Readers’ App Reviews – December 2016
Check out some apps released by raywenderlich.com readers this December, including an app for your New Year’s resolutions! By Ryan Poolos.
Bounce Finger Soccer
Bounce Finger Soccer is like playing hacky sac on your iPhone and its surprisingly addictive.
All you do is try to keep a soccer ball bouncing as long as you can using your finger. There will be various trophies appearing on the screen that you need to knock the ball into. The physics feel great. The ball bounces on your finger and you can give it a little push if you want it to bounce higher. You can move your finger in just the right place to help steer the ball any direction.
You can compare scores and challenge your friends. But perhaps my favorite feature is the store full of custom soccer balls. And oh boy do I mean custom. There is a pig ball, watermelon ball, vinyl records, tires, Captain America shield and more!
This game is super simple to try and a ton of fun to keep playing.
- Author: Fulvio Scichilone
- Most useful tutorial: Sprite Kit Tutorial: Drag and Drop Sprites
- App Store Link: Check it out!
Protect+ Audio Recorder With Encryption
Protect+ is an audio/voice recorder with full encryption available for your recordings.
First Protect+ is a great audio recorder. You can record in MP3 or WAV with settings to control quality and filesize. Each recording has space for notes or comments. Protect+ can automatically remove silent seconds in recordings. The app even has a button to flip the screen upside down so you you can hold the microphone facing your subject.
When you’re finished recording, Protect+ really earns its praises. Protect+ can fully encrypt your recordings with ZIP compatible AES (256bit or 128bit varieties). Your files are encrypted on device in storage and stay encrypted when you send them. You can send them through email or messages. You can also store them in iCloud, Dropbox, or even an FTP site.
If you’re looking for a great app to record your thoughts and protect them, Protect+ is the app for you.
- Author: Kevin Wade
- Most useful tutorial: Beginning Realm Video Series
- App Store Link: Check it out!
Chopping Jack
Winter is coming and its gonna be a cold one. You need to help Jack chop as much firewood as possible to stay warm all winter.
Jack is strong enough to get the job done but there are too many pesky beavers. No one wants to chop a beaver and Jack needs your help. You’ve got to help Jack only chop the the logs of wood and avoid all the beavers.
Chopping Jack couldn’t be simpler to play. There are two log flumes with Jack in the middle. You tap the side you want Jack to chop. Don’t chop the beavers and don’t let any logs go unchopped. We need all the wood we can get this winter.
- Author: Samuel Marin @chopping_jack
- Most useful tutorial: Flappy Felipe Video Tutorial Series: Updated for Swift!
- App Store Link: Check it out!
My Scorecard
My Scorecard is a great app for golfers. It will help you become a better golfer over time.
You can create individual courses for each of the places you frequently play. Then each time you play you keep score on your iPhone or Apple Watch. Over time you can track your progress on each course and see how you’ve been improving your game. You can perform hole by hole analysis for each course to compare how you played on various days.
You can use your iPad back at home to dig through the data on a bigger screen. And it is easy to share your scores to Twitter, Facebook, or iMessage for those days when you play a really great game. :]
- Author: Stewart Lynch @StewartLynch
- Most useful tutorial: watchOS by Tutorials
- App Store Link: Check it out!
Where To Go From Here?
If you saw an app your liked, hop to the App Store and leave a review! A good review always makes a dev’s day. And make sure you tell them you’re from raywenderlich.com; this is a community of makers.
If you’ve never made an app, this is the month! Check out our free tutorials to become an iOS star. What are you waiting for – I want to see your app next month.