Transistor ($10) — Last year’s sci-fi action RPG from the creators of Bastion comes to the iOS platform, putting you in the role of Red as she travels through CloudBank and battles the Process using the powerful Transistor. The iOS version provides the same vibrant aesthetics that the game came to be known for, while providing a new touch interface particularly suited for iOS devices, although players can still switch back to classic controls or even take advantage of gamepad support. The game features both fast-paced action and strategic turn-based combat as you battle the Process, and thousands of possible Function combinations allow you to configure the Transistor to overcome various obstacles as you work through the story of exactly why the evil Camerata is trying to track down the Transistor. A “Recursion” option allows you to continue playing beyond the initial storyline with all-new battles.
Adobe Hue CC (free) — The newest entry in Adobe’s new strategic direction to bring more focused apps to the iOS platform, Hue allows you to create custom Look filters for Adobe Premiere Pro CC, Premiere Clip, and After Effects CC by capturing color and light with your device’s camera.
This allows you to enhance videos with inspiration from real-world experiences. Users can pull up an existing photo or take a new one with the camera, and a three-dimensional bubble view appears showing the volume and distribution of colors in the selected image or scene, which can then be used to set the midtone and intensity, preview the Look, and save it to a library in your Creative Cloud account for use in Adobe’s other apps.
Mic Room /Mic Room Free ($8 / free) — This new app from IK Multimedia provides enhanced microphone modeling for iOS devices. Designed primarily to work as a companion app for the company’s digital and analog microphone accessories, Mic Room can be used with any external mic or even the built-in microphone on the iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch. Up to 20 microphone profiles are available, ranging from dynamic workhorses to tube condensers, ultra-smooth ribbon miss, and even other more unusual creative models.
Two models are included in the free version, and nine in the paid version, with the remaining profiles available either via in-app purchase or via hardware registration of an IK Multimedia mic accessory. Adjustable input levels with a level meter, a master bypass switch, and inter-app audio and AudioBus compatibility provide even more flexibility for using Mic Room with any number of third-party iOS recording apps or other utilities.
Elevate Brain Training (free) — This popular brain training app gets a major update, with version 2.0 adding a new section and revamped performance statistics. Elevate allows users to improve critical cognitive skills such as focus, speaking abilities, processing speed, memory, math skills, and more through a series of over 30 games that focus on training and developing these specific areas, with personalized analysis and training programs that evolve over time to help users focus on the areas of improvement. Version 2.0 also now features new higher proficiency levels of “Elite” and “Master” — particularly great for those users who have already pushed beyond the “Expert” level in the prior release.