Toca Boca CEO Björn Jeffery describes the unique approach they took with designing the user interface of Toca Builders, the company’s latest construction and crafting app for kids:

Now it may sound counter-intuitive to have characters as an interface, but the fact is that this works surprisingly well for our young builders. Instead of thinking about which buttons to press in order to create a certain effect, kids can identify themselves with certain characters and the construction powers they have. If they want to repaint a structure, they don’t have to look through a menu to find the “repainting button” but instead, remember that Jum Jum the Painter can shoot paint from a long distance to make something a different color. In essence, the player becomes each character for brief periods of time and by that, the question of how to create something is suddenly solved. The app removes the abstraction that a traditional menu would introduce and moves straight into identification instead.

Fraser Speirs comments on the practical advantages of the iPad Air’s “desktop-class” CPU:

What I know about the iPad Air is that I’m constantly being surprised by these apps being ready and waiting for me as soon as I try them. I’m having to speed up my muscle memory as the iPad is ready sooner than I anticipate.

I notice this in two particular situations. The first is in launching and resuming applications. Multitasking on the iPad has been around for a while now and has grown in capabilities over time. There was always a small wait when switching between applications before the resumed app became active. In large part, that delay no longer exists - except for apps where the resumption depends on some network activity, such as launching Netflix from a cold start.

I work on the iPad every day, and I can’t wait to get these improvements with the Retina iPad mini.

Good take on why Apple may be keeping the iPad 2 around for the educational market by Elia Freedman:

While the iPad mini and iPad Air keep changing on schools and forcing them to consider new devices during the period they are trying to purchase, the iPad 2 remains beautifully the same, keeping a reliable device on hand for them to consider.

Steven Aquino, writing at Tech.pinions:

The reality is that, as a nerd, I get by fine with Dropbox. However, just because one solution works for me doesn’t mean Dropbox is the answer, or that iOS and iCloud are above improvement. On the contrary, this piece (hopefully) illustrates that iOS and iCloud can be much better at certain things, like document management.

This topic isn’t new, but it’s still relevant because Apple’s implementation is anachronistic and strange considering other advancements in iOS. There’s a glimmer of hope in iPhoto for iOS 7, but nothing more. Open In is not the solution.

As someone who primarily works on iOS, I won’t lie – I considered buying an Android device to see how customizing some parts of the user experience would benefit my workflow. The Services-like menu and improved document management framework seem like features that Apple should be inspired from instead of relying on the clumsy Open In menu.

Richard’s article offers a good, honest perspective that includes many of the reasons why I don’t want to switch to an Android device.

Ramp Champ was one of the first iPhone games I bought in 2009 after I got my iPhone 3GS. I remember spending hours with Ramp Champ trying to beat my records and get the highest scores – we’re talking about the days when you couldn’t buy Smurfs with In-App Purchases and he called the shots.

The Iconfactory then sold Ramp Champ, which is back today with a version 1.2 that adds Retina graphics and support for the 4-inch screen. I’ve been playing Ramp Champ after three years and I can gladly confirm that it’s still fun and powered by great graphics and sounds. As reported by TouchArcade, Ramp Champ 2 is in the works under the new owner Seven Gun Games.

Ramp Champ is an App Store classic – and it’s a free update if you bought the original app in 2009. If you’re not familiar with the game, make sure to read Louie Mantia’s original design article.