Swipe Issue 38 Sampler

NEWS 4 APPS 11 FEATURES 26 HOW-TO 34

iPhone SWIPE

NEWS • REVIEWS • TIPS

Welcome

mag

A note from the editor With Valentine’s Day almost upon us, we thought we’d help you get ready with our pick of top apps for the special day.

But if you can’t get connected with a fellow human being, then maybe you’ll be excited by our feature on what Bluetooth technology will enable your iPhone to get connected to in the near future.

If you have a craving for speed, then check out our top five racing games in Apps, plus all the latest reviews including Shadow Blade.

Apple has revealed its first quarter results (SPOILER – it’s a record-breaker) and a great iWatch concept has come to our attention in News. And lastly, in our How-to section we look at how to get more from Numbers, plus we have five top tips for the Music app.

Here at Swipe Towers, we’ve become addicted to the free game Flappy Bird and its mixture of rock-hard gameplay and simplicity, check out our top scores below. Let us know your high score and we’ll see you in two weeks.

Thanks for reading

Meet the team

Contributors Steve Jarratt Craig Grannell Joe White iOS, iPhone, iPad, AirPlay, AirPrint, iTunes, Safari, iCloud, iMessage, and any other trademark is a trademark of Apple inc., registered in the U.S. and other countries.

Screenshots are for illustrative purposes only and all prices are correct at the time of publishing.

NEWS

A record quarter Sales results

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pple reported its first fiscal quarter results on January 27, and it was a huge one for the Cupertino-based company. Apple sold 51 million iPhones, an all-time quarterly record, and 26 million iPads, again a new quarterly record. This all added up to a revenue of $57.6 billion, and a profit of $13.1 billion.

Tim Cook responded to the results by stating: “We are really happy with our record iPhone and iPad sales, the strong performance of our Mac products and the continued growth of iTunes, Software and Services.�

As usually happens, Wall Street responded to this record quarter by dumping stock, which saw Apple fall after the report amid concerns over future growth. Apple itself offered little cause for optimism with its own estimates for the second quarter of between $42 to $44 billion in revenue being identical to the same quarter in 2013. For future growth prospects, Apple may have to introduce a new product sooner rather than later. n

The iWatch A clear concept

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ith rumors continuing to gather pace around the idea of an iWatch, Todd Hamilton came up with a great looking concept, shown above.

Looking like a cross between the Nike Fuelband and the typical icons used on the iPhone, it would feature a curved display with everything scrolling vertically.

The iWatch face could feature up to four icons in Todd Hamilton’s concept

The New York Times added more fire to the speculation, by claiming that Apple is working on including solar and wireless charging tech in a possible wearable product. The wireless charging method would involve magnetic induction through the use of a charging plate.

A small problem One potential problem with the iWatch is that its diminutive size makes it difficult to fit enough solar panels to provide enough power.

Speaking to the New York Times, Tony Fadell, one of the original designers of the iPod, said: “Apple tried for many years to build a smarter battery by adding solar charging to iPhones and iPods. But the method never proved practical, because mobile devices often stay inside pockets when people are outdoors.”

Whether Apple does use this technology in an iWatch, or even a future iPhone, it will need to be carefully refined first. n

APPS

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f you’ve got the need for speed and a hankering for burning rubber, here are the best racers money can buy The best videogames catapult you out of the mundane and into another reality. Sometimes this doesn’t mean transporting you to a candy-colored land of platforms, or a world of deadly knights and elves. Instead, immersing you in an exaggerated version of reallife can be enough.

This is the case with racing games, which since the dawn of home and arcade gaming have tended towards the extreme. Some have aimed for a kind of pseudo-realism, pretending to be simulations, but the best racers are high-octane seat-of-the-pants speedinfused madness. A successful racer should leave your heart pumping and your eyes wide.

In this round-up, we cover our favorites for the iPhone, a selection of games that offer beautiful visuals, exciting gameplay, and controls fit for your touchscreen, not stalled on the starting grid of gaming’s past.

Ridge Racer Price: $2.99/£1.99 Version: 1.0.3 Size: 597 MB

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he word ‘Ridge’ immediately followed by ‘Racer’ is enough to prick up the ears of any videogame racing fanatic. The series includes some of the finest racing games to date, although success on iOS had until now proved elusive.

There’s no time to admire the view when you’re in sixth place!

With Slipstream, though, Ridge Racer has blasted to the front of the pack on your iPhone. The racing feels solid, and the detail in the beautifully rendered tracks is astonishing. Occasionally, there are frame-rate jitters, but you get the feeling Slipstream is really pushing the host hardware, with a level of ambition beyond that of its peers and rivals.

Each one of Ridge Racer’s ten different locations is a gem

During races, the game’s also more demanding than the likes of Most Wanted and Asphalt 8. There’s an art to timing drifts and nitro is available relatively infrequently, forcing more strategic usage. Slipstreaming provides a further way to hone your skills, taking advantage of the racer in front before smugly zooming past. With these added overheads, Slipstream therefore lacks some of the immediacy of its contemporaries.

The prize on collecting full nitro — several seconds of insane speed!

But Ridge Racer definitely has the edge when it comes to depth, and it’s rewarding if you’re willing to dig a little deeper and spend time mastering the game. n Looks and sounds great Superb racing feel Can be quite demanding Frame-rate not super smooth DOWNLOAD

NFS Most Wanted Price: $4.99/£2.99 Version: 1.0.2 Size: 637 MB

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fter playing Most Wanted, we’re going to give anywhere named Fairhaven a wide berth. If this game’s anything to go by, such cities are grim industrial nightmares, primarily populated by unhinged racers, doddering senior citizen drivers, and psychotic police. As the setting for a racing game, though, Fairhaven takes some beating.

If you earn enough in-game cash, you can buy some seriously expensive cars

The aim is to become Most Wanted, by working your way up the ranks of the street racing circuit. You start off with underpowered cars, earning cash for winning races and other challenges, and gradually amass a collection of vehicles with which to cause havoc. The actual racing is superb, with some of the best and most natural handling on iOS. The tracks are smartly designed – if very, very gray – with shortcuts to discover, and gloriously lengthy bends to cater for outlandishly long drifts.

We won’t be able to talk ourselves out of this altercation with the cops

Unlike the other titles in this feature, Most Wanted adds the law to the mix. The police radio will bark about a ‘suspect’s vehicle’, and then angry cop cars pile in, and roadblocks are created for you to smash through. The cops don’t seem terribly concerned about your rivals, which is odd, but then this is a game where you can have a head-on smash with a truck, fly Dukes of Hazzard-style through a clifftop sign, and the only downside will be finishing second in the race rather than first. Fantastic! n

Showing off our drifting skills probably won’t win us this race

Amazing handling model Good mix of racing and chases Cops ignore speeding rivals Some rubber-banding DOWNLOAD

FEATURES

W

ith the day of love almost upon us, we’ve found some apps to either help you find that special someone or reaffirm your love for one another with a special date and that perfect gift.

Find a date

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f you’re currently single then you may want to find a date, and with smartphones being always with you, it’s easier than ever to create a profile and strike up a conversation. If you are already seeing someone, then jump ahead to the date planning apps on the next page.

OkCupid Price FREE

One of the most popular online sites for meeting new people, OkCupid is free to join and use your answers to questions to match with similar people. The app is easy to use and has a great interface meaning you can quickly check out your matches and message them. You will require some time at first to set up your profile and answer the questions but after that it’s plain sailing. In-app purchases are available to unlock advanced features but aren’t necessary to enjoy the app.

The app has a great design for iOS 7 and is easy to use

DOWNLOAD

Plenty of Fish Price FREE

Similar to OkCupid, in that you have to set up a profile, but there’s no questions to answer here. This site is more for those looking for something casual than a longer relationship. The app itself isn’t great, but you can see all your matches quickly and message all within the app. Again Plenty of Fish is free to join and use.

Message others users directly within the app

DOWNLOAD

Tinder Price FREE

Currently the dating app of choice for many single, city-dwellers. Tinder uses your location to show nearby users, which you can tailor based on distance and age. If you like them, then simply swipe the image right.

If you both like each other then you can start a chat right within the app.

You can also connect to Facebook to find any mutual friends or interests, but don’t worry, Tinder does not post anything to your News Feed. The app is free to use, but be warned, it can be addictive to look through all the possible options.

Check out the pictures and decide to swipe right to like them or swipe left to pass

DOWNLOAD

Get Connected The iPhone in control

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he iPhone has moved from a telecoms device to entertainment and media player to the hub of your digital existence – but the best is yet to come Back in 2001, Steve Jobs outlined Apples ‘digital hub’ strategy where the iMac was the center of your connected world, hosting your music, video, photos, contacts and so on. More than a decade later, the strategy still exists, but now your iPhone is the hub, and over the next few years it will connect to far more things then the iMac ever could.

There’s already a wealth of peripherals and add-ons that use Bluetooth and Wi-Fi to connect invisibly to your iOS devices. But on top of the usual health and fitness trackers or speaker systems, we’re now seeing many more diverse products.

The Fitbit Force syncs with your iPhone over Bluetooth to help track your life

Philips Hue enables you to control the brightness and color of your house lights; there are iOS-compatible weather stations; remote control toys; LEGO robots and even plantmonitoring apps for iPhone.

This year’s Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas unveiled a host of new products, including 3D virtual reality goggles, a Bluetooth hearing aid, and even a BluetoothUse the enabled fork that forks, Luke... tells you if you’re eating too fast (no, seriously).

More promising is the WeMo home automation range from Belkin, which lets you control household appliances from your iPhone via power outlets.

Belkin showed off its WeMo LED light bulbs (like Philips Hue, but without the, er, hue), and announced its WeMo SMART program, which it’s using to create smart devices with the help of partner companies.

First product in the range is a Crock-Pot Slow Cooker from Jarden Consumer Solutions, which it will follow up with a smart coffee maker, air purifier, and space heater.

Even Jobs’ prescient vision of a ‘digital hub’ never envisioned a time when you might be able to warm the car before you got in it, start the evening meal cooking from work, remotely record TV shows to watch later, and turn the lights on so the house was ready for you when you came home.

And this is just the beginning…

HOW-TO

Get started with

Numbers

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ollowing Pages, and Keynote, the last member of the iWork suite is Numbers, which lets you create spreadsheets. With options to add tables, graphs, and formulas, we take you through the basic steps to create a working spreadsheet.

Use iCloud When you open Numbers for the first time, it will ask if you want to use iCloud. We recommend doing so, as then you can share documents with your other Apple devices or online through www.icloud.com.

Create New Once the setup process has finished you can begin creating a new spreadsheet. You can start with a blank sheet or pick from the default options. There are several layouts included, such as Personal Budget, Meal Planner, Invoice, and so on. We’re going to start with a Blank sheet to show the simple basics but feel free to use any of the included templates.

There are plenty of Templates to choose from and start your spreadsheet

Entering data At first the sheet will be clear and you’ll want to enter data. Double-tap any cell to bring up the data entry box across the top. You can enter numbers, dates, text, or formulas using the four icons next to the entry box. We’ll cover formulas in more details later.

If you tap the option then a number pad appears with other options. If you tap the icon then you can quickly enter dates or times using the default options, or select the option to bring up the keyboard and type. To enter more data simply tap any cell once. When you’ve finished tap the green icon.

Use the

option to quickly enter dates or times

Simple formulas One of the best features of a spreadsheet is the ability to add simple or complex formulas, and Numbers makes it easy to do so.

When the entry box is visible, tap the symbol to access the formula keyboard.

The formula keyboard holds all the necessary options for calculations On this keyboard you have access to all the mathematical symbols, such as + or - as well as the SUM button.

The SUM function is one of the most commonly used and allows you to find the total for a range of numbers when added together.

In our example we want to find the total number of goals scored over four games of football. Simply tap the SUM button then any of the cells in the range. Now drag the dots on the orange box to encompass the whole range and tap the tick. You’ll see that the total now appears.

Select the cells you want to add together with the SUM function

Copy formulas Of course you could repeat the above steps for each row but it’s also possible to copy and paste formulas. Tap the first row once, and select Copy. In our example we have seven rows, so tap on the second entry to select the empty box. Now drag the blue dots to cover the other five rows also, so that a total of six are selected. Now you’ll want to tap Paste followed by the Paste Formulas option. This then adds together the numbers for all rows and fills in the total.

iPhone SWIPE

NEWS • REVIEWS • TIPS

mag

In your next packed issue...

Essential games Find out the best platforming games for your iPhone are

In control We review new iPhone controllers for playing games

Expert advice Get the second part of our Numbers How-to and make a great spreadsheet

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