Category: AppTastic Tuesdays

AppTastic Tuesday: Captio

Captio iconLast week on AppTastic Tuesday: Rules! This week: Captio.

The goal of Captio is a simple one: to very quickly pull up a screen into which you can type text or stick a photograph, and then email it to yourself.

It works in iPhone in both portrait and landscape mode. Here’s the New Note screen, which lets you (a) enter text, (b) select a photo from your phone, or (c) take a new photo:

 

New Note

 

You might quickly pull up Captio to jot down a reminder or bit of information you want to access later. Then you tap Send, and your text or image is sent to your email address.

You can adjust some settings–for example, have a prefix of “Captio” or “Remember” or anything else in the subject of the email that Captio sends:

 

Formatting Options

 

And, what is best, you can send it to any email address. This is especially helpful if you have a to-do system (like Evernote or OmniFocus) that allows you to email items directly into those apps.

 

Email to Send to

 

This is where I’ve found Captio most useful. It can take Evernote and (especially) OmniFocus a few seconds to load and sync–Captio, by contrast, gives you a text entry screen as soon as you tap it.

Captio is also available within other apps via the Share Extensions:

 

Share Icon

 

Share icon 2

 

I’ve not personally seen a need to use the Share Extension–it works great, but if I’m saving a Web article to read later, I’ll just use the Evernote Share Extension anyway. Or the OmniFocus Share Extension to create a task from a photo. But for folks who primarily rely on email to keep reminders (not a good idea, but a widespread practice), Captio can help from just about anywhere on your phone or iPad.

Captio also stores all the notes you send, right on your device, so you can use it with or without Internet/data connections.

And, though all the shots above are from an iPhone, Captio is a universal app. So for $1.99 (at the time of this post), you can use it on both iPhone and iPad.

Thanks to the makers of Captio for giving me a download for the review. Check out the app’s site here.

AppTastic Tuesday: Rules!

Today begins what will be a mainstay of Words on the Word in 2015: AppTastic Tuesdays. First up: the iOS app Rules!

 

Rules Pile of Animals

 

Rules! is part zone-out tapping, part memory-training app. The gameplay itself is fast-paced, fun, easy, and aesthetically pleasing. Watch this short trailer to get caught up:

 

 

The actual tapping of icons is easy–the game is quite touch-responsive and fast. And the rules are clear enough:

 

Tap Odd Numbers

 

When you complete what rule 1 calls for, you move up to rule 2. Having completed rule 2 on the screen, you then apply rule 1 to the remaining icons. There are 100 levels of rules, though I have barely made it past 15.

When the game introduces a new rule, you get a screen like this:

 

Rule 13 Icon

 

But then after completing rule 13, it tells you simply, “Now follow rule 12,” “Now follow rule 11,” “Now follow rule 9,” and so on.

So it’s more than about the gameplay itself–you’ve got to memorize the rules as you go; you’ve got to know them by number.

This makes it a less-than-ideal zone-out game. Threes is by no means boring but mindless enough that you can come home to it at the end of a long day. Rules! is not so. It demands more of your mind.

You will probably find yourself, as I did, using some mnemonic device to remember 8-10 rules at once, so you can perform the appropriate actions on the screen in front of you.

There are three game modes: Beginner, Expert, Timeless (i.e., no countdown clock). The scoring rewards you for speed and accuracy:

 

New High Score

 

The need to memorize a host of rules in order to do well caused me to lose interest more quickly with Rules! than I have with other iOS games.

But Rules! especially excels in two areas: (1) its accompanying music is pretty, well-written, and good for focusing, and (2) its layout and design is gorgeous. Even the fail screen looks good:

 

Time Is Up

 

So, for $1.99 in the App Store, if you’re up for a mental challenge with good music and beautiful design, check it out and see if you can–as one player on Twitter recently did–get through all 100 levels.

 

Thanks to the makers of Rules! for giving me a download for the review. Check out the app’s site here.