Saturday, September 3, 2011

iPad Apps - A non-exclusive rundown.

Given a laundry list of unfortunate events (hurricanes, colds that don't seem to go away and wonderful bouts of pink eye) it's been a few weeks since I was able to get any water-time. So in the interim I've been messing with some fly fishing apps for my iPad. Here's the good, bad, and ugly.....


Fly Fishing in Saltwater:
This is the app the correlates with the magazine. The app is free (as are all in this list) and you have the option to get a free sample of each issue, order a specific issue for $3.99 or subscribe for $14.99. Being a cheap bastard, I opted for the free samples (I have yet to go salt water fishing, I live 3 hours from the ocean, so purchasing an issue of subscription seems a little silly to me. But if your under the boardwalk....)

For the free sample, you get just under 10 pages selected out of the magazine, that you can then scroll through and read. Essentially, it gives you the magazine in app for to peruse. Both free samples I read included the editors piece, a fly pattern article, and bits of two articles.

This would be a really great app if you get the full magazines, but to just view the free samples it's kind of a waste.  Which is a shame since their website is full of useful information. It would be nice if they could tie in some of the info on their site into the app, since the samples aren't very good selling points since you can't read a full article.

Fly Fishing by hipwood digital:
This app is nothing but articles covering various  topics. It took a little bit of playing around to realize the extent of the topics covered, since the menu is set up a little unusual. There are three tabs. If you click Topic you get 5 Topics. If you click List you get 5 different topics. But if you click A-Z, you get a giant list of covered topics. For this review (and simplicities sake) I clicked the List tab; Fly fishing (imagine that!!), Catch and Release, Tenkara Fishing, Big Hole River, and Tips.

I clicked on the Catch and Release section and it gives an explanation of what it is, a somewhat extensive history of catch and release (per the app, in Switzerland C&R is considered inhumane and is banned! I found that a bit interesting), C&R techniques and then finishes off on the debate for/against.

Clicking on the Tenkara sections gives an explaination of what it is, an origins section and then a discussion on the equipment used.

Lastly I clicked on Tips. The Tips section was exhaustive and in all honesty I didn't read all of it. There's a lot of information there. While it mostly deals with salmon, it seems a lot of the tips are adaptable to many kinds of fishing. Some topics covered are Smell, the Trigger (Presentation), Genetics, C&R, Tides, and Common Errors.

I think this app is a good bet. It has a lot of good information in it and I'm betting that even a seasoned angler will learn something from reading it.

Scanout.com
This app is for the Scanout e-zine. The interface is really unusual but once you get the hang of it (click the ! in the red box in the upper left corner to learn how to navigate) it comes across as a fresh and cool way to present the information, in this case a feature on the Casapedia River.

There doesn't seem to be an update for the information so once you've gone through it a few times the app is kind of useless, but it is worth getting and going through that few times, and I think that the interface has really set the bar for what other e-zines and apps can do for their interface.

World Fishing Network
This cool little app is a collection of videos, articles and other goodies from the WFN. You can even get their show schedule and it has a built in weather and tide conditions tool. This one is a keeper.

I did also want to mention that the Flyfishing Tips from the Pros app that I reviewed a while back has had an update and has even more information in it. And the interface is a little simpler to use, which is never a bad this. This is a paid for app, but it's only a couple bucks and in my opinion is well worth it.

There are a few more apps out there, namely the Orvis app, and a few others that I haven't downloaded yet. But stay tuned as they're coming, sooner or later. Tight lines!

2 comments:

  1. I don't have an IPad, just wanted to welcome you back. I'm sure more than a few missed your posts.

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  2. Thanks Howard. I look forward to posting more, but there's not a whole lot to talk about with our biblical level flooding that we've been getting about once a week.

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