We hope that everyone out there had a great Valentine’s day. We promise a mush-free apps post for you this week. We have an avatar generator for the iPhone, which is pretty cool. Also a tool that you can use to plan out some healthy meals with a new iPad app. There was a big update to show you on a popular note-taking app for the Mac, and you can create your own infographics using a new web app.
After creating the back alley of the web, M00t has created a creative and fun game that you need to check out.
Table of Contents
iPhone/iPod Touch: iMade Face
Trying to create a neat picture to use as your avatar can be a pain. You can always use a headshot or an old cartoon icon, but why not create something unique. iMadeFace is a free iPhone app that helps you create a cartoon image of yourself using a tool that resembles character customizers from RPG games. If you do not like the generic faces offered by the basic generator, you can purchase hats and masks as separate packs for $0.99 each. You can download the app here.
iPad: Cooking Light Recipes: Quick and Healthy Menu Maker
One of the hardest things about cooking at home is trying to construct a complete meal and keep all of the nutritional facts straight. Cooking Light Magazine has created an app that helps you balance entrees, sides, and deserts. In the bottom right hand corner you get a running total of the calories, sodium, and fat content for your meal. Lean too hard in one direction and the indicator turns red, letting you know you’ve gone over. The app is $3.99 and is on the App Store.
Mac: nvAlt
Notational Velocity is a pretty popular note-taking app, but Brett Terpstra forked the project to create nvAlt, which beefs up the software’s shortcuts and Markdown support. You can easily sync nvAlt with your Simplenote account, or push out your notes as a webpage using Peggd. One of the more useful features is that you can link notes together, which allows you to relate your projects together. It’s a free and open source app you can download here.
Web: Infogr.am
Infographics are the lolcats of news and productivity sties. However, you need to have a pretty good eye for design and data to make them, and even then making them quickly isn’t easy. Infogr.am is a fairly easy web interface for quickly making charts and infographics like the one above. You can edit the titles and text, then put in your data. Once you’re finished with the graphic you can share it out to Facebook, Twitter, or Pinterest. It is also saved to your Infogr.am account so you can get back to it later. The most useful feature is that you can embed the Infographic on your own site. It’s free to sign up here.
Game of the Week: Drawquest
When the creator of the app has 4Chan on his resume, people tend to think that they’re about to see something lurid. However, M00t has always been more about freedom and creativity than sleaze. Drawquest shows off that creativity with a daily art challenge that you participate in. Once you complete these you can compare you creation with others. It isn’t a straight up game per se, but it is a fun exercise. There are social aspects that allow you to follow other users and connect the app to your Facebook. The app is free from on App Store.
