaw, you can ask all your friends for advice at once, and clearly see which [...]