Ridiculous Fishing
Indeed, the premise behind Ridiculous Fishing ($3) is ridiculous — but you'll feel anything but while playing it. The game involves dropping a hook, catching as many fish on said hook as you can, reeling them back up, and then blasting the living hell out of as many as you can using your gun. Also: no greedy calls for you to buy extra stuff after you've already bought it — buy it once, play it forever — and fish that become hats. It's only three bucks, so go download it already. [via]
Hater
Ever wish there was a "Hate" equivalent to the "Like" button on Facebook? Now there is one. Hater (Free) is a new service that lets you share your hate with the world. Features include a built-in Hater camera, rant-writing capabilities, the ability to share Hates anonymously under an Alter Ego, the ability to instantly share your Hates via Facebook and Twitter, and the ability to browse through the most popular hates. Just consider putting a passcode on your phone if you download it — a list of the things you hate *cough* mustard *cough* could be dangerous if it fell into the wrong hands.
Carrot
Need a little extra motivation to help you tackle your to-do list? Carrot ($1) should do nicely. Touted as a to-do list "with a personality", this moody little app will reward you when you're being productive, while greeting you with a clean, white/black/blue interface. Start slacking, however, and you'll be greeted by an angry app, complete with a black/white/red interface and not-so-subtle hints that you need to stop being so lazy. With over 300 rewards and two full "chapters" to unlock, it's like a game inside a productivity app.
T3 Music Player
Ever feel like your iPhone needs a little more Dieter Rams in its life? Give it some with the T3 Music Player ($1). Inspired by Rams' iconic Braun radio of the same name, it sports a clean white interface with a circle in the middle for controlling playback (sounds familiar)? Not content to simply ape the T3, the music browsing interface takes after Rams' 606 shelving, and lets you sort your playlists alphabetically or by rank.
Socks by Mack Weldon
So comfortable customers routinely claim they’re “walking on clouds” thanks to the cushioned footbed. The No Shows ($14.50/2 pack) have a “no slip grip” that stays put in low cut summer shoes, while the crew length styles actually stay up if you want them to. Get one or get them all - the Sock Drawer ($135) includes 16 pairs. But do get them soon, because like all things Mack Weldon makes, these are in high demand (and insanely comfortable).
Haze
Just because an app sports a clean interface doesn't mean it can't offer a lot of depth. Haze ($1) is a deceptively simple, gesture-driven weather app that uses colors and animation to give you an at-a-glance look at the weather. While it's easy to see the current temperature and warming/cooling trends, a few swipes can reveal a wealth of information, including a five-day forecast, sunrise and sunset times, cloud coverage, high and low temperatures for the day, windchill, wind speed, wind direction, precipitation chances and amounts, humidity levels, and even atmospheric pressure. All from an app that only displays a single number at startup — not too shabby. [Scouted by Freddy]
Mailbox
If you've ever heard of Merlin Mann's Inbox Zero concept, then you know you can boost productivity by focusing only on the emails that matter. Mailbox ($Free) is designed to do exactly that. It features a simple, gesture-powered interface that quickly lets you archive or delete mail, or "snooze" it until later so you focus on more important messages — they'll return to your inbox later. In addition, it organizes conversations into a chat-like structure, making it more easy to follow long threads. It's available now for the iPhone and works with all Gmail accounts, but you'd best be prepared to wait a while before you get to use it — last time we heard there was quite a line.
Simple Bracket
Filling out NCAA basketball tournament brackets is a yearly ritual around Uncrate HQ, but this year it looks like we might have a new tool for doing so. Simple Bracket ($1 and up) aims to rethink how brackets are handled on a mobile device, by giving you smart, scrollable lists of teams for each round in lieu of the traditional bracket, which requires far too much swiping and scrolling to be efficient. In addition, the app will offer an improved scoring system that rewards players for upset picks and a Twitter-based login system that makes it easy to create pools and invite friends. Currently seeking funding on Kickstarter.
Rise
In case you haven't noticed, gestures are starting to replace buttons in simple apps. Rise ($2) is a perfect example. This replacement for Apple's serviceable built-in alarm replaces the bland aesthetic of the stock app with a clean, inviting interface that has you swipe up and down to set the alarm time, swipe right to turn it on, and swipe upwards to choose things like your wakeup sound or playlist. No, it doesn't really do anything else, but that's the point — only by stripping away unnecessary features can you make an app this good looking.
THX Tune-Up
You could hire a professional to come in and tweak your home theater setup for a couple hundred bucks. Or you could just download THX Tune-Up ($Free). This simple app can help you get the aspect ratio, brightness, contrast, color, and tint of your display set correctly by taking control of your Apple TV and using the camera on your iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch to display a special color filter. It can also help ensure that your speaker assignment and speaker phase connections are correct. Oh, and did we mention it's free?
Vine
It's not exactly video, and not exactly animated GIFs, but Vine ($Free) is certainly interesting. This new Twitter-backed service allows users to record and share looping 6-second videos, complete with audio, comments, and the requisite hashtags. Use it to show friends and followers your daily commute, a particularly spectacular sunset, your playful new kitty, or even your new dildo. We wish we were joking.
Over
Type superimposed on top of photos doesn't have to be set in white Impact. Over ($2) lets you add beautiful typography to your photos, in whatever typeface and color you choose. You can use it to add witty captions, of course, but it's useful for much more than just that — thanks to the range of fonts available, you can find the perfect one to compliment the mood of your photo, then add extra meaning by choosing your words carefully. Instagram suddenly got a lot more interesting.
ChoreMonster
No, it's not some ridiculous Swiss Army-style household implement for mopping, dusting, scrubbing, and generally taking care of the house. Instead, ChoreMonster ($Free) is a clever little app that helps parents convince their kids to do their chores. As a parent, you can set up scheduled chores worth certain points, that you can approve once they're done. As your offspring collect enough points, they can "purchase" different rewards using their points, such as an hour of gaming, a trip to the movies, or a trip to Disney (that'd better be a lot of points).
