The Week in iOS Apps: Make your pictures and videos look like paintings
This week's roundup features a couple of apps that add artistic flair to your pictures and videos.
New apps of the week
This week’s roundup features a couple of apps that add artistic flair to your pictures and videos. Read on!
BeCasso
BeCasso ($1, iPhone and iPad) “transforms your snaps and photos into unique, high-resolution oil, watercolor and cartoon paintings.” The filters are adjustable to get precisely the effect you desire, after which you can share the images on Instagram, Twitter, and Facebook. The app also has support from canvaspop.com, which can print your images and have them delivered to you.
Brushstroke
Brushstroke ($1, iPhone and iPad) recently launched Version 3.0—a move that “allows you transform your videos into moving paintings.” (Ever seen the movie Waking Life? Kind of like that.) Like BeCasso, the app lets you convert your still pictures into paintings and share them with friends.
Daniel Tiger for Parents
Daniel Tiger for Parents (free, iPhone and iPad) offers songs, videos, and “conversation starters” from the PBS show to help parents teach their children about feelings, self-control, and responsibility.
Grammofy
Like classical music? Grammofy (subscriptions start at $3 a month, iPhone and iPad) offers weekily curated collections—compiled by experts from BBC Music and Gramophone Magazine—featuring a mix of great works and new artists. The music is accompanied by all the information you need to know the background of everything you hear.
Long Journey
Long Journey ($3, iPhone and iPad) is an “experimental interactive experience”—and maker Li Yang is very emphatic: “This is not a game.” What is it? A journey, on a boat, in which you’re promised to experience joys, tears, challenges and love. Sounds kind of Zen.
Splitter Critters
Splitter Critters ($3, iPhone and iPad) is a game that lets you “explore colorful planets full of danger”—you cut the screen in pieces with a swipe of your finger, then rearrange those parts to help the “critters” get back to their spaceship. More levels will be included in future updates, and you can play the game on multiple devices; iCloud will keep your progress synced.
5 Minute Escapes
Need time to meditate or otherwise escape from this mad world? 5 Minute Escapes (freemium, iPhone and iPad) lets you calm down with relaxing music, guided visualisations, and sound effects to enhance the visualisation. Individual “escapes” can be purchased in the app starting at $4 apiece. Chill out, folks.
Others of note
Sketch Club has updated with support for Chinese, Japanese, and Spanish … LoseIt! now offers a visual guide to help users determine calories and servings … fire + rain: weather is the latest “cool” weather app.
