Brainess - App Review

Instead of playing some mind numbing game, why not take those spare few minutes to test your brain?

Now for the ACIDS test:

Aesthetics
The basic screen gives you a choice between:

Brain Test
The first test shows fruits dropping into the basket, and you then have to answer a question which will test your memory and eyesight (I won't say what it is so that it's a level playing field). If you play again, you won't necessarily get the same series. Once you have completed the challenge you receive a score which also reflects the time taken and degree of precision.

The next test is one where you choose the correct sign to obtain a given result, the following test is where you need to confirm a colour...

Workout
This is where you can practice on any one of the given tests: dice, numbers, signs, equations, fruits (the first test), and colours.

Memoji
Here you have to remember and match pairs of cards.


Scores
Here the Game Centre allows you to see not only your score but also how you match up to other players.

Cost
The App Costs a nominal $1.

Indispensability
Of course the App is not indispensable but, it does get the grey matter ticking over.

Dependability
The App works fine.

Security
Your results can easily be shared on Facebook or Twitter.

ACIDS Test Rating:

Try not to get addicted!

To find out how the ACIDS Test works, click here.

You can get Brainess here and support for the App here.

Work Time - App Review

Rather than leave your iPhone on your desk displaying nothing, this App allows you to have a handy clock and calendar on display.

Now for the ACIDS test:

Aesthetics
The top half of the screen displays the time, outside temperature, and a monthly calendar. The lower portion of the screen contains upcoming appointments.

You can easily personalise the display as the settings allow access to the following options:

Theme - choice of colour schemes from the subdued to the garish
Calendars - choose which of your iOS calendar to display
Location - either where you are, or choose another
Leading zero - for the hours
Colon - on or off to separate hours from minutes on the clock
Seconds - self-explanatory
Clock Type - 12 or 24 hour formats
Temperature - Fahrenheit or Celsius
Forecast - by hour, day, or week
Font - choice of 3

Cost
The App Costs $2.

Indispensability
This is a handy desk clock; nothing more, nothing less.

Dependability
This is an iPhone App which works in 1x and 2x modes on an iPad.

It's probably more restful not to turn the seconds on, as the display tends to move a bit.

Security
The App needs to access your location in order to display temperature.

The App is self-contained, so no concerns on this front.

ACIDS Test Rating:

Make the space taken up by your iPhone on your desk a bit more useful.

To find out how the ACIDS Test works, click here.

You can get Work Time here and support for the App here.

Presence: Free smart home motion sec… - App Review

The App is marketed as a security device which will monitor a presence, alert on motion detection, 2-way communication, and is especially useful as a way of recycling 'old' iPhones.

There is so much more to it than that.

Now for the ACIDS test:

Aesthetics
There is a little video for you to watch as a new user and then you'll need to sign up, which involves an e-mail address and a password.

The next thing you need to do is agree to the terms and conditions (considering of how it might be used, a bit of backside covering seems only reasonable).

And before the fun starts, you need to decide whether the device you are holding is to be used as remote control, or camera. This is whether it is sending or receiving an image.

We'll set up something extremely simple so that you get the hang of it. Run the Presence App and choose to use your (old) iOS device as a camera. Now Click here (the address is https://app.presencepro.com/signin.html) on your PC, and sign in using the account you have just set up.

You can now see whatever you point the iOS device at on your PC.

This is just to give you a small idea of what this App and indeed system, are capable of.

You can just as easily use another iOS device as a the 'viewer', and can have more 'cameras'.

Cost
The App Costs absolutely nothing, although there are in App purchases for additional functions.

Indispensability
I can't believe that I only recently found out about this App! It's absolutely brilliant (this review is clearly being written back to front); just get it.

Forget about security (you know what I mean), just think of the countless ways it could be used. I recently used it to find the source of a water leak at an inaccessible location (with the help of some duct tape and a ski pole (haven't got a selfie stick); the possibilities are endless.

Dependability
If you've followed the instructions, you are already convinced.

Security
This App is about security!

It does need access to your camera (essential) and microphone, otherwise there's no real use in having it.

ACIDS Test Rating:

Brilliant and indispensable.

To find out how the ACIDS Test works, click here.

You can get Presence: Free smart home motion sec… here and support for the App here.

Loud - App Review

Developer Shad Deen says: "An alternative music player for your Apple Music and iTunes Match libraries giving you the best music experience on your iOS device. Never miss a scrobble with flawless Last.fm integration and caching. 'Love' your tracks on Last.fm and sync your 'Now playing' status. You can easily add songs to your queue with Play Next feature. Look no further for the perfect alternative music player and scrobbler for iOS."

So how does it live up to that?

Now for the ACIDS test:

Aesthetics
There are number of neat tricks, such as pre loading artist images, and choosing whether or not to group by album artist, as well as not showing all music.

Personally, I find the interface much cleaner than the standard iOS version, which makes it a winner already.

This is superbly easy to use.

Cost
The App Costs $3.

Indispensability
This is another way to play music but well worth taking a look at.

Dependability
It works... and you can't say better than that.

Security
The App needs access to your Apple Music and Media Library (otherwise there's no point having it, obviously).

The neat part is that by pressing and holding any item you can 'play next', or 'play after next', so it is easy to set up music ion the order you want.

Open a last.fm account and make it even better.

ACIDS Test Rating:

Same music, better interface.

To find out how the ACIDS Test works, click here.

You can get Loud here and support for the App here.

NoLocation - App Review

When you send/share a photo, you are giving up much more than just an image. The EXIF (Exchangeable Image File Format) information that is part of the file includes many parameters, including location (where the image was taken).

This is a simple App for removing that one parameter.

Now for the ACIDS test:

Aesthetics
The screen you see gives you option to use either Camera or Photos.

If you pick photos you will then have access to your photos. Pick one and then you can share by e-mail, Twitter, Facebook, and plenty of other methods.

The point is that the location where the image was taken has been removed.

Cost
The App Costs a nominal $1.

Indispensability
There may be times when discretion is the better part of valour.

Dependability
This is an iPhone App which works in 1x and 2x modes on an iPad.

Security
The App needs access to your camera and/or photos (fairly obvious really).

This App should add to your security.

ACIDS Test Rating:

Easy to be a bit more discreet.

To find out how the ACIDS Test works, click here.

You can get NoLocation here and support for the App here.