THOSE WHO received a new Apple IOS device this Christmas have over one million apps to download from the Apple App Store. So here's a run down of our top 10 most fun apps to help you narrow down the best and most fun among them.

Spotify

Music streaming service Spotify is by far one of the most fun and essential apps to have on your IOS device during your festive holidays. With access to millions of songs on your Iphone, Ipad and Ipod Touch, think of the endless possible Christmas playlists you could create from your mobile device.

The app is easy to use and allows you to make any playlist offline, storing the songs in the playlists you've created onto your phone so that you can listen to it when you haven't got access to a WiFi or 3G connection.

Linked to your Facebook, the Spotify app allows you to share tracks with friends who aren't members of the service. And not to worry, you can always put it on private mode in case you're worried your friends will chastise you for listening to your guilty pleasures.

The app is free to download but if you want unlimited access to Spotify content on your mobile device, you'll have to subscribe to the £9.99 per month package. Completely worth every penny, if you ask us.

Pocketbooth

Pocketbooth is possibly the most fun you could have with your camera-phone. Once launched, you can begin snapping pictures of you and friends in a traditional four-strip photobooth style instantly. Working across both front facing and rear facing cameras, the app takes four snaps per photo strip, allowing you to pull a multiplicity of gurns and grins before saving the strip as an image to the camera roll.

The strips can be altered via size, filter effect and borders. If you're wanting the picture in physical form, Pocketbooth allows you to order a print for £2 a pop with its delivery service.

If you're too impatient to wait for professional prints though, you can always do it yourself via an "air print" feature. Alternatively, you can always share your strips over Facebook or Twitter via the app's sharing function. Pocketbooth is just 69p and is a great and fun way for all your friends to see the antics you've been up to this Christmas.

Morfo

Despite the pretty naff name, Morfo is actually really entertaining. As a completely free app, Morfo allows you to quickly turn a photo of you or your friend's face into an animated talking and dancing 3D character.

Once captured, you can make your friend say anything you want in a silly voice, rock out, wear makeup, sport a pair of huge green cat eyes, or suddenly gain lots of weight (though this might not be needed if you gorge as much as we do over the Xmas period).

Morfo also lets you share your 3D creations via social networks such as Facebook and record a message and post a video of the character talking and dancing. You could even use the Morfo app as a unique way to send a greetings card with your festive wishes or Happy New Year's message.

Touch Hockey

Flipside 5's Touch Hockey app is by far one of our preferred action games available across the IOS platform.

Fast, fluid and responsive, the game allows you to play against the computer or your friends over a Bluetooth and WiFi connection.

We've played plenty of similar games on the Iphone and Ipad, but the speed of Touch Hockey is unmatched. Play is fast but super fun, with action replays of winning goals adding to the overall excitement of the app. It really will have you on the edge of your seat.

The app is free but those wanting to customise gameplay can do so by downloading the upgrade pack, which costs £1.49 and adds different themes such as neon lit hockey tables and different coloured pucks.

Our favourite feature about Touch Hockey is that it can work with physical pucks available for the Ipad, which it recognises just like a finger, allowing two players to compete on one device in a much more authentic air hockey experience.

Instagram

Being by far one of the best photo-sharing apps out there for its ease of use and speed, Instagram makes our top 10 IOS apps rundown for its ability to ensure hours of fun over the festive period.

Whether it's photos of your pets wearing paper hats from Christmas crackers, or snaps of grub stacked up in front of you, Instagram will let you share enhanced photographs - thanks to the array of built-in filter effects to make them look even better - for all your friends to see on the app and across Facebook, Twitter and Tumblr.

What makes Instagram even better is that it's totally free to download from the app store, and if you're not into sharing snaps, you could always use it to browse other users' pics uploaded around the world via hashtags for inspiration on things to do, places to go, items to buy or food to cook, for example. Instagram is certainly one of our favourite apps for IOS.

Scrabble

Scrabble for the Iphone and Ipad is perhaps one of the best games to really get your brain ticking over. Though it will provoke much deep thought in you, it's still one of the most fun and our favourite games on IOS.

The game allows you to play friends over Facebook to see who among your clan should really read a dictionary. And if you have no friends, it's not a problem as you can always play against the computer.

With the ability to have 50 games on the go at once, and share your best scores on a leader board on Facebook, Scrabble is a great social game. The unique feature about the app is that it allows players to connect over one WiFi connection to use an Ipad as the board, with each player's phone holding their row of letters.

Enabled with HD quality graphics made to maximize the Retina display, the Scrabble app will bring you plenty of mind-boggling fun this Christmas time, whether it's with your family, friends or just by yourself.

Vimeo

Being one of our favourite video streaming websites, it's no real surprise the Vimeo app for IOS makes it on to our top 10 most fun apps list. Not only does the app deliver the most arty and creative clips on the internet, but it's also a pleasure to navigate around.

The Vimeo app's layout and design means it's responsive, smooth and intuitive, with the video browsing section loading quickly and making it easy to find the most eye-catching, thought-provoking and amusing videos from around the world.

The Vimeo app is completely free, and has four main tabs running along the bottom, including a feed of videos you're most likely to be interested in according to your likes, an explore tab that lets you search the database, an upload tab to add your own clips, and a watch later tab, allowing you to store lists of videos you'd like to view later on.

Vimeo has the potential to provide hours of video streaming entertainment, and is an essential app for those winter days indoors when the comfort of movie-watching is how you plan to spend your evening.

Cut the Rope

Christmas usually gives us plenty of free time to spend as we like, such as eat all that festive food. But if you're too full up to munch on anything else, there's always the Cut the Rope puzzle game to keep your mind occupied, even if your body is not.

Having 250 million downloads around the world thus far, Cut the Rope is a highly addictive game with over 300 levels.

The physics-based game allows you to collect gold stars, discover hidden prizes and unlock new levels as you advance through them. What's more, there's a nifty 3D character add-on available that allows you to play Cut the Rope on Ipad in a more interactive way.

Cut the Rope will set you back a modest 69p, but provide hours of entertaining gameplay from the get-go.

Song Pop 

If you haven't already played it - seriously, where have you been? - Song Pop is an additive music guessing game that pits your tune knowledge against that of your friends'.

Being one of the most fun apps we have played in a long time, Song Pop sets up a tournament between you and one other player, and you take turns to guess a clip from a track, chosen by you or your opponent from a range of categories including pop and rock, across different eras.

You only have 10 seconds to guess what artist sings a particular song, or what the name of the song is being played. The time runs down and the quicker you guess, the more points you earn. The player with the most points at the end wins a coin, which can then be traded in to unlock new playlists to challenge your friends with.

Song Pop is a highly addictive and majorly fun one of a kind app for IOS devices, and without doubt worth a spot on our top 10 list.

Voice Changer Plus

A simple but hilarious concept: the Voice Changer Plus app by Arf Software is a great laugh, even if it is a cheap one.

Providing a choice of fun voices and sound effects, the Voice Changer Plus app takes your words and converts them into some of 40 voice and background sound effects, from a lazy mouse to a talking guitar.

For £1.49, you can to add the ability to post your recordings onto a social network site, or save them to a device, making it a brilliant way to play practical jokes on friends.

With the ability to apply up to three effects at once, an editing function so you can trim sound clips down and Apple AirPlay support, Voice Changer Plus is one of the most pointless but fun IOS apps out there.

Originally Published at: http://www.theinquirer.net/inquirer/news/2232351/top-10-fun-iphone-and-ipad-apps-at-christmas

Christmas Special Offer!

Looking for the best deals of some software for your Mac? Check this out: http://www.tune4mac.com/merry-christmas-promotion.html to find the best deals for this Christmas.

Google and Apple have been butting heads in the competition over the mobile and tablet market for a long time, and now that the temperature keeps on rising, the effects of this face-off have become even more apparent to the common user. With iOS 6, Apple will not only get rid of Google Maps as the default map provider, but also axe the YouTube application that was previously shipped with iOS.

With the default YouTube app out of the picture, iPhone and iPad users will be looking for an alternative application. Looking around, the possibilities are scarce indeed — a side result of the original application’s high quality — but a handful of them more than suffice to fill this newfound gap on your homescreen.

YouTube Web App

You might be wondering why Google hasn’t seen fit to release their own YouTube app on the App Store. Most likely, it’s because of the high quality of their mobile website. That’s right, when opened on your iOS device, the mobile website already looks and works as great as any actual “app”.

The web app, which you can open by pointing any iPad browser to m.youtube.com, gives you the expected video and comments handling, with support for playlists, live video and subscriptions. For easy access, create a shortcut to the web app on your homescreen by clicking the arrow in the top left corner of the screen, and select Add to Home Screen.

FREEdi YouTube Player

If you’re not interested in the YouTube web app, or just want a standalone app, there aren’t a lot of free possibilities. Of those, the FREEdi YouTube Player sticks head and shoulders above its competition. Apart from the expected video and playlists capabilities, you can use the application to create so-called Local Lists; local playlists on your iOS device. Interestingly, you can also put playlists on shuffle or repeat.

FREEdi YouTube player isn’t the prettiest application of the bunch, but it’s a full-featured application and the best free standalone YouTube application by a mile. As often with these free alternatives, advertising is included in the deal.

Luckily, during my time of using the application, advertising only appeared in the main view and never during videos.

ProTube [Cydia] [$1.49]

This one is only available via Cydia, so you’ll need to have jailbroken your iPad. It’s also the only premium app in this list, with an acceptable price tag of USD 1.49. This price will get you both ProTube (iPhone) and ProTube HD (iPad), so you will need to purchase the application only once to use it on both devices.

ProTube can likely be found on the Cydia home screen, or otherwise using a simple search.

It’s easy to see the likeness of ProTube and the official YouTube web app. That’s because, at the core, it is built around the same app. However, ProTube comes with a myriad of additional features, including the capability to save video and sound to your iPad and enjoy them offline.

What’s your favorite way to enjoy YouTube videos on your iPhone or iPad? Will you have a hard time to get by without the default YouTube app? Let us know in the comments below the article!

Source: http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/top-3-youtube-apps-iphone-ipad/

Continue Reading...

How to Download Videos from YouTube on Mac?

iPad Games Galore is a monthly column for all iPad game lovers out there. Every month, we feature 5 excellent games in different categories, making sure you get your monthly quota of iPad quality time. This month’s collection is all about time-wasters, and the most addictive ones at that.

There are many good reasons to play games, the best of which is to simply “clear the mind and pass the time”. Below you will find a collection of very addictive games, that nonetheless don’t require any strenuous thought or action on your part. Simply load the game and start playing, and be amazed to find yourself 2 hours later still holding the iPad, immersed in the game.

A key feature for a long, addictive time-waster is lots of levels, and for that you may end up spending a few dollars. But don’t worry, by the time you try even one or two levels of these games, you’d be glad you spent the money, guaranteed!

Anodia [Free, $ 1.99]

Anodia is an excellent and innovative take on the old Bricks game we all know and love. The object of the game is still the same – get rid of all the elements on the screen to complete the level – but most of the other parts of the game have been totally re-imagined. As you can see in the screenshot, these are not plain old bricks you’re breaking, and each level brings a completely different take on the matter. You will find yourself breaking light bulbs, crashing into colored rings and fighting all sorts of geometric constructions. The game also includes many power-ups and  power-downs, if you will, which you need to take or avoid accordingly. The free version include a limited number of levels, which you can play over and over again, but in order to enjoy the full experience, you might want to shell out the $1.99.

Envelop [$ 0.99]

Although I promised no thinking, there is no way I could fail to mention Envelop in this roundup. I first laid my hands on Envelop during the Because We May sale, which offered it for free. I admit, I would never have given this game another look were it not free at the time, but I’m so glad I did. The object of Envelop is very simple: get the grey area to cover all the blue squares, and nothing but the blue squares, before they reach their full size. When they do, the grey area must not cover any red squares or any empty squares. Each level takes about 5 seconds, so this is a fast-paced game that will have you sweating by the time it’s over. With its simple yet stunning visuals, and its unique language, Envelop is one of the most engaging games I’ve downloaded this month. It does not have a free version, but at $0.99, it’s a steal.

Tap The frog [$1.99]

Ah, Tap the Frog. In all honesty, my life has changed since I discovered this game. While it is quite a popular game, I hadn’t heard of it until not so long ago, which was a terrible shame. So in case you’ve managed to miss it too, this is your chance. While Tap the Frog is one of the most entertaining games I’ve ever played, it’s not going to suit everyone. All of Tap the Frog’s 48 levels are based on quick action and quick responses. The quicker you are with the task at hand, the more stars you get at the end of it, and the more accomplishments and badges you collect. If 48 levels sounds like a lot, it’s only because you haven’t played yet. I finished all 48 in one sitting, and am now waiting anxiously for more levels to be added, while I go back to improve my scores.

Tap The Frog 2 [$ 0.99]

No, this is not a mistake. I decided to include Tap the Frog and Tap the Frog 2 separately since they’re both excellent games, but surprisingly different from one another.  After finishing all 48 Tap the Frog levels, I was craving for more, and went ahead and bought Tap the Frog 2. Tap the Frog 2 currently includes only 10 levels, but instead of a few seconds, the levels last several minutes. Each level has a different goal, such as tapping the numbers in sequence, navigating you frog through water, road or sky, or eating as much as cake and candy as you can. The levels start at 20 seconds, but as you go along you keep adding more and more time to the clock, and the more time you collect, the further you can get in the level. Each level includes 4 achievements to unlock, so even after playing all 10 levels, there are more goals to strive for.

4 Elements HD [Free]

4 Elements, while at first struck me as a little bit childish with its grand cover story about a kingdom lost to eternal winter, nonetheless kept me up until 2AM, and I can safely say now that this game is simply pure fun. The game combines three well-known mini-games: hidden objects, 3 object matching, and find the difference. The goal of the game is to unlock and bring back to life the four elements (earth, water, fire and air), which is done by solving these games one after the other. The 3 object matching game is the main event, and includes many elements and power-ups to make it more interesting that usual. I’ve been playing the free version for quite a while now, and so far there have been no limitations, but as the full version (an in-app purchase only) stands at $4.99, I assume I will soon reach the free version’s limit, at which point I will gladly pay money to continue (although $4.99 does seem just a bit steep).

Source from:  http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/bored-5-addictive-timewasters-ipad/

More Useful Tips for You:

Free Video Downloader for Mac Users

Who doesn’t like the Golden Age of Mac Apps? Since the Mac App Store debuted, over 10,000 apps are available for download with a click.

What’s wrong with that? Not all apps are created equal.

Some apps need to be thrown away, deleted, upchucked, discarded, zapped, and trashed. What’s the best way to delete apps on your Mac? It depends on how much you’re willing to spend, and how thorough you want the house cleaning job to be.

Where Is Apple’s Uninstaller?

Seriously, what’s wrong with a simple rule. Every Mac app should have an uninstaller. That way, all those files that apps leave all over Kingdom Come would be deleted along with the app.

Unfortunately, Apple doesn’t have an official uninstaller app. Mac users are forced to hit the open market to get rid of unwanted apps and their nefarious files.

What files? Most Mac apps litter the Mac with support files, preference files, and other odds and ends files.

The iPad makes for an awesome paperless device, for reading eBooks, webpage articles, PDF documents and the like. The backlit screen makes for great nighttime reading, and the battery life is decent. Likewise, the Amazon Kindle Store offers probably the widest, relatively affordable selection of eBooks for iOS devices.

Since the first version releases of the iOS Kindle reader app, Amazon has made some significant updates to its e-reader and online Kindle Store. But there are limits and challenges you need to know about.

Setting Up Kindle For iOS

To get the most out of the Kindle reading experience on your iPad or other iOS device, you will want to download these three Amazon apps: Kindle for iOS, Amazon Mobile, and Send to Kindle for the Mac.

You might also want to set up two Amazon web-optimized web apps for your iOS device(s) - Kindle Cloud Reader and Kindle Store for the iPad. Visit both of these links on your  iOS device and follow the instructions for installing them on the home page of your device. I will explain shortly how they are useful.

Kindle Reader

The Kindle Reader has some useful new features that make accessing Kindle books a lot easier. First off, the advantage of using the Kindle Reader is that you can download for free the first chapter or two of a Kindle book, and review it at your convenience. Since it only takes about a minute to purchase and download the full version of a Kindle book, you can order a book only when you’re ready to read it.

The latest version of the Kindle Reader now has all your content in the cloud. That means you can access all your purchased books from Amazon’s server. When you’re done with a book, you can remove it (tap and hold down on the cover until the “Remove from device” pops up) from your device, and re-download it from the cloud whenever you want. Accessing books from the cloud frees up storage space on your device. Downloaded items also be read offline on your device.

In addition to books, you can also read newspapers, magazines, and PDF documents on the latest version of the app. The app now categorizes these items by kind. The Send to Kindle app for your Mac or PC is also useful for simply dropping a PDF on the app’s icon in your Dock, and it will be automatically sent to your device.

Downloading & Ordering Books

If there is a Kindle version of a book in the Amazon Store, you can simply click the “Try it free” button, or purchase it to be delivered to your Kindle account and iOS device. Each listed book in the Amazon Store indicates either in the Formats section or left side of the product page if a Kindle version of that book is available.

On the last page of free sample Kindle books, there’s a link for “See details for this book in the Kindle Store.” Unfortunately those links no longer work because of restrictions put in place by Apple. So in order to link to, and order, the full version of a Kindle book you must visit the product page for that book in the Kindle Store.

You can also visit the Kindle Store directly on your computer or your iOS device via any web browser. However, if you’re an avid reader, either bookmark the Kindle Store section of Amazon on your device, and/or use the Kindle Store web apps listed above. This way you can search for and download Kindle books directly from the store.

Reading Kindle Books

If you’re using the Kindle Reader for simply say reading novels, it works great. But if you’re trying use the Reader for study purposes, you might find its annotations tools inadequate.

The Kindle Reader features very basic annotation tools. It has a single yellow highlighter, a bookmarker, and small text window for notes.

When you highlight text, you also get the option to share the link of that selection to your Twitter or Facebook stream. The selection will also be found on your online Kindle account.

However, Kindle Reader is very inadequate for study purposes. You can review all your highlights and notes in a small pop-up window (“My Notes and Marks“) in the selected Kindle book. Tapping to a highlighted passage is not too bad, but it would useful to have different colored markers to differienate highlights.

When you bookmark a page, the review window shows the first line of the bookmarked page. It would be better if you could add a custom title or note for why you bookmarked a particular page. Finally, bookmarks, notes, and highlights are all thrown into the same window, making them very difficult to review for serious study purposes.

On the plus side, however, the Kindle Reader contains what is called an automatic Whispersync feature that remembers the selected last page you read of a Kindle book. If you are reading a Kindle book on both your iPad and iPhone, Whispersync will keep your pages and annotations in sync.

Your Kindle Account

The best way I’ve found to review annotations and notes for Kindle books is to visit your Your Kindle Highlights page where you can sign in and review the annotations you made in all your Kindle purchased books. Sadly, however, some publishers limit the amount of highlighted pages that can be reviewed online.

In the Highlights page you can actually copy and paste highlighted passages, which is something you can’t do in the Kindle Reader. Another option is to use the Kindle Cloud Reader, referenced earlier. It provides a slightly better option for viewing your annotations.

No doubt, over time, the Kindle reader will get more improvements. But in the meantime, I still find the Kindle the most affordable and efficient way to maintain a library these days. It’s a lot better than having shelves and shelves of paper books that are difficult to manage and store over time.

Let us know what you think of the Kindle Reader. How much have you switched over to using it? Which features would you like to see added?

Source from: http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/setting-up-kindle-on-your-ipad-other-ios-devices/

More Tips:

How to Transfer iTunes Movies to Kindle Fire?