Today's Best Apps: Soundscape 3 And ION
ION by Rivet Studios (Free, 27.7 MB): Let the time happily pass as you get sucked into this challenging match-3 puzzler. Rather than having gems cascade down the screen in a filled grid formation, colored spheres are slowly materialized into random pockets of a three ring target. Your objective is to eliminate these color balls before the board fills up entirely. To do so, align three or more of the same inside the target with one of the four outside spheres by spinning the rings like dials. As you progress, the faster internal spheres will spawn and external spheres change color. Thankfully, once the next level is earned, an entire color is automatically purged, thus clearing out lots of space and figuratively adding time. The game features simple 2-D graphics, unlimited play through random generation, calm atmospheric-style soundtrack, as well as local high scores and Facebook leaderboard.
iPad:
Soundscape 3 by David De Candia ($1.99, 10.6 MB): An already great audio visualizer for your iPad just got better. In its third stage of evolution, the app has added some great capabilities and refined others, including substantially more vibrant effects. Foremost is a revamped user interface. Give a goodbye to the mystically appearing control sphere and welcome an elegant slide out drawer, accessible by just swiping upwards using a single finger. As before, you can change the music, volume, effect, and listening sensitivity, plus now the sound pitch, frequency, as well as visual attributes in a tucked away fine tuning area (Yin-Yang symbol). In addition, it's worth noting that the polishing efforts made it to the music browser, namely a nice black finish, album artwork, and improved organization. Of course, the common adjustments don't even require the control panel because plenty of gestures are available to utilize. Carried over from previous versions, simply swipe left or right to switch songs, double tap to capture a screenshot, and pinch or expand two fingers horizontally for lower and higher volume. The directional restriction has been applied due to a new function: tempo fluctuations. Laugh out loud entertaining or possibly handy for lyrics, etc, vertical two finger pinching and expanding slows and resets the playback speed. For further fun, incorporate interactive external objects and sounds, such as your hand to alter the visualizer effect.
