Lory Gil

Writer of all things app related, traveler of the space-time continuum, baker of really great cookies. Follow me @appaholik

iBetterCharge reminds you to charge your iPhone before it is too late

Lory Gil ∙ March 7, 2014

I constantly forget to charge my iPhone before leaving somewhere that I’ll need it for. I’ll drive to San Francisco for the day and run out of battery power before I leave to go back home and be left stranded with no Google Maps. I end up having to weave my way through the labyrinth that is downtown San Francisco. What I need is something to remind me to charge it up ahead of time and not when my iPhone is down to 20 percent.

iBetterCharge is a software download from Softorino that sends a signal to your Mac or PC when battery power on your iPhone gets low. The notification will remind you to charge up before it is too late…

The Way Home review – jump in time to get back home

Lory Gil ∙ Updated October 13, 2018

Do you remember the early 1990s television show “Quantum Leap” starring future Star Trek captain Scott Bakula? In it, the show’s protagonist, Dr. Sam Beckett, is lost in time and must solve people’s problems (“put right what once went wrong”) in order to leap into a new era, trying to make it back to his own time.

The Way Home takes the theme from Quantum Leap and turns it into a fun arcade game. Live as Einstein, a fighter pilot, even a pregnant teen to find your way back home…

Primal Flame – play with fire in this atmospheric arcade game

Lory Gil ∙ Updated April 16, 2018

Many popular atmospheric games use the black, white, and gray color scheme to give you a dreamlike visual experience. The characters might be shadowed in black, while the backdrop is detailed with interesting illustrations.

In Primal Flame, players are surrounded by the dark with only the glow of their flame to show them the way. The backdrops are detailed with interesting illustrations, but it’s the foreground you have to watch out for…

Apps of the Week: Documents 5, ETA, Globo, and more

Lory Gil ∙ Updated April 16, 2018

I’m starting to worry about the weather in California. In my area, it rained pretty hard all day yesterday, but now the sun is shining down like it is a spring day today. Even in California, I’m just not used to all of this winter sunshine. “Winter is coming,” my foot.

If you are planning a trip to my side of the country this weekend and need to know how long it will take, or need a better way to manage your files, we have a list of apps and games we think are pretty darn good, rain or shine…

Solve challenging physics puzzles with Enigmo: Explore

Lory Gil ∙ Updated January 26, 2018

The 2-D puzzle games in Enigmo have been fan favorites since Pangea Software presented them in 2003. The original title launched a sequel in 2009 that feature not just 3-D graphics, but the puzzles themselves are 3-D.

Pangea handed off the series to another game company, Team Chaos, who recently launched the third title in the series on iOS in the form of Enigmo: Explore…

ETA lets you easily check driving time to your favorite locations

Lory Gil ∙ February 27, 2014

I often go to the Bay Area, which is about 100 miles from where I live. If you know anything about California traffic, you’ll know that a simple 100-mile trip could take anywhere between an hour and a half and four hours. So, knowing drive times in advance is very important when I’m trying to make it to a show on time.

ETA is a very simple app that lets you check the estimated time of arrival for any location you save in your iPhone. Plus, you can get driving directions through the app as well…

Documents 5 gets even more powerful with Readdle apps integration

Lory Gil ∙ Updated January 23, 2018

Documents by Readdle is a popular file manager that lets you store music, videos, photos, and more. The company has recently been overhauling their entire line of productivity apps for iOS 7 and this one is no different.

Documents 5 is the completely redesigned version of its predecessor and comes with plenty of new features to make you think twice about which file manager you want to use from now on. Plus, if you have other Readdle apps on your iPad, you can access them from inside Documents…

Twist your way through a labyrinth of rooms in Oquonie

Lory Gil ∙ Updated January 24, 2018

There is a new trend in indie games now, especially with atmospheric cerebral types. Visually stunning bite-sized casual games that draw you in with interesting graphics and keep you in with innovative mechanics

Oquonie is one such indie game that features bizarre characters set in an illustrated black-and-white world that looks fantastic and offers more to players than just a nice pair of… well, you know…

Perloo is an unpredictable puzzle game

Lory Gil ∙ Updated October 13, 2018

As puzzle games go, the flatter they are, the simpler they are. What I mean by that is, most minimalistic puzzle games are usually fairly simple and don’t require more effort than a bit of logical thinking. They are not traditionally multi-step and don’t usually make your brain turn to mush on the first go.

Perloo is a minimalistic puzzle game that defies logic and reasoning while providing an entertaining series of brainteasers that will keep you on your toes (or, should I say, fingertips)…