[ WWW.TECHLIFE.NET ] [ 035 ]
[] BEST NEW APPSThe days of owning a dictionary are long dead.
Nope, we’ve got the web now — so why would
you want a dictionary app? If it’s LookUp, it’s
the same reason you’d get one of those ‘Word
of the Day’ desk calendars: for pure fun.
Every day, there’s a new word for you to learn,
ranging from words like ‘piebald’ to ‘beey’
and everything in between. Each word is
accompanied by a cute illustration which gets
placed on the opening page — a fantastic way
to learn a new word and see a bit of artwork.
Each word of the day stays on the front page,
adding to your collection of them that you can
view at any point.
Of course, it’s also a functional dictionary
that offers you definitions of words, and has
basic thesaurus capabilities that allow you to
look up synonyms. LookUp even allows you
to get word definitions in other apps using
the standard share/action bar.
Whether you’re a lover of words or someone
who needs a little help boosting their
vocabulary, we highly suggest checking out
LookUp. It’s great for anyone of any age, and
we think that most people will soon become
addicted to their daily new word.
[ AMBER NEELY ]Ooniprobe is an incredibly useful tool when it
comes to collecting the nitty-gritty of your
phone’s current network access and privacy.
In particular, the app centres around three
tests — web connectivity, HTTP invalid
request line, and NDT speed tests — the last
of which is a simple network speed test, while
the first two give you some serious dirt. The
web connectivity test tracks if websites are
being “blocked through DNS tampering,
TCP/IP blocking, or by a transparent HTTP
proxy”, while the ‘HTTP invalid request line’
test detects any presences that could be
responsible for censorship and/or surveillance.
When first opening the app, you are given
the potential risks of the app, and a cute pop
quiz to ensure you understand them. This risk
boils down to the fact that your ISP, employer,
or even the government has the potential to see
any activity that Ooniprobe instigates, which
itself may arouse suspicion given its need to
test the limits of your connection. You have the
option to share any test information publicly
with OONI (Open Observatory of Network
Interference), as the project at large has been
monitoring these disturbances on a global
scale since 2012.
[ HARRY DOMANSKI ]
LookUp
BEAUTIFUL ART COMBINES WITH A
DICTIONARY
$4.49 | thetangible.inOoniprobe
ARE YOU BEING WATCHED, BLOCKED
OR SLOWED DOWN?
Free | ooni.torproject.orgThe iPad is already home to a variety of powerful
sketching and painting apps, but Linea is somewhat
different. It’s designed to give you just enough in the
way of tools to capture your ideas, without
overwhelming you with a complex selection
that you’ll never use.
Though the iPad’s smooth surface can’t truly
mimic drawing on paper, you’ll soon get a feel for
Linea’s responses to pressure and the angle of your
Apple Pencil, and then turn those into convincing
lines using its technical and drawing pencils, felt-tip
pen, and wide-tip marker. Where some apps
translate pressure to line thickness, Linea naturally
binds it to the darkness of what you draw, and the
side of the Pencil’s nib can be used for shading.
As with many other apps, you can twist two
fingers on the digital paper to turn it, and
double-tapping the lock icon fixes its orientation
so your palm doesn’t move it. As your Pencil
approaches a toolbar, the interface disappears
so you can continue your movement unbroken.
Each tool has three thickness settings, and you can
spread apart two fingers to zoom in if you need to
focus on fine detail or fixes.
You get five layers to work on, which can be
merged if needed. We found this limitation imposed
a helpful formality on our process. Layer opacities
can be adjusted using tiny sliders — designed with
Pencil in mind, yet still too small for comfort. Linea’s
focus on the basics mostly works, though a ruler
and a compass to enable precise lines and circles
to be drawn would be a welcome addition.
A natural-feeling sketching app, with room
to grow while keeping its simple appeal.
[ ALAN STONEBRIDGE ]LINEA
A GREAT SKETCHING TOOL
FOR THE APPLE PENCIL
$14.99 | linea-app.comIT’S DESIGNED TO GIVE YOU
JUST ENOUGH IN THE WAY OF
TOOLS TO CAPTURE YOUR
IDEAS, WITHOUT
OVERWHELMING YOU WITH A
COMPLEX SELECTION THAT
YOU’LL NEVER USE.