Readers’ App Reviews – December 2016

I hope everyone had a fantastic Christmas with friends and family. Hopefully a pair of AirPods was under your tree. ;]

I received the gift of apps! Readers like you stuffed my stocking with their latest apps. I’ve downloaded them all and picked a handful to share with you.

This month we have:

• An app that will teach you songwriting
• Apps for your New Year’s resolutions
• Games that will keep your fingers busy
• And of course, much more!

Keep reading to see the latest apps released by raywenderlich.com readers like you.

You Must Help Santa

Santa needs your help!

There is a Super Moon out and all his reindeer have fled. He needs you to help fuel the sleigh with Christmas Spirit before he goes down and Christmas is ruined.

Santa has to deliver presents, angels, and of course coal. Drop the presents down the chimneys without a fire. If the chimney has a fire, they get coal. And if you see a tree, top it with an angel. Each successful delivery will help fuel the sleigh a little longer before it crashes.

Christmas is in your hands.

• Author: Eddie Sheard
• Most useful book: 2D Apple Games by Tutorials
• App Store Link: Check it out!

To Russia With Love

I have a soft spot in my heart for text based strategy games. To Russia With Love scratches that itch today.

To Russia With Love pits four world nations against each other in a world domination struggle. America, England, Russia, and China are fighting for control of the planet. Now you’re in control of one and its your job to lead your nation to victory!

You start with a little money and a daily income. You can invest in various economic boosters or you can invest in a military to conquer the world. You’ll have to choose just the right balance to make sure you’re ready for the earliest invasions with a quick military but prepared for the long battle with a strong economy. One is an investment in the now while another is an investment in the finale.

You’ll be sure to play this one more than once. Its a great reminder that complex graphics and powerful consoles aren’t required for addictive gameplay.

• Author: Brody Eller @brodlycooper
• Most useful tutorial: 3D Apple Games by Tutorials
• App Store Link: Check it out!

QuantiFocus – Multipurpose Tracker

QuantiFocus will help you track all kinds of time.

QuantiFocus has stopwatches, timers, and incremental counters all in one dashboard. You can create multiple of each for different purposes. Use stopwatches to record how long you perform individual tasks. Use timers to limit yourself. And use incremental counters to keep track of anything you need to count. Each type of tracker can be created with a name and purpose. You can use the once or keep them for ongoing tracking.

You can see interactive usage statistics for each tracker. So if you’re using the same stopwatch daily for a specific task, you can see if you get faster or slower. You can even leave yourself comments after each session. Looking back at the statistics you can also see your comments. You could use this to see which changes you make improve you by making you faster or more consistent.

QuantiFocus is a multipurpose tool that is sure to fit into your life and help you improve your time management.

• Author: Rui Miguel @ruimiguel
• Most useful tutorial: Core Data by Tutorials
• App Store Link: Check it out!

Finances – Money Tracker

It can be hard for all of us to keep to a budget. Thankfully Finances will help you keep track of your income and expenses.

You can quickly add your transactions with a very fast keypad. You can organize transactions by categories like groceries or entertainment. You can also create your own custom categories.

Throughout the month you can see how much you’re spending in each category to help you make better decisions as your budget fills up. You can monitor your current financial status in the monthly summary. Finances also has a great section of detailed information in monthly, yearly, and longer time frames. You can get detailed, per-category breakdowns to see how your spending has changed month to month.

You can try it free for the first 150 transactions, then unlock the full app. The full app even allows multiple accounts if you’d like to manage separate finances such as personal and business.

• Author: Marco Corti @overthemoonio
• Most useful tutorial: Core Data by Tutorials
• App Store Link: Check it out!

Departed

Departed is a game thats one part puzzle and one part strategy.

You control a robot that must escape a series of 3 dimensional mazes spanning multiple floors and dimensions. As you floor hop and teleport around you need to find the exit. There are over 140 levels available in arcade mode. Full leaderboards and achievements so you’ll have to work to solve these mazes fast if you want to be the best.

Departed also has some awesome multiplayer modes. You can race to find the exit in a multidimensional world or you can play tag with friends across the maze. Powerups like freeze rays or snail times give you the upper hand.

Departed is like a competitive game of 3D chess mixed with labyrinth. Its a ton of fun.

• Author: Josh Carius @departedgame
• Most useful tutorial: iOS 8 by Tutorials
• App Store Link: Check it out!

Waay: Music theory for songwriting

Waay is a powerful music theory teaching app that will make you a better songwriter. Waay teaches applied music theory so everything you learn you can take right to your instrument and try.

Waay takes you through a combination of short videos and interactive lessons in two courses. The first course is free with the app and covers Melodies. You’ll cover notes and steps, intervals, keys, scale building, and more. Throughout the course you’ll learn what notes sound good together. You’ll cover how scales can help your music flow. All this will come together as you create memorable melodies for your own music.

The second course covers Chords. You’ll learn about the building blocks of chords, thirds and fifths. Waay will go over how chords mix with melodies to create a song. You’ll learn the magic formula for which chords go great together and naturally create good progression in your songs.

Waay is a fantastic app for anyone looking to get into songwriting. Whether you’re a beginner or expert musician, you can jump into songwriting and start creating your own works of art on your instrument of choice.

• Author: Alex Andrews @leakywellington
• Most useful tutorial: NSURLSession Tutorial: Getting Started
• App Store Link: Check it out!