Jake Underwood

104 posts on MacStories since December 2015

Former MacStories contributor.

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Thumb.Run Review: A Beautiful, Charming Racer

In a world of ever-increasing video game complexity, some games stand out as being ones that can captivate despite high-def graphics and intense gameplay. It’s certainly not easy, of course, and the ones that try have their work cut out for them.

After becoming addicted to Thumb.Run over the past week, the speedy racing game has caught my eye as a fulfillment of what’s mentioned above.

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Offline Pages Pro Review

It’s a sight we never want to see: the disappearance of the WiFi indicator from the status bar. From here, our devices are stuck racking up our data usage or are completely incapable of accessing the Internet. Even when it’s expected, losing signal is frustrating.

Offline Pages Pro is a browser and website-saver that strives to be your saving grace when you’re without WiFi. With a strong set of features and speed on its side, the app has a good chance to make its way into your workflow.

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Doo Review: A Different Take on the Task Manager Genre

Because we carry our iOS devices with us wherever we go, we’re always looking for an app to help us complete our tasks. The problem, though, is that it’s becoming difficult to choose the right one due to the multitude of task managers in the App Store.

Doo isn’t your traditional to-do list – in fact, it is running in the opposite direction of most of the genre.

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Placeboard: Your Favorite Places in One Location

Among my many bad habits is forgetting to keep frequently-needed information in a convenient place. Whether it’s a phone number or the address of one of my favorite restaurants, I can’t seem to develop a method for storing data I need.

Placeboard is an app that could change that. It’s a storage system for your favorite locations and, with a few smart features, is a great one, too.

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Monthly: Simple, Quick Budgeting

Monthly is a money-tracking app aimed at helping you budget and manage your expenses.

The above sentence is notably simple – I wanted to write it that way so that you can understand the philosophy behind Monthly before you even launch it. You’ll find that Monthly funnels itself into one area and doesn’t budge; for most apps, the reality behind that fact is a kiss of death. But Monthly, in all of its simplicity and speed, stands on its own as an app that does its one job incredibly well.

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HeartWatch 2 Review

A couple of months ago, Federico linked to David Walsh’s Medium post detailing HeartWatch, a deeply functional heart monitoring app. HeartWatch, according to Walsh, is a better way to visualize heart rate data pulled from your Apple Watch.

Now in version 2.0, HeartWatch looks to be a more all-encompassing aggregator of your heart information. After spending some time with the newest version of the app, I can highly suggest HeartWatch – not only for its capabilities but also for its potential.

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Day One 2 Review

Day One, the well-known journaling app by Bloom Built, was an unmistakable success. On both iOS and Mac, it amassed multiple awards for both its design and quality of the experience. Through positive reviews and loyal users, Day One rose to the top of the charts and received recognition from Apple’s App Store team.

Although one might think that Bloom Built would be content to sit back and let the success continue, Day One 2 shows that this assumption is far from the truth. Through some added features and fresh coat of paint, Day One 2, launching today, is definitely an improvement – but with today’s App Store littered with text editors, can Day One still hold its place and purpose?

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Carbo: Digital Storage and Editing for Handwritten Notes

“Handwriting in the digital age.” It was such a claim, along with its feature in Apple’s productivity sale, that drew my attention to Carbo. From reading the app’s description, developers Creaceed seemed confident in the app’s handwriting altering and organization. After spending some time with Carbo and thoroughly enjoying the experience, I now understand their confidence.

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Timepage: A Beautiful and Clever Calendar App

Although I’m sure Moleskine has crossed your radar once or twice in the past, it most likely was for its collection of notebooks, diaries, or pencils. But you may be unfamiliar with Moleskine Timepage, a calendar app that is a step away from the traditional Moleskine image. Through some interesting features and a beautiful interface, there’s a good chance that you’ll be keeping Moleskine’s app development division on your radar.

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