This week’s roundup features some of the scariest creatures known to human kind: Zombies. Orcs. Bullies. And accountants. Check out what we found this week.
With its latest update, Google+ for iOS continues to refine its status as the most-advanced social-networking app that almost nobody we know is using. But maybe we should! This week’s upgrade was photo-focused, with new features that “auto enhance” your pictures and convert a series of photos into an animated GIF, as well as new tools for editing your profile and comments. You can’t help but think that people might like this network if they actually used it.
Companies that use Intuit’s Online Payroll Services but struggle with the user-interface limitations of the iPhone app will want to give the new Intuit Online Payroll for iPad app a try. The free iPad app is similar in features to the iPhone version, but it’s redesigned to take advantage of the bigger screen, so you can see everything at once instead of swiping back and forth between screens. —Roman Loyola
Enjoy making music but don’t actually know how to play an instrument? The free Musyc app for iPhone and iPad lets you noodle your way through a cosmos of sound: Just draw shapes on the touchscreen, and a tune will emerge using 64 instruments. (Expanded musical options can be purchased, in-app, for $2 to $4.)
There are lots of recording apps available for iOS, but Recordium for iPhone and iPad offers a nifty twist: You can highlight the most interesting and most important parts of the recording you’ve made. Notes, tags, and even pictures can be added. You can edit and trim the audio, and export it in a variety of formats.
Of all the nifty things our iPads and iPhones can do, it had never occurred to us they might also be able to help reduce bullying. To This Day aims to do just that, featuring an anti-bullying spoken-word poem written and performed by Shane Koyczan, and brought to life by dozens of different animators. Users can also record their own version of the poem and share it via Facebook, Twitter, and more.
Ever since Apple initially got rid of Google Maps as its default mapping option on iOS The Transit App has been one of our favorite ways to figure out how to get around, with transit maps and schedules for 37 cities and the ability to figure out, easily, how to get where you’re going. This week the app got even better: Now it’s free.
The $5 Warhammer Quest app for iPhone and iPad is the first Warhammer game to come to iOS: It’s all about the crushing of orcs, goblins, and other dark, evil creatures that are fun to destroy. In-app purchases to upgrade your armor and effectiveness range from $3 all the way up to $30.
If, on the other hand, you’d like to slaughter hordes of otherworldly beasties in more of a 21st century fashion, World War Z, the zombie-fighting game based on the upcoming movie featuring Brad Pitt, is now available. It’s also $5, and features in-app purchases to upgrade your effectiveness, but the difference is this: You can pretend that you’re Brad Pitt.
Author: Joel Mathis
Joel Mathis is a regular contributor to Macworld and TechHive. He lives in Philadelphia with his wife and young son.