The Main Screen

When you first open Paprika, you’ll see the following screen:

The left column allows you to choose between the four main views in Paprika: Recipes, the Browser, Groceries, and Meals. Each of these views will be discussed below. The second column lists all your recipe categories (and you can create as many as you like). And the third column lists all your recipes in alphabetical order. You can filter your recipes by Most Recent, Favorites, and Uncategorized or by Categories. You can also search your recipes by name, ingredient, or source in the search field. On the lower right, you’ll see the gear button for settings. In settings, you can set your home browser page, a default email recipient address, the font size for your recipes, and whether or not you want your categories to be organized alphabetically. Settings is also where you can set up your cloud sync to synchronize Paprika between your Mac, iPhone, and/or iPad. Cloud syncing is free, but you do need to set up an account through Paprika.

Individual Recipe View

When you click on the name of a recipe, your screen will look like this.

The individual recipe view displays a photograph (if the recipe included one) and information, such as, prep time, cook time, difficulty, source, and servings.You can rate the recipe (one to five stars). One really cool option is the “scale” button. Click on this and Paprika will automatically scale the recipe according to your specifications. So, you can double or halve or three-quarter the recipe and all the ingredient measurements will be scaled accordingly. To make changes to the recipe simply click the edit button. Click on the heart to add the recipe to your favorites. Click on the grocery cart to add the ingredients for the recipe to your grocery list, and you can uncheck any items you already have on hand. If you want to add the recipe to your meal plan, click on the calendar icon. You can select the date and the meal (breakfast, lunch, dinner, snack). You can also email, print, or delete the recipe.

Browser View

Paprika contains its own browser so you can search for recipes from within the app. The default page in the browser is Google, but you can change that in the settings. Click on the bookmark icon and you’ll discover that the developers have already provided you with a list of recipe sources that are compatible with Paprika. You can, of course, add your own bookmarks.

Once you’re on a recipe site and you’ve chosen a recipe, simply click the “Save Recipe” button on the upper right and watch as it is magically downloaded straight into the app – photograph and all. This is what makes Paprika one of the best recipe managers available. Click “done” and the recipe is in your database ready to be used. Plus, its source is recorded so you can always go back to the original page where you found the recipe.

If you find a recipe on a site that isn’t yet supported by Paprika, you can still save the recipe. You’ll know the site is incompatible if, when you hit “Save Recipe,” you get a pop-up window with an error message.

Saving the recipe is still simple. All you have to do is highlight each element (name, ingredients, directions, etc.) and click the appropriate button at the bottom of the window. You can also drag the photo into Paprika. Click done and the recipe is added.

Manually adding a recipe. Just highlight and click.

Grocery View

If you’ve added any recipes using the grocery cart icon in the recipe view, they will appear in the left column in Grocery View. All the items on your list appear in categories, and you can delete any items by clicking on them and hitting the minus button in the upper right-hand corner. You can easily add all your other grocery items by clicking on the plus button and typing them in. I was pleasantly surprised that when I added “cat litter” to my list, Paprika automatically categorized it in Pet Products. Unfortunately, I saw no way to edit grocery store categories, add categories, or edit the categories items were placed in. Once you’ve completed your list, you can email it, print it, or sync it to your iPhone/iPad.

Meal Planner View

In the Meal Planner view, you can plan a week (or more) of meals. Click the plus button and a pop up menu appears. You can type in the name of a custom meal (i.e. one that isn’t in your Paprika database) or click on the “Recipes” button to choose a recipe within Paprika. Using the meal chooser button, determine whether the recipe is for breakfast, lunch, dinner, or snack, choose a date and you’re done. From the Meal Planner you can add a week’s worth (or more) of recipes to your grocery list.

Other Features

Sync. If you own the iPhone and/or iPad versions of Paprika, you can sign up for the sync service for free. All your recipes, grocery lists, and meal plans will be synced flawlessly between your devices.

Backup. Paprika for Mac allows you to create backup files of your recipe database. Simply click on File>backup and choose where you want your backup to be stored (I put mine in Dropbox). That way, if anything ever happens to your database, you can restore from the backup.

Import. Paprika allows you to import recipes from MacGourmet, YummySoup, MasterCook, or via plain text YAML format. I imported several recipes from my MacGourmet database without any problems.

Bookmarklet. The bookmarklet Paprika provides for Mac and your iOS devices is simply genius. Add it to your web browser and when you’re on a recipe site that Paprika supports, all you have to do is click the bookmarklet to download the recipe. The next time you open Paprika, it’s there. This is a work of magic, if you ask me.

Saving a Recipe Using the Bookmarklet

What’s Macgasmic

The best word I can come up with to describe Paprika for Mac is “Magical.” It really is. Every time I import a recipe with the touch of a button, I stupidly say, “Wow!” Every. Time. The bookmarklet makes me especially happy because I can peruse recipes on almost any website, and click the bookmarklet to save them without even having to open Paprika. When I use Paprika on my iPad, everything is synced and ready to go. Let me put it bluntly: if you cook and you own a Mac, you need to buy Paprika.

What’s Not

There’s not much to dislike about Paprika for Mac. I did discover that it only supports Apple Mail for emailing recipes. That’s disappointing, since I use Sparrow. The other thing that might be off-putting is the fact that the iPhone and iPad apps are not universal, so you have to pay $5 for each one.

Paprika is an effective and well-designed recipe manager. I recommend it without hesitation. My only wish for future updates is that the developers make it so that Paprika buys the groceries on the lists it creates and then cooks the meal for me. I don’t think that’s asking too much, do you?

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Coolermaster is a name familiar to anyone who has ever dabbled in building their own PC, providing products like cooling fans, power supplies, and PC enclosures for twenty years. More recently, they have expanded to peripherals, and are now producing products for the mobile space, including iPad 2 cases.

Recently I was looking for a new case for my wife’s iPad 2 to replace the Dodocase, which sustained a cracked corner from some unknown mishap (I blame the kids, and not my own butterfingers). I have to share that whenever a tech product needs to be purchased, I launch on an exhaustive research project. I scour the Internet in a quest for the ultimate solution, usually involving a combination of needed features and price point. In this case, we had a few criteria in mind when we chose, ultimately, the Coolermaster Wake Up Folio.

Selection Criteria

1. Not flashy, somewhat stealthy in appearance: My wife travels on the subway to work, and she doesn’t want a case that draws too much attention.

2. Protective of the front and back, while still allowing camera function: with two kids also using the iPad, protection is an imperative. Having had a case that blocked the back camera in the Dodocase, we wanted something that had a hole for the camera.

3. Hand comfort: let’s face it, holding a naked iPad 2 is somewhat akin to holding a very thin piece of paper. It gives my hand a cramp after a while, because it’s so thin. The case has to make it easier to hold.

4. Standing and angled positions: the iPad is used frequently to watch movies and TV shows, and for light email and other typing.

5. Magnet integration: this was my requirement. Since the iPad 2 has such a cool magnet system for wake/sleep functions, any case had to have this built in. One of the biggest disappointments with our Dodocase was that our version didn’t have magnets built in.

About the Wake Up Folio

Made by Coolermaster and marketed under the Choiix brand, the Wake Up Folio is a one piece case incorporating a protective polycarbonate back that the iPad 2 snaps into, and an attached cover with integrated magnets, just like Apple’s Smart Cover. The cover can be folded over into the same familiar triangle shape as the Smart Cover, to either prop up the iPad 2 in Landscape viewing mode, or to raise it off the table for typing.

Two materials are available depending on the colour of the case. Pink, orange, blue, green and grey models have a polyurethane cover, while the Black and White models come in a faux leather Coolermaster calls “Eco-leather”. The texture and colour of the cover wraps around to the hard back of the case, but stops short of the edge. On the black model, the back is black, but on the other colors the back is white polycarbonate.

The back and inner cover is lined with microfiber to prevent scratches, and the back has cutouts for easy access to all buttons and ports.

What’s Macgasmic?

There’s a lot to like about the Wake Up Folio. First off, it provides complete front and back protection from scratches and knocks. The cutaways for the ports and buttons are generous, but not so wide as to compromise protection. In black, it looks professional and businesslike, and the eco-leather gives the case a nice non-slip feel.

The iPad snaps into the back with very little pressure, and at first I was concerned that it would just as easily come out of the back, but that hasn’t been the case. The case feels solid and well put together.

The magnets of the cover wake and sleep the iPad 2, and also hold the cover in its triangle shape. Resting the iPad on a table gives a nice typing angle, and standing it up horizontally allows for a stable stand for watching videos. In addition, it is possible to stand the iPad vertically with the cover unfolded and slightly behind the iPad, although I would only recommend doing so on a hard surface as it’s not the most stable of positions.

Initially the cover would unfold itself when rolled up into the triangle position, but after a few days of use the material seems to have worked in a bit and now sits very nicely in stand mode.

The Wake Up Folio also gives the iPad a great feel to the hand. By making it subtly thicker and with a textured surface material, the iPad feels much more secure to hold and hang on to. However, as it adds only 236.5 grams or 0.83 ounces of weight, the case still retains a very slim feel to the iPad, while making it easier to hold on to.

What’s not?

There is little to fault the Wake Up Folio for. The colour choices perhaps could be broader, and with darker choices in the palette it would be more appealing to business types. The cover itself does slide a bit on the face of the iPad, but only marginally. And as is the case with any Smart Cover, the inner microfiber can get a little dusty and lint covered after a while. That’s an issue that affects all covers of this type, so I’m not faulting the Wake Up Folio for that, since it just comes with the territory.

Final Thoughts

If you’re looking for a full body case for the iPad 2 but want to enjoy the benefits of a Smart Cover, the Wake Up Folio might just be for you. Providing protection for the front and back, as well as magnet integration for wake and sleep in a one piece case, Coolermaster has a great product on its hands.

Coming from a Dodocase previously, I do miss the whole stealth “iPad in a book” vibe, but the functionality of the Wake Up Folio more than makes up for it.

You can find the Coolermaster Wake Up Folio on Amazon.com, as well as from the CM Store online.

Disclosure: Coolermaster was gracious enough to send me a review unit. I liked it so much I bought it.

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The CoulVue ($79.99) by TouCoul is an iPad mount that attaches to a car headrest so that backseat passengers can view movies, play games, or work on the iPad. Two versions of the CoulVue are available: one for the original iPad and one for iPad 2. The two mounts are essentially the same, except that the iPad 2 mount works with the Smart Cover and allows use of the back-facing camera.

The CoulVue is packaged simply. When you open the box, you find the one-piece CoulVue, a hex wrench, brief instructions, and warranty information.

Installation is easy. Unfasten the two screws to release the back part of the mount. Position the two pieces on either side of the headrest and screw them together.

I had to do a few gymnastics in order to keep the CoulVue in place while I screwed the plates together, but installation took only a few minutes. Having another pair of hands would make it go even more quickly. TouCoul indicates that the CoulVue should fit most headrests, as long as they have two visible steel rods connecting to the seat.

Once you have the unit installed, you can configure it pretty much any way you want.

The CoulVue has four joints allowing you to extend it out to the front (up to 10 inches) and to the sides (up to 4.5 inches) easily. It also retracts completely. The frame holding the iPad can turn 360 degrees, so you can use the iPad in portrait or landscape mode, and you can tilt the screen up or down. If you have more than one munchkin sitting in the back seat, you can position the CoulVue between the two front seats so everyone can view the iPad.

The CoulVue is made of durable, thick plastic and seems very well constructed. The iPad mount attaches securely simply by popping the iPad into the four corners. Each corner has a reinforced edges that lock the iPad into place. The mount has a soft-coated inner lining which protects the iPad from scratches.

What’s Macgasmic

The CoulVue is a wonderful solution for people who want to use the iPad as a hands-free entertainment device for backseat passengers. Its configurability makes it accessible to one or more passengers, and the ability to rotate and tilt the iPad allows users to get the best possible visibility. The fact that it retracts completely also means that it stays out of the way when you’re not using it.

What’s Not

I don’t have any complaints about the CoulVue. It is well constructed and does exactly what it was designed for. It doesn’t work with any third-party cases, although, as stated above, you can use it with the Smart Cover for iPad 2. You will want to make sure you remove your iPad when you’re not in the car, since (a) it will be a target for thieves, and (b) you don’t want to expose it to temperature extremes. As with any attachable/detachable items in a car, I’m a little concerned about what might happen in the event of an accident. Would the iPad swing forward and hit the occupants? Could the CoulVue unit break off and become a projectile? Alas, such worries reflect my obsessive motherly nature. I also worry about Yellowstone’s Super Volcano exploding while we visit. So, there you go.

I’m very impressed with the CoulVue, and we’ll definitely be using it in our truck on our next camping trip (just maybe not to Yellowstone).

We have one CoulVue for iPad 2 that we’ll be giving away soon here on Macgasm, so keep an eye out for it!

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Christmas was on a Sunday this year. We had taken care of breakfast, and moved on to opening Christmas presents in the usual fashion, but by 11:30 AM or so the entire family was complaining of how cold it was in the living room. I don’t like feeling like I’ve somehow failed to take care of my family, so I walked over to the thermostat to check the temperature. This is not a new scene for most people. We’ve all been there, Christmas or not. But what happened next was indeed something new. Even spectacular.

I stepped in from of the thermostat and waved my hand in front of it. Instantly it came to life, and presented me with a speech bubble that said, as best as I can remember, that “Away Mode has been activated. Press to continue.” I pressed the face of the thermostat and instantly the heat kicked on, bringing the room back to the desired temperature. Crisis averted.

Why was our thermostat set on “away mode”? Because every Sunday morning my family happens to be out of the house for a couple of hours. And our thermostat had learned that by watching us. See, we have a Nest thermostat. It’s certainly not your dad’s thermostat with mercury vials and metal coils. This is a work of art and a pinnacle of modern tech that rests on my wall like a glossy, metal-rimmed hockey puck. And I love it.

Nest, if you have not heard, is a new product developed by Tony Fadell, former Senior VP of Apple’s iPod division. And the pedigree shows in every aspect of this device, right down to his vision and almost utopia-fueled passion for what it is meant to become. Created to fill a void in the market for thermostats that are not only modern and intelligent, but also environmentally friendly, the Nest is introducing homeowners and contractors to a device that is seemingly right out of science fiction.

How it Works

Nest works on a simple model: rather than spending the time to program and manage a thermostat to fit your daily life, with all its variation, this device simply asks you to use it for a week, and learns by observation. The goal here is to create a wealth of data that your Nest can use to better manage the temperature of your home, and the costs associated with maintaining it, automatically.

The “away mode” I experienced on Christmas day was one of those kinds of features. Using motion sensors, the Nest had determined that we were not in the house each and every Sunday morning, and adjusted our environmental schedule to fit that scenario. The goal is to save money, use less resources and prevent unnecessary wear-and-tear on heating equipment.

Of course, the schedule remains fully editable, either via the device itself or through the web or iOS app interfaces. And you can also activate “away mode” yourself right before a vacation, effectively “pausing” the system until you return.

A Nest for Nerds

What is amazing to me is how much high tech is packed into this small little glass and metal puck that hangs on my wall. Considering the device contains a Wi-Fi antenna, a large 3.7V LiPo battery and more gold connectors and mysterious parts along with the board and wiring one would expect, it feels a lot more like a mobile phone than a thermostat. Of course, this is the brainchild of a man who helped Apple cram so much awesomesause into the original iPhone, so should we really be surprised?

The installation of the Nest device will feel very friendly to most tech nerds. Just like a new mobile phone or laptop, one of the first things you do with the Nest is sign it on to the local Wi-Fi network. If any software updates are available, it will download and install them seamlessly. And when you create an account over at the Nest website, you use the device itself to authorize adding it to your list of Nest devices, much like authorizing an AirDrop file between Macs.

Another interesting fact that popped up in a direction of the device over at SparkFun is that this little guy has a ZigBee antenna along its side. ZigBee is a technology that is used in some modern home equipment like wireless water meters and even light switches. So it seems that the Nest device might very well be pre-equipped for future expansion. Whether this sheds light on unreleased new devices, or simply upcoming software updates is yet to be seen.

But I’m sure you can see how that’s a really big deal.

The Devil is in the Details

If you are a fan of Apple devices, the Nest arrives in a very familiar condition. Wrapped in thoughtfully designed, minimal packaging, the Nest is surrounded by a handful of documents and parts. I had the same urge to take photos of the “unboxing” that I do every time I open a new Apple laptop. Clearly, Nest as a company wants to communicate emotion and connection with their devices, and the packaging sets that stage nicely.

The device is small and round, like a can of tuna, but covered in glass and glossy black plastic, all wrapped in a metal band that has the added benefit of taking on the color of your wall like a chameleon. You interact with it by turning the rim and pressing inward, almost reminiscent of the early iPods.

The screen itself is gorgeous. It sports full-color and well-designed graphics to guide you through the menus. And depending on what you are asking the Nest to do, it turns blue or orange as it cools or heats.

The Apps

One of the best features of the Nest is the fact that you don’t actually have to interact with it. Not only does it learn your schedule and manage it for you, but if you do decide you would like to change the temperature, you can do so from the comfort of your sofa, or the gym.

Nest has apps available for iOS devices as well as for Android. And while these apps aren’t full of fancy bells and whistles, there’s no reason for them to be. You can quickly and immediately change the temperature, and within a few seconds the device will light up and reflect the change. You can also use the apps as an easier way to edit the schedule that your Nest is building. Aside from that, there is little else you can do with them.

But that’s not a bad thing considering you can do all of that from outside your home. We live in New England, and the temperature can drop quite a bit between leaving the house to work out at 4pm and getting home at 5:30. The app makes it easy to bump the temperature up a bit before we even get home. People with vacation homes or frequent travelers will find this feature particularly useful.

The Bottom Line

If I had to do it over again, I would buy this thermostat in a heartbeat. The simplicity, ease of use and clean, modern design all work together to create an experience that is hard to beat. Fadell has taken the lessons learned from his time at Apple and poured them into a product that is revolutionary and magical, in the Steve Jobs sense. That’s a hard mountain to climb for anyone, and a rarity in the tech world.

This Nest is full of promise.

Written by Aaron Mahnke: Aaron is a designer, writer and editor living in the Boston area. Follow him on Twitter here.

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Popa (approximately $77; price varies with the UK pound), by Beep Industries, is an accessory that turns your iPhone 4 or 4S into a Leica M9! Well . . . not really, but the Popa does add a classic-looking leather grip to your iPhone with a nice, big shutter release button.The Popa works with a free app that automatically downloads to your iPhone the first time you attach the accessory.

When you open the box, you will find the Popa, a hand strap, and a soft pouch for storing the accessory.

The Popa

In order to use the Popa, you first must open the compartment to reveal the dock connector.  

Rotate the strap attachment end counter-clockwise, and the compartment door slides open. It’s almost as cool as a James Bond gadget.

Attaching the Popa to your iPhone is a bit tricky. It takes quite a bit of force though it helps a little if you rotate the Popa while pushing it onto your iPhone. Once you get it on correctly, the Popa feels totally secure. This thing isn’t going to slide off accidentally.

The first time you attach the Popa, a box will pop up asking you if you want to download the free Popa app. Tap yes and you’re on your way.

Using the Popa is simple. Simply point, focus, and press. The shutter button is responsive and has a nice feel to it, although if you’re accustomed to a DSLR where pressing the button halfway lets you focus, you’ll be disappointed. The Popa button does not focus the camera; you need to let the iPhone camera do the focusing or use your finger on the screen to direct the focus. The best thing about the Popa is how it feels in your hand. All of the sudden, your iPhone feels balanced and sturdy. You no longer have to hold the thing by your fingertips while trying to take pictures. Taking steady shots is much easier, and if you use a lens accessory like the Olloclip (see our review here), you’ll find it much easier to get clean shots.

The App

The Popa app is pretty basic. The only camera settings offered are flash on/off and a timer. You can focus using your finger on the screen and the little Popa icon will pop up showing you where your focus point is. You can then move the focus around with your finger.

Once a shot has been taken, it lives in the Popa gallery. It is not automatically saved to your Photo Library, so, if you decide to keep a shot, you’ll need to save it to the library from within the app. The gallery has a nice look to it, with a red film theme surrounding your photos.

If you want to move several photos at a time to the photo library (or delete them), simply tap on the pencil in the lower right hand corner, then tap on the photos you wish to select. Choose “save to library” or “delete” and you’re done.

If you want to work with an individual photo, tap on it. The app “develops” the photo and then you can send it to Twitter, Facebook, Tumblr, and even other camera apps using a realistic camera dial. The app itself offers no editing options.

What’s Macgasmic

The look and feel of the Popa is, in a word, magical. This little accessory makes your iPhone feel almost like a real camera. Taking pictures is simple and having a big red button to push really makes a difference. You feel more in control and your shots are definitely steadier.

What’s Not

While I love the Popa, it does have some shortcomings. The Popa won’t work with most iPhone cases, though it is compatible with cases like the Incase Slider and the Kensington Capsule Case. It works fine with my Uncommon Capsule as well.

But, the developers don’t recommend using it with a screen protector. Because the Popa must be pushed on pretty forcefully, screen protectors will just get in the way. My Popa caused some damage to my iPhone’s surface (see photo below). Although the scrapes are small and probably not noticeable to anyone but me, it bothers me that the Popa caused damage at all. Since I don’t keep the Popa on my phone all the time, I know that every time I reattach it, I will be doing more damage to the glass on my phone.

The app has some weaknesses too. The Popa only works with the Popa app. This unfortunate requirement is apparently something Apple dictates for accessories like the Popa that attach via the dock connector. Because the Popa app is so limited, this makes the accessory less appealing. Hopefully the developers will enhance the app with features akin to Camera+ and ProCamera I would prefer having an option to automatically save photos to my iPhone library rather than having to do it manually. The Popa app should also offer basic editing options like cropping and maybe a few filters.

Perhaps the most frustrating thing I’ve encountered with the Popa is that it doesn’t always work. When you attach the accessory and unlock your iPhone, the Beep site says that the Popa app will automatically open. It doesn’t for me. I always have to open it myself, but that’s not a big deal. However, when I begin taking photos, oftentimes the button simply stops working. The only fix for this is to remove the Popa and reattach it, which is something you don’t want to do in the middle of taking pictures. Although Beep recently updated the app to fix this problem, I’m still encountering intermittent functionality. I don’t know if my Popa has hardware issues or not, but if I had paid $75.00 for this accessory (Popa kindly sent me a review unit), I would not be very happy with it working only some of the time.

Conclusion

The Popa is an expensive accessory considering that it is basically a button. But, the craftsmanship really is top notch. You’re not getting a cheap piece of plastic that will fall apart after a couple of uses. Plus, once you take some pictures with the Popa, you won’t want to go back to fumbling with the on-screen camera button or even the volume shutter button. The Popa feels more natural and, when it works, it works like a charm.

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GridLens by Bucketlabs.net is a new photography iPhone app. Currently on sale for $0.99, this is one iPhoneography app you don’t want to miss. What makes yet another photography app so special? GridLens allows you to do things with your iPhone camera that you can’t do with other apps. At first, I thought it was another app for importing pictures into a frame. But that’s not at all the idea behind GridLens. Instead, the app allows you to take multiple shots from within a frame, either manually or automatically.

Camera Mode

The screenshot below shows you what camera mode looks like. On the upper left is a button to control flash. In the middle you can select options (I’ll discuss those below). On the right is the familiar button to switch between the front and rear cameras. Across the bottom are buttons for the gallery, grids, shutter, manual/automatic, multiple angles view, and single view.

The first thing you’ll want to do before you shoot is (a) decide on a grid, (b) select automatic or manual shooting, and (c) choose between the multiple angles or single view. GridLens provides 17 built-in grid options, plus you can create your own (see below). Each window in the grid hosts a separate photograph, so, whether you shoot manually or automatically, you’ll get as many photos as there are grid windows. If you want the camera to shoot the frames for you, simply choose “a” for automatic. Once you press the camera button, all the shots are taken, and GridLens begins processing them. If you prefer to shoot each frame yourself (this option gives you more control and you can change position for each window), choose “m” for manual. You can then shoot each frame either by touching each window with your finger or using the camera button. After all the frames have been shot, the app begins processing them. The multi-angle view allows you to shoot one object/person from multiple perspectives. It’s like shooting with multiple lenses all at once. The single-view option separates the object/person into frames.

Options

When you’re in camera mode, tap on the “options” button to gain access to border colors, border thicknesses, and frame ratios. You can also tap on the gear button from this menu to set up logins for Flickr and Facebook, turn autosave on and off, and find out more about the app.

Gallery, Filters, and Sharing

The gallery displays all your GridLens images. Tap on an image to select it. Beneath the image you’ll see the following options: an arrow (=save to photo library); the export icon (this allows you to share the image to Twitter; Facebook; Flickr; other iPhone apps, like Instagram, Dropbox, or Photogene, or email the photo); a spray can icon (which gives you 8 basic filter options); and a trash can. The filter options are limited, but they do allow you to turn a GridLens photo into black and white or to add color or contrast.

Grid Edit

To edit or add grids, simply tap the grid button (next to the gallery button along the bottom in camera mode). If you choose “edit” you can delete any grids you do not want to use. Tap the plus button to create your own grid. You’ll be presented with one frame. If you tap it, you will be given the option to choose from a 2-frame horizontal or vertical divide or a three frame horizontal or vertical divide. If you prefer to add your own frames, use your finger to slide the border up or across. As long as you see a number in the window, you can use your finger to create new grid lines. If the number disappears (which it does sometimes, and I haven’t figured out why), press the undo button to regain it. Although the process is a little bit finicky, being able to create your own grids makes this an even more versatile app.

What’s Macgasmic

GridLens is a fantastic photography app. I can’t stop playing with it. It allows you to create photos in a whole new way with completely different perspectives. I haven’t even scratched the surface on all the possibilities this app provides. And, the developers didn’t just create a great photography app; they created it with finesse. The app itself is beautiful and features quirky animations. When you process a photo, for example, a little face appears and its jaws chomp up and down until the picture is ready. The app also provides helpful overlays that explain how to use its functions.

What’s Not

Some things about GridLens could be improved. For example, I wish you could retake individual windows within a grid when creating a photograph. As it is, once you click the camera icon or tap a window, that’s it. If one of the windows didn’t come out like you wanted, you have to reshoot the entire grid. Applying filters to photos is a little clunky. After choosing a filter, you have to tap on “done” or the image won’t be processed. And, strangely, even after you apply filters, they don’t show up on the images in the gallery view. I suspect this is a bug. Some of the buttons in GridLens are too tiny, especially the manual/auto button. I have to use my pinky to switch between the two modes. I found creating a new grid to be somewhat finicky and difficult to use, especially if you use the drag function to create new frames.

GridLens has already earned a spot amongst my most-used iPhoneography apps because it offers so many creative possibilities. If you enjoy photography on your iPhone, this is a must-have app.

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