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MarkdownMail 3 Adds Mail Templates and Signatures

Formatting emails can be a chore if you’re using Mail’s standard RTF text selectors, but it doesn’t have to be. While MarkdownMail is niche tool of choice when it comes to composing messages — after all not many people write in Markdown as a second language — our audience of geeks will love having an outbox where they can quickly program their documents into to something presentable without going through three taps and a popover.

MarkdownMail allows you to draft and compose HTML emails on your iPhone or iPad using the Markdown markup syntax. New users unfamiliar to the formatting won’t be lost thanks to a syntax reference sheet available in the app. If you’re second guessing yourself, HTML output can be previewed before sending the message. Power users can take advantage of TextExpander integration for easily expanding snippets, addresses, and names into their emails. And for those emails that are often sent, MarkdownMail 3 adds a couple new features that make life even easier.

Email templates are great if you’re constantly sending announcements are messages from MarkdownMail to your coworkers or clients. Templates can be saved and used as a base for formatting your emails. Combined with TextExpander, shooting off important information will be done faster than ever. MarkdownMail 3 also introduces signatures support so you can maintain various business, personal, and family identities in the app. The iPhone interface gets an overhaul as well, enabling you to dynamically swap between preview and compose views. The updates address

MarkdownMail 3 is a universal application available on the App Store for only $2.99.

App Journal, Episode 9: The World In 2012, Infinity Blade II, Stamped, VNC Viewer

App Journal is a new series aimed at showcasing apps we have enjoyed using on our iPhones, iPads, and Macs, but decided not to feature in a standalone, lengthy review here on MacStories. App Journal is a mix of classic reviews, weekly app recommendations, and a diary of our experiences with apps that still deserve a proper mention.

This week’s App Journal doesn’t really have a central theme, except for the fact that all these apps were either released or updated in the past week. This journal is written by Cody, Don and myself (Graham) with Federico taking a break from the App Journal this week.

The Economist: The World in 2012

It feels like just yesterday that I was celebrating the start of 2011, and yet we have already entered the final month of the year. Being December also means the start of reflecting upon the year that was, and what next year will hold for us all. As part of that, The Economist is publishing a special ‘The World in 2012’ magazine this month and has also released a companion iPad app which includes some of those articles plus a number of videos and other interactive features.

There isn’t anything amazing about the app, it’s just a standard magazine app for the iPad (in other words mostly just static images that you swipe to and from) but its the content that matters. The Economist is a favourite publication of mine that deals with a whole range of economic, political, social and technological issues in an informed and intelligent manner - this special edition is no different. Some of the feature articles included cover the technological battlefields of 2012 (they believe it could be mobile payments, location and augmented reality), the continued rise of social (particularly for the US 2012 Presidential Election), the ‘Arab Spring’ heading further south and political change in China amongst a few other articles.

Interspersed between the feature articles are these panels which review some of the people to watch in 2012, events that are set to occur in 2012, economic figures for 2012 and what each month of 2012 will bring. Most articles also come accompanied with video as well as a few standalone pieces of video interviews with a range of people from different parts of the world - asking them what they think 2012 will bring.

Even if you’re not a fan of ‘magazines’ for the iPad, this free app from The Economist is well worth the download - it’s got great content that will give you something good to read and watch over breakfast for the next week.

The Economist: The World in 2012 is available for free in the App Store.

By Graham

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Twitterrific 4.4.3: With More Polish!

It’s been a while since we’ve covered what Ollie’s been up to in his spare time. Twitterrific 4.4.3 — a combination polish & maintenance release — launched this afternoon on the Mac and iOS App Stores. There’s a couple of new improvements here, especially in the iOS edition that’ll delight some and confuse others. So what’s in the rundown? Lots of stuff.

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Instacast HD Review: It’s Incredible

I remember when I first reviewed Instacast for the iPhone back in March, declaring it the Twitter of Podcast apps. While possibly dramatized, what Instacast has done for mobile podcasts is what Loren Britcher did for Twitter apps. The interface, lightweight and smooth, capitalizing on common sense gestures and thoughtful design elements, quickly made Instacast one of my favorite iPhone apps. Instacast is the only non-Apple app that has a spot on my iPhone’s dock. An intelligent conversation, a good laugh, and Geek Friday are always just a tap away.

Instacast got smarter. Sure there were times when enhanced podcasts didn’t work or a wonky update caused weird crashes, but they were fixed and plenty of new features were added. Continuous playback always kept a friendly voice on the loudspeaker. Later, iCloud syncing was added in preparation for future updates. Future updates that of course would finally see Instacast taking on bigger endeavors.

There were lots of days on the couch when I thought about Instacast coming to the iPad. Until recently of course, I hadn’t known what to expect before I was invited to take a look at the first beta. I imagined that Instacast, containing a library of podcasts, would take on a form similar to iTunes. I imagined the interface as a grid, where you would easily scroll through podcast cover-art and see badges revealing the number of unplayed episodes. How silly!

Martin Hering first hinted at the design in September, and I later had the privilege of revealing more of the interface near the end of October. An excited Joshua Schnell and Myke Hurley have also been eager to share the new interface, giving it due praise on the App Orchard and at Macgasm. The hype around Instacast HD for the iPad has been astounding, and for good reason. Instacast HD is incredible.

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MacStories Product Review: AViiQ Portable Charging Station

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It’s true that we can’t leave home without our myriad of chargers and gadgets, loosely stuffed into any available backpack pocket and bundled with the endless length of cords required to recharge such devices. Every charger, every USB cable, and every associated gadget can take up an amazing amount of space, and while I’m careful not to lose anything, keeping track of everything you bring with you becomes a drag. And if those Cables get entangled together? Game over.

Instead of taking four different individual chargers for our iPads, iPods, and Bluetooth headsets, what if we reduced that to one item that could contain all of our cables and smaller gizmos that we don’t need immediate access to? Wouldn’t it be nice if we could unfold a mat and have all of our cables neatly presented for immediate charging? Past the break, we’re taking a look at something as convenient, and we advise everyone that this could possibly be on your holiday wish-list by the time you’re done reading this review.

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LogMeIn Ignition Adds Direct Integration with Dropbox, Google Docs, WebDAV Servers

In the past months LogMeIn, makers of the Ignition app for iOS, have released a series of updates to enhance Lion compatibility on the desktop and improve the file sharing capabilities of the iOS client, which, as we detailed in our various reviews, is a great way to remotely access computers (Macs and PCs) over the air. LogMeIn Ignition isn’t the cheapest app on the App Store, but its rich set of features and support from LogMeIn (a company that, among other things, also produces a free VPN tool for OS X) make it a worthwhile purchase for those looking for a complete solution to control a computer’s screen and access to its files.

The latest version of Ignition, released today, adds a single, yet important feature called Cloud Bank that brings direct integration with Dropbox, Google Docs and any WebDAV server to the iOS app. LogMeIn Ignition was already capable of moving files between computers and iOS’ local document manager with an intuitive drag & drop menu and copy/move functionalities; nowadays, however, users are more likely to keep their documents in the cloud, rather than physically stored on a computer’s drive, and LogMeIn’s move towards integration with cloud-connected services is certainly welcome as a way to get files from the cloud and onto a computer remotely.

My Cloud Bank allows LogMeIn Ignition users the ability to take full advantage of being remote by connecting them to their files no matter where they are. We’ve extended the functionality of our File Manager feature and given users the benefit of using cloud storage services in conjunction with remote access and local file storage on their devices.

Think of Ignition as a bridge between the cloud and a remote computer. With Cloud Bank, Dropbox and Google Docs are easily accessible through Ignition’s usual interface, with the same copy menu from computer-based remote connections. You’ll be able to move files between Dropbox and a computer you’re remotely connected to, or get a spreadsheet from your Google Docs account into a computer without, say, giving the person that’s using the remote machine access to your Google credentials. With WebDAV support, users will be able to configure services like DropDAV, which turns Dropbox into a WebDAV server and works out of the box with apps like Pages and Keynote.

I look forward to seeing whether LogMeIn will ever consider adding support for iCloud files, as that seems the most logical step to seamlessly fetch an iOS user’s cloud documents. In my tests, Cloud Bank has been extremely reliable in dealing with large Dropbox transfers from the cloud to a computer I was remotely connected to via 3G.

LogMeIn Ignition is available at $29.99 on the App Store.

App Journal, Episode 8: Newstream, Audium, PopClip, Read


App Journal is a new series aimed at showcasing apps we have enjoyed using on our iPhones, iPads, and Macs, but decided not to feature in a standalone, lengthy review here on MacStories. App Journal is a mix of classic reviews, weekly app recommendations, and a diary of our experiences with apps that still deserve a proper mention.

This week’s App Journal is all about reading, text, and music. With the iOS reading scene going through some interesting shake-ups with Readability announcing a free service, Flipboard for iPhone coming soon and Evernote getting into the “distraction-free reading” business with Clearly, I take a look at two little gems from the App Store that offer their own take on RSS feeds and article consumption.

As the holiday season nears, developers are putting the final touches to the apps they’ll be selling for Thanksgiving and Christmas to new iPhone and iPad owners. Stay tuned for more App Journals in the next weeks.

Newstream

While we wait for Flipboard to arrive on the iPhone, Amazing Softworks’ Newstream offers an interesting solution to turn your favorite websites into newspaper-like reading experiences. Using regular RSS feeds to fetch a website’s latest articles, Newstream allows you to create a list of favorite sources that will be turned into virtual publications on a newsstand that you can swipe through. The app loads an article’s text and images, and lets you tap on headlines to read the full text in a single-article view. When you’re done, you can go back to the main screen, and swipe to another website. Alternatively, you can tap on a website’s name at the top and instantly jump to another one through a popover menu. Articles can be tweeted, shared on Facebook, emailed to your friends or added to the app’s own reading list. Unfortunately, there is no support for Instapaper or Read It Later in the app, which means the reading list won’t sync to other devices or services. The app doesn’t even sync or import feeds from Google Reader, which means you’ll have to add your favorite blogs manually.

I think Newstream’s limited feature set might also be its strongest selling point for people looking for a simple way to load a subset of RSS feeds into a separate app with an easy-to-read format. Newstream is $2.99 on the App Store.

Audium

Developed by Michael Pringle, Audium is a beautiful, lightweight and gesture-based music player for your iPhone. Instead of imitating the Music app’s interface by adding a number of new features as many third-party music players do, Audium focuses on simplicity and ease of use. Audium doesn’t display a list for your artists and songs – instead, it visualizes artworks from albums you’ve synced on your device at the bottom of a wooden shelf. Swipe through albums, and double tap on one to start playing; double tap again to pause, swipe left or right to change song. It’s very simple. You can even swipe up or down to adjust the volume, and the app displays a tiny circular indicator rather than a classic progress bar to see how much time is left in a song.

Audium is a clever app that’s intuitive and fully takes advantage of the iPhone’s touch-based interface. It’s a $0.99 download from the App Store.

(album artwork via Aldrin)
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“Video Stream” App Stores and Pushes Videos with iCloud

With iOS 5, Apple introduced Photo Stream, a service based on iCloud to store your most recent photos in the cloud, and automatically have them pushed to all your devices, including the Mac (with iPhoto and Aperture) and Windows PCs. Photo Stream has been criticized by some for its lack of settings and customization options (you can’t selectively choose which photos go in Photo Stream, and which ones you’d like to keep private), but most of all many users have been disappointed by the lack of video support. Especially with the new iPhone 4S, users are finding themselves shooting decent videos with a vastly improved camera, without a way to automatically store these videos in Photo Stream and find them later on an iPad or Mac.

As we noted in our iPhone 4S review 1080p video can end up consuming a lot of space, so perhaps due to upload concerns Apple decided to focus on pictures with Photo Stream. After all, even a decent WiFi connection might require several minutes to get a 5-minute 1080p video uploaded to the cloud, and downloaded back on other devices. Yet a third-party app for the iPhone and iPad, Video Stream, aims at providing iOS 5 users with a way to store videos in iCloud and push them effortlessly to all their iCloud-connected devices.

Video Stream is a $0.99 download from the App Store, and it runs on the iPhone and iPad. The concept is simple: you can manually import videos from your Camera Roll (or shoot new ones directly into Video Stream) and the app will start uploading them to iCloud. Once it’s done, the videos will begin showing up on other devices running Video Stream, like an iPad. And because the system is based on iCloud’s Documents & Data, files will unsurprisingly become visible on a Mac as well (though the developers say that a native Mac app is also in the works). Video Stream is a third-party app, so videos won’t be automatically uploaded after they’ve been recorded with an iPhone or iPad: you’ll need to import them into the Video Stream app.

An obvious caveat of video is that even a couple of minutes can generate a large file. For this reason Video Stream needs to compress a video before it’s uploaded, and the app offers three options: Low, Medium and High quality. For instance, I chose “High” for a 1080p video I shot with my iPhone 4S, and I ended up with the following video information on my Mac (for a 28.7 MB video file).

Video Stream isn’t a permanent solution to store your video library in the cloud (just like you shouldn’t use Apple’s Photo Stream to build your personal photo library), but it gets its job done. Which means easily pushing videos across devices and offering options to reduce file size, thus cutting upload times in half.

Video Stream is $0.99 in the App Store.

Review: Aquaria

When I was 6, my parents bought me a Super Nintendo. I didn’t know much about video games back then, but I knew that after Nintendo’s Game Boy I wanted the SNES. Sure enough, I got a European SNES for my birthday with some games to go with it, including Stunt Race FX and Super Metroid. Stunt Race FX eventually got reconsidered as a “gem” from the SNES era years later, but I remember I didn’t like it much back then. I did love Super Metroid, and even if the challenge was a little too hard for a six year old kid, I got away convinced that games like Super Metroid were the ones I liked. In the years that followed, I played Super Metroid on an emulator (somehow, I lost my original SNES cables) with a much better understanding of its plot, and all the Metroids that were released on the Game Boy Advance (Fusion and Zero) Game Cube and Wii (the Prime series). I even went through that pain that was Metroid Prime Hunters for the original DS. I loved Metroid.

At the same time, I tried to explore other offerings from the genre that Metroid and Castlevania nurtured. That meant going through Symphony Of The Night on the PSX, and other less inspired titles for Nintendo’s GBA. But I loved the so-called “Metroidvania” games – characterized by large maps with areas that you have to explore and unlock through upgrades to your main character, 2D side-scrolling, crazy hard boss fights and generally decent plots – so I kept playing.

As I grew up and got a job, I found to have less time for gaming. I bought a Nintendo Wii and Xbox 360 but never really got to fully enjoy them. In fact, I’ve only recently started to get back into portable gaming thanks to iOS devices and a Nintendo 3DS, which I acquired last week (but more on this in another story). So it was with a mix of curiosity, excitement and, after years of non-playing, apprehension that I approached Aquaria for iPad, a porting of a popular, award-winning PC game. Would a Metroidvania game for iOS still hold up to my old expectations and renewed interest for multi-touch based adventures and puzzles? Read more