Head to Head: Drafts vs. iA Writer

Word processing for iOS is a bountiful well of possibilities with a lot of variety. During the day when you're out and about, it's easy to pull out your iPhone or iPad Mini to do a little bit of creative and productive writing during those small pockets of time. Many apps are thrown out there in this department like Evernote, Byword, My Writing Spot, Write 2 or Apples own Pages. While these are all valid options, I find that the best of the bunch that are the most effective is Drafts and iA Writer. But the real question is which one deserves your hard earned money more?

Procreate! What's Great? What Could Be Better?

I LOVE Procreate for the iPad. I love the way it works, how quick it runs and it's the PRIME example of what apps of this caliber should be striving for. I've stopped buying others to test against it other than the main ones when they go on sale. So why do I choose to open Procreate and keep using it rather than expanding my horizons to check out what the competitions doing? Here is a complete breakdown of my thoughts on Procreate, point for point and tit for tat where it shines the most, can use a little polish and where it stands up against every art app on the market.

Manga Meow

There are times when I test a new app despite having one that works extremely well. I use Manga MF and have found it quite useful for reading unlicensed manga straight from Japan. If I'm looking for something new to read I simply browse through the massive library and download the first dozen or so chapters to take with me. If I like what I read, I keep moving. If I don't, I delete, regret and forget. So why oh why did I give Manga Meow a go?

Drafts for iPad

My goto writing app of choice is iA Writer. At least I thought so. I saved to Dropbox or iCloud and pick it up wherever. I thought it was as simple as that (and it is) but I heard about this other app. When I hear about other apps I tend to perk my ears up like a sleeping cat. What was I missing out on? Write 2 was also good but my heart was encased in stone and loyally enamoured with iA Writer like some doe-eyed teenaged girl smitten by some guy from the 'wrong side of the tracks.' So what's so great about Drafts (for the iPad)?

Foolproof Art Studio

Do you know what the App Store isn't short on? Photo apps! Tons upon tons of photo apps. Apps that take photos, edit them with all sorts of lightweight Photoshop effects and share them all within the same slice of software. For me, the standard photo app is always within reach on the home screen for lifes quick moments. I love Camera+ but with each update on my iPhone takes much longer to open and navigate to take a photo. So why am I reviewing another photo app? Because unlike others that slap filters onto pictures and makes it into art, I believe Fool Proof is a fresh break from the mould.

 

DrawQuest

Creative types such as myself (puff up chest) can benefit with regular exercises for our talents. In these instances frequent tasks with a general premise are helpful like writing a brief entry about cows or in the case of todays app, drawing assignments. Sketching on my iPad? My word!

Art Rage: iPad Version

Now that I have the proper hardware to better run apps I already own, its time to finally throw in my two cents on ArtRage. Before using it on the 1st Gen iPad was excruciating because it kept saying I need to close a lot of processes for it to work (which was still very sluggish.) Now that I have an up to date iPad, does it still have trouble keeping up or has this been the app that’s been sitting under my nose all this time?

Evernote for iPhone/iPod

Let’s get one thing clear, I LOVE Evernote. Any service which cleanly keeps notes, files, pictures in the cloud has my attention and I use Evernote to the fullest. SimpleNote was my first but I bit into the Evernote fruit because it does more than just written notes. Now Evernote is an essential part of my app and tech arsenal but I’m still left wondering. Why do I have the iPhone app?

30/30

Personally, I love it when an app becomes an integral and useful part of my life. This year my resolutions are to be more organized and productive which I started with a system of dedicated time towards writing this blog and other such projects I’d like to get started on. Going hand in hand with this I got the 30/30 app, a productivity timer to help me get some work done. Does it though?

Wonderputt

Golf games and touch screen devices go extremely well together like steak and potatoes. You can have a full on golf experience like EAs Tiger Woods franchise that's easily playable on iPad and iPhone alike and also have an arcade game like Flick Golf! Wonderputt is one such game that is only playable on the tablet and is interesting even if you don't like golf.

Road Trip 2

iOS games have a rep for being a platform not for hardcore gamers and I tend to stand in the middle of that statement. The platform has matured to include an array of classic games from older home consoles and it's own unique blend of games that follows a singular gameplay dynamic. Whether its achieving multiple set missions or goals or striving for 3 star scores on every level, it's liberating and fitting to have a pick up and play game that's convenient. Road Trip 2 has that prior mechanic of jumping and flipping to achieve similar goals that keeps the game going. But is it another run of the mill game that's quickly done and forgotten? Or does it stand up to the big boys of iOS gaming?

Ink for iOS

I'd like to make a confession here. I'm addicted to drawing apps. I played the hell out of Draw Something, invested way too much money in software for my iPhone and iPad that I hardly use and have sought the perfect stylus to use on these apps I neglect so horrifically. There's a satisfaction to absorbing myself in my tech and being creative with a visual medium that I've struggled with in person and seeing other developers take on the graphic apps (what's new that they bring to the table.) I just can't help myself. So why not, here's another one.

Appsfire

There’s a lot of App Store catalogue apps or freebie of the day apps. You can tell which bring great apps to the free side when you see a new app take the top free app spot (that formerly wasn’t there). The catalogue apps tend to complicate and convulate the screen with too many buttons and apps, the worst ones I know show far too little. However there is one in particular that takes my hearts fancy is Appsfire for several reasons

Score!

The 12 Days of Free stuff from Apple after the Holidays showed me some exciting new apps that I didn't even know existed. Score! being the one I was most surprised by. I love Football but have never gotten into touchscreen variations, Fifa being the main offender of terrible controls (and taking up way too much disk space.) Does Score! scratch that itch for Footie on the go or is it just another Angry Birds knock off?

Lift

Got your 2013 resolutions in order? I myself (like everybody who is actually human) have trouble adhering things I want to do with my life and keeping them around long enough to become apart of my life. Help me! I yelled at Siri. She didn’t understand me very well so I sifted through the App Store. I need an app to help me with my resolutions. My most important one is to finish what I

 

 

Crazy Taxi

These days its hard to find a racing game where you're not weaving through traffic, freaking out some sort of sentient AI who are innocently trying to commute in their small virtual world. I'm talking about racing games like Need For Speed that takes place on city streets but the one that I hold dear to my heart is the original Arcade classic Crazy Taxi. Sega actually managed to squish it down for iOS (soundtrack, mini-games and all!) Does it work on a 4" touch-screen? Is this a decent port for a premium price? Why do I ask so many questions?