We’re back with an all new Platter this week and boy do we have some great content ready for you. We missed serving the Platter last week due to some scheduling conflicts, but we promised to make up for it and here we are.
Thermodo — A Hardware Thermometer by Robocat
Another post about Robocat? What gives? Another weather app? ARGGHH. Well not really. After creating amazing weather apps for iOS and Android, Robocat have gone beyond software and have created Thermodo. Thermodo is a very small attachment for your phone or tablet that will enable your device to display the current temperature exactly where you are. This is not only much more accurate than relying on weather from a location monitored by a weather station but also much faster because there is almost no delay in a transducer compared to fetching data from a server. The project has already been funded and Robocat have started adding stretch goals. Thermodo also comes with an SDK that other developers can use in their weather apps. We’ve backed Thermodo and think you should too if you love your weather apps and aren’t in the “I don’t need an app because I can look out the window” camp.
Interesting for iPhone
Interesting for iPhone by Mike Rundle is a great app to kill time by catching up with the news. When most people rely on RSS readers or services like Flipboard for the news, Interesting is the best app for when you just want general news in Design, Politics, Entertainment and Sports. There is no marking as read or subscribing within the app. News is curated from a variety of sources in the aforementioned categories. Each story is organized in its own cell with headline and source and tapping the story takes you to an in app web view with the article. You can share this to the usual places and a long press on the title saves it to pocket. The app is that simple. The pull to refresh animation and the way articles slide up on launch are very well executed. The only thing we aren’t fans of is the app icon. Nevertheless at $0.99, Interesting for iPhone is more than worth it.
Great Coffee App
When we reviewed The Great Coffee App, we loved the looks but were disappointed with the lack of content the app had. The app hit 2.0 last night and it brings preparation videos for each drink. These videos can be downloaded for viewing offline and are one of the best we have seen. They even look good on the iPad with Retina Display which many developers seem to forget when it comes to in app video. The Great Coffee app is available on the App Store as a universal app for $2.99.
Concept
Concept for iPad is the simplest and fastest brainstorming app. It borrows some UI cues from Paper by 53, but is great at helping you out quickly. The interface is gesture controlled and you can add posts to a new board by simply tapping and selecting the type. You can add sticky notes, photos, bloc notes, arrows, dividers and much more. Every post is customizable and your work in the app can be shared as images of PDFs to your camera roll or any other app. Concept is available for iPad on the App Store for $1.99.
Files App
It is 2013 and users still don’t have access to the iOS file system. This will most likely not change. Apps like Drafts already get around the lack of proper inter app communication with URL actions. iOS does have the Open In functionality but many people like to have all their downloaded files organized nicely. Files App is the best app for getting that done. Not only does it open almost any file from an email or anywhere else on iOS(that supports Open In) but it also looks perfect for the platform. It has slick animations and a good looking icon. It also allows you to add files directly from within the app by FTP or by entering a URL to download a file. Being able to link your Dropbox, Box or Google Drive accounts is icing on the cake. Files App is the missing file manager for your iOS device. It is a steal at $0.99 for a universal app.
Path 3.0
Path reinvented itself as a smart journal when it hit 2.0 over a year ago. The UI blew us away. Many apps have taken design cues from it as well. Path became a universal app a few months ago with a new iPad specific interface that is far from perfect. Now at 3.0, Path has instant messaging that allows you to share your location, voice and stickers with your friends on the service. The app also has a few more interface sounds. There is also a shop section with premium stickers and new photo filters. Some of the older filters have been removed so if you paid for a filter like 8-bit before, it is gone. The app also has a nice new icon. We hope they spend time refining their app performance because it is almost unusable on Android tablets and the iPad with Retina display thanks to the lag during animations and scrolling. Path is available for free on the App Store and Google Play.
Dataman Pro
We really like Dataman Next. Not only does it treat monitoring your data like checking your weather (which we know you love doing) but its latest update took it to the next level. DataMan Next now has lovely themes and fonts available to customize the look of the app. Xvision also resurrected DataMan Pro which has everything from DataMan Next and it also monitors your data usage app wise. It does it without any proxy server or provisioning profile securely and privately. DataMan Pro has the themes and fonts available for free within the app while an in app purchase is needed in DataMan Next to unlock them. Both DataMan Next and DataMan Pro are available at 50% off for a limited time on the App Store for $0.99 and $4.99 respectively.
Kaomoji
Kaomoji, the Japanese style emoticon, has become very popular. Kamoji on iOS by Richard Henry of Quora is an awesome collection of over 1000 kaomoji organized by categories like happy, evil, dancing and even table flip. Each kaomoji can be copied by tapping on it and the copied animation is very nice. Kaomoji is available on the App Store for $0.99 and not having the app till recently makes us (╯°□°）╯︵ ┻━┻. We also regret that Mikhail now has easy access to Kaomoji and Emoji.
Launch Center Pro 1.1
Launch Center Pro is an amazing iPhone app. Calling it an App speed dial is accurate. It lets you launch app actions directly and save time and taps thanks to URL schemes in apps. Launch Center Pro just hit 1.1 and the latest update brings an all new action composer along with in app email and in app messaging. It also introduces clipboard actions and finally supports Text Expander for snippets. As usual Viticci from MacStories who can probably get his iPhone to make him an espresso with automation has a brilliant post on the update.
Permanent
Spreadsheets are beyond boring to work with. Microsoft Excel continues to be used because of old habits and nothing more. Their Windows RT version of Office is as touch optimized as a cactus. Most people have managed getting their work in MS Office formats done through apps like Google Drive and Quick Office Pro. The spreadsheet however still remains the same. This is where Permanent enters the pict..spreadsheet. Permanent is built with touch in mind. It looks stunning and supports a variety of formulas. Unfortunately at the moment there is no way to open spreadsheets from other apps or email in Permanent though they claim it is coming in an update. We love their vision. Check out their future plan. For now, Permanent is available for iPad on the App Store at 50% off for $9.99.
Feedback about this Platter, as always, is welcome.