Infinite Loop —

From Karateka to Cubasis, 8 new iOS apps worth a try

Check out these apps, including one from a longtime Ars reader.

The App Store has over 700,000 options available, with dozens of new apps released every week. As we noted last Friday, we can't always take a deep dive into every app that comes across our desks. But sometimes we hear about apps that sound quite promising and feel like they deserve to be highlighted.

Here are several new or updated apps that you might give a try this weekend. (All links are for the US App Store.)

Famed game designer Jordan Mechner has teamed up with The Batman artist Jeff Matsuda to create a throughly modern, 3D remake of his classic Apple II game Karateka. The new version is available on Xbox Live, PSN, and Steam, and an iOS version was released this week. You have a chance to play three different heroes, all vying for the heart of a kidnapped princess in feudal Japan. The game might be fun for those of us who played the original on an Apple II, Commodore 64, or even an NES, but younger gamers will still appreciate the unique style and easy-to-learn gameplay.

Steinberg, makers of the Cubase sequencer, have released an adapted version called Cubasis for iPad. At $49.99, the app is no casual purchase, but for serious musicians the app is worth considering as part of a mobile music-making toolbox.

Cubasis can record dozens of audio or MIDI tracks (it's compatible with Core MIDI). It can also add studio-quailty effects and mix everything down for export to SoundCloud, Dropbox, and more. Projects can also be shared with the desktop Cubase app for further editing. For live performances and recording sessions alike, the app also comes complete with 70 virtual instruments based on the HALion Sonic workstation and 300 MIDI and audio loops to get you started.

This little mobile photography gem is a one-trick pony, but the trick is an extremely clever one. Select two photos; the app analyzes them and then applies the color scheme from one photo to the other. (See a video of how it works here.) You can make some crazy color changes, but this primarily helps you match the look of photos shot under different lighting conditions. Once you save the edited versions, you can later combine them into albums, galleries, or collages with an overall harmonious color palette.

If you like retro styles but are looking for a break from Instagram and its many clones, you might like Retromatic. It includes a simple and effective masking tool which allows you to pull your subject out of a photo and put it into a unique, retro-inspired graphic. You can add other elements like sunbursts, borders, and more, resulting in something far more original than the usual "lo-fi" filtered photo.

Redbox Instant is a new streaming video service from Redbox and Verizon, meant to compete with the likes of Netflix and Amazon Instant Video. If you are not already a Redbox user, you can add $8-per-month movie streaming to your iOS devices with this new app. The service itself is currently in beta, but you can sign up to join the beta now.

Longtime Ars forum member vafarmboy recently published his first iOS app. It's rather simple and straightforward, but Strengthiness Interval Timer is designed to help you set up and follow an interval training regimen, such as Tabata protocol, Super-8, or VO2max/Viking Warrior Conditioning. (I personally like to use custom intervals when building speed for 5K runs.) Just set a time, how many rounds you want to repeat, and go.

The current $0.99 price is good through December, after which it will go to its regular $1.99 price.

Tumblr has revamped its iOS app with a native iPad user interface. The now-universal app is optimized for Retina displays and also includes Markdown support for posting and a new Explore tab for finding new tumblogs to follow.

Dropbox can be an indispensable tool for syncing and accessing files from your iPhone or iPad; in fact, many apps rely on Dropbox for remote file access over Apple's own iCloud. The new 2.0 version of the iOS app adds a ton of UI polish but also includes easier file uploading to specific folders as well as a completely new photo viewer which lets you interact with your synced photos.

Promoted Comments

I'm trying to use Color Thief on iPad, but it says photo permissions are denied, and when I go to settings, privacy, photos, it's not listed as an app I can enable.

This bug comes up if you have Restrictions turned on. If in General->Restrictions->Location Services you have "Don't Allow Changes" turned on, Color Thief never even gets the chance to add the app to the Photos Privacy permissions list. Please temporarily turn off Location services restrictions. Sorry about this bug; we'll fix it in the next update.

Does the new Karateka have a mirror image mode? The original Apple II version had a mirror image version of the game written on the back of the floppy as I recall, so if you booted up with the floppy upside down the game was reversed.

Good stuff, though the appearance of Cubasis would have been more impressive had not Music Studio (formerly Xewton Music Studio) for the past year been doing most, if not nearly all, of what Cubasis can, for less than 20 dollars, with iPhone support, and with a similar number of sampled instruments (which, surprisingly, are of a similar quality, even to the trained ear). I have little doubt Cubasis will quickly become a standard for mobile musicians, regardless.

And I am surprised Karateka has gained this much traction, partially because of the mediocre reviews of the console version, and partially because of all the massive App Store releases over the past days and weeks (Ravensword: Shadowlands, Vice City, Modern Combat 4, Jet Set Radio, Bastion, Autumn Dynasty Universal, FFIV (a game which port even a FF-skeptic like me can realize the importance of ;-) ), etc).

I'm trying to use Color Thief on iPad, but it says photo permissions are denied, and when I go to settings, privacy, photos, it's not listed as an app I can enable.

You might need to enable access to location data. If you tag your photos with location data, any app that gets access to those photos gets access to that location data. So no access to location data means no access to photos.

I'm trying to use Color Thief on iPad, but it says photo permissions are denied, and when I go to settings, privacy, photos, it's not listed as an app I can enable.

This bug comes up if you have Restrictions turned on. If in General->Restrictions->Location Services you have "Don't Allow Changes" turned on, Color Thief never even gets the chance to add the app to the Photos Privacy permissions list. Please temporarily turn off Location services restrictions. Sorry about this bug; we'll fix it in the next update.

This Strengthiness Interval Timer is a shame! Repeat Timer Pro (or even Free) is so-o much better for that. I'm using it for my circuit training and I know what I'm talking about. I think you should really have reviewed Repeat Timer instead of this.

This Strengthiness Interval Timer is a shame! Repeat Timer Pro (or even Free) is so-o much better for that. I'm using it for my circuit training and I know what I'm talking about. I think you should really have reviewed Repeat Timer instead of this.

Gonna have to disagree with you on that. The Strengthiness Interval Timer has louder beeps, easier setup (try setting an interval for 100 seconds on a picker), a countdown timer, can count rounds up instead of just down, and has a much bigger, easier to read display (especially for iPad, considering Repeat Timer doesn't have an iPad version).

Repeat Timer is a good app and has some nice polish. I have it and I like it. It just doesn't work as well as a training app, which is what the Strengthiness Interval Timer was designed for. Much like a kettlebell, it may not be pretty, but it's simple, functional, and is the best tool for its intended purpose. I don't use the Strengthiness Interval Timer just for my own personal training, either; I and my friends, who are professional trainers, use it training our clients. Thanks for trying, though.

Gonna have to disagree with you on that. The Strengthiness Interval Timer has louder beeps, easier setup (try setting an interval for 100 seconds on a picker), a countdown timer, can count rounds up instead of just down, and has a much bigger, easier to read display (especially for iPad, considering Repeat Timer doesn't have an iPad version).

Well, if you don't bother about graphics so much, Repeat Timer does work well on iPad in 2x mode. ;-) I don't think counting rounds up is of any value. I always have this setting at 99, and I have no problem realizing whether I'm doing circuit 1, 2, or 3. You might have other use cases though. I agree that it's hard to hear the beeps when loud music is on but I use earphones and my own music, so it's never a problem (Repeat Timer supports earphones, btw, which is cool .

vafarmboy wrote:

Repeat Timer is a good app and has some nice polish. I have it and I like it. It just doesn't work as well as a training app, which is what the Strengthiness Interval Timer was designed for. Much like a kettlebell, it may not be pretty, but it's simple, functional, and is the best tool for its intended purpose. I don't use the Strengthiness Interval Timer just for my own personal training, either; I and my friends, who are professional trainers, use it training our clients. Thanks for trying, though.

See, your use cases differ from those of individual athletes. You need to enter intervals frequently (not once a week like me, for instance) and you can't use earbuds… but your professional/personal opinion is much appreciated. ;-)

I'm amazed that one of the MOST important apps for iOS music, AudioBus, got no press, and Cubasis did. Like others have said, "DAW" apps (simplistic, walled garden sketch pads, not true DAWS, let's not fool ourselves) for iOS have been around for some time. AudioBus acts like a mixer, and enables users to allow different apps to communicate with each other, which, before its development, was either impossible, or a major PITA.

Again, one of the most important music apps for iOS to let them be more than toys...

I'm trying to use Color Thief on iPad, but it says photo permissions are denied, and when I go to settings, privacy, photos, it's not listed as an app I can enable.

This bug comes up if you have Restrictions turned on. If in General->Restrictions->Location Services you have "Don't Allow Changes" turned on, Color Thief never even gets the chance to add the app to the Photos Privacy permissions list. Please temporarily turn off Location services restrictions. Sorry about this bug; we'll fix it in the next update.

Honestly - I couldn't care less.

I bought the app, tried to start it, reported it and asked for a refund.

I don't care if it's iOS that won't give you access to photos unless I allow you to track where I use the app and where I'm going while it's running (In the background? How should I know?) or if it's your app that just doesn't allow me the option to manipulate photos while losing location information I don't care about. Those settings are under "privacy" for a reason. I just hope I get my money back. This requirement should be noted in the description in the app store (where I just rated it with one star because of this).

EDIT: Bought it for the iPhone. Location services were turned off when I tried to start it and it wouldn't get past the "abandon your privacy NOW" screen. Unacceptable.