Welcome to this issue of Pie Review. If you find other apps of interest or topics of interest, you are welcome to discuss them with us in the comments section.
New app not to be missed
Although the minority has been discovering and introducing high-quality apps on various platforms for everyone, there are still many apps with excellent design, function, interaction, and experience, which have not yet been discovered and introduced by us. They may be an old app or a new one that has recently been on the shelves, and we'll introduce it to you here.
Logseq: A mobile app designed for iPad
Platform: iOS / iPadOS
Keywords: two-way link, notes
@Dawn Frontline Alan: Logseq is an outline note-taking software developed by the Chinese people, and its most well-known feature is that it is one of the best choices to support two-way linking. In addition, Logseq also supports including mind maps, as well as a "content block" concept similar to Notion. Recently, Logseq finally released a mobile version that supports the iOS/iPadOS platform.
As a local note-taking app, Logseq requires you to select a local folder on your device as the save directory, of course, Logseq already supports syncing via iCloud. Support for the open source document management tool Zotero has also been added.
In terms of functionality, the two-way linking, knowledge graph and to-dos system in logseq desktop are actually in the mobile version, but at this stage, the native shortcut operation on the keyboard (note that it is different from the Markdown syntax shortcut here) is relatively lacking.
At present, the experience of writing notes in Markdown format is actually not much different from the experience of the mobile platform and the desktop version of Logseq. There are shortcut buttons in various formats arranged in the bottom bar of the page. Writing directly using markdown syntax itself doesn't require much of a shortcut adaptation.
In addition to the preset three themes, you can also import the CSS configuration file of the custom theme yourself in the settings, at least in mobile platforms including iPadOS, such a high degree of freedom of the editor theme system is quite rare.
You can download Logseq from the App Store, and while Slogan is "designed for iPad," the App Store version also supports macOS downloads, or you can download to the desktop version native to Intel/Apple Silicon chips on the official website. There is no in-app purchase, and the developers in the official FAQ have also said that the main features of the Logseq Beta phase will be permanently free in the future, but the future version of Logseq Pro will adopt a paid sales strategy.
▍ PasteNow for iOS: Domestic clipboard tool launched mobile version
Platform: iOS / iPadOS
Keywords: clipboard management
@Vanilla: There are a lot of easy-to-use clipboard tools on your Mac, and PasteNow impressed me by combining smart lists and different display styles to achieve intuitive and efficient clipboard management. Recently, PasteNow launched the iOS / iPadOS version, which is an additional way for old users to share and manage the clipboard. After a period of testing, I found that this version of the mobile client is still relatively simple in function, and there are some problems that are easy to encounter in use.
PasteNow for iOS sync currently supports clipboard history and list syncing. Clipboard content of any kind can be synced bidirectionally between macOS and iOS platforms. If sync fails on the iOS client, you can try turning on Save Clipboard Content from iOS Device in a lab on the Mac client. PasteNow's list is divided into normal lists and smart lists, and both normal lists and smart lists created on the Mac can be synchronized to the iOS side, while only normal lists on the iOS client can be synchronized to the Mac side, because adding smart lists is not yet supported on the iOS client.
On the iOS client, PasteNow can also enable three different display views for any list: a concise list, a rich list, and a grid view. Concise lists are suitable for displaying plain text content, rich lists are suitable for displaying rich text content, and grid views are suitable for displaying multimedia information such as pictures. It's worth mentioning that the view mode selected for each list is also synced in real time via iCloud.
The iOS version of PasteNow also has its special feature, which is the keyboard extension. By adding a PasteNow keyboard in the settings, you can call the list and clipboard contents in PasteNow directly in the input box. At the same time, the keyboard extension also has built-in 3 highly frequently used keys such as enter key, space bar and backspace key, eliminating some of the trouble of switching keyboards.
However, the keyboard extension feature is not very perfect. First of all, the clipboard history in the keyboard extension and the clipboard history in the app are not exactly the same, and there are always fewer in the keyboard extension; secondly, the keyboard extension cannot directly paste the clipboard record of the picture, only the file name of the picture.
In addition to the keyboard extension, PasteNow's iOS client ontology also has some issues. For example, the picture copied from the iPhone is recorded after entering PasteNow, but the thumbnail is not displayed, and it will not be displayed after syncing to the Mac side, and the picture will only be displayed normally after clicking in. Pictures copied on a Mac can display thumbnails normally after they enter PasteNow.
In addition, the smart list synced from the Mac may be invalid on iOS, especially if the smart list has the "from app" judgment condition, the same judgment operation cannot be performed on the iOS client.
PasteNow can be downloaded and used for free in the App Store, and for a fee of 50 yuan, you can permanently unlock functions such as multi-device synchronization, create smart lists, switch list styles, etc., but you can try it for free for 14 days, and you will not automatically deduct money after expiration.
Editor's note: PasteNow is available on the Minority Genuine Software Store and can be purchased at https://sspai.com/item/274.
▍ Animation Desk: Cross-platform professional animation production tool
Platform: Android /iOS/iPadOS/Windows
Keywords: animation
@Noah_Choi: Remember when I was in elementary school, my teacher taught us to animate with Flash? It was from that time that we learned what "frame" is and what "FPS" is. Today, although Flash's mission is over, the animation tools are only growing. Minorities have introduced many of these apps, but today's "Animation Desk" is a bit different, not only is it easy to use, but it also opens up mobile and desktop, allowing you to use inspiration on multiple platforms.
Let's start with mobile apps. Animation Desk's mobile rendering interface is similar to similar to similar apps, with a canvas in the middle, timeline and frame preview below, and selections, brushes, layers, and other drawing tools arranged at the top of the drawing interface. Mobile supports 4 brush styles for pencils, pens, markers, and brushes, each with 4 line effects, and the color and size of the brushes can be quickly adjusted with a hovering ball hidden at the edge of the screen. Animation Desk mobile terminal also provides users with two auxiliary drawing tools, straight lines and circles, we only need to adjust the shape of the dotted line, and then use any brush to slide along the dotted line to draw the perfect shape.
In terms of timeline operation, Animation Desk also has a clear operation logic. We can either adjust a frame individually or modify frame properties in bulk on the Frame Overview interface. It is worth mentioning that when working on a frame alone on the Timeline, animation Desk will display the toggle buttons of "Previous Frame" and "Next Frame" above the menu, so that when we need to adjust the frame properties to different values, there is no need to cut out the adjustment menu.
On the Windows UWP desktop, Animation Desk looks more professional. In terms of drawing tools, the desktop side has added a lot of new content compared to the mobile side: airbrush and pattern brush, brightening and deepening tools, and more ruler drawing aids. In addition, for premium subscribers, a very useful tool has been added on the desktop side: the transparent pixel locking tool, which is simply a masking tool that limits the drawing range and is very convenient for coloring and drawing.
In addition, animation desk desktop also provides more professional storyboard management functions, that is, if you need to draw a complete cartoon, then you can draw each picture into a separate animation file, and then through the storyboard management to connect and merge, so that whether it is to modify or adjust the order, it is more convenient.
Now that there are multi-platform clients, cloud services are of course indispensable. Once you sign up for an account, users get 2GB of cloud storage, and your drawn documents can be uploaded and downloaded for cross-platform editing. In addition, the app has a built-in animation sharing community where we can see animation works from all over the world and find inspiration from other people's works.
If you also want to try a small animation, you can download Animation Desk for free on Google Play, App Store and Microsoft Store, and some advanced features on mobile can be unlocked for a limited time by watching ads, or pay to subscribe to the premium version to unlock all the features and expand cloud services.
Nothing Launcher: Finally something
Platform: Android
Keywords: desktop, launcher
@Noah_Choi: Nothing The company has announced that it has been making mobile phones for a while, although the mobile phone hardware still belongs to the "Nothing" stage, but the software part has "Something" - Nothing Launcher enters the beta test and is open to users to download, it is also the launcher that Nothing phone will carry. Since Nothing is willing to tear a hole in its mystery, let's look at the flowers in the fog.
It seems that nothing is indeed going through, this launcher will not provide an application icon after installation, and it cannot even activate the selection through the navigation keys, only to enter the settings to modify the default launcher. After entering the home screen, we will find that Nothing Launcher adopts a similar interface layout to the native Android, sliding up is also to open the app drawer, sliding down is to pull down the notification bar, this gesture has no on-off option, in fact, The setting function of Nothing Launcher is almost "Nothing".
As the first software product, Nothing Launcher must also respond to the "mother's" design language, its built-in three widgets are all composed of black and white tones, the necessary patterns and text are also dot matrix fonts, although very fresh, but with the launcher itself used in the Nothing Icon icon pack is not in tune, perhaps the user installed a pixel style icon pack will be more pleasing to the eye.
One of the most interesting things about this launcher is that it allows app icons or folders to be placed on the home screen at 2×2 sizes, which seems very useful for folders, where folder thumbnails show extra apps in folders like the App Library in iOS, but for app icons, I just want to ask "Why are pigeons so big?" Maybe it can be used as the first caring mode launcher for young people.
Nothing Launcher's transition animation is praiseworthy, although it does not adapt to the "ramen noodle" animation when starting and closing the application, but the folder opening and closing, application shortcuts, pop-up menus and other animations are very natural and smooth, especially the folder animation, it will move the application icon like the "smooth switch" in the PPT to adapt to the grid changes, this way will give the user visual guidance so that the operation can be done in one go, and many launchers will use the fade-in and fade-out method, which will lead to the content disappearing briefly. The user's action logic is interrupted.
In addition, Nothing Launcher has no superfluous functions, no complicated settings, born out of the original and mixed with a little bit of their own careful thinking, but we can indeed use this launcher to peek into the leopard, to imagine What Phone and Nothing OS look like.
To learn more about Nothing Launcher, you can read this article. If you are a Samsung Galaxy S21 / S22 series, Google Pixel 5 or above, you can download the Nothing Launcher beta for free on Google Play. Other models can be side-loaded by extracting the installation package.
▍ Inspod: Take notes on streaming
Platform: Android
Keywords: notes, podcast notes, video notes
@Noah_Choi: I remember that when I was hot for the first three minutes, I would subscribe to some podcasts for English teaching, and I wanted to use the fragmented time to learn during commuting, and when the host talked about the knowledge points, I would open the memo and record it hurriedly; when I got home and opened the computer, I wanted to sort out the content, but I looked at what I wrote but couldn't remember what I said, of course, I couldn't remember the usage and example sentences explained in the podcast, and I had to listen to it again from the beginning. And the advent of inspod has made me hate each other late, so that I have the illusion that maybe it will be born earlier, and I will be able to stick to learning English...
The main function of Inspod is to label the streaming timeline and enter content here. However, Inspod is not a "learning machine", it does not provide content, but docking external platforms, where the podcast content is connected to Listen Notes, and the video content is from Youtube, these two content providers are familiar to everyone, and the richness of the content is not to worry.
When using Inspod, we first search for and play the streaming we need to learn. When playing podcasts, Inspod provides a simple player with the ability to fast forward or backward for 10s in addition to the pause control. During playback, if you hear something worth recording, you can always click the "Highlight Moments" button in the lower right corner, and the player will automatically pause to prevent you from being disturbed by writing notes. Inspod supports typing unordered lists into notes, and if you're listening to an English blog, Inspod also offers a speech-to-text feature that recognizes the last 30 seconds of podcast audio conversion to text.
In terms of video playback, Inspod will directly call the YouTube embedded player, so it is necessary to ensure that the Youtube client can be opened normally. While playing, you can use the YouTube client's actions to control playback, such as double-tap fast-forward or rewind, image quality adjustment, or turn on CC subtitles, or you can play it in full screen, but you can't take notes quickly. Video notes have the same usage as podcast notes, but do not support the transposing feature. All recorded "Highlight Moments" can be found from the bottom navigation bar, and clicking on the corresponding moments can be jumped on the timeline.
In addition, Inspod also provides a tag function to help you quickly classify and locate notes, and the app's built-in search function is also very useful, it can be used to classify display tags, streaming media and specific notes, and can be targeted through a separate tag card for targeted search. Overall, Inspod does provide a new application scenario for streaming media, but it is still slightly lacking in the application interface and playback functions, which can be further optimized and improved.
If you also have the need to use streaming media to learn, you can download Inspod on Google Play, the app is free without in-purchase, and some functions require login account to use.
▍ Apollo: Create an exclusive film and television information library
Platform: iOS
Keywords: chasing dramas, watching movies
@Dawn Frontline Alan: The iOS platform is actually not short of tools for recording personal movie/episode data, but as a supplementary demand for movie viewing, excellent apps for movie management have been emerging in an endless stream, and the developers of Tutu Bookkeeping have recently released a personal movie management app for the iOS platform: Apollo.
The movie database in the Apollo app comes from The Movie Database, and although the online information is rich enough, it may not be accessible properly in Chinese mainland network environment; there are also note-related tips for viewing the movie database in the app. The Discover menu in the bottom bar of the app is a great show based on database information and recommendations for the latest/upcoming movies.
In the app's movie viewing information statistics interface, there is a GitHub-style heat map displayed at the top, followed by automatically generated movie type letters based on database data, and data such as tag analysis. However, it should be noted that the above experiences, including iCloud data cloud synchronization, movie data statistics, single episode progress recording, and unlimited creation of film lists, are all features that require a paid subscription to open.
After the end of the viewing, you can rate it, record your own viewing experience and how you watched it, and include it in a certain list. My favorite part about this feature is that the app can directly save it with movie posters and titles, so that you can quickly share movie reviews on other platforms or recommend a movie you like to a friend.
If it is a series, after clicking to see, the application will automatically import data such as the title of a single episode, and the application also supports recording online streaming media viewing platforms, mainstream streaming media services at home and abroad are included, and users who subscribe to multiple streaming media platforms at the same time may be able to reduce the effort spent on searching when making up for it.
Overall, Apollo has a lot of useful small features in terms of functionality, and the application does not compromise on the choice of built-in movie database, which will be a good movie management app for movie fans; but in terms of an iOS application, the degree of platform adaptation (such as dark mode, desktop widgets, etc.) has not yet appeared in the application. And some relatively commonly used functions in the app are locked behind the paywall, and the experience of free users may be greatly affected.
You can download Apollo from the App Store, which is currently only available for iOS, but still supports direct installation on the Mac platform with apple M1 chips; the in-app perpetual membership purchase price is 68, and the annual subscription price is 30.
Noteworthy app updates
In addition to "fresh" apps, many of the old faces in the App Store are constantly iterating and updating, adding more interesting and useful features. Minorities want to help you filter the app stories you want to follow in the App Store so you can quickly stay up to date with the latest updates from apps and developers.
▍ iMovie 3.0: Follow the "storyboard" to shoot videos
Platform: iOS / iPadOS
Keywords: video editing, video production
@Snow: Vlog has now become almost a necessary skill for everyone, which is not unrelated to the boom in various short video applications. The operation is concise, but it can think of ways to make flowers, which greatly reduces the threshold of video creators, so that video whites can also produce very wonderful content. The iMovie 3.0 update recently launched by Apple, although there are some "hindsights", has also taken a step towards a low threshold.
However, compared with local applications such as clipping, iMovie special effects, transitions, stickers and other materials are not particularly rich, and the built-in fonts are more negative additions to Chinese text, unless the video material itself is solid enough, otherwise the film effect will still be relatively simple and need to be further packaged.
Storyboards have similarities with cut-out "creative scripts", with 21 different types of preset templates built into the storyboard, including DIY tutorials, cooking tutorials, product reviews, scientific experiments, etc., each with a very detailed storyboard introduction, image examples and text prompts (click i to view). You can shoot and edit these storyboards and improve your image narrative skills in the process of practice. The finished video can also be applied to the style template to complete some simple video packaging.
You can download iMovie for free on the App Store.
▍ Currenzy 4: The old exchange rate converter is greatly updated
@Chemistry Mood 2: Many iPhone users may be familiar with this exchange rate conversion tool originally called Stacks, and recently this old exchange rate conversion software officially launched version 4.0, and was officially renamed Currenzy. Compared to previous versions, the 4.0 version of Currenzy has considerable improvements and optimizations in both design and functionality.
Starting with iOS 15, Safari officially supports extensions, and Currenzy 4 can quickly convert exchange rates on the current page by extending the browser.
In actual operation, we often only need to use part of the currency to convert, such as converting the US dollar to RMB, or the euro to RMB, so Currenzy 4 added a shortcut operation function, open the main interface after pressing the shortcut operation button below, swipe up to quickly open the fast conversion entrance of the corresponding currency.
Currenzy 4 also added the function of taking pictures to identify currency conversion, also select "Camera" in the shortcut operation, put the current price in the recognition box to take a photo, and later recognize and convert the price into your familiar currency unit.
In addition to the several new features introduced above, this Currenzy 4 update also added the support of desktop widgets, which can display the real-time exchange rate changes of the current target currency and the destination currency in real time and the exchange rate change curve of a period of time; at the same time, you can also use apple Watch to quickly view the exchange rate, and the Currenzy 4 update has been launched on the App Store for 30 yuan.
▍ Audio Hijack 4.0: Major update of the old audio processing tools
Platform: macOS
Keywords: audio clips, audio processing
@Chemistry Mood 2: Recently, the veteran Mac audio recording tool Audio Hijack ushered in its 4.0 version of the big update, compared to the previous 3.X version of the change can be described as "huge".
The first is the interface change, the main window has now been transformed into a dashboard-like control center, for projects with multiple tasks in parallel, this new main window can be used to start tasks and monitor the running status of tasks.
At the same time, each task now has a sidebar with five tabs, which can be used to call function blocks, recordings, schedules, scripts, and current task information, so that you can very intuitively manage the task in detail.
Another change in the interface is the optimization of the task view, where we can now manually connect the function blocks in the task, compared to the previous automatic connection, manual connection can achieve precise settings, and now you can use the sidebar function block filter to filter out the final desired function block.
Three new feature blocks have been added to Audio Hijack 4.0, starting with the Mixer, which is great for recording podcasts and streaming, mixing up to five sources together while providing very comprehensive volume control and fade-in effects.
The second new block is called Magic Boost, which you can think of as a smarter audio exciter that can further increase the loudness of some audio bands without increasing the loudness of others. The third new block, called Simple Compressor, is also a sound effects device that improves audio from different sources by reducing the range between soft and loud sounds.
In addition to the new features mentioned above, the function blocks that existed in the previous version have also been greatly optimized in this update. The most commonly used Recorder, in particular, now finally has very useful status information and has been added with enhanced recording options that allow 32-bit sampling accuracy to be selected when outputting to AIFF or wav.
Other updates to the function module include the Peak/RMS and clipping indicators for the VU module; the input switch now has a fixed pop-up box that makes operation easier; and the input and output device modules now track the system's current audio configuration, so the previously cumbersome audio device configuration has been greatly simplified.
Audio Hijack 4.0 has also been further enhanced in terms of scripting and automation, such as the fact that you can now write scripts to automate task workflows as needed. Integrate with shortcuts and other tasks on macOS 12 at the same time, and of course, if you're not very good at scripting, you can also use the built-in basic scripts for multiple automated actions.
If you need to record audio content on macOS, Audio Hijack is probably the most comprehensive tool available. For old Audio Hijack 3.X users, you can now upgrade to Audio Hijack 4.0 for $29 for a new purchase for $64.
▍ Sofa 3.3: Customization options make book and video collection more free
Platform: iOS / iPadOS
Keywords: collection, book audio and video
@Vanilla: Sofa is a checklisting tool for entertainment content that adds books, audiobooks, movies, TV series, albums, apps, video games, board games, and more, and categorizes and records them. However, even though Sofa's content search engine is very comprehensive, there are still some pieces of content that can't be searched, so in version 3.3, Sofa introduced a series of customization features to help us better add and present content.
First, I can add a cover image to each listing. Just click "Edit List Details - Show Cover Image" to freely set the cover image of the list.
Each manifest supports multiple styles of display, divided into four types based on square/list, compact/loose. In addition, when the square is displayed, it can also be set to a mode that only displays the cover picture, and information such as the title will be hidden.
I can also add a description to each manifest, and this input box even supports Markdown syntax, which is automatically converted to rich text when displayed.
Second, for content that cannot be searched in the database, I can customize it, including title, cover page, type, etc.
Finally, with the 3.3 update, Sofa has brought 8 new features from the Summer and Spring collections. Interestingly, I can set different themes for light mode and dark mode.
Sofa is available as a free download on the App Store and supports 3 devices including iPhone, iPad and Mac (Apple Sillicon). If you need to use features such as inventory customization and resource link display, you can pay a price of 27 yuan per month to unlock it.
App Feed
Darkroom (iOS/macOS): Updated to v6.0 with four different mask types (AI-generated deep masks, smart masks for portraits, and ProRAW photos, gradient masks, and range masks), as well as copy and paste options that allow users to choose exactly which edits they want to paste onto other photos. You can also apply any combination of aspect ratio, frame, and mask to a set of images, plus support for shortcuts on mac and support for RAW Smart Album.
1Password (iOS): v8.0 public beta, redesigned overall app interface, support for personalized home tabs, full use of screen real estate on iPad, support for split views, and provide a full Watchtower experience.
Craft (Web): The web version is open for public testing and has several feature updates.
This article was co-authored by several authors
Lead author
Minority Editorial Office
Co-author
Snow
Noah_Choi
Chemistry Mood Under 2
Vanilla
Dawn Front Alan
Editor-in-charge: waychane
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