AppReviewToday- AppReviews

PortraitCam ($3.99) by BrainFeverMedia is an app to help you achieve great depth effects on your photos, regardless of whether you have an iPhone capable of Portrait Mode or not. If you're looking to create some great portraits, then this app can definitely help. It's similar to apps like Patch, but with more features.

Ever since I got the original iPhone back in 2008, I fell in love with mobile photography. The camera specs weren't that great back then, but it was amazing just having a mobile device that was capable of snapping pics in an instant. Because even though the picture may be crap compared to today's standards, the memories will always remain, and that's why I love photography. With the iPhone 4, the camera upped the ante for the industry, and then just got better and better from there. Apple added Portrait Mode with the iPhone 7 Plus, which I missed out on as I had gotten an iPhone 7 that year instead. Now with my iPhone 8 Plus, I finally have Portrait Mode myself, and I use it whenever I can. Still, since I don't have an iPhone X, I don't have Portrait Mode with the front-facing camera. So I decided to give PortraitCam a shot to help out with my selfie game.

Free

Fore Photo

Henry Lee

Interface-wise, PortraitCam is pretty simple and intuitive. The main screen of the app easily lets users choose whether to import an existing image from their Photo Library, or you can snap a new pic with the camera. In PortraitCam, you can use either the front or rear facing camera. If you don't have a device that's capable of Portrait Mode, then you can achieve similar effects with PortraitCam, which is nice. Those of you with an iPhone X, PortraitCam utilizes the X's TrueDepth Camera to preview and capture depth data, giving even better results.

PortraitCam can automatically detect faces in images, or you can fine-tune the depth masking by painting the sections you want to focus on. All of the tools in PortraitCam are categorized: Blur, Mask, Flares, and Filters. This makes it easy to find what you're looking for, and there's a lot of useful features at your disposal. The app is mostly responsive and effects are rendered quickly, so you get results instantaneously.

During my use of PortraitCam, I've found it to be a useful tool to add to my photography app arsenal. I don't take many selfies often, but ever since I've started using Portrait Mode on my iPhone 8 Plus, I wish I had the same functionality on my front-facing camera. With PortraitCam, now it doesn't matter if I take the occasional selfie, because I can edit it in this app and get pretty cool effects.

By default, PortraitCam will be set to Auto during the Face Detection stage, where it tries to automatically determine the faces in the photograph you've either imported or snapped within the app. For the most part, this auto detection works well, as it will get most of the faces masked for focus. But I did notice that sometimes it will miss some of my hair, or my glasses throw it off a bit (strong prescription so it shrinks what's behind the lens). So for me, I will always have to manually paint the focus mask on the smaller zones in the image. Fortunately, the brush works well enough and if you make a mistake, there's the eraser that's just as easy to use. There's also an undo and redo buttons for easy fixing.

Once you have your focus area set, the rest of the image gets blurred out. In the editing stage, you have a lot of options to go with. The default blur setting should be around the 25 percent mark, but you can adjust the blur amount by using the slider. If you want a more subtle effect, have it more towards the left, and for more blur, go right. With more blur, it's a much more stark contrast between the subject and the background, to the point where it definitely feels unnatural. So I recommend keeping it more to the left if possible, unless you have a background that works really well the more it's blurred.

PortraitCam also has tools like Aperture, which changes the shape of the blur. This can be a very subtle change, and sometimes you won't even notice the difference between them. There's plenty more that you can change with regards to the blurring: spin, highlights, fringe, depth, invert (subject blurred and background in focus), and depth map. There's even basic editing tools like exposure, vignette, and crop. If you need things like brightness, saturation, and the like, then you'll need another photo editor for that, since PortraitCam mostly focuses on the depth effect editing.

In the Mask category, users can edit the mask for the focus region, as well as choose between four different mask types: Depth Map (default), Radial, Landscape, and Gradient. If you're using PortraitCam mostly for portraits, then the Depth Map is usually what you'll stick with. But the other effects can be useful for scenery or inanimate objects, so it's nice to experiment with for interesting results.

To spice things up, PortraitCam has both flares and filters that you can apply to your images for fun. The Flares add various light flares to your image (so you can be like J.J. Abrams), and you can adjust the bloom, opacity, and even flip horizontally or vertically if you prefer it in a different originating spot. Filters has a handful of different vintage, black & white, and color filters that can change the overall mood and tone of your portrait. Unfortunately, you're limited to what the app offers, so if you aren't satisfied with what's available, you'll need to use another photo editing app.

When you're done editing your portraits, just tap on the Share button in the top right corner. You can save the photo directly to your Camera Roll, send it to Instagram or Tumblr, and the "More" option brings up the iOS Share Sheet.

Another nice feature with PortraitCam is the fact that you can quickly go back to your last edited image. On the main screen of the app, there's a "Last Edit" button in the bottom right. Tapping on this takes you directly to the last photo that you were editing, whether it was done or not. You get to pick up right where you left off too. So if you were editing and then had to do something else for a while, coming back to the app later doesn't lose your progress.

PortraitCam brings Portrait Mode to the masses.

The Good

PortraitCam is a good option to consider if you don't have an iPhone that does Portrait Mode. The ability to import existing images for editing or snap a new pic directly from the app means there's a lot of versatility. The interface is also pretty simple and straightforward, and there isn't much of a learning curve so everyone can use it. The blurring effects are flexible and replicate the depth effect well enough for most, and having flares, filters, and other tweaks means more freedom in editing.

The Bad

For the most part, PortraitCam works well, but it isn't without some flaws either. I did notice that sometimes the app didn't seem to register my taps, such as when I want to select an area to focus on, or a button for a tool. It usually will work if I tap it again, but it does seem to need a bit more optimization.

Another thing that I noticed with my use of PortraitCam is the fact that the edges of the focus region are definitely sharper than I'd like, as it is a fairly stark contrast with the blur in the background. I can tell a difference between what the actual Portrait Mode on the iPhone 8 Plus and something edited with PortraitCam because of the sharp edges. I wish that it would make the transition from focused to blur more gradual, as that would make it look and feel more natural. Still, if you have a subtle blur, then it's not too bad.

The verdict

For what it's worth, PortraitCam is a decent tool for photographers. I like the auto detecting of faces, and with some patience, you can fine-tune the focus area by painting the mask in yourself. There are a lot of options to customize the blur, and the lighting flares and filters are a nice plus. Overall, I like having PortraitCam around, but I do hope that improvements are made so that the edited portraits feel closer to what Portrait Mode does with gradual transitions.

PortraitCam can be found on the App Store as a universal download for the iPhone and iPad for $3.99.

8.2

OVERALL

iPhone Integration 9

Lasting appeal 8

User Interface 8.5

Is engaging 8

Does it well 7.5

$4.99

PortraitCam • Ultimate Camera

BrainFeverMedia

Source link: http://appadvice.com/reviews

Let Them Come ($1.99) by Versus Evil is a survival shooter where you must fight hordes of alien enemies as the lone survivor of a spaceship. If you enjoyed games like Ashworld and Kick Ass Commandos, then you will like what Let Them Come has to offer.

As someone who has watched a lot of movies and television shows and even played games that feature some post-apocalyptic setting, I've always wondered what it would be like to be all alone. You know, the last living human being, forced to survive by any means possible when it seems that everything's doomed? Yeah, that's pretty much what you end up with in Let Them Come, and as a fan of arcade shooters, I had to check this one out. While it's a fun game, it does have some flaws that affect gameplay.

$3.99

Ashworld

Pascal Bestebroer

$2.99

Kick Ass Commandos

Anarchy Enterprises

Visually, Let Them Come has an awesome 16-bit pixel art style aesthetic that falls in line with many other games. As someone who grew up in the '90s, I definitely appreciate these visuals. Despite the pixelated appearance, I found everything to fairly detailed, including the dark and gloomy atmosphere of the barren spaceship, as well as the various hostile aliens that can explode upon death. While the setting of the game is going to be dim overall, the lighting ends up being a bit dynamic because of your weapon and bursting neon alien corpses. Animations are smooth and fluid in Let Them Come, with no lag or choppiness on my iPhone 8 Plus. The game also features a heavy metal soundtrack with unlockable mixtapes as you progress, which is just appropriate when you're the only human left.

In Let Them Come, you'll control Rock Guner as he faces off against waves of alien lifeforms. As you clear waves, you won't be able to go back and grind, which is an unfortunate flaw of the game made apparent as you reach the first challenging boss level. Each time you die, you'll have to start off at the beginning of the wave you died on, so Let Them Come gets increasingly more difficult as you get further along.

As you kill enemies, you earn coins, which doubles as your score. You spend the coins in the ship's inventory stash, where you can purchase various weapon and passive upgrades, as well as mixtapes. If you change your mind on a purchase, you can also sell it back for the same amount of coin that you bought it for, though the buttons for this aren't too clearly labeled. There's a mix of various bullets, melee weapons, grenades, health increases, and more. Of course, the better an upgrade is, the more expensive it will be, so save up those points.

Once you have purchased an upgrade, it stays in the inventory until you decide to equip it into your loadout. To do this, just drag-and-drop what you want to use into the appropriate slots at the bottom. You can have up to four passive skills, two secondary weapons (melee and grenades), and two ammo types.

Controls in Let Them Come are simple but can feel a bit clunky. Since Rock Guner is stationary behind a machine gun on the ship, you're responsible for aiming and shooting from that single spot. Along the left hand side of the screen is a slider that allows you to aim the weapon. To shoot, just long-press on the button of the ammo you want to use. Yes, the gun can overheat, which you can gauge with the meter next to your weapon loadout. If it's getting dangerous, the rate of fire drops significantly until it can cool down, so make sure to keep an eye out on it. If enemies get too close, you can choose to use your melee weapon instead by tapping on it to use.

Near the top right of the screen will be your combo meter. This indicates the number of consecutive kills you currently have. Once it's full, you can get a bonus unlock to use for this round. These include useful items like unlimited item use (some ammo rounds have a limited number before you need to refill), more health, resupply, have enemies explode on death, and more, including the all-powerful Frenzy Mode. Your bonuses are always randomized, so you'll always end up with a surprise of what to expect.

Get ready to face an onslaught of enemies, and try to kill everything that moves.

The Good

Let Them Come is a good survival shooter game that is both fun and challenging. Even though it proves to be difficult, it's still hard to put down once you get started. The graphics are retro an a nice homage to classic games, and the tunes are also awesome to listen to. Being able to change the soundtrack as you play is a nice touch.

I wasn't sure about the whole stationary shooting thing, but it does work out fine for what it's worth. It gives me a ton of pleasure just sitting there and blowing up a bunch of aliens as I struggle to survive, and having so many upgrades to unlock and increase your strength just makes me keep coming back.

The Bad

While I like Let Them Come a lot, it isn't without some big flaws that unfortunately affect the gameplay. As you advance in waves, things get more difficult and eventually you may end up stuck and unable to grind for points to get better gear. I wish it was possible to go back to previous waves just to grind for coins for the necessary upgrades before facing off against the first boss, which can be too hard.

Another issue is the slider for aiming. Sometimes the slider's touch zone does not seem as responsive as it should be, so it was hard to aim fast enough to get the enemies on the ceiling as well as the ground. This resulted in some untimely deaths for me because I couldn't have the gun pointing up in time, so hopefully the controls get better optimization in a future update.

The verdict

Overall, I'm enjoying Let Them Come a lot, despite the issues with the controls and levels. The game looks great and the metal soundtrack is just fun to listen to, especially since you can change the tracks on a whim. Hopefully the difficulty and level issues get addressed soon, as its current state can be a bit unbalanced. And I hope to see improvements and optimizations to the aiming controls, as it would make the game a lot smoother.

Still, Let Them Come is a fun survival arcade shooter that everyone should try out. You can find Let Them Come on the App Store as a universal download for your iPhone and iPad for just $1.99. It's also available on Steam for PC and Mac for $4.99.

8.4

OVERALL

Graphics 9

Sound/Music 9

Replayability 8.5

Gameplay 8.5

Game Controls 7

$1.99

Let Them Come

Versus Evil

Source link: http://appadvice.com/reviews