On the latest episode of The Prompt, Federico Viticci mentioned an iOS app called WordBook that sounded interesting enough for me to check out. It's a pretty powerful English dictionary and thesaurus, and I think it might just replace my long-running "Words to Remember" list in Simplenote. You can bookmark your favorite words and have them sync between devices via iCloud, have…
The guys at Wood'd have come up with an interesting line of iPhone cases that are made of real wood and feature some cool designs. Some look like maps, some look like a Tetris game, and all of them look great. €29.90 each (or about $41 USD), and available for iPhone 5/5s and 4/4s.
Instashare is yet another file-sharing app for iOS and Mac. You can send photos, PDFs, and more, all over a local Bluetooth connection (no WiFi or login necessary). The nice part is that the sharing goes both ways; it's not just Mac-to-iOS, but also vice-versa. It's all done via drag-and-drop—about as simple as it gets. The universal iOS app is free (with…
I've been a Spotify subscriber for a while (going on something like 2.5 years now), and although I've always loved the service, their iOS app has consistently felt a little lacking to me. I've tried Rdio as well, but never found a compelling enough reason to switch. But now I've had a chance to try out the new Beats Music iPhone app…
Moment is an upcoming lens-mounting system for iPhone and other smartphones. At first glance it kind of resembles the Olloclip, but the mounting system is different—it uses a thin, case-friendly metal plate that safely adheres directly to the back of your phone, which the lenses can then be attached to. There are two lenses in the set: Tele and Wide. The Moment…
I recently linked to an app called Command-C that allowed you to copy and paste between Mac and iOS devices. It's an awesome thing to have, with one caveat: it won't work on any WiFi networks where multicast has been disabled, and thus, Bonjour connectivity (which is the case at my local coffee shop). In those cases, your devices won't see one…
My wife and I are big fans of Disney's theme parks. We actually intend to visit Disneyland and California Adventure later this year, which will be a perfect time to try out this brand-new Magic Passport app for iPhone, designed by the awesome folks at Pacific Helm. Here's how they describe it: “Contained inside your Magic Passport is a list of all…
Blur is a universal iOS app that does one thing well: it lets you custom-blur images to be used as wallpapers for your device. Tip: have a normal image set as your lock screen wallpaper, then use a blurred form of that same image as your home screen wallpaper. This works exceptionally well on iOS 7 devices. Blur is only $0.99 on…
The JAS mini by Cooler Master is an aluminum stand designed to prop up an iPad mini or iPhone. It can hold the iPad in portrait or landscape mode, making it the perfect tool for doing work, watching a movie, or chatting with someone via FaceTime. It has a continuous hinge so you can use it at just about any angle or…
The guys at Native Union have put on a Kickstarter project called JUMP, a charge cable with its own built-in battery pack. It can detect when your device is at full power, and will then begin storing some power on its own, enough to charge an iPhone up to 30% when it's needed most. When you're done using it, the cable wraps…
Every now and then, I need to insert some unicode characters into something I'm writing — for example, , ★ , ♫, ™, etc. Typically, I either use CopyPasteCharacter (along with its companion iOS app) or a custom set of TextExpander snippets to get the job done. But today, there is a new, free app for this purpose: Simbol for iPhone.…
Thanks to a review by Federico Viticci, I got to hear about an awesome app for Mac and iOS called Command-C. It allows you to push the contents of your clipboard between devices over a local network. Thanks to the backgrounding features of iOS 7, you can share between an iPhone and iPad without even having to open the app on the…
We're definitely fans of Mophie's line of Juice Packs around here, because they keep our iPhones from dying when we need them most. And now, Mophie has just announced the Space Pack, which will offer the same power backup with the addition of onboard file storage. Available in 16GB ($150) or 32GB ($180) models, the Space Pack can store all the same…
Announced at CES 2014, the SteelSeries Stratus is a wireless controller designed for playing iOS games. The Xbox-like controller design will be instantly familiar to any modern gamer, right down to the twin analog sticks and four shoulder buttons. Up to four of these can be connected to a single iOS device for multiplayer games. Eli Hodapp of TouchArcade reviewed the Stratus,…
nvNotes is a note-taking app for iPhone that was inspired by apps like nvALT, Notational Velocity, and more recently, the new Writer Pro. This is one of those apps that mostly stays out of your way so you can focus on what's really important: your notes. The few features that come into play while you're writing are: Word and character count. A…
In my opinion, one can never have too many Lightning cables on-hand. The only problem is, Apple's official cables are a tad on the expensive side for what you get ($20 for only ~3ft of cable). Thankfully, Amazon offers their own Lightning cables and they're pretty great. Not only are they well-built, they're also a good deal — $15 for a 6ft-long…
We've mentioned the game Machinarium in the past, but I think it's worth bringing up again, for three reasons: The first time we posted about it, the game was only available for the iPad. Now it's a universal app so you can enjoy it on your iPhone as well (although iPad is probably still the best experience). It made The Sweet Setup's…
Sometimes a new writing app comes out that has everybody talking about it for a while. Right now, Writer Pro, the successor to the ever-popular iA Writer, is the new hotness. This app is designed around the four basic stages of any writer's workflow – note-taking, writing, editing, and reading – each of which is represented by a different typeface and color.…
The Gravitas is an upcoming dock for iPhone and iPad that promises to be extremely stable even for one-handed docking and undocking. At first glance, it looks like it would be made of lightweight aluminum, but it's actually a much denser metal alloy. The resulting dock is one that has a small footprint but still weighs 2.54 lb (1.17 kg), which is…
If you're the proud owner of an iPhone 5/5s-compatible Mophie Juice Pack (and you should be, because they're awesome) then you should also look into getting a Juice Pack Dock. It bypasses the Lightning connector, using a special dock connector built into the bottom of the Juice Pack. And just like plugging the Juice Pack directly into a power outlet, the dock…