With such a superficial society, and all kinds of Photoshop optimizations being done to celebrities, and it’s no wonder why an app like Facetune would be so popular. Facetune is an iOS app that gives you the power of many Photoshop techniques to apply to your own portrait photos. For just a few bucks, you can have tools that pros use for hundreds of dollars, and in a much simpler package too. Facetune is a bit like Handy Photo for providing professional photo editing techniques in an intuitive touch based package for a minimal fee.

Facetune includes ten different tools at your disposal, and each one is touch based. You can whiten teeth by just dragging your finger over the choppers for example. One of the most practical features is the smooth tool, allowing you to simply touch up acne and other blemishes with your finger on the specific spots. There’s also the patch tool to select an area of smooth skin, to overlay on to another section that isn’t looking as nice. You can also add details to the best parts of your face for a more striking look. The tones tool is another worthwhile utility allowing you to select a part of the face to grab that color, and then use it on a different part for a more uniform look.

Each one couldn’t be easier to use as you simply tap or drag your finger to literally fine tune your portrait. The functions are available elsewhere, but not in such an easy and intuitive package. It gets to the point that it feels like magic to see the face transformed beneath your fingertip, and the changes look completely authentic. There’s so much power at your fingertips, and that includes the reshape tool allowing you to grab a point on the outside of the face to pinch it inwards to provide a thinner look. The backend makes for intelligent resizing, as it does for the smoothing and patch tools to blend with the appropriate skin tones. To round out the package, you can defocus certain regions of a photo, and even apply effects all in an attempt to make the portrait stand out as well as possible.

Facetune ($2.99, iPhone) is an extremely valuable app in today’s day and age with a deluxe feature set that provides authentic looking results accessible through an intuitive touch interface. It’s a great way to brighten up any portraits you have making it a should buy. Facetune is like the anti FatBooth, providing a photo booth style app that actually improves your look. Now anyone can have the photo good looks of a celebrity with no experience or hundreds of dollars required.

There are so many potential avenues for puzzle games to take, and it’s nice to see some that don’t rely on repetitive physics puzzlers with three star scoring systems. Color Zen is one such puzzle game that is all about filling the screen with one uniform color after starting with an array of multiple colors. It’s a bit like Paint Buckets, as you pick one color to begin with to meld with the same color throughout the scene. You continue that process of selecting colors to meld with until you fill the screen with just a single color. Color Zen doesn’t have score, timers, or anything other than just focusing on solving the puzzle at hand.

There are 120 puzzles to colorize, and there are six level packs with each one introducing new elements to contend with. In each level, you toss a colored shape into a matching color to cover the available area. Soon, you’ll come across white orbs that can match with anything, and black orbs that can clear away any other shape. There’s just some nice variation, although most levels are still a bit easy. Through the first three level packs, there was only one level that took me more than one replay. The game seems a lot more complex on the surface, but once you actually play it, you realize how simplistic the game mechanic actually is.

The game does feature outstanding level design with each one offering little works of art to transform. The main problem though, is that despite the colorful array and new elements, the levels blend together relatively quickly. There’s not much reward in completing such obvious puzzles, and it becomes a passive movement from puzzle to puzzle. There’s no doubt, the game is well designed, but the actual puzzles leave too much to be desired. There are a number of other recent puzzle games like Go Round and Quell Memento that do walk the tight rope in offering the balance of challenge and friendly nature. Sadly, Color Zen isn’t one of them, and there’s not the great incentive to keep powering through the monotony. This ultimately be due to the overly simplistic nature of the game with not much room for depth or intricacies, especially with such few colors on screen at once.

Color Zen ($0.99, Universal) look promising on the surface, but below the colorful outer shell, there just isn’t much. It ends up blending in with the plethora of other puzzle games in the App Store making it one to skip.

Everyone is focusing on the new icons in iOS 7 as well as stills of the new stark stock apps. The most distinct changes in iOS 7 are all about flow, so that everything you do is one continuos action. When the device is first unlocked, the home screen app icons fly in from the side of the screens to settle into their respective places. Then, when one of those apps is opened, the app window originates from that point on the home screen. That same idea is extended upon closing an app, as the window is sucked back into that app point on the home screen. The apps open and close seamlessly, so that you’re always flowing from task to task.

It’s a subtle change that makes a big difference in just the main idea behind iOS. That flow is extended throughout all of the new features in iOS 7 as seen in the translucency design. When you swipe up to revel Control Center, or swipe down to show Notification Center, there’s a smooth flow as they’re revealed from either the bottom or top, and they both feature a translucent background. The flow shows where the panels come from, and translucency shows where you just left, and will go back to when dismissing them. That flow is also seen when bringing up the share sheet, tabs in Safari, and even when sliding through pages within settings, mail, and messages.

Everything new in iOS 7 is about flow, and that’s why the app icons and in-app design have been changed to share a similar look to maintain that continuity as you move through iOS. The lock screen flows to the left to unveil the home screen, and even slide to power off slides in from the top. Pop-ups are removed in favor of options flowing in from the bottom of the screen. Even when you lock the device, the screen subtly fades to black, and when unlocking it, there’s a fade in. There’s springiness to everything as well making iOS as a whole feel much more fluid and alive, which is a stark change from the stale nature of the past six versions of iOS.

iOS 7 is a new beginning for Apple, and that beginning is all about a new flow to iOS, so that everything you do with your iOS device moves together.

Moving Tales Inc makes some extraordinary iOS apps that transform age old stories into a new format that crosses movies and books into one. They were one of the first companies to provide such a style, and they have just released their fifth book in the Moving Tales series. The app is To This Day, and it’s a poem driving by the theme of anti-bullying which is such a valuable message. The poem is by Shane Koyczan, who also offers the heart felt narration in this app.

The message is delivered skillfully thanks to the ornate moving images on every page. The animations bring the words to life to an even greater extent, and there are some alternate animations to ensure now two readings are alike. There’s just so much to appreciate on evert page, and you can’t help but feel the power of the message with the total package you’re given. The usual Moving Tales features are also included with auto page turning, text that responds to accelerometer, and optional record your own voice narration.

To This Day (Free, iPad) is completely free to offer an empowering message that can truly touch lives for the better.

Man of Steel the movie is now out in theaters, and has conquered the box office with its opening weekend tally of $125 million. There’s a new iOS game of the same name to go along with the movie, and it provides 3D combat that gives you the power of Superman at your fingertips. The game comes from the makers of Dark Meadow, Horn, and the new World War Z movie tie-in game. The game is instantly familiar to Infinity Blade with the Unreal powered swipe based combat. A more apt comparison is to Batman Arkham City Lockdown, which is also published by Warner Bros Interactive, and provides similar combat, but with Batman instead of Superman. Man of Steel features a story and survival mode with both composed of a series of one on one fights with over the top knockdowns.

Man of Steel ($2.99, iPhone / $4.99, iPad) is a deluxe action game, and the screenshots don’t do it justice, and therefore we have provided an ‘N Action gameplay video.

Mickey Mouse may be the most well known global icon around, but many people simply know him as the corporate icon and central character at the theme parks. Mickey is now 85 years old, and began as one of the first animated cartoon characters that built up Walt Disney’s brand to extraordinary heights. Sadly, Mickey hasn’t been that same animated character for years, but Disney is aiming to change that with a brand new series of comedic shorts. Each episode is about three to four minutes, and highlights the classic nature of Mickey with more mischievousness than he is known for today.

There are 19 shorts completed, and they will start airing the last weekend of June with the first three showings airing the 28th-30th, and the rest will follow with weekly installments on Fridays. Each one presents Mickey in a new scenario all across the globe ranging from Santa Monica to New York all the way to Beijing and Tokyo. Each episode in action packed with silly scenarios leading to heroic moments and rubbery physics infused with modern asides. One of the most noticeable aspects is the art style calling back to the original 1930s art style of Mickey. Disney has offered “Croissant de Triomphe”, as a preview that we have included below, and another great example is the boardwalk episode where Goofy denies service to Mickey and Donald due to the no shirt, no shoes, no service policy. The episodes will air on Disney channel, and will also be accessible on the web, and in the Watch Disney Channel iOS app.

The animated series is a great new beginning for Mickey, and it directly ties to the new Disney mobile game, Where’s My Mickey. The game isn’t just a new Mickey themed version of Where’s My Water, and instead builds upon all the greatness of the original with a style completely its own. First off, the new animated series has a very big role in the mobile game with a similar art style, as well as animated episodes for the levels. Where’s My Mickey is extremely story driven to the point that each episode of 20 levels gives a reason why Mickey needs water. There’s going to be three episodes at launch with “Life Gives You Lemons”, “Fanning The Flame”, and “Growing Pains”. To reach his objective, Mickey needs water to run his lemonade stand, to put out a spark in a gunpowder filled cave, and to water his new garden.. There are animated shorts to set the stage for each episode, and then the level complete screen continues the animation and story. One of the neatest features is that Mickey is always on screen, and there’s a seamless transition of animated Mickey between level, completion screen, and the next level.

The gameplay revolves around the same idea of moving water through a level, but the developers have figured out a way to get Mickey above ground, unlike Where’s My Water, or Where’s My Perry which are underground. The new mechanic is clouds allowing you to suck up water, and then rain it down somewhere else with wind currents in some of the levels. There’s still the familiar three star scoring system, but with more emotion infused into the stars. If that wasn’t enough, Goofy has his own level packs, similar to Cranky’s Story which revolves around collecting another liquid, which is the anti-water. One neat new addition for Where’s My Mickey is a special level pack made just for the iPad, entitled “It’s A Big World Out There” with more expansive levels for some precise touch controls to create pathways for the water.

The best part about Where’s My Mickey, is that there’s not long to wait as the game is set to launch this Thursday, June 20th. Mickey Mouse is coming into the 21st century with a bang thanks to an animated series accessible on the web and multiple platforms, as well as a brand new mobile game. Below, we have included the trailer, the first animated short, and photos from Disney Interactive Studios.

Croissant de Triomphe on Disney Video

Today’s iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch apps for free daily include a retro shooter, password manager, special event reminder, and unique tower defense game. A number of apps drop from paid to free on a daily basis, and we pick the top four everyday, as many of the others aren’t worth your time even for free. Everyday we try to pick apps that are worth spending money on, but are now free to download, and here they are.

Random Heroes 2 ($0.99 -> Free, Universal) [Review]: The unique style of Random Heroes revolves around unlocking an odd band of misfit heroes to play as with 18 in total. There are also 22 weapons to upgrade, and 90 levels to battle your way through trying to shoot down enemies as you go. Every level is in essence a series of enemies to go through with multiple types to deal with while also aiming to collect three stars, and a hidden skull. As predicted, the game has dropped to free, as it did cost $0.99, and include numerous in-app purchases.

mPass Pro ($4.99 -> Free, Universal): The app provides a safe and simple way to store and manage all your passwords and private information. Whether it’s usernames, passwords, credit card details, PINs, bank accounts, notes, and more. There’s 256bit AES encryption, a built-in web browser, WiFi syncing, auto time-out, and standard templates for fast data entry.

Occasions+ ($0.99 -> Free, Universal): A resource to help you remember all of the special occasions in your life including birthdays, anniversaries, and national holidays. You can send greetings from within the app for each special day, and the app connects to contacts and Facebook to supply some of the data. You can view the calendar for upcoming events, and set up three alerts per event to remind you in plenty of time to be ready.

Commando Jack ($0.99 -> Free, Universal) [Review]: A tower defense game with a twist, as players are not only the generals of what is going on around the battlefield, but have the ability to actually jump in behind a turret and let off a few rounds themselves. Like any other game in the genre, the point is to build intricate mazes across the screen to fight off multiple waves of enemies, and the optional first person perspective changes things nicely.

Despicable Me tells the story of a typical villain, Gru, who is put in unique situations which tests that identity. It’s an animated kids film, and no matter the storyline, it seems like the cute little yellow minions of Gru are the highlight. Gameloft understands this idea in their latest game, Despicable Me: Minion Rush, which is released ahead of Despicable Me 2. The game isn’t tied to the movie storyline, and instead is a 3D endless runner along the lines of Subway Surfers with a three lane system to swipe between. The endless genre trends more casually, while Gameloft makes more hardcore games, and this one is a cross between those two ideals. It’s effortless to pick up and play with the familiar style, but it’s not just a friendly stroll, but an action packed sprint through all kinds of crazy obstacles.

The game begins in Gru’s lab pitting you in a metallic world to run through with lasers, missiles, and rising tubes to contend with. Once you run a certain distance, you come across a boss battle with the nemesis from the first film, Vector. The boss battle is a nice change of pace, and shifts the camera angle to provide new enemies to dodge, and the ability to go on the offensive. After completing the boss battle, you can then run out in the neighborhood, kind of like switching environments in Temple Run: Oz. The neighborhood amps up the pacing, and number of obstacles to really require some nimble fingers to swipe through it all. Outside, you have to dodge cars, run on bus rooftops, and deal with cars that can drive up to cover two lanes.

There’s a constantly shifting environment as you run including running around curves, shifting into a 2D section, and jumping into tilt based slides. The most noticeable aspect is how much is going on at once, and you end up frantically trying to survive. The best part is your multiplier that you can increase by being despicable, which is to run into other minions on the side of the road. There’s also an objective system tied to the multiplier, and this helps amplify your score, and provides extra incentive to keep running. There are also some nice power-ups, with each one offering a mini-game to take part in. Overall, Gameloft has done a remarkable job of amping up the intensity of the endless runner to make it feel fresh with the extra challenge. It’s not just a movie tie-in, and instead is a new engaging endless runner you can partake in.

Despicable Me: Minion Rush (Free, Universal) is a definite rush that is filled with challenge and personality to make it a worthy addition to your iOS device.

E3 is an event for huge gaming companies to show off upcoming games that cost millions to make that will sell for $60 a pop. Still, most of these companies are dabbling in mobile titles to some extent, and Sega was doing so as well. At E3, Sega was showing off The Cave, which is a game by Double Fine Productions (studio of Rob Gilbert, creator of Monkey Island & Maniac Mansion) that was released at the beginning of 2013 for PC, Mac, PSN, and XBLA. Now, Sega is working with Double Find to publish The Cave for the App Store, and it includes a brand new touch control scheme for iOS.

The game itself is a puzzle based adventure where you get to create a team of three adventurers from seven to choose from. There is a monk, explorer, knight, time traveler, and more to choose from with each one offering unique skills. The ultimate highlight is that each adventurer is tied to their own set of puzzles and worlds, so you have access to multiple potential puzzles depending on who you choose. There’s a gorgeous 3D art style as you descend into the depths, and now the iOS version lets you swipe in various directions to move, leap, and interact with the environment. It’s set to be one intricate adventure with deluxe environments and unique challenges, and it’s great to have it available on iOS. The game is also bursting with personality, as you would expect from Double Fine, highlighted by the narrator, which is The Cave itself.

Sega is hoping to launch the game by the end of 2013, but our hands-on time showed that the touch controls have a ways to go. The game looks like an amazing adventure, and with some fine tuning, we should be able to be enjoying it on iOS devices soon.

When you make a game as popular as Candy Crush Saga, many take notice of your next game. King.com has just released Pet Rescue Saga, which is their third iOS game, and another title that they have brought to the App Store from the web. Like Candy Crush, it’s a match three game, but a completely different variation that is based on cascading blocks rather than swapping objects. The game board is filled with various colored blocks, and you’re trying to match the entire board to help the pets on the top of the screen cascade down to the bottom exit. The game starts deceptively simple, but becomes surprisingly complex especially for such a casual game idea.

The base mechanic is easy to understand allowing for a lot of variations and additions to be built upon the simple premise. The game does a great job of switching up the objectives to keep the levels fresh as you play your way through 72 levels across multiple environments. There are levels where you need to clear the whole board, save a certain number of pets with limited moves, or match your way through an expansive scrolling level. Along the way, you come across wood blockades, bombs, locked blocks with keys, fenced in blocks, and pets in carriers. The challenge is ever increasing, but you’re always prepared with a smooth difficulty curve.

The main similarities to Candy Crush revolve around the free to play structure with power-ups, hearts, and additional moves accessible through in-app purchases. There’s also Facebook friend connectivity to help you advance through certain stages, and it also works as the backend to store your level progress cross-platform. One other aspect that is maintained, which may be good or bad, is that literal addictive nature of the game. Some games are engaging over the long term, and an addiction is never good no matter what form it takes, so keep that in mind. Again, the game launches with 72 levels, but is expected to be updated at same pace as Candy Crush going forward.

No matter how you slice it, Pet Rescue Saga may not be the deepest game in the App Store, but it can still offer long term enjoyment. Each level offers a unique challenge with many of them offering plenty of challenge just to complete the levels, and that doesn’t take into account going for three stars. It’s great to clear out smaller matches to make massive conglomerations of single colors to amp up your score. The developers have done a good job of establishing a connection to the cute pets, and it’s sad to see them trembling when they’re on the top row, and can be tossed away if there are no matches left. There’s just so much that branches out of the base mechanic, which is plenty enjoyable in its own right.

Pet Rescue Saga (Free, Universal) delivers a brand new matching adventure that is even more enjoyable than Candy Crush, and is sure to provide hours of engagement making it such a worthwhile download.

One of the noteworthy new features of iOS 7 is iTunes Radio, which is Apple’s own streaming music service that has been quite awhile in the making. All of the contract negotiations are in place allowing iOS users to listen to Apple’s huge iTunes catalog in a whole new format. The major highlight is that iTunes Radio is built right into the music app in iOS 7, and that level of convenience may push a number of people to use the service. It’s also completely free to use and ad supported, though there are no ads if you’re already an iTunes Match subscriber. The feature set aligns with that of Pandora, and similar online radio services with customized music stations that you can personalize as you listen.

We have gone ears-on with iTunes Radio over the past week with iOS 7 beta to give you a better idea of what to expect. It’s effortless to begin thanks to it sitting in just a tab within the stock Music app, and from there you have access to Apple curated stations as well as your own. Apple’s stations are more like online radio stations that you can listen to based on preference with no options to customize. Creating your own stations couldn’t be easier with a complete list of various genres to choose from, and under each one are multiple sub genres. When selecting a new station, you’re given multiple track previews of the types of songs that will be played on that station. Once it’s created, you have six skips until you can’t skip for a certain amount of time, and on any particular song you can tap the star button for more options. You can choose to play more songs like this, never play this song, or add to iTunes wish list. That star button is also accessible in the new Control Center of iOS 7.

A major component of iTunes Radio is the iTunes connectivity to the point that you can purchase a song right from iTunes Radio with a single buy button in the top right. There’s also a history view showing all of the songs you have listened to across various stations, and there are buy buttons here as well. One of the best features is that since the radio is built right into the music app, you can listen to your own music playlists and collection in the same place. Taking it a step further, you can create a new iTunes Radio station for any particular song or artist that you already own, and are listening to. The convenience is remarkable, but the feature set is more of the same of what already exists, and is just Apple’s version of it.

Through a week of use, we have come across quite a few duplicate songs, and each station starts with the same songs. The service has just been taken online, so that will obviously be enhanced as we approach the fall, but in the meantime, it’s easy to see the great song catalog that Apple already has in place. You can see all that iTunes Radio has in store with our new hands-on video of iTunes Radio in iOS 7, included below.

It seems every movie these days has to have a mobile game, and Despicable Me 2 is another one. Gameloft has created a brand new endless runner to go along with the upcoming movie. Rather than focusing on the storyline, it’s an endless runner focusing on the amusing little yellow minions. There’s a three lane system like Subway Surfers, and the ultimate highlight is the amount of action coming at you at all times. There are two different environments to run through, multiple power-up mini games, and even boss battles. You can see it all ‘N Action in our gameplay video below.

Despicable Me: Minion Rush (Free, Universal)

One really valuable feature in iOS 7 is automatic app updates so that you don’t have to bother manually checking the update tab on a weekly basis. The App Store no longer needs the badge icon indicating the number of updated apps, especially when many updates are minor bug fixes and tweaks. Claiming to be adding the function, and seeing it in action is completely different, as it wasn’t clear how Apple would implement such a system. After running iOS 7 for a week, we have had three apps updated automatically, and it couldn’t be smoother.

Everything is done in the background to the point that you don’t even notice unless you look for the information. When an update is approved in the App Store, your device will automatically update to the latest version based on your settings. Then, you get a push notification that a specific app is updated. Tapping on the notification takes you to the Updates page in the App Store, and from there you get a similar view as in iOS 6, but the main difference is that the app is already updated. You can read the description of the update, open the app from that page, and the update history is stored on your device, sorted by date.

It’s surprising how well it works in just the first beta of iOS 7, and in fact the entire App Store is a much smoother operator. The best part is that there is a setting to turn automatic updates on or off, giving you the choice. It’s worth noting that there’s no indicator on the home screen if an app has recently been updated. Apple has removed the new banner from newly installed apps, and replaced it with a simple blue dot next to the title of the app. It would be nice if they added a similar indicator, maybe a different color, to updated apps. Overall, it’s just another welcome change in iOS 7.

Today’s iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch apps for free daily include a photo effects app, measurement tool, workout guide, and interactive historic comic. A number of apps drop from paid to free on a daily basis, and we pick the top four everyday, as many of the others aren’t worth your time even for free. Everyday we try to pick apps that are worth spending money on, but are now free to download, and here they are.

Gridditor ($1.99, Universal) [Review]: This  app is the future of photo editing, and makes the entire process as easy and enjoyable as can be. Gridditor is all about an innovative new interface for photo editing apps that provides four filters at once. You’re then given a seven by seven grid of photos with all adjusted based on where they are on the grid. The original photo is in the middle, and as you move outward, the photos are influenced by a greater degree of the effects sitting at the top, bottom, and both sides. The goal of the app is to let you see 49 examples of how your photo can potentially look, and pick the one that best appeals to you, with all the other choices on screen to help you pick head to head.

My Measures & Dimensions ($2.99 -> Free, Universal): An app designed for real estate agents, engineers, carpenters, architects, auction sellers, construction workers, landscapers, DIY, home renovation, hobby, and more. You simply snap a photo of a particular area, and you can annotate it with the actual measurements to each object in the photo. It’s an effortless interface with multiple export and originization options too.

7 Minute Workout ($0.99 -> Free, Universal): A guided workout program with 12 high intensity exercises every 30 seconds targeted at particular regions of the body. There are 10 second rests in between exercises, and the app includes voice prompts. There’s a clean interface, outlined exercise routine, and how to videos for each move.

CIA : Operation Ajax ($4.99 -> Free, iPad): An extremely deluxe book app that presents a 210 page interactive comic with animations and sound. The app tracks the true story of the CIA backed Iranian coup in 1953 that acts as a cinematic reading experience. There are also nine historical news reels, 22 character analysis sections, and 3 authentic CIA documents.

Today’s iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch apps for free daily include a action arcade game, deluxe camera app, animation creator, and flowing weather app. A number of apps drop from paid to free on a daily basis, and we pick the top four everyday, as many of the others aren’t worth your time even for free. Everyday we try to pick apps that are worth spending money on, but are now free to download, and here they are.

Amazing Breaker ($0.99 -> Free, iPhone) [Review]: The game lives up to its name, and truly is amazing as you launch bombs to try to destroy the various ice sculptures. The game design is superb, and its such a nice challenge as you try to completely destroy everything on screen. This is one not to be missed for free.

PowerCam ($0.99 -> Free, iPhone): A deluxe all in one camera app that includes real time effects for photos and videos. If that wasn’t enough, the app also includes the ability to perform color splash, tilt-shift, and panorama photos. It’s an extremely deluxe app that features collage creation, face timer, and plenty of editing tools too.

Toontastic Jr. Pirates – for iPad ($1.99 -> Free, iPad): An app geared for kids, but can be used by all, as you create animated stories right on the iPad. You simply move the characters around, record your voice, and watch play back of your animations in action. There is plenty of customization as you follow the typical story ark, and you can view others’ animations form around the world. This is a pirate themed version with all new animations, and 12 story starters.
Toontastic Jr. Pirates – for iPhone ($1.99 -> Free): The iPhone version.

Weather Motion ($0.99 -> Free, iPhone): The app provides beautiful moving weather scenes to depict the current conditions. There are HD videos of various weather events, and there are basic weather condition statistics and forecasts as well.