Daily App Digest – March 14, 2012

Spring is the best time to have some gardening fun on your iPad. A trial version of Realore’s fan-favorite time-management game Farm Mania 2 HD is available for free download. Now everyone who wants to test her or his multitasking skills can get the game from the App StoreSM to try it and decide on the purchase after they actually see the game. During the course of several trial levels players get a glimpse of Anna’s exciting endeavor to build her own farm. Farm Mania 2 HD is a great time management game in an agricultural setting: players grow crops, feed animals, build the farm to bring profit and top quality food to people in nearby towns. Attention to detail and developers’ dedication to a well-balanced gameplay is where the game shines, making players’ experience with Farm Mania 2 HD smooth and pleasant.

"The spring has finally come and it is only natural that we feel the urge to do some gardening. Unfortunately not all of us have time to go and actually plant something. Farm Mania 2 gives players a chance to feel the spirit of spring and grow crops and animals while testing their time-management skills on the go. The release of the trial version makes the decision on the purchase even more comfortable since players can see how good the game is before they buy it." – said Natalia Matveeva, head of business development at Realore.
Free/download

Jumsoft, developer of high-quality applications for Mac OS X, has again raised the bar for business and finance tools created for Apple fans. This week, the company released an iPad version of its most popular product, Money. Money for iPad features an attractive and easy-to-use interface, smartly structured accounts, powerful reports, management of bills, budgets, transaction categories and payees, as well as the ability to synchronize with the desktop version of Money 4.2.

Money was first released in 2003, and has since become extremely popular with both small business and home Mac users. Fans of Money appreciate its high usability and the ease of financial management that it provides. Money allows users to track transactions to and from their wallets, bank accounts, and credit card accounts; it also enables them to plan budgets and monitor actual spending, manage bills, and generate income/expense reports. Money for iPad allows users to access all of these features on the go.

"Although an iOS version of Money has been around for some time, the new Money for iPad allows users to make the best of iPad’s large screen and offers a user experience that is quite close to the Mac version of the app," Algirdas Unguvaitis, the general manager of Jumsoft, says. "We’re really proud of its slick interface and are already working on the first update, which will add support of the retina display."

$4.99/£2.99/download

St. Patrick’s Day is the most important day for all Irish people, from all over the world and this app includes information about the holiday itself, about the traditions in which you shall find the signification of Irish legends and about the places where you can enjoy the Irish experience with parades. If you prefer smaller venues like pubs, this will teach you about a few things you should know, when walking into one. St. Patrick’s Day app is currently available on the Apple App Store in the Lifestyle category for only $0.99 and it is sure to satisfy all your knowledge needs about this very special holiday.

Among many other information, discover the legend of the Leprechauns and their rascal brothers the Clurichauns, find the meaning of the Irish Shamrock, or maybe you want to know something about the legendary Pot of Gold, everything is here alongside beautiful photos. The app further allows users to send their friends gifts in the form of e-cards. St. Patrick’s Day is a must have for every Paddy-enthusiast.

$0.99/£0.69/download

FigtreeLabs today is pleased to announce the release and immediate availability of Dooo 1.3.1, an update to its popular to-do utility for iPhone, iPad and iPod touch devices. Brilliant ideas don’t seem to last for a long time. You might have missed a million dollar idea! Featuring a quick and easy user interface, Dooo is a utterly smart tool for organizing your ideas, pictures, voices, sketches, and even maps.

Unlike alternative, rather-difficult-to-use apps, Dooo maintains its agility and ease of access with its simple user interface. Your to-do list consists of "things to do today" and "not yet to do" in this app. Sliding the NaviBar on the upper screen to left, it reveals your to-do list history.

The task you input goes into "today" line items, and automatically moves to "unsolved" list after 24 hours. Sliding your task to left makes you to choose ‘Lock Task’, ‘Reminder’, or ‘done’ button. Once it is ‘done’, it moves into ‘History’. you can also delete or recover your history line items. If you slide your task to right, you can choose the importance level, or delete. The importance level can be Red(urgent), Yellow(important) – the tasks will be automatically aligns per color and date.

$0.99/£0.69/download

Pixowl Inc. today is pleased to announce the release of Doodle Grub Expansion – a stand-alone, ads-free full version of the game, which allows players to submit their suggestions for new levels and vote once a month on the best one. Pixowl will then design and include the winner in the game’s next update! Building on the success of Doodle Grub, an innovative title praised by critics and gamers alike as "simply the best iPhone snake game", Doodle Grub Expansion introduces the concept of a game "made by fans, for fans", where the content of each update (12 are scheduled) is decided by the players and not the developer. Players are invited to submit their ideas to Pixowl online.

Doodle Grub has charted in the Top 10 arcade apps of more than 30 countries since its launch (earning a #10 ranking in the U.S. App Store and a #1 ranking in the App Stores of both France and Germany). To date, the game has been downloaded more than 4.5 million times globally. It takes full advantage of the iPhone’s accelerometer and allows players to control the movements of their worm by simply tilting their device.

The object of the game is to collect apples and grow your worm while avoiding several types of enemies that maneuver around the screen. Doodle Grub Expansion utilizes the same successful formula as its parent:  it has a wireless and Bluetooth-compatible multiplayer mode that is supported via Pixowl’s Game Center, and players can post their high scores to their Facebook and Twitter profiles and challenge their friends and family to beat them.

Free/download

Pocket Scanner has established a wide recognition for its powerful functions that enable users to perform business and causal scanning, edit and convert scans into PDFs, and share them with others via multiple cloud storage services. The updated version incorporates various real-time image filters such as grey scale, contrast, blur, and edge enhancement. Users can apply these filters to sharpen the fuzzy scans or brighten up the underexposed images.

"As the popularity of smartphones grows, more and more people are seeking ways to take full advantage of the on-the-go convenience," said Kenny Su, CEO of Kdan Mobile. "And Pocket Scanner is especially designed for those in need of instant scanning, editing, and sharing of valuable information around them."

Pocket Scanner has been praised for its high image quality and convenient editing features. "In this update, we have included functions requested by users to offer them more flexibility in mobile scanning," said Su. The newest version of the app adds support to continuous scanning and perspective correction that allow users to conduct scans seamlessly at any angle. Moreover, the scanned images produced by Pocket Scanner can be stored and transferred via multiple cloud storage services such as Dropbox and GoogleDocs.

$1.99/£1.49/download

Ape Entertainment and Bolt Creative announced today that Pocket God Comics issue No. 14 is now available on the App Store for iPhone, iPad and iPod touch. In "Para-Abnormal Activity," the last issue before a new story arc begins, the two-tribes crash into a mysterious island while trying to get home from their previous adventure.

Straight from the spooky aisles of ghostliness and with the girls unable to regenerate, this may not be the best time to hang out on a haunted island. Yep… ghosts, a mystery, and a dubious murder make this an ooky-spooky, extra-kooky issue of Pocket God.

Based on Pocket God, one of the best-selling iPhone apps of all-time, the full-color digital comic book series is one of the most successful digital comics to-date. The comics are available on the App Store via iVerse Media, a digital distribution partner of Ape Entertainment.

And remember, the Pocket God Comics App is updated frequently with all kinds of free extras including The Pygmy Peril newsletter, an exclusive re-mastered version of the first Pocket God animated short, free Little Green Men comic short stories, and more cool stuff!

$0.99/£0.69/download

When you are together with friends and want to share something out of your phone, do you fumble through your phone and email, take several times to get your friend’s address right, wait for the slow transfer and ruin the exciting moment? Now, with shake2u, you can avoid all the trouble while adding more fun in sharing by just shaking your iPhones together and sending files instantly through WiFi or Bluetooth.

Wenjoy Technologies, a Taiwanese software company that became well-known for their popular iPhone/iPad apps like OrganiDoc and OrganiDoc HD, has released yet another attractive mobile application for file sharing between iPhone users. With the special designed technology of matching and transferring, shake2u relieves the users from going through conventional cumbersome steps to send files between iPhones. When two iPhones are shaken together, a connection is automatically established, except that a confirmation is needed if it’s the first time. After establishing the connection, various files in the phones, including photos and contacts, can be transferred quickly and easily.

Security and privacy is another forte of shake2u. Unlike using email where you have no control after sending out the file, shake2u empowers you to subsequently protect the file you send by setting it to be "No protection", "Read only", "Detele when expired" or "Detele after browsing". By setting it to "Read only", you limit the file to be viewable on your friend’s shake2u only and cannot be further distributed by email or other app, or saved to Photo Album and PC. By setting to "Detele when expired", the file will be automatically destroyed after the time you choose. You share your files free of worries.
$1.99/£1.49/download

Everyone’s favorite brother and sister bunny combo are back, in Max & Ruby: Max’s Mole Mash! Now Watch More TV Interactive Inc. is offering this family friendly app for free this weekend from Saturday, March 17 to Sunday, March 18.

In this colorful, addicting and immersive game suitable for the entire family, children will be entertained for hours and hours with hilarious game play as they help Max mash moles before Grandma gets home. Tap the screen every time a mole appears and watch as they quickly disappear back into their holes. Mash all the moles before time runs out to win!

This highly addictive app offers plenty of fun filled features including:
* Select from 8 Max & Ruby themed mole mash machines
* Play in Arcade or Puzzle mode
* Enjoy an unlimited number of levels to play and mash
* Unlock a mini version of the racing game, Speedy Max
* Collect 8 Max & Ruby Wallpapers

$1.99/£1.49/download

One year and five titles after their first app release, Spinlight Studio today is pleased to announce a major update of the game that started it all. Swapsies 2.0 – now a plus app built for iPad and iPhone/iPod touch – was officially released to the iTunes App Store on Sunday. With two new occupations. And a whole lot of extra fun.

Pilot and baker have now officially been added to the original lineup of occupations, joining a police officer, firefighter, astronaut and five other jobs that fascinate little learners. Just like the original game, players can customize their character, and switch hats, shirts and pants to create everything from a doctor to a "Pi-ranch-onaut." But now, every real-world match unlocks a fun activity, adding a whole new dimension for adventurous tots, whether they’re flying a plane, sorting cookies or putting cattle back in their pen.

In addition to the new characters and activities, Swapsies has also been expanded with a whole new quiz feature with bonus rounds designed to keep kids engaged while developing their empirical learning skills. Perfect for tots and preschoolers.

$1.99/£1.49/download

One of the most popular card games of all time is now available on your iPhone or iPad thanks to indie mobile game studio, Neon Play. Tower Solitaire vs Friends will appeal to everyone due to the beautiful visuals and the simple, but rewarding gameplay.

Tower Solitaire vs Friends is fantastically easy to play, the player must select a card that is above of below the current card in the deck. For example, if a two pops out then tap an ace or three, if a Jack displays select a ten or Queen. The round is complete once all three card pyramids have been put back into the deck.

Despite this simplicity, hitting the high scores is not always quite so easy. Big scores are determined by having time and ‘deck cards’ left at the end of each round. Each consecutive round gives the player less and less time to clear the pyramids – so it can get quite tricky.

"Think you’re good at cards or nifty with a puzzle? Well, now you can find out exactly how you compare by playing against your Facebook friends."

Players can see which friend or family member is the King or Queen of Cards thanks to the live weekly leaderboards. Fortunately, there is a selection of in-game boosts that can help players knock their Auntie Julie or competitive boss off of the top spot…

* Joker – Stuck? Any card can follow the Joker
* Extra Time – Start each round with an extra 10 seconds
* Auto Flip – Flips cards automatically if you can’t play
* Undo – Missed a card? Just undo it
* X2 – Start each round with a speed bonus

There are some very rare, super-powerful ‘Royal Boosts’ available in the game, titled ‘Second Chance’ and ‘Mega Flip’. Players can also send gifts to other players and show off their scores by issuing challenges.

Free/download