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[Teddman]

Smash comic and manga reader

This new CBR/CBZ/PDF reader is poised to unseat ComicGlass as my most-used comic reader app because of a killer feature called Auto-Zoom!

It fits the comic to the width of the screen, and a tap at the bottom will automatically pan down a 1/3 of the page. I like how it still shows the full page view for a second each time you turn a page before zooming in--a nice way of giving you a chance to take in the artistic composition of the layout before reading though panel-by-panel.

Here's a video showing it in action: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x7b0M2d4Ls4

This is the next best thing to Marvel Digital or Comixology's guided "panel view." Smash's comic organization interface is really polished too, and has Dropbox and wifi options for adding comics. For $1.99, I give it a big thumbs up.

 

[noah111]

I'm intrigued, always love me some new comic reader apps to test out/compare to what's out there. Looking at the video and screenshots, it is certainly beautiful. Might just buy it to try out on my phone.

 

[Teddman]

Yeah, I own just about every comic reader app out there, up until now ComicGlass was king, and probably still is for the amount of features and customization it offers.

But the auto-zoom of Smash is a nice change of pace. Instead of reading a full page at a time in portrait mode, I now rest my iPad on a stand in landscape mode--and tap through the comics at a zoomed-in, eye-pleasing size.

I just noticed that in the day since I bought it, Smash has gone up from $1.99 to $3.99. Well, that's steeper, but I still recommend it if you read lots of comics on your iPad and want to try a different reading style.

 

[Ambitious]

Which sites or services do you read/use to find out about awesome new apps and to get notified about price drops?

For the latter, I use AppShopper. For the former, I'm just browsing GAF threads like this one and the App Store. There are just too many app recommendation sites, and most of the ones I found list every crap app out there. Could you name one or two good ones?

edit: To contribute something which seems to not have been posted already: Backdrops for the iPhone and Backdrops HD for the iPad. These apps allow you to browse the wallpaper section on InterfaceLIFT, which is pretty huge and full of the most gorgeous wallpapers I've seen so far.
The wallpapers are comfortably listed in several kinds of categories, like color, scene (city, beach etc.), location and so on. The possibilities to explore wallpapers are far superior than on the website, which is why I sometimes use the app to find great wallpapers for my notebook as well.

 

[blackflag]

These comic readers are better than Comic Zeal? That's what I've always used.

 

[planar1280]

I have all TinTin and Asterix Comics in comic form, how do I store them in the ipad or remote location to view them

 

[snack]

Smash comic and manga reader

This new CBR/CBZ/PDF reader is poised to unseat ComicGlass as my most-used comic reader app because of a killer feature called Auto-Zoom!

It fits the comic to the width of the screen, and a tap at the bottom will automatically pan down a 1/3 of the page. I like how it still shows the full page view for a second each time you turn a page before zooming in--a nice way of giving you a chance to take in the artistic composition of the layout before reading though panel-by-panel.

Here's a video showing it in action: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x7b0M2d4Ls4

This is the next best thing to Marvel Digital or Comixology's guided "panel view." Smash's comic organization interface is really polished too, and has Dropbox and wifi options for adding comics. For $1.99, I give it a big thumbs up.

I am planning on getting either the Smash Reader one or Comic Zeal. Which one's better?

 

[noah111]

I am planning on getting either the Smash Reader one or Comic Zeal. Which one's better?

iPad or iPhone?

 

[Weenerz]

Had been using Comic Zeal for months, but seeing how functional Smash is, I jumped ship.

 

[Teddman]

I think either Smash or ComicGlass would be a better choice than Zeal:

Glass has the most viewing options, filters for improving the look of older comics, auto two page view upon rotating to landscape mode, loads comics quickly and smoothly, offers tons of customizations for reading method. It's the best for reading straight ahead in portrait mode.

Smash has easier comic folder (or "box") organization than Glass or Zeal, a really easy UI, and offers native DropBox support while the other two don't. Not as many viewing options as Glass, but sports the auto-zoom feature which is a fun novelty. Zeal has something similar called "assisted panning," but it's not as well implemented, IMO.

Zeal was good in the early days of IPad when it was one of the only readers out there, but its reading interface and feature set haven't been updated in a year and a half.

 

[snack]

iPad or iPhone?

iPad.

 

[noah111]

It depends on how many comics you have and the level of sorting and organization you want, but I think Smash is looking very promising, and for the cheaper price (versus Zeal) I think that's what i'd go with.

 

[Koodo]

Cinemagram is free right now, by the way. Neat little app for creating gifs.

 

[noah111]

Cinemagram is free right now, by the way. Neat little app for creating gifs.

It real is;

Very fun way to take photos, nice new dimension to think about shooting something in a different way.

 

[Quick]

I just downloaded ComicFlow on my iPad. Works out pretty well for the CBR/CBZ files I have.

Are there other ones (preferably free) that are better? I'd like to compare.

 

[Majine]

Why is there no Twitter app that can push tweets to notification Center that aren't related to me? I'd love to see tweets of certain people directly when they are tweeted.

 

[noah111]

I just downloaded ComicFlow on my iPad. Works out pretty well for the CBR/CBZ files I have.

Are there other ones (preferably free) that are better? I'd like to compare.

All you have to do is scroll up to find what some people are considering the best.. mentioned just a few posts above you; Smash, Comic Zeal, ComicGlass.

Some like MobiReader (i think that's what it's called) and Bookman.

 

[noah111]

Why is there no Twitter app that can push tweets to notification Center that aren't related to me? I'd love to see tweets of certain people directly when they are tweeted.

Yeah, I wish this was integrated into Tweetbot. Tweetbot is already behind since the only interactions in the @ tab they show is @mentions, but not if someone favorited your tweet, retweeted, etc.

Also horrible thing about tweetbot: there's no way I can approve or deny people requesting to follow me, I have to go to the desktop version to do that. Unless i'm mistaken, i'd like to be proven wrong.

 

[Teddman]

I just downloaded ComicFlow on my iPad. Works out pretty well for the CBR/CBZ files I have.

Are there other ones (preferably free) that are better? I'd like to compare.

Yeah, the paid app recommendation are above, but if you want a free option, I think CloudReaders is the best.

It's the only free app with "zoom lock," so that you can zoom and position a comic and it will maintain that setting across pages for the entire comic. This is very useful for zooming past the white margins and getting that little extra boost in panel size when reading in portrait mode.

 

[numble]

Why is there no Twitter app that can push tweets to notification Center that aren't related to me? I'd love to see tweets of certain people directly when they are tweeted.

You can do this with Boxcar.

Most apps probably won't do it because it would be a high server cost.

 

[snack]

Is there any way on the Smash app to hide the top status bar (carrier, battery meter etc.) when viewing comics?

 

[noah111]

Is there any way on the Smash app to hide the top status bar (carrier, battery meter etc.) when viewing comics?

Yeah, I don't think there is, and that would be a real problem with iPhone use since that's a lot of wasted pixels considering what you're viewing..

 

[xbhaskarx]

Cinemagram is free right now, by the way. Neat little app for creating gifs.

How easy is this to use?

 

[Quick]

All you have to do is scroll up to find what some people are considering the best.. mentioned just a few posts above you; Smash, Comic Zeal, ComicGlass.

Some like MobiReader (i think that's what it's called) and Bookman.

Whoops, didn't even see the top of the page.

Yeah, the paid app recommendation are above, but if you want a free option, I think CloudReaders is the best.

It's the only free app with "zoom lock," so that you can zoom and position a comic and it will maintain that setting across pages for the entire comic. This is very useful for zooming past the white margins and getting that little extra boost in panel size when reading in portrait mode.

Read about CloudReader before, but never really considered it. I might jump on one of the paid apps.

Beats converting my comics to PDFs.

 

[Teddman]

Is there any way on the Smash app to hide the top status bar (carrier, battery meter etc.) when viewing comics?

No, there isn't. Hopefully an update will fix that soon... Mention it in the review. I have no idea why so many comic apps overlook that, half of them launch with that status bar issue.

Granted, it doesn't get in the way much when reading in landscape orientation on iPad, using auto zoom, but it is still annoying.

 

[Shearie]

Yeah, I wish this was integrated into Tweetbot. Tweetbot is already behind since the only interactions in the @ tab they show is @mentions, but not if someone favorited your tweet, retweeted, etc.

Also horrible thing about tweetbot: there's no way I can approve or deny people requesting to follow me, I have to go to the desktop version to do that. Unless i'm mistaken, i'd like to be proven wrong.

About approving or denying followers, I just block and then unblock someone to get them off my followers list, but then again that's not really what you're asking for.

I don't think seeing who favorited or retweeted you is important at all and I definitely would not want to see that when I'm looking through someone else's @ tab.

 

[noah111]

About approving or denying followers, I just block and then unblock someone to get them off my followers list, but then again that's not really what you're asking for.

I don't think seeing who favorited or retweeted you is important at all and I definitely would not want to see that when I'm looking through someone else's @ tab.

The official twitter app compiles all your interactions, including fav'd or retweets of yours, and it just makes more sense. I just wish Tweetbot would follow with that.

 

[Acid House]

I don't think the iPad version of iPhoto is going to do RAW conversion at all...

edit:

ah it does, but:


http://mashable.com/2012/03/07/iphoto-for-iphone-and-ipad/

lame

.CR2 files use JPEG compression anyway (lossless).

Will be fun to see where the app goes in subsequent updates. I love it so far.

 

[Shearie]

The official twitter app compiles all your interactions, including fav'd or retweets of yours, and it just makes more sense. I just wish Tweetbot would follow with that.

It makes sense in Tweetbot also since the @ tab is for mentions and I definitely would not want that cluttered up with retweets and favorites. There are separate tabs for retweets and favorites in Tweetbot that are very easy to access.

 

[noah111]

It makes sense in Tweetbot also since the @ tab is for mentions and I definitely would not want that cluttered up with retweets and favorites. There are separate tabs for retweets and favorites in Tweetbot that are very easy to access.

I don't think you're understanding what I mean exactly. You cannot view interactions as you can in the twitter app.

i.e. there isn't a way, as far as I know, to see who favorited your tweets, as you can in the stock twitter. You can however see those who re-tweeted your stuff, but through a sort of cluttered interface of options.

It would seem much simpler to simply put all that in the @ tab, at least as an option, i.e. the way the official app does it.

 

[Deleted member 22576]

Been waiting ages for something like cinemagram. But it totally sucks. I mean, how on earth can you release a .gif maker and not have it heavily integrated with iMessage? :| I had to email it to myself and save it and then open in iMessage. The UI is also ugly.

Someone please tell me I'm an idiot and in reality its perfectly simple to get the .gifs into iMessage.

 

[noah111]

They should have a way to save it to your phone, but do gifs even work in the stock photo app? If not, that's why that option doesn't exist. If gifs do work, though, they should definitely add such an option.

Having it integrated into iMessage is a stretch tbh, no one really cares for that when there is tumblr, facebook, and twitter sharing options. All they need is a save option.

 

[Deleted member 22576]

.gifs work in iMessage and its the greatest thing ever


youre right a save option is all thats needed or even a copy function

 

[Shearie]

I don't think you're understanding what I mean exactly. You cannot view interactions as you can in the twitter app.i.e. there isn't a way, as far as I know, to see who favorited your tweets, as you can in the stock twitter. You can however see those who re-tweeted your stuff, but through a sort of cluttered interface of options.It would seem much simpler to simply put all that in the @ tab, at least as an option, i.e. the way the official app does it.

I understand you perfectly. I personally don't care about seeing who retweeted or favorited me and I like those things being separate but you obviously think differently. If seeing everything in one tab and being able to see who favorited you is important to you, than I can understand why Tweetbot would be disappointing.

I can personally never go back to the official Twitter app and Tweetbot doesn't feel like a "cluttered interface of options" for me since its more straight forward and a joy to use in comparison to the official app.

 

[noah111]

I understand you perfectly. I personally don't care about seeing who retweeted or favorited me and like those things being separate but you obviously think differently. If seeing everything in one tab and being able to see who favorited you is important to you, than I can understand why Tweetbot would be disappointing.

I can personally never go back to the official Twitter app and Tweetbot doesn't feel like a "cluttered interface of options" for me since its more straight forward and a joy to use in comparison to the official app.

Tweetbot isn't disappointing as a whole, but you're missing my point: that functionality to see that, anywhere within the app (not in the @tab) doesn't exist at all with tweetbot. That was my point.

If they could add that into the fav tab somehow that would be nice, but putting it into the interactions tab really doesn't make anything cluttered at all, it's simply your interactions; works well for the official app.

 

[Shearie]

Tweetbot isn't disappointing as a whole, but you're missing my point: that functionality to see that, anywhere within the app (not in the @tab) doesn't exist at all with tweetbot. That was my point.If they could add that into the fav tab somehow that would be nice, but putting it into the interactions tab really doesn't make anything cluttered at all, it's simply your interactions; works well for the official app.

I'm not missing your point. I personally like those things being separate and you don't. If they added a "see all" category and the ability to see who favorited you, then that's fine by me. I'm just saying I don't find that stuff important at all.

Anyway, that's my last post on this topic.

 

[noah111]

Dude, they are not separate at all, the option to see that just doesn't exist! I wouldn't mind it being separate at all, but I wouldn't mind being able to at least see that. I often check the stock app just to check that.

 

[Shearie]

Dude, they are not separate at all, the option to see that just doesn't exist! I wouldn't mind it being separate at all, but I wouldn't mind being able to at least see that. I often check the stock app just to check that.

Now who's misunderstanding?

 

[Deleted member 22576]

Playing around more with Cinemegram, and it made this 1/2 second gif 4 megabytes! 4 Megabytes.

3.92 megabytes. :|

 

[noah111]

Pretty sure you're using it wrong (though that is cute ). You're supposed to be taking only certain aspects of the image and putting them in motion, not the whole picture.

Though tbh, not sure if that would make the file size significantly smaller, though.

 

[freshair]

Playing around more with Cinemegram, and it made this 1/2 second gif 4 megabytes! 4 Megabytes.

3.92 megabytes. :|

Pretty sure you're using it wrong (though that is cute ). You're supposed to be taking only certain aspects of the image and putting them in motion, not the whole picture.

Though tbh, not sure if that would make the file size significantly smaller, though.

Yeah, maybe you're looking to make a regular gif and not a cinemagraph?

http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/gif-shop/id410174605?mt=8

 

[_Isaac]

That cinemagram app always crashes for me. I get tense every time that little loading bar pops up when it's creating my gif.

 

[Ape Gone Insane]

This thread is going to be my bible when my iPad arrives. Some of these apps look fantastic.

 

[VisitableElf]

Dunno if this is the right topic to throw it under but here goes...


Whats the best free avi to mp4 converter? Handbrake makes my PC go BSoD for some reason. A Google search brings me over to a bunch of freeware that dont work too good.

Asking here cause Im contemplating on buying the new Apple TV

 

[Chris R]

This thread is going to be my bible when my iPad arrives. Some of these apps look fantastic.

Someone should totally go through the entire thread and make a nice big post/list

 

[bob page]

Sparrow is out:

http://www.theverge.com/2012/3/14/2857268/sparrow-for-iphone-review

 

[giga]

If push was in, I'd get it in a heartbeat. I'm not sure I can survive without it…

 

[bob page]

If push was in, I'd get it in a heartbeat. I'm not sure I can survive without it…

Same. I'll probably pass until they update it.

 

[Deleted member 22576]

If push was in, I'd get it in a heartbeat. I'm not sure I can survive without it…

Oh noooooooooo. Watching the review, will probably buy anyway. But damn.

The way it deals with attachments is great.

 

[Vyer]

Do all these comic readers you guys are mentioning earlier have their own comic 'stores' built in?