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'sodes ($2.99) by Nice Boy LLC is a simple and clean podcast app for those who listen to the occasional podcast. With 'sodes, it's more along the lines of Castro 2 instead of other, more fully-featured apps like Overcast. If you only need to listen to a podcast every now and then, rather than every day, then 'sodes could be the app for you.

I love listening to podcasts, but I'll admit it — I've fallen way behind in my podcast subscriptions, and I haven't been able to catch up for the longest time. I must have a subscribed list of around 30 podcasts, and as much as I enjoy listening to them, I'm just overwhelmed with having to catch up so I just stopped listening to most of them. But when I was an avid podcast listener, my app of choice was Overcast specifically for the Smart Speed feature. But with my current non-existent podcast listening habit, I'm not sure Overcast is for me anymore. Fortunately, 'sodes just came out and it could be just what I need.

$4.99

Castro 2

Supertop Software

Free

Overcast

Overcast Radio, LLC

The design of 'sodes is incredibly minimalistic, and it almost feels like an app that Apple designed themselves due to the aesthetics. On the first launch, you'll be greeted with a simple message that explains how to navigate the app, which is pretty straightforward since there's basically only two screens: Home and Search. The Home screen has a large 'sodes header in the top left, and then you'll have your Favorites, In Progress, and Unplayed Episodes. The Search screen is full of podcast artwork tiles from top podcasts, and there's a search bar in case you don't see what you're looking for.

The default theme in 'sodes is Light, which features a white background and black text. But if you don't care for that, there are additional themes: Dark and Campfire. Dark is more of a steel blue background with light gray text, and Campfire features a burgundy-to-black gradient transition background with blood orange text. No matter which theme you end up sticking with, 'sodes retains the minimalist design and looks great doing so.

Since 'sodes is designed for the occasional podcast listener, don't expect a way to import your previous subscriptions in here. Instead, you'll need to make use of the Search screen in order to find new or current favorites. Just tap on a podcast tile to view details about the show, and view their episode list. You can also add a podcast to your Favorites for quick access. If the show you want isn't featured on the Search view, you can search by name or pasting in a URL.

Once you've picked out a few shows as favorites, you can see them all in the Home screen, as well as Unplayed Episodes. From the Home view, or even from a show's details page, you can tap on an episode and start listening, no subscribing required.

With 'sodes, there are no downloads for episodes. Instead, the app relies 100 percent on streaming the audio, which may raise concerns for those with limited cellular data plans. However, 'sodes intelligently manages data consumption by downloading the audio data in portions. This information is temporarily on the device to help restrict network data usage, but there's no offline playback since a data connection is always required.

During playback, 'sodes has some nice large buttons for play/pause, and rewinding or fast forwarding 15 seconds. You can also tap on the "…" button to adjust the playback speed, select audio output, stop playing, share the episode with others, or go directly to the episode website. The playback bar also displays the elapsed time in a small square that resembles an Apple Watch face, which I thought was a nice detail.

Options for 'sodes is in the iOS Settings, but the gear icon in 'sodes takes you directly to it. You can change the forward and backward intervals, switch themes, and toggle "Keep Screen Unlocked" when the device is connected to power and you're playing an episode.

Listen to podcast episodes when you want to, not when they arrive.

The Good

For the occasional podcast listener, 'sodes is great. The app has a minimal aesthetic design that's simple and straightforward with no fuss. It's easy enough to find the shows you want, or even discover new ones with the featured artwork tiles. Not having to subscribe to get access to episodes is also nice, so this app is perfect when you just want to listen to that one episode of a podcast your friend told you about.

There's also a bit of leeway with the colors, since you have three themes to choose from, and they all look good in their own ways. The large tappable buttons for playback are nice to have as well, especially when driving.

The Bad

If you want a feature-packed podcast app, 'sodes is not the app you're looking for. This app is designed for those who only listen to podcasts every once in a while, and it makes it easier for them to get what they want. If you prefer an app that lets you subscribe, download episodes automatically, create playlists, and more, then you should give Overcast a try.

The only other negative thing about 'sodes is the fact that it needs a data connection to play episodes. For those with unlimited data, this isn't an issue, but not everyone has that luxury. It's nice that 'sodes has smart streaming, but some would still prefer to download an episode before playing it to conserve limited data.

The verdict

So far, I like 'sodes for what it is: a simple podcast app for the casual listener. I doubt that I'll ever be able to manage my huge subscription list in Overcast anymore, so 'sodes is a nice alternative when I just want to find a single episode of something and listen to it when I have the chance to. Plus, as a fan of minimalism, the design is great. I think if there was the option to download episodes for playback, then this would be perfect for the casual listener who doesn't have unlimited data. But if you want a power-user experience, then you should look elsewhere.

You can find 'sodes on the iPhone App Store for $2.99.

8.9

OVERALL

Lasting appeal 9

iPhone Integration 9.5

User Interface 9

Is engaging 9

Does it well 8

$2.99

’sodes

Nice Boy LLC

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

Caravan War could easily have been the name of a segment on "Top Gear" in which the presenters destroyed a caravan every week in increasingly ostentatious ways. For better or worse, Caravan War is not a game about destroying caravans. Well, it is. But not that kind of caravan.

Viewing the action from an isometric top-down perspective, you have to fill your little world with buildings – a Headquarters, for conducting trades, a Mill, for producing stuff to trade, an Academy, for training guardians to protect your cargo, a Garage, for storing vehicles, and so on.

Then you have to create more buildings and upgrade the ones you have. To keep the wheels turning you have to trade, which means creating a caravan that can survive a journey through the fantasy badlands, and send out convoys whenever you've got enough cargo to sell.

It also means ambushing the caravans of other players, to steal their gold and cargo. But to pull off an ambush, you need a good number of well-trained bandits and a selection of souped-up towers to place in your enemies' way, in classic tower defense fashion.

And the only way to get an army of well-trained bandits is to upgrade your Tavern and your Bandit Camp and keep earning achievements so that you can get hero cards (and gems.)

Oh, and you should probably complete a few campaign missions to unlock that new tower so that you can nab some extra cargo and make enough money to buy a new weapon for your caravan.

And so on and so on.

Caravan War is an interesting take on the casual strategy genre that's richer and more involved than many of its stablemates.

The Good

Caravan War is a rich and detailed tower defense management game mashup where you're always balancing different priorities to keep your little fantasy empire thriving.

Whereas a lot of free to play strategy games hold your hand to a ridiculous degree, slapping a red sticker on every upgrade or unlock that becomes available so that you never have to use your judgement, Caravan War largely leaves you to do the rounds of your little kingdom alone.

And there's a lot to check. Not only can you upgrade your buildings but you can give promotions to your Guardians and Bandits, and tweak the formation of your caravan, among other things.

Your progress never stalls due to the free to play nature of the game. Even after you've completed the campaign missions, you can avoid an unmanageable confrontation by skipping to the next target caravan every time you send out a scout (for a small fee in gold).

The Bad

While there's nothing particularly wrong with the visuals, the 2D isometric graphics can look a bit dated on a device that's capable of gleaming polygons. The design of the world is generic, and the text is sometimes illegibly small unless you zoom in to read it – even on a large smartphone.

This all takes the shine off an otherwise exciting mashup of tower defense and management, imprisoning a novel concept in the staid uniform of a much more ordinary game.

If you can look past the game's ordinary appearance, you'll find a rich and rewarding free-to-play strategy game underneath – but you shouldn't have to look.

The Verdict

Caravan War is an interesting take on the casual strategy genre that's richer and more involved than many of its stablemates. The gameplay contains enough different threads that you always have something to do, and the difficulty is only ever as challenging as you want it to be.

Unfortunately, a slightly drab appearance detracts from the overall package, and there are more exciting alternatives in the App Store. But if you don't mind putting up with generic visuals, there's plenty to like in Caravan War.

7.6

OVERALL

User Interface 8

Lasting Appeal 8

Does It Well 8

iPhone Integration 7

Is Engaging 7

FREE

Caravan War

Hiker Games Joint Stock Company

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