Photo apps... commence!

Since I've had an iPhone, I've altogether stopped carrying around my digital camera. In fact, that poor thing has been neglected for the past two years, sitting in my desk drawer.

And I'm sure many of you are the same way: neglectful camera-parents since the adoption of an iPhone.

I'm going to assume that you already know about Hipstamatic and Instagram, so I won't bother with those.

Instead, let's talk about my two favorite "toy" cameras!

I grew up using toy cameras (like those made by Lomography), all made of plastic, including the lenses. I've always loved the light leaks and colors the toy cameras produced. Since the world has gone digital, however, it has become increasingly more difficult to find places that can actually develop film other than your standard 35mm, and when you do find a place, don't expect it to be cheap.


First things first, Pudding Cam! At least think it's called Pudding Cam. The app is in Korean (I'm pretty sure it's Korean, anyway). But I found it by doing a search for "pudding cam," and I'm pretty sure "KTH" works, too.

Either way, with this camera, you have the ability to change lenses and films, all reminiscent of vintage and toy cameras. It's not in English, but I was able to figure it out based on the icons and sample images. You can use either the front-facing camera, or the rear camera, you change the output settings (highest is 1280 px), and you can even adjust the exposure. Very clean, very minimalistic. If you don't mind using your wits to get around the app, I definitely recommend. Here are a few images:






It's a fun little app if you like toy cameras. I think if it did a higher resolution export (and maybe had an option for English?) I'd give it 5 forks, but until then, 4.

Second toy camera I tend to use is called Andigraf - multishot toy camera.


This one is similar in that you can change lenses and films, but Andigraf "specializes," I'd say, in multi-shot lenses. So if you want 4-up, 8-up, or 9-up shots. It also does 9 different types of film. If you've used Hipstamatic, I think you'll find that the interface is fairly similar - you swipe across the screen to change lenses, etc. Check out these images and screen shots:








Andigraf is a fun little camera app and the interface definitely reminds me of my old toy cameras. 4 forks.

That's all I have for today, please stay tuned because I have several more camera apps to discuss!

Thanks for reading, and bon appetit!

News readers: Flipboard, Pulse News Reader

Hello again! What's new..s...? Ok, bad pun. I apologize.

But let's talk news apps!

My absolute, all-time favorite news reading app is Flipboard.


First of all, it's free. Who doesn't like that? My bank account certainly does. Not only does it cost nothing, but it's beautiful. It's like reading a newspaper or magazine, and includes Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, plus popular websites/magazines/blogs like Gizmodo, Engadget, Rolling Stone, National Geographic, and even Oprah. You can even add custom sections like specific twitter feeds or people. It completely changes the way I read my news and blogs.





It works on iPad only, iOS 3.2 and higher. And did I mention it's free??

I give it a 5 out of 5 on the deliciousness meter.

(Oh, did I tell you I'm starting a meter rating? No?? Well, I'm starting a meter rating. There. Now we're all caught up.)



Next: the Pulse News Reader.


I don't like this one quite as much, but only because, design-wise, I think the home screen is too tight and cluttered. A lot of the news/blog sources are the same or similar to Flipboard. Pulse seems to allow more pages and therefore more feeds, so that's one thing it does better, and it's also got a "mini" version that works on iPhones/iPods. And the price? Free!


This one's an easy 4 on the meter.

Bon appetit!