Could it be that most of the upcoming movies this year will have their own iOS game? This is just an assumption based on what I’ve observed recently while browsing the App Store, which I think is trending. And of course, Turbo Racing League is just one of them that caught my attention.

What the heck?

PikPok’s universal game Turbo Racing League was inspired from the upcoming Dreamwork’s animation film Turbo, which is coming out this summer. With bragging rights of 4.5 stars in more than 500 ratings (as of this writing), it’s time to race in full throttle with the smartest and fastest snail ever. Turbo isn’t just the typical snail after all.

How does it work?

While everyone’s busy racing in their wheels, you might want to try something different like “driving like you’re shell on wheels,” that’s how PikPok calls its.

Turbo Racing League game mechanics is somewhat similar to most of the racing games you had played. However, it has fun intuitive controls that you can choose before you begin the basic race in Tito’s garage. You don’t have to figure it out yourself; Tito will show you the ropes and how to race fast to collect the tomatoes.

In this tomato-currency racing game, aside from collecting them (which, by the way, serves as virtual cash for power-ups and upgrades available in the tomato garden), players are encouraged to join and qualify for each weekly contest to race, drift, jump, and slide until they qualify in the winners’ circle.

Currently, there is an underground racing phenomenon where players can win real cash prizes sponsored by Verizon. If you’re serious about it, head to the app’s description section for more details.

How’s the app?

If I have a checklist for this app, here’s what it would look like:

1. Retina display graphics – Check
2. Well-defined game mechanics – Check
3. Intuitive controls – Check
4. Interaction and social media integration – Check

The graphics are well optimized for iPad 3/4 and iPhone 5. Although this game can attract children and teens because of its simple game concept, it is addictive, entertaining, and engaging for gamers of all ages. Nonetheless, there are age restrictions when it comes to the contests.

Beat your highest score and friends’ score and check them out in the Game Center leaderboard.

Overall, this app complements the upcoming movie; it could possibly become a blockbuster due to the traction from its mobile game. Turbo Racing League is available for download via iTunes direct link.

I give it 4.5 stars.

This article, App Review: Turbo Racing League for iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch, was originally published at simonblog.com.

If there is one thing I wouldn’t miss watching is the next flick of the Fast and the Furious. While every popular movie today has its own iOS and Android game (as its counterpart), it’s a trend that has attracted gamers and movie couch potatoes and probably an app development trend to watch out. Yes, hooray for Iron Man 3!

What the heck?

Kabam Inc.’s Fast and the Furious 6 game was rolled out a few days ago, which is available only to the latest iPhone, iPod touch, and iPad models. On it’s description, it says, “Fast & Furious 6: The Game is not supported on the iPhone 3GS, iPad 1st Gen or iPod touch 4th Gen.”

How does it work?

If you have played CSR Racing, then it wouldn’t be hard for you to play this game. Frankly, I was expecting more from this app, knowing that it’s one of the popular and most awaited movies this season.

The app features a quick storyline of the movie and gives the newbies the basic tips on drag racing. While it only involves a straight lane street racing, one feature that makes it different from CSR Racing is the drift option.

Basically, the concept of the game works similarly with CSR Racing: choose your car, launch the start button, shift the gears and some boost from the nitrous, upgrades, and power-ups for your ride.

There are challenges and missions to accomplish to gain more cash and gold. Enjoy your ride in fully optimized retina graphics and unlock the tiers together with the Fast and the Furious 6 crew.

How’s the app?

The stunning graphics are remarkable, but the game is simple and a copycat of CSR Racing game. They could have developed a game similar to Asphalt 7 or Need for Speed (or better than those) and added some exciting storylines, missions, and places.

There’s nothing more special about this game, but if you’re the type of person who loves cars, racing, drifting, and pretty much caught up with engines and upgrades, it’s your call to try this app. It is a freemium game, which means in-app purchases are available for power-ups.

Fast and the Furious 6 is available for download via iTunes direct link. If I were to rate this app, I’ll give it three stars.

This article, App Review: Fast and the Furious 6 Game for iPhone, iPod touch and iPad, was originally published at simonblog.com.

I personally own quite some number of iPhone case since my first iPhone 4 came into my hand until now with iPhone 5. Like many power users, I focus on the quality of material that it is made of, functionality and durability of the case in which the design really comes last for my consideration. And I may be carrying more than one when I go out for a day, as well as depending on the weather condition, where I am going to and what I am going to do.

Say for instance, I used Incipio Frequency for my iPhone 5 when I go out for photography all day long just in case may be careless is hitting or dropping my phone on bricks and rocks. I am also accompanied by a Mophie case to refill the juice of my phone in order to stay up at evening time.

However, summer is coming and a full cover of a phone could make it super warm when it stays in your pocket, or during gaming in your hands. It is somehow frustrating while other ultra thin cases could not offer same level of protection as my Incipio does. Until the day when I received this AL13 bumper I could replace all my non-lithium powered iPhone cases.

The story behind

It is a product that comes out from and funded by a Kickstarter project. The primary reason is pretty straightforward according to the designer:

We stumbled upon the idea at a trade show. We’d been searching for the perfect iPhone bumper for a while but never found one that could do what we wanted ? protect the phone, but be virtually invisible…was slim, attractive and made with extreme attention to detail. It was also ridiculously expensive…The next day we looked at each other and said, “Let’s just make our own…even more impressive and make it affordable”

I really appreciate such a clear objective to make things happen. It is indeed crucial for every Kickstart project to let potential customers and backers to understand what they will get in return of financial support, and how much value could be delivered. It is also impressive to me that, based on the output of product quality, they should have put much effort in getting the best in a supply chain context – from design, material sourcing, production, quality control and packaging.

The unboxing

The AL13 Bumper comes with a well-designed black metal and a covering sheet with its logo clearly printed on it. Upon sliding over the metal cover of the box, you will find the screen and back-cover protector package with the bumper underneath.

Design, features and usability

The designer has already highlighted what the bumper is about in one sentence that I could not agree more after trying it:

AL13 is a slim, lightweight bumper made from aerospace aluminum that offers protection without changing the look of your iPhone.

And there are some of the features and specifications of the AL13 in a nutshell:
- Made from Aerospace Aluminum: thin, strong and light in weight of less than 16 grams
- Anti-scuff Rubber lining attached as inside part of the bumper for shock resistance and avoid dis-positioning.
- Sleek Chamfered Edges that blend with iPhone 5
- A few millimeter thickness that raises the phone from surface contact
- Anti-scratch, anti-fingerprint and anti-glare PET screen protector

The installation of the AL13 bumper is very simple: first, lift up a bit the back piece at the bottom part of it and slice it out from the tray; then orientate your phone according to the opening of the iPhone buttons, face it down and carefully slide it into the case (you will feel the resistance by the interior rubber); slide back the back piece and click to lock the bumper.

How I feel about it

The very first impression to me comes from the packaging. It is so well designed and packed. The color theme compromises with the case I received. It gives me a feeling of unity – the box, the screen protector pack and even the plastic form where the bumper laid on.

The second thing is about the product design and the quality of it. The bumper is well constructed, carefully crafted and polished that I did not feel any little part of it rough. It is super light and thin as described. It is easy to install and remove thanks to its will craftsmanship. The good thing is that the sliding action will not touch and hurt on your fragile iPhone 5 back as there is a tray solely for it with the bumper. Of course, I did not perform any scratch or drop test but I am sure it is durable against those damages.

Another thing that I really tried to test is about radio signal reception. Unlike many low price counterfeit products the metallic case could possibly affect the radio performance, AL13 does not. I can still get full LTE signals on roads and strong Wifi connectivity indoors.

Hence the feeling and experience on hand is superb in this sense. It’s light-weight and sleekness won’t let your hands go into fatigue like some heavy protective cases in the market, which echoes with characteristic of “virtually invisible”. As a bumper, certainly you can still feel the texture of iPhone 5 backcover as many of your may love it.

While you may think for metallic care you can easily feel the heat that comes from the phone. Well for this AL13 yes there is a little bit warmth that I could feel when I use the phone heavily with 3D graphic gaming. But it seems to go off pretty quickly when I put the phone idle for a while.

One more thing that really impressed me is the screen protector. The quality is extremely good. Many of the retail anti-fingerprint ones may blur the screen a bit. The one packed with AL13 does not make your nice retina display lose clarity. The protector is smooth and I can feel the good quality of it when I could stick it in one shot without air bubbles. I appreciate the effort that the designer sourced every piece of goods inside the box with excellent quality.

Nevermind if you missed some good deals when the Kickstart was still live. AL13 Premium UltraThin Aerospace Aluminium Bumper for iPhone 5 is now available in the retail for $79.99.

This article, Review: AL13 UltraThin Aerospace Aluminium Bumper for iPhone 5, was originally published at simonblog.com.

iOS users have face no problems while launching apps, but where there are limited offerings is the lock screen. There are several tweaks at Cydia store that are purported as lock screen launchers. They do work, but most of them come with functionality that makes the user launch the app unintentionally.

Axis, on the other hand, is a new jailbreak tweak that offers features that are unavailable in other lock screen launchers. It makes the shortcut to apps appealing and users have several options for choices of icons. The tweak lets you pin 5 apps to the lock screen, which is a greater limit than allowed by other tweaks of a similar nature.

After downloading and installing the tweak, a new menu is going to appear in the stock Settings app and there will be three elements available at the interface. The ‘My Axis’ section contains the actual options which are to be used by the user.

Several apps are displayed by Axis. Some of them may already be present while others may not be installed. The list is also divided into parts based on genre. Sub-categories are also present for further division and personalized preference.

Those who can’t find the app they’re looking to add the shortcut for in the list can always add a custom one through ‘Add Custom App’ option that’s present in the subcategory. This option opens the list that contains the installed apps on the user’s device.

Users don’t have to respring the device after the tweak has been configured. They can start using it right away. Swiping across the unlock slider presents the app shortcuts at the bottom bar. Sliding any app upwards will launch the app.

Axis is available at Cydia’s BigBoss repository for $0.99. It comes with Passcode support and works on iOS 6 and above. Let us know if you give it a try.

This article, Axis Adds 5 Customizable App Icons on iPhone Lock Screen, was originally published at simonblog.com.

This is a guest post from Archie.

Yeah, the iPhone 5 is out of its league when compared to Android flagships this year. The quad-core devices have multiplied and feature the latest of what Qualcomm has to offer, an octa-core is threatening global domination, screens haven reached insane levels and Google’s Play Store is once again on the march. This time, it is within striking distance of actually overtaking Apple’s App Store.

The future is bleak for Apple’s flagship, the iPhone 5. Indeed, last year’s flagship should not be fighting this year’s slew of powerful flagships. It’s just not fair. Anyway, as the saying goes, all is fair in love and war and for the iPhone 5 this is very much a war.

Here are smart tricks which you can use to increase the productivity of your iPhone 5′s camera and increase your patience while waiting for the iPhone 5S and not selling your iPhone and jumping-ship to Android.

1. Use the Lockscreen to Take Pictures

You can actually open the Camera app and take a picture while the device is locked. All you have to do is to tap the home button while your iPhone 5 is locked and a camera icon will appear on the screen. Tap that and the Camera app will launch. This is great for sudden picture-perfect moments.

2. Shoot Pictures While Recording Video

This is a very useful feature for providing screenshots of the video you’re shooting. Just tap the camera icon at the top right corner of your screen while shooting a video to take pictures simultaneously. The best part is your recording won?t stop as your iPhone 5 takes pictures.

3. Use Your Earphones to Shoot Pictures

If you found the iPhone 5′s onscreen camera button to be unresponsive or you’re just not used to it, you can use the volume up button on your headset or the volume up on the device itself to snap a picture. How convenient is that?

4. Capture High Quality Photos Using Accessories

The good thing about iPhones is that the list of available accessories is just endless. Consider adding a detachable lens to your list of iPhone 5 accessories. You can use the added lens to produce much better pictures that are almost on par with DSLRs and mile ahead of the competition. Not that the image quality of the iPhone 5′s camera is subpar, it is even better than its competitors, but then the added quality wouldn’t hurt either. Olloclip is one of the great add-on for your iPhone camera.

5. A Shared PhotoStream Is the Way to Go

Sharing pictures has never been easier than with PhotoStream. With this app, you can set up a shared photo folder on your iPhone and add the pictures that you want your select subscribers to see, comment and like. You can activate PhotoStream on your iPhone 5 by going to Settings > Photos and Camera. There, toggle to ON both “My Photo Stream” and “Shared Photo Streams.”

iShoot You All

And here we go again to the crux of the matter. While the newer flagships, save the HTC One, flaunt cameras with higher megapixels (Sony Xperia Z, and LG Optimus G Pro) and cameras with many features (Samsung Galaxy S4), the iPhone 5 trumps the others through superior image quality and features that just work and are not too gimmicky. I say, don’t sell your iPhone 5 just yet.

The iPhone 5 might be outdated, but then, although out of its league against these new flagships it is still pretty iconic and still a solid contender for your money.

The iPhone 5′s camera, too, is just awesome.

This post is contributed by Archie, a tech blogger and an environmentalist who writes for an
e-waste recycling company, eCycleBest.com.

This article, 5 Tips to Make the Most of iPhone 5?s Camera, was originally published at simonblog.com.

An American designer once said, “Eventually everything connects – people, ideas, objects. The quality of the connections is the key to quality per se.” I bet this game was derived from Charles Eames’ quote. Quite frankly, you don’t have to figure it out because the game speaks for itself.

 What the heck?

As simple as it gets, Betaworks One’s Dots brings you a minimalist addiction that could occasionally urge players to connect more dots beyond a sixty-second gameplay. This freemium app is available for iPhone and iPod touch and optimized for iPhone 5.

How does it work?

There’s only one rule in the game: Connect the dots. Yes! Simply connect the colorful dots on a clean and minimalist interface within a limited time.

Once you launched the app, Charles Eames’ quote pops up, giving you an idea on how to play the game. “Everything connects.” From there, you’ll be given basic tutorials on how to draw a line between similar dots.

Players must draw a line between matching color dots with two or more connections, clearing them from the screen in just sixty seconds. The goal is to connect many dots as possible, handing them out as points and beat your previous high score.

Players can form a square from any of the matching dots. The drawback is you can’t connect matching dots diagonally; either you match them vertically or horizontally.

Dots app is a freemium game, offering in-app purchases for power-ups and add-ons to unlock other modes such as Shrinkers and Expanders; starting from $0.99 to $4.99.

How’s the app?

Honestly, there’s nothing much remarkable in this game. While it bears a simple idea, it has a potential to stimulate “just one more go” mentality that works well in brief and logic-based mobile games.

Dots for iPhone was recently launched on App Store, it may take awhile to gain popularity in the iOS community, but it looks quite promising. You can download it via iTunes direct link.

This article, App Review: Dots for iPhone Connects Everything, was originally published at simonblog.com.

I’m a fan of photo collage editor apps. I got excited when I stumbled upon this Instagram-like icon on the App Store recently and downloaded it to see how it works.

What the heck?

From the creators of PicsPlay Pro, JellyBus Inc. brings you this functional all-in-one photo editor enabling you to create a masterpiece of pic collage that you can share via social media networks. The hobby of iPhoneography has gone viral, and Moldiv is just one of the apps I use to create collages.

How does it work?

Frankly, I am used to frames and stitches. I’ve been reviewing similar apps before. However, something remarkable caught my attention while testing Moldiv – it’s almost complete with professional photo editing tools.

The app lets you combine and edit multiple photos in a single collage and offers awesome photo effects, stamps, creative frames, and tools for professional photo editing.

It’s a combo of the current apps I used – Aviary – Fuzel – FotoRus – Pic Collage – Jusgramm – Vintique – Instaquote – kind of app. For a newbie, the options might seem a bit intimidating, but for those who have been using the above-mentioned apps for a while, it’ll save you more disk space by ditching the others and sticking to this app.

It works similar with other photo editor, but it has its own intuitive controls for frame aspect ratios from 1:2 to 2:1 and direct options for stitches. Users can adjust the roundness, shadow, margin, and spacing. It features text captions inclusive of more than 250 fonts, 99 swatches and patterns, color palette, 34 labels, 14 styles, and more.

How’s the app?

The app was seriously developed for photo-enthusiasts and iPhoneography hobbyists. There’s only one drawback: the app could only support up to 9 photos in a single frame, just like any photo editor on the App Store. I was expectant to see 12 or more. Hopefully, the next update could support up to 15 photos.

For newbies, you can access a quick video tutorial via YouTube.

Overall, available as freemium app, Moldiv is worth it. Frankly, it’s better than InstaFrame and PicCollage. You can download it via iTunes direct link.

This article, App Review: Moldiv Photo Collage Editor for iPhone and iPad, was originally published at simonblog.com.

Would you like to travel with Chin?

Rise to the highest pole with Chin Up game featuring the nimble construction worker Mr. Chin. Let’s see if this fast-pace-touch-arcade game is worth it.

What the heck?

Touch Village Inc. brings you a fast-pace arcade game dubbed Chin Up. Currently, the app has bragging rights of 4.5 stars in 90 ratings (all versions) and 4 stars in 12 ratings with the current version.

How does it work?

Basically, players must help Mr. Chin to reach the top of the construction site by balancing him on a bamboo platform in various key places around the world while avoiding some dangerous falling objects.

Once you launch the game, you’ll be greeted with a heartwarming oriental music with Mr. Chin’s up balancing himself on a bamboo platform.

The game includes in-app purchases for power-ups but you can start playing on level 1 (Wuhan) and collect some of the essential items and slots that Mr. Chin needs to reach the top without falling.

Mr. Chin is under the siege of torrential downpour of bizarre objects like construction tools, various food products such as dumplings, rice bowls, sushi; living creatures like cats, fishes, dogs, and parts of living creatures such as brains, heads and many more.

The secret to keep him from falling is to shift the bamboo from left to right, tilt it from different angles to avoid the falling objects and dispatch the debris and other items. However, Mr. Chin must also catch the essential power-ups such as sauces and shields.

And it takes skillful fingers to shift from the other side to another. Just take control of the bamboo platform, but not Mr. Chin or you’ll dump him. Get a hold of the balloons so it?ll save him from falling before he gets mad at you.

How’s the app?

Frankly, players must be focus on tilting the platform while Mr. Chin heads skyward. I must say the mechanics of the game are simple, and mostly the objects are the same in each level; they’re predictable in the long run and it lacks depth and uniqueness. It’s an entertaining game for teens and arcade enthusiasts though. You can download Chin Up for free via this direct iTunes link.

This article, App Review: Chin Up App for iPhone, iPod and iPad, was originally published at simonblog.com.

As you may have heard that one of the most anticipated is Velox, which had been undergoing months of development and testing by Apex Tweaks (@ApexTweaks). It supercharges supported iOS and App Store Apps with “folder-view” for notifications or app-special functionality by swiping gestures that gives users a complete fresh experience to use their iPhones. However, Velox “folders” does not work inside normal folders. You must locate the apps to Homescreen to make it functional. Velox is now available on the BigBoss Repo for $1.99.

Here we will provide you with a walk-through on the features:

Messaging notifications

By default you are able to view incoming new messages for most of the apps that support push notifications. It is great when you don’t want to open the app itself or pull down the notification center. What’s good is that it supports major Quick Reply tweaks such as BiteSMS and QR for WhatsApp. When you click on the notification in Velox folder interface it brings up the QR pop-up window. However, it works neither with QR for Facebook Messenger nor Twitkafly.

For iOS Messages, Velox also provides functions to compose new messages and setting to enable Quick Reply. However, it is still a little bit buggy since many times the window cannot be dismissed and stays on top of the Springboard and hence I need a respring to fix it. In addition, the global setting of Velox allows you to dismiss notifications by swiping to the left. However at this stage, this still does not function in real for Messages App (somehow works for BiteSMS) and the badges will still stay.

Phone and Contacts

With Velox, you are able to pull down the menu that sorts your recent calls from the Phone App. You are also able to browse and search your contacts easily as shown the picture below.

Music Control

The tweaks enables you to control your Music App with a sleek dropdown folder window, that shows the progress bar, album art, play/pause, forward. It is smooth as far as I have tried.

I personally use third party music app called KKBOX for music. Velox partially supports it in which I am not able to scrub to particular position of a song. However, the play, pause and skip all work fine.

Calendar, Reminders and Notes

Velox pulls up recent 30 days of your calender items from iOS Calendar App. When you tap on specific items it will bring you directly to that calender event. It also brings up the list from the iOS Reminders App. Upon tapping it simply opens up the App itself.

Furthermore, it brings up the Notes App interface that allows you to. If you find the function helpful for you, please make sure you put the Notes App in the first two rows of Home Screeen so that the keyboard will not block you from editing more row of notes.

Photography

One of the most amazing features is about photos and videos. The Velox folder view integrates with your camera and you are able to take pictures and even videos easily with the window without physically starting the Camera App. You can also use all the functions of the default camera app such as flash and HDR toggles.

Velox also integrates with Photos App. You can easily tweet, upload to Facebook, email or copy your last taken photos in your camera roll.

Web browsing, Social Media, Maps and Weather

Velox opens up a web browsing window that you can open web pages by typing address. You can go forward and backwards as well.

This feature also applies to Facebook, Twitter and YouTube App that allows you to assess and login to their mobile sites. It is fully functional as what you can do in Safari.

For Apple Maps, Velox will prompt a message requesting location services to be turned on so that the little browser could locate where you are on the map.

Comparing with the above features, I like the Weather one even more. Just like what is showing below, it saves me much time to pull down the notification center and reach the weather forecast. And of course, much faster than opening an app.

These features also work well with most popular third-party apps, namely Google Chrome, Google Maps, Tweetbot, Yahoo! Weather, as you may have seen from the above screenshots.

Settings, Cydia and iFile

Another most appreciated feature is adding toggles in the folder of Settings App. Supported toggles at this moment in sequence will be DND, Wifi, LED Flash, Rotation lock, Respring, Data network, Mute, Location, Bluetooth and Airplane Mode.

For Cydia, the Velox folder looks like the Reminder one. it pulls the feeds directly from cydiaupdates.net so that you are able to see any new or updated package at a quick glance.

You can also browse your root directories easily by swiping on iFile. When you tab on specific files in the explorer view, it will take you to iFile directly and opens up the menu, just like what you originally do and see inside iFile.

Velox Customization

In the Preference session of Velox, as mentioned above, you are able to enable or disable bundled QR for messages. In addition, you can change the swiping gesture to your most convenient way.

One big feature is “Always NC folder for app” that allows you to control Velox behavior over each app – whether to show Velox functions or notification folder. Say, by default it pulls up a web browse for Facebook but once you enable it, Velox will make NC view as default.

The developer has also included detailed How-to to get user familiarized with all the features. If you are new to this I would recommend you take a look at it.

FolderEnhancer and Infinifolders

I believe many of you use the captioned tweake to expand your folder capacity. With recent updates for FolderEnhancer (v.1.9.8.1-1) and Velox (v1.0.1-1), both of them enhanced compatibility with each other, as well as for Infinifolders, which I believe fixed quite a number of crash bugs.

In order to make sure you don’t get default FolderEnhancer style folder view, as mentioned in a recent tweet from @ApexTweaks, you will need to disable “Enhance Special Folders” option to make things work as what Velox should look like. If you have it enabled, the folder will look weird and you will need to press the home key to dismiss it.

Incompatibility with Shrink

This was confirmed by the developer in this tweet. If you have Shrink installed like I did, you will find Velox folders shifting a bit like below. I also got more crashes with Shrink and More Icons installed with Velox. Just beware of this when you also do.

Recent add-ons

To make the experience of Velox even more fruiful, the jailbreak commnuity has been actively developing add-ons and themes.

CARROX by HASHBANG Production (@hbangws) offers Carrot with Velox features like Reminder App. The only difference is that it will not take you to the Carrot App when you click on the to-do items. The tweak is available on the BigBoss repo for free and requires App Store App Carrot which costs you 99 cents.

Stopwatch for Velox by Max Katzmann (@max_katzmann) tells what it does with its straightforward name. It enhances the iOS clock app which does not have any specific feature from Velox by giving it the stop-watch add on function. You could start, pause and reset. Once the folder view dismisses, the record will also be gone.

Velox Derailed Theme by ViNiT (left) and 4 Velox by Sk37cH (right) are two WinterBoard themes that change the outlook of Velox features such as Settings toggle icons and Music App folder. There could be more designers will be releasing more themes for Velox along with their themes or a standalone one. If you want to have this theme now, you can download both of them for free from the Modmyi Repo.

In a nutshell, Velox is a very robust and comprehensive tweak that highly enriches your experience in using your lovely jailbroken iPhone. For me, it is definitely a must. If you feel the same, head over to BigBoss repo now and get a copy of it.

This article, Supercharge Your iPhone Home Screen Apps with Velox, was originally published at simonblog.com.

I always use “Do Not Disturb” mode on your iPhone during meeting, working hours, or sleeping time. Many times I toggle it in SBSettings, Auxo, Velox or even in iOS Setting, whichever comes to my mind first. However, if you find two tabbing or swipes yet too many for you, here comes Luna – a new jailbreak tweak that just comes out today co-created by well-known hacker and developer Ryan Petrich (@rpetrich) and designer Sentry_NC (@Sentry_NC), where you can achieve this with one finger gesture.

Luna allows you to toggle “Do Not Disturb” in both your lockscreen and notification center. In the lockscreen, by simply pull and release at the clock you will be able to see DND mode enable or disable.

In the Notification Center, do the same to pull and release your NC to let the toggle take effect. In the meantime, don’t forget to enjoy the sleek and smooth animation of the new moon icon which is really well constructed and appealing to me.

One special note for LockInfo users is that Luna will override your NC pull-to-refresh function.

A few hours after the initial release, Luna received an update version 1.0.1 fixing LockInfo support and adding hide VIP star in nocturnal notification banners.

Overall, Luna gives you a handy option to toggle Do Not Disturb Mode. It is also well built that it does not have much compatiblity issue with other tweaks as far as I have been using. If you want try it out, head out to BigBoss Repo repo and download it with a price at $1.99.

This article, Luna Brings “Do Not Disturb” Shortcut to Lock Screen and Notification Center, was originally published at simonblog.com.

Well it’s that time of the week again here when we share the Top Free Cydia Tweaks released over the past week. We hope you enjoy these five free tweaks and find at least one you can use regularly.

1. LSMusicSeek

This tweak allows you to scrub through the song much faster. It’s added on the lockscreen in place of the volume slider. Simply double tap the home button to activate LSMusicSeek Cydia Tweak. It?s available in the ModMyi Repo for free.

2. Yahoo Weather is Better

It reroutes the weather through Yahoo. Users may also reroute the stock app by using this tweak also. Yahoo Weather is Better users may also turn on/off the Y! icon inside the settings menu of this tweak. It’s available for Free in BigBoss Repo.

3. Define

Define adds a search bar in the notification center where users may search for the definition of words by typing them into the search bar. It’s available for Free in ModMyi Repo. This tweak can be useful for many different situations.

4. TapTweetPlus

TapTweetPlus allows users to tweet what music they are listening to with only a tap of the screen. It adds the song name and hashtags as well. Users may choose to tweet the artwork or not inside the settings of the tweak. Its available for free in the BigBoss Repo.

5. QuickCompose

This tweak allows users to email, message, and tweet directly from inside the notification center. It adds three different buttons inside the NC which shows, “tap to tweet”, “tap to email”, or “tap to message”. It’s a very simple and fast way to accomplish these task. QuickCompose is available inside the BigBoss Repo for Free.

To learn more about these five cydia hacks, check out the below video:

These are Five Free Cydia Tweaks which we felt users could get some use from regularly. Be sure to visit us each week for the Top cydia Tweaks released. Watch the video below for a look at each of these tweaks. We encourage all our readers to share this content socially.

This article, Top 5 Cydia Hacks of The Week, was originally published at simonblog.com.

If you are looking for some different experience to unlock your iPhone, then you should check out a new tweak that comes out a couple of days ago called Piano Passcode by Johnathan Winger Lang (@jontelang).

What Piano Passcode basically does is it replaces your current default iOS passcode keypad with a piano-alike one. It contains seven “notes” from musical scale “do” to “ti”. The idea of the tweak is completely genuine as far as I have seen and it is beautiful in both visual and audio senses.

You are able to set your passcode with a desired melody with seven notes within the scale. You can set this melody with one to seven notes in total. If you set more than that seven, you will not be able to unlock you phone with the piano. But before all these setting, the developer reminds in the app setting menu that you need to disable your passcode code.

Upon unlocking and with mute off, you will be able to hear the piano sound of the note when you press. Certainly, no matter you are a pianist, music lover or neither, you are going to appealed by this concept and design of tweak itself.

Importantly, the tweak works pretty well with quite a number of popular unlock tweaks, namely atom, JellyLock (Beta), Grabby, etc. The animation of keyboard pop-up and key pressings is smooth. It is also compatible with other lockscreen tweaks and those with lockscreen functions, such as Abstergo, ISX, LockInfo 5, SubtleLock, etc.

Another good thing that I really love is, unlike traditional numerical passcode methods, this tweak allows you to try unlimited times until you successfully typed the correct sequence of codes, or say, notes.

However, there are a few things that could possibly be improved in future updates.

Firstly, it seems to me that not every part of the graphics is retina-ready. The most obvious is the black keys. Maybe it is a design from the developer to make it a little bit blurry but it does not look good to me.

Secondly and quite important to me, the piano audio suppresses the music that is currently playing on your device and the music will not resume itself.

Further, it is not handy that for every change you make, for instance changing the “melody”, enabling or disabling the tweak, you will need to respring to let it take effect.

Overall, I think this is a good tweak with potential to be better. It takes me to another level of enjoyment to unlock my iPhone with style, which are no longer fancy animations but peaceful short music.

If you want to give it a try, Piano Passcode is now available on the BigBoss repo for 99 cents.

This article, Beautify Your iPhone Unlock Screen with Piano Passcode, was originally published at simonblog.com.

Though there aren’t a lot of problems with native iOS apps, with most of them providing feature-rich options for users, the stock Photos hasn’t gone down well when it comes to importing albums from iTunes, deleting them or their photos during iTunes sync.

Face it, you don’t love connecting the device to the computer and sync your device with iTunes just to delete a few photos, and it’s time consuming as well. Luckily, there’s a solution coming from the Cydia Store in the form of iMageSynced Remover.

After downloading and installing the tweak, there aren’t any complicate configuration steps. There will be a new menu added in the stock Settings app, and there will be only one toggle in that menu. Through that toggle, you will be able to either enable or disable the tweak.

The toggle can be turned off if you’re not using the device, which will prevent others using your devices form deleting photos using the tweak.

By turning on the toggle, the tweak will give you the ability to delete photos from albums, just like you have the ability to delete any photos from the camera roll or the local album.

There’s an ‘Edit’ mode available, which you can enter to select the photos and remove them through the ‘Delete’ option. However, there’s no gesture or option to delete all photos in the album at a single time. This means you have to select photos and delete them manually, which is at least better than connecting the device to the computer or sync the device with iTunes for a mere removable.

iMageSynced Remover is a free of charge download at the Cydia Store. You can find it through the BigBoss repository. Let us know if you try it out.

This article, iMageSynced Remover: Delete Photos From Albums Without iTunes Sync, was originally published at simonblog.com.

Apple made the Notification Center more useful than ever with the release of iOS 6. App and Cydia developers haven?t been short of releasing apps and tweaks to further enhance its functionality, with music widgets for the Notification Center being released now and then. They?re given a lot of control to iOS users for accessing music directly from NC, but NCMusicGestures goes one step further and brings swipe gestures for controlling music.

After downloading and installing this tweak, a new menu is going to appear in the stock Settings app, but for the section of Notifications. As this jailbreak app is a widget, it has two different portions.

The upper half contains the slide bar from where, the track can be moved on to different points. Swiping across the bar also brings up the sharing options of the tweak. From here, a donation can be made to the developer, while the information of the track can be shared on Twitter and Facebook as well. The bottom half shows the information of the song as well as the album art.

There are other features which the user may not be aware are available. For example, any track can be paused directly from the Notification Center by a single tap on the album art. Swiping right on the album art will let the user to move ahead to the next track, while a left swipe can be used to go back to the previous track.

The only limitation is that only tracks played from the native music app are compatible. You can check out the video demo to see it in action:

For those who are fans of the Notification Center as well as gesture control, and love music, NCMusicGestures is worth a try. It?s a free download at the Cydia Store and is available through the BigBoss repository. Let us know if you try it out.

This article, NCMusicGestures Lets You Control Music From Notification Center, was originally published at simonblog.com.

There are several tweaks and apps available for iOS that give out notification reminders. Usually, the allow users to clear notifications once they’ve been seen. Abstergo is a new jailbreak app that does the same, but offers something else as well.

With this tweak, users are able to clear the notifications directly from the lockscreen apart from the Notification Center. It also brings the Remind Me Later option, which means any notification can be reminded of later as well. Furthermore, incoming text messages can be converted into reminders as well.

The clearing of notifications is done through gestures, and a ‘clear’ button is going to appear for any notification when the user swipes across it. Now all notifications don’t have to be cleared as in the usual case, as this tweak allows for dismissing of individual notifications.

However, that doesn’t mean all notifications can’t be dismissed at a single time; there’s a gesture for that too. A downward swipe on the lockscreen is going to serve the purpose.

The tweak also brings a new option for the stock Settings app, and hovering over any SMS presents a new ‘remind’ option, which can be selected to display any text as a reminder later on.

Apart from texts, the notifications can be used as reminders as well. The menu of ‘Remind Me In’ shows up after the user performs a long-press on the lockscreen or NC notifications. The new menu has several options, such as to remind the user in 5, 10, 15 minutes or at a particular day and time.

After the selection, till the time and date you set, the NC center will have the notifications attached, but they can always be dismissed.

Abstergo is available at the Cydia Store through the BigBoss repository. The tweak is priced at $1.99. Let us know if you give it a shot.

This article, Abstergo Cydia Hack Turns Texts and Notifications Into Reminders, was originally published at simonblog.com.

Do you want more physics-based games?

Aside from the addictive Benji Bananas, here’s Fingersoft’s Hill Climb Racing app. From the name itself, you’re in for a challenging uphill race.

What’s the app?

Hill Climb Racing is a free entertaining physics-based driving game brought to you by Fingersoft. Currently, it has bragging rights of 4.5 stars out of 595 ratings and offers in-app purchases for power ups.

How does it work?

Hill Climb Racing is easy to play with. No frills but full of thrills as you meet Newton Bill, the young aspiring uphill racer.

Once launched, the screen shows you the Main Menu, including the vehicle you wish to drive along the journey. You can navigate the sound settings found at the upper right corner of the main menu.

The Jeep is available for the first part of the game. Basically, this ride will help you gain more coins for engine upgrades and unlock other vehicles and levels. The Countryside setting is the best place to start with until you progress from easy to the most difficult uphill race. Your goal is to reach 600 meters.

Apparently, Hill Climb Racing features 11 stages with levels you can play with. You’ll receive bonuses when Newton gets one of the following: neck flip, airtime, flips, or back flips.

Mainly, tap the gas and start your journey. You can monitor your ride’s RPM and boost. Plus, make sure you use the brake wisely to bumpy climbs.

Physics-based games require timing and precision when it comes to the controls. Newton can’t drive too fast or else the jeep will get stuck vertically, but you can tap the brake button to get it back on track.

Players should use the gas and break pedals instantaneously to balance the movement of the jeep. Aside from racing uphill, you must get the coins and gasoline along the way.

For a better race, you can always upgrade your engine, suspension, tires, and 4WD to help you on steep climbs.

How’s the app?

The mechanics of the game is simple, yet it’s entertaining and addictive. It requires the timing of each control. Ironically, in its simplicity, the uphill race is challenging as I progress from level 1 to level 4.

The steeper the hill, the harder it gets to drive the jeep upward. Most of the time, Newton gets back flips and neck flips, and the jeep runs out of gas.

Personally, this game is highly recommended. I gave this app a 5-star rating on the App Store. You can download the game for free via this direct iTunes link.

This article, App Review: Hill Climb Racing for iPhone, iPod touch and iPad, was originally published at simonblog.com.

Anyone planning an adventure will carefully consider how they will record their travels, and the temptation is often there to spend far more than the cost of the trip on a fancy SLR camera to document it with. Fortunately, the iPhone has made it cheaper and easier to take high-quality photos at little to no additional cost. Both the iPhone 4S and 5 boast an 8 MP camera on the back of the phones, surpassing the dedicated point-and-shoot cameras of just a few years past.

With an iPhone, a little skill and an app or two, users can easily produce great photos without the long-standing expense of purchasing a professional quality camera and the requisite lenses, leaving more money to spend on your grand adventure.
Following are photography tips and iPhone apps that will enable amateurs to take high-quality, expressive photos with the camera that’s already in your pocket.

Photography Tips for Your iPhone

Clean the Lens: A dirty lens or an errant smudge can turn a perfect photo opportunity into a disaster. Given that your iPhone may spend most of their time in a purse or a pocket, it is important to wipe the lens clean before clicking a photo.

Increase the Resolution: iPhone apps like Camera+ allow for varied resolution options. Higher resolution photos are crisper and cleaner; the settings are simple to adjust, so don’t forget to go to the highest quality setting for a landscape or portrait, while fun picture of friends may be suitable for a lower resolution.

Steady Your Shot with a Tripod: A camera in motion can make for poor photos, so it’s important to remain still. Try holding your breath while you snap, or bracing the phone against a wall or railing. Better yet, purchase an inexpensive tripod for your iPhone that will keep enable steady photos in any situation.

Employ the Rule of Thirds: Use your iPhone’s grid feature. It will allow you to position your subject at either one-third or two-thirds location. By placing them slightly off-center, you can add a creative touch to what might normally be a very basic photo.

Apps for Shooting Photos like a Pro

AutoStitch Panorama: Capturing panoramic vistas with a point-and-shoot camera is usually reserved from the professionals, so taking such photos with an iPhone once seemed impossible. With the upgrade to iOS 6, panoramic photos are now a built-in feature of the onboard Camera app. For those seeking even more, try the AutoStitch Panorama app ($1.99) for iPhones and iPads, allowing users to snap between two and 40 photos, tap “Stich,” and create a panoramic picture worth bragging about. The “StitchGuide” feature makes things even easier by displaying the positions where the previous images were taken, allowing a much easier and accurate “stitch.”

Adobe Photoshop Express: Adobe’s Photoshop software has long been the go-to for professional photo processing, so it is no surprise that the application-maker has gone mobile with its Adobe Photoshop Express app. The app offers a core set of editing features. If you need more alternatives for your photos, purchase the Adobe Camera Pack ($4.99), Adobe Effect Pack ($2.99), or Adobe Border Pack ($0.99).

Mattebox: Described as “an innovative family of image sweeteners,” Mattebox ($3.99) is the brainchild of Ben Syverson and it brings the beauty of the iconic Konica Hexar point-and-shoot camera into the mobile world. The app is available for iPhones and iPads, although it also boasts a web application that provides users with extensive photo features without complex settings. There are flexible exposure settings, one-touch white balance, and dual-stage shutter release that pack a punch for even the most inexperienced photographer.

Pixlr-o-matic: Pixlr-o-matic brings the darkroom to your iPhone with over 200 million photo-processing combinations. The free app boasts an effects suite that allows you to adjust tone, create a border and add overlays. Once processed and perfect, you can share your photos through Facebook, imm.io, dropbox, iTunes, Flickr or email. Pixlr-o-matic offers additional options through PLUS.

Camera+: If you are really looking for an app that offers more-than-ample support for creating quality photos, look no further than Camera+ ($0.99). It offers the standard features that you expect from iPhone apps, like the ability to shoot photos using the camera or the app itself and the ability to share photos. It also includes five types of edits: Scene, Adjust (orientation), Crops, Effects (filters) and Borders allowing you a wide range of post-processing possibilities, from saving low-lit shots to adding new life to daylight photos.

The next time you pack for a big trip, remember that you may already have everything that you need for top-notch photos in your iPhone. Download a few photo apps, get creative with your shots, and save some money while recording the new places that you encounter on your adventure.

This post is contributed by Jeffrey Ferraro. Jeffrey is a travel expert and enthusiast. He is the Director of Marketing of Diamond Tours, the leading provider of charter group bus trips in the US and Canada, including bus tours in Chicago. Jeffrey loves uncovering lesser known travel destinations and sharing them with his customers.

This article, iPhone Camera Tips for Taking Better Photos in Your Next Adventure, was originally published at simonblog.com.

While iOS users have access to plenty of apps, some of those offering useful functionality such as monitoring of signal strength are limited in functionality. Usually, apps first make way on the App Store before they’re released for Android’s Google Play, but in case of OpenSignal, the opposite is true. It has been available on Android for a while, but not iOS. However, iOS users can finally use it as well as the developers have released an App Store version after a long wait.

The app helps users to find out the Wi-Fi networks present near their location, and allows them to see the carrier network providing the best coverage.

After downloading and installing the app, users are presented with the Dashboard where details of the current network are displayed, along with the total number of Wi-Fi hotspots present nearby.

The interface of the Dashboard contains three round dials. The first one at the left displays the name of the carrier; the second one displays the direction from where signals are being received while the third one displays the strength of the contention.

There’s also a ‘Show Network’ option at the bottom right, which shows the nearby hotspots. The connections that are displayed are both open and secured ones.

The Speedtest section can be used to see the speedometer, which displays download, upload and latency speed.

Apart from the Wi-Fi statistics, the app also displays network and coverage statistics. The coverage section will display the coverage map of a carrier, and the network whether it’s 4G, 3G or 2G. The information is displayed with a graph, but the user can also request figures. The Settings menu also contains tracking options, which can be enabled to make better use of the app.

OpenSignal is a free download in the App Store and is useful for checking the best coverage and Wi-Fi hotspots nearby. It works on iOS 5 and above. Let us know if you try it out.

This article, OpenSignal App: Check The Best Network Coverage and Wi-Fi Hotspots Nearby, was originally published at simonblog.com.

We enjoy sharing all the top Cydia Tweaks with our readers daily. However, each week we will be sharing the Top Cydia Tweaks for the week. We started this new post type off this week with the Top Free Cydia Tweaks. We hope you find a tweak or few you can find use for.

1. PhotoTorch

Our first tweak we want to share is called PhotoTorch. It was created by the developer PoomSmart. PhotoTorch gives users more control of their flash intensity while taking photos. It adds a couple options which can be modified inside the camera app. Users may use the scrub bar to increase or decrease the flash intensity. One of the only negative aspects I saw using PhotoTorch was it only works with photo no video. Users can find PhotosTorch in BigBoss Repo.

2. Grabby

The next Cydia tweak is titled Grabby. This tweak was developed by Ryan Petrich. Anyone who has been in the jailbreak community very long has heard this developers name. He is one of the top jailbreak developers. Grabby adds more features to the camera grabber on the lockscreen. Users may use their finger to slide to the app they wish to open and flip the screen up. Grabby also allows the user to chooser which apps to open. These settings can be configured inside settings app under Grabby’s settings. Users will need to add this source http://rpetri.ch/repo.

3. Protect Photos

We all have encountered a situation where someone using our iPhone has tried to look at our photos without permission. This can easily be remedied using Protect Photos Cydia Tweak by the developer Cunstuck in Big Boss Repo. It gives the user password protection for photo app, camera app, instagram app, and much more. Users set a password and toggle on/off the apps they wish to have protected. Users may look under the “Application Protecting” option to put a password on any or all applications on the device. One of the best features about using this tweak is should the user forget the password they can login using the iPhone UDID in the settings app. From here they can see their password or set a new one.

4. MusicWidget

Playing music is one of the most enjoyable things we can do with our idevices. MusicWidget is a Cydia Tweak which makes playing music much easier and simpler. Users may use this tweak to find their music app much easier and the controls. The widget also shows the album art along with the music controls. Should the user wish to open the music app just tap the album art to be taken inside the music app. It can be found in the Big Boss Repo.

5. Pluck

The final tweak we are sharing this week is also a music related tweak called Pluck. Pluck adds a small music icon in the bottom corner of the left or right side. That’s one of the settings users can configure inside Pluck settings. Pluck was developed by rvirajm and can be found in Modmyi Repo.

Check out the video demo to learn more about the tweaks:

Please share this article with all your social friends on Facebook, Twitter, and others. We would also love to hear your thoughts in the comments below. Be sure to check back next week for our next Top Tweak post.

This article, Top 5 Free Cydia Tweaks of the Week, was originally published at simonblog.com.

I have a confession to make…I was caught off-guarded again with another addictive game; I ended up purchasing some in-app items for my new jungle buddy, Benji.

What the heck?

From the creators of Cartoon Camera Pro and Hill Climb Racing, Fingersoft Ltd. brings you a fun and addictive physics-based adventure storms in the App Store, with bragging rights of 4.5 stars in 19 ratings (current version). Benji Bananas is an exciting game for all ages available in iOS and Android versions.

How does it work?

The game allows Benji (you) to jump between ropes and avoid the dangers that’ll cut your journey. If you have played physics-based games like Tiny Wings 2, you know what I’m talking about. It involves precision and timing when you tap the screen to get you moving to the next level.

You need to swing Benji to the next rope to get forward while maintaining accuracy and precision in every tap and enjoying the beautiful scenery and landscapes along the way. Your goal is to get the longest meters you can swing plus the number of bananas you collect. You can share your score via Twitter.

That’s not all. While swinging from one rope to another and from one snake to another (on higher game levels), you need to collect fruits like bananas and other collectibles to help you on the next levels and gain more upgrades.

No need to worry about the mechanics of the game. As you swing from one rope to another, you’ll be familiar with the timing and precision as you swing Benji from one rope to another.

Benji Bananas app has in-app purchases. If you’re serious to gear up your monkey, a plethora of packages for clothing, power ups, bonuses, and other items is available. You can choose from the five environments such as Grand Tour, Jungle, Waterfall, Temple Ruin, Planecrash and swing from one vine to the other.

How’s the app?

No doubt about it! It is fun, addictive, and challenging. Honestly, the first time I played this, I failed to swing Benji from the starting point to the first rope (quite a number of times).

It took some patience to master the physics of the game. Thankfully, the developer provided a step-by-step guide on how to play on the first part of the game. Share the app via Twitter to get 250 bananas and like the developers’ page to get 150 bananas.

I just wish the developer would add Facebook sharing options, too. Nonetheless, the overall app deserves 4.5 stars.

Benji Bananas is available on App Store for free. You can get it via direct link.

This article, App Review: Benji Bananas for iPhone, iPad and iPod touch, was originally published at simonblog.com.

Ask any iOS user about the iPhone’s Camera and he/she will have words of praise to say, but when asked about how the camera performs in low-light conditions when there’s a flash required, iPhone owners generally tend to shy away.

There are a lot of problems using the iPhone camera in low-light conditions; the flash doesn’t work properly, there’s too much blue and images are often overexposed. To reduce the agony of iPhone users, who have seen the likes of Xperia Z perform exceptionally well in low light conditions, a Cydia developer has released a new jailbreak app by the name PhotoTorch.

This tweak allows users to take control of the flash of the camera, adding an option to the stock app for the Camera. It also allows the customization of the flash’s intensity. After the tweak is downloaded and installed, a new menu is added to the Stock Settings app. There are only two toggles available in the Settings menu.

The first toggle is for enabling and disabling the tweak, while toggling on the ‘No Flash Fire’ option makes the flash intensity before and during a shoot of an image remains almost the same. Turning off this toggle gives the control of the intensity of the flash to the device itself, and this can lead to problems such as overexposure if the flash is increased when an image is being taken.

For using the tweak, open the stock Camera app from the homescreen. Two new options will be added into the ‘Option’ menu of the stock app. Users can turn on the ‘Torch Mode’ toggle if they want to use the flash before capturing an image.

For controlling the intensity level, a simple swipe is required across the slider. Remember, keeping the ‘No Flash Fire’ mode enabled will show no difference between the preview image and the actual image.

The only limitation of this tweak is that when the stock Camera app is opened through the lockscreen or the gallery, the options for the tweak don’t show up.

PhotoTorch works on iOS 6 and above and is applicable on devices running the said firmware and features a camera with a flash. It’s available as a free download at Cydia Store through BigBoss repository.

This article, PhotoTorch Gives iPhone Users Complete Control of Camera Flash, was originally published at simonblog.com.

Can’t get enough of the multiplayer games? Well, you might want to add this new app dubbed Fruit Blast in your list.

Candy Crush wasn’t enough for me though. Let’s unbox this promising freemium social game app derived from the riffs of old school PC games.

What the heck?

From the makers of Bubble Mania and Jewel Mania, Team Lava brings you an addictive game app that you could play for hours, whether offline or online. Blast the delicious fruits and free the little mice by exploding like-colored blocks off the grid.

How does it work?

The mechanics of the game is quite similar to Bubble Mania and Jewel Mania, but there’s a twist. The object of the game is not to clear the playing field per se; instead, you need to free the little mice caught between fruit blocks.

Tapping the groupings of two or more colors of the same fruit remove them from the playing board. More tiles yield high scores, and as level progress, more tiles are revealed in larger areas. You need to follow the instructions of the chubby blue mouse (found at the upper corner) on each level until you reach the downward-scrolling puzzles.

Each objective is different depending on the levels, including collecting a single fruit or color block to properly juice it. Mainly, the goal is not to clear the board but to free the small varmints from the blocks. As you progress, the challenges are turn-limited. For example, you need to free 3 mice in 25 moves only (Level 9).

As expected, there are power ups (for in-app items) and large bonuses for your sweet babies. You can easily earn coins and gems to help you progress and get keys to unlock the mysteries. Since this is a social app as well, you can invite your friends via FB and challenge them to beat your highest score.

Players are allowed to repeat the same level if they fail to complete the mission. They are given five energy; and if that’s not enough, they have to wait for more than an hour and a half to refill again or buy an in-app purchase for 22 gems ($0.99).

The initial setup of the game requires an Internet connection to activate the multiplayer feature via Facebook or Email.

How’s the app?

The game is definitely compelling! You know how multiplayer games work via Facebook, so there?s nothing more I can say. Probably, you’ll be a fruit maniac for wee hours of playing it. It deserves a 5-star rating.

Fruit Blast Mania is a universal app on App Store. Get it for free via direct link.

This article, App Review: Fruit Blast Mania for iPad and iPhone, was originally published at simonblog.com.

What do you think should you prioritize: the most important or the urgent? While there are numerous productivity and time-management apps that you’ll find on the App Store, let me share to you this interesting app – an all-in-one virtual organizer that helps you manage your daily tasks, appointments, and projects. I call it my “lifeline dashboard.”

What the heck?

Light Arrow’s LifeTopix is a productivity tool for iOS devices that allows you to organize your schedule, agenda, to-do list and everything else in a single platform and tracks all the information in your life.

Life­Topix is a com­plete life orga­ni­za­tion app designed from the ground up to rede­fine pro­duc­tiv­ity very dif­fer­ently from the same old daily plan­ners, per­sonal orga­niz­ers, to-do lists and cal­en­dars, with nat­ural con­nec­tions and reuse across top­ics and data.

How does it work?

For first-time users, you might be intimidated with all the topics and data on “My Topics” tab. Fear not. I advise you to take one step at a time browsing all tabs and topics on the dashboard. Honestly, it took me a few days to master its features. Nonetheless, this is one of the most astounding productivity apps I have ever reviewed.

Life­Topix covers 12 topics (areas of life) of an individual. To help you identify them easily, here is the chart from the official website.

These 12 topics were intentionally (and intelligently) designed to help users manage projects and tasks, track services and service providers, health activities, events and appointments, shopping lists, to-do lists, and many more.

It functions like a Swiss knife – everything you need is already there – but it doesn’t require you to use all of them. You may use two or three topics for a good start.

Under My Apps tab, you can integrate your Dropbox, Evernote, Facebook, Pinterest, Safari, and Twitter accounts. What’s more, it will prompt you to back up everything via iCloud or any of the cloud services you prefer.

How’s the app?

LifeTopix is a large application in terms of its internal explorations. It may be intimidating for first-time users, but the “Engage” tab or Help Center will guide you along the way. It takes a few days before you get used to its functions, but if you are in dire need of organizing and managing your activities in the long run, this app is worth downloading.

It’s available on App Store via direct link for $4.99.

This article, App Review: LifeTopix Helps You Organize Everything, was originally published at simonblog.com.

There aren’t many iOS apps that allow users to apply live filters to images. Although apps like PopAGraph can be used to create a 3D frame, the filter effects are a whole different ball game, available in a limited quantity. However, a new app has made way onto the App Store that allows users to apply real-time filters, but that’s the only thing it offers. It goes by the name Text Camera.

With this app, users can place text, quotes and doodles in real time over the image being captured. The images can be shared through the app, which is going to unlock more effects.

After downloading and installing the app on the device, users are presented with the interface from where; they can apply a live filter before taking an image, with a simple swipe across the display.

Some effects are available for free, while users can get their hands on the effects that have a price tag by gaining app points. The app points requires the sharing of the images created through the app on social media, which won’t be much of a hassle, considering the trend of iOS users sharing their creative work on social platforms.

There’s a pencil icon that’s colored blue. It’s there at the bottom left and by tapping it; the user gets access to the text and doodles effects. If text is selected, the size, font and color can be customized. Doodles can be placed into different categories.

Once typing in the desired text, the snippet that’s created can be placed on a new position by dragging it to the desired place.

For accessing the quotes, the quotes icon that’s the second one on the left side bar can be tapped. The selected quotes can be placed in a desired area just like texts are placed.

There’s a location icon present as well, which allows the placement of the location and time for the captured image. For shooting images, the camera icon at the mid bottom can be selected.

The taken images are saved to the stock album as well as the app’s own album. They can be shared on Facebook and Twitter.

Text Camera does have limitations. There is no way to apply effects to existing images, since there is no separate image customizable viewer featured in the app.

Nevertheless, it’s interesting, and offers real-time filters that are almost abundant in other apps. Text Camera is a free download on the App Store. Let us know if you try it out.

This article, Text Camera: Apply Filter Effects, Doodles, Text and Quotes On Photos In Real-Time, was originally published at simonblog.com.

Although the main function of the lockscreen on iOS devices is to let the user slide and enter the main interface, some device owners want more than that. However, a variety of controls on the lockscreen can make it cluttered, and the device owner can get overwhelmed, forgetting its main purpose.

A new Cydia tweak has been release by the name Pluck that allows the lockscreen to retain its purpose, while it adds a small button on the playback controls present, which can be used to access the music library’s playlist and songs. The user can use this jailbreak app to access songs without unlocking the display.

After downloading and installing the tweak, a new menu is going to appear in the Stock Settings app. There will be two toggles present in the tweaks menu; the first one will allow the user to enable or disable the tweak, while the second one will allow the adjustment of the tweak’s button position on the lockscreen. There are no more options available apart from these two.

However, installation only is not going to make the tweak active, as the device needs to be respringed. This can be done by tapping the button that says ‘Apply’, present in the configuration menu at the top right corner.

To make sure that the tweak works properly, tap the icon that shows +, the tweak’s icon button, on the lockscreen. From here, everything related to music will be available under their own separate tabs; songs, artists, playlist and albums.

However, there is no way to rewind or forward the tracks through the tweak, and the playback would seize as soon as the running time is over.

Nevertheless, it’s useful for those quick listening sessions. Pluck is a free of charge download and is available at Cydia’s ModMyi repo. It works on a jailbroken iOS 6 device.

Let us know if you try it out.

This article, Pluck Gives You Direct Access To Music Library From Lockscreen, was originally published at simonblog.com.