You might have to wait until tonight to get the most out of Star Walk, an astronomy app that uses augmented reality to teach you about the night sky. Following it is Stampsy, an iPad app for photographers and other content creators who want to make digital media themselves. Finally, Mr. Crab will give you a fun platforming distraction, in which you’ll need to work through challenging, spinning levels and rescue baby crabs.
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Star Walk update ($2.99)
What’s it about? Astronomy app Star Walk uses augmented reality to bring you information on the stars – both the ones you can see, and the celestial bodies you can’t.
What’s cool? Star Walk works by using your iOS device’s GPS and internal gyroscope to allow you to get information about the sky above, in real time. Aiming your camera at the night’s sky provides info about stars and planets in the solar system, allowing you to tap on things like the moon and pull up additional information on them. You can also overlay your view of the sky into the app’s display for an augmented reality stargazing experience. Star Walk’s latest update adds a stargazing calendar and a comet-tracking capability, as well as other new features and improvements.
Who’s it for? If astronomy interests you, Star Walk will provide you with plenty of useful information in a beautiful presentation.
What’s it like? Both Star Map 3D+ and Starlight – Mobile Planetarium also provide users with a little augmentation to their stargazing.
Stampsy (iPad) (Free)
What’s it about? Sharing platform Stampsy gives users who create digital media content the ability to create new stuff to be used online.
What’s cool? Stampsy is something of a creation platform for people who would like to make digital media. Combining elements of design, text and photography, users can put together what the app calls “stamps” made up of photos and other elements, which can then be shared on the Internet and used in a variety of ways. Stampsy gives you a number of easy to use tools for creating and rearranging your stamp designs, and when you’re finished, you can share them over Facebook and other social networks, or save them to Dropbox.
Who’s it for? Content creators, Stampsy is aimed in your direction.
What’s it like? Check out Adobe Photoshop Express for more content-creating options.
Mr. Crab ($0.99)
What’s it about? Help Mr. Crab gather up baby crabs as he runs through several cylindrical levels, fighting enemies and scoring as many points as possible.
What’s cool? Mr. Crab is a platformer and a running title, in as much as you control a crab who is endlessly shambling from side to side around the edges of round levels. Your goal is to get to the top of each level while collecting lost crab babies along the way, and grabbing points and fighting enemies as well. The always-moving nature of the game means you’ll need to act fast and pay close attention to avoid missing out on things that you need to get the best score, because occasionally the path behind you will be closed off, blocking your return. How fast you get through levels counts, and Mr. Crab also throws enemies in your path and big boss fights to contend with as well.
Who’s it for? If you like platformers and running titles, Mr. Crab is a fun one with simple controls and some challenging mechanics.
What’s it like? Bobbing is another platformer with mechanics focused on spinning, and Blade of Betrayal is a solid retro-styled platforming title.
