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Into this mix, enters Twizgrid, an iOS app with the goal of turning one of the most popular text-oriented services, Twitter, into an entirely visual experience, and a stunning one at that. Twitter is slowly becoming a popular sharing route for images, including images taken on Instagram and other photo-sharing services. Twizgrid brings all of these together into one comprehensive image browser for Twitter, which you’re not going to want to put down.

Note that the screenshots below were taken on an iPad, the interface might look slightly different on an iPhone or iPod Touch.

Twizgrid As An Image Browser

If you want, you can connect Twizgrid with your Twitter account and use it like any other Twitter client. You don’t have to do this, however, to enjoy Twizgrid, and I will start by going over Twizgrid’s capabilities solely as a Twitter image browser.

Upon loading the app, you will meet Twizgrid’s own gird. These are images retweeted by the @Twizgrid account, and feature all kinds of beautiful images from many different users.

Swipe right and left to browse through the grid and discover more interesting photos. If you find a specific photo interesting, tap on it to find out more and to see a larger version.

An individual image page includes the image on the left, which you can pinch to zoom to its full size, and the tweet that included it on the right. In this case, since we’re browsing the main Twizgrid grid, all images are tweeted by @Twizgrid, as you can see from the small avatar on the right. There are many things that can dome with this information, and I will get to all that a bit later.

Image wise, you can swipe left and right to continue browsing photos in this form, or swipe down to go back to the grid. Tapping on an image will allow you to copy the image, e-mail it, or save it to your photo album.

Twizgrid also comes with sophisticated search capabilities, which let you filter images by keywords, locations, people and more. For example, I can easily search only for images that have to do with food. With general searches such as this, the results are highly relevant. Tap the magnifying glass icon at the top to start searching.

The search menu includes three tabs: Albums, People and Search. The Albums options lets you look at pre-configured Twizgrid albums such as pets, nature, fashion & design and more. The People tab lets you look at images uploaded by people you follow or who are following you (more on connecting your Twitter account later in this post). The Search tab is where it gets really interesting.

To start, you can search for any keyword, expression, hashtag, mention and more. The Search tab features a full list of syntaxes you can use in your search.

Now you can make this even more interesting by using locations. You can grant the app access to your current location, or enter any location in the world that comes to mind, and then search for images only near that location.

So, for example, I can search for the keyword “waterfall”, in a 200-mile radius from Hamilton, Ontario (waterfall capital of the world!), and see what images people uploaded to their Twitter accounts. Here, the results are not always spot on, but accuracy is still pretty good.

Twizgrid As An Awesome Twitter Client

As mentioned earlier, you can connect your Twitter account with Twizgrid and use it as your main Twitter client, or as an alternative for when you’re browsing images through it. Twizgrid uses the Twitter account which is configured in your device’s settings. Tap the cogwheel on the top right to connect the app to your Twitter account. Now you can really start having fun.

While browsing an image, tap the share button to retweet, favorite, or copy this specific tweet with its image.

Tap the pen icon to tweet a photo or text. You can pick a photo from your library, or use the device’s camera to take a photo and attach to your tweet. You can then compose your tweet as you would on any other client and send it to the world. You can also add a location to your tweet.

Here is one of my favorite features on Twizgrid: While browsing tweets, you can tap on any hashtag or Twitter username, and immediately view a photo grid for that hashtag or user.

These grids are composed of tweets from all over Twitter, not just those curated by Twizgrid. If you’re curious about a user, either tap a username or the avatar thumbnail, and Twizgrid will open a full profile page for that user, complete with info, latest tweets, a follow button and the option to view this user’s grid.

Bottom Line

Twizgrid is, hands down, one of the best iOS apps I’ve reviewed this year. The interface is gorgeous and intuitive, and it really seems like the developers have thought of everything. While reading my Twitter feed becomes boring sometimes, using Twizgrid brings new life into Twitter, and creates an experience that is frankly better than Instagram and Pinterest combined. Even the price is sweet.

What do you think of Twizgrid? Should Twitter be viewed in such a visual way, or does this compromise the whole point of Twitter? Do you know of similar services that visualize Twitter? Let us know in the comments!

View full post on MakeUseOf

Into this mix, enters Twizgrid, an iOS app with the goal of turning one of the most popular text-oriented services, Twitter, into an entirely visual experience, and a stunning one at that. Twitter is slowly becoming a popular sharing route for images, including images taken on Instagram and other photo-sharing services. Twizgrid brings all of these together into one comprehensive image browser for Twitter, which you’re not going to want to put down.

Note that the screenshots below were taken on an iPad, the interface might look slightly different on an iPhone or iPod Touch.

Twizgrid As An Image Browser

If you want, you can connect Twizgrid with your Twitter account and use it like any other Twitter client. You don’t have to do this, however, to enjoy Twizgrid, and I will start by going over Twizgrid’s capabilities solely as a Twitter image browser.

Upon loading the app, you will meet Twizgrid’s own gird. These are images retweeted by the @Twizgrid account, and feature all kinds of beautiful images from many different users.

Swipe right and left to browse through the grid and discover more interesting photos. If you find a specific photo interesting, tap on it to find out more and to see a larger version.

An individual image page includes the image on the left, which you can pinch to zoom to its full size, and the tweet that included it on the right. In this case, since we’re browsing the main Twizgrid grid, all images are tweeted by @Twizgrid, as you can see from the small avatar on the right. There are many things that can dome with this information, and I will get to all that a bit later.

Image wise, you can swipe left and right to continue browsing photos in this form, or swipe down to go back to the grid. Tapping on an image will allow you to copy the image, e-mail it, or save it to your photo album.

Twizgrid also comes with sophisticated search capabilities, which let you filter images by keywords, locations, people and more. For example, I can easily search only for images that have to do with food. With general searches such as this, the results are highly relevant. Tap the magnifying glass icon at the top to start searching.

The search menu includes three tabs: Albums, People and Search. The Albums options lets you look at pre-configured Twizgrid albums such as pets, nature, fashion & design and more. The People tab lets you look at images uploaded by people you follow or who are following you (more on connecting your Twitter account later in this post). The Search tab is where it gets really interesting.

To start, you can search for any keyword, expression, hashtag, mention and more. The Search tab features a full list of syntaxes you can use in your search.

Now you can make this even more interesting by using locations. You can grant the app access to your current location, or enter any location in the world that comes to mind, and then search for images only near that location.

So, for example, I can search for the keyword “waterfall”, in a 200-mile radius from Hamilton, Ontario (waterfall capital of the world!), and see what images people uploaded to their Twitter accounts. Here, the results are not always spot on, but accuracy is still pretty good.

Twizgrid As An Awesome Twitter Client

As mentioned earlier, you can connect your Twitter account with Twizgrid and use it as your main Twitter client, or as an alternative for when you’re browsing images through it. Twizgrid uses the Twitter account which is configured in your device’s settings. Tap the cogwheel on the top right to connect the app to your Twitter account. Now you can really start having fun.

While browsing an image, tap the share button to retweet, favorite, or copy this specific tweet with its image.

Tap the pen icon to tweet a photo or text. You can pick a photo from your library, or use the device’s camera to take a photo and attach to your tweet. You can then compose your tweet as you would on any other client and send it to the world. You can also add a location to your tweet.

Here is one of my favorite features on Twizgrid: While browsing tweets, you can tap on any hashtag or Twitter username, and immediately view a photo grid for that hashtag or user.

These grids are composed of tweets from all over Twitter, not just those curated by Twizgrid. If you’re curious about a user, either tap a username or the avatar thumbnail, and Twizgrid will open a full profile page for that user, complete with info, latest tweets, a follow button and the option to view this user’s grid.

Bottom Line

Twizgrid is, hands down, one of the best iOS apps I’ve reviewed this year. The interface is gorgeous and intuitive, and it really seems like the developers have thought of everything. While reading my Twitter feed becomes boring sometimes, using Twizgrid brings new life into Twitter, and creates an experience that is frankly better than Instagram and Pinterest combined. Even the price is sweet.

What do you think of Twizgrid? Should Twitter be viewed in such a visual way, or does this compromise the whole point of Twitter? Do you know of similar services that visualize Twitter? Let us know in the comments!

View full post on MakeUseOf

When it come to audio editing on a Mac, it’s hard to top Garage Band. It’s easy to use, as you can discover in our Garageband manual, but it’s also an overkill for quick edits. You can’t edit a file directly, instead needing to import it to a project which you’ll later need to export.

If you need something simpler, check out Macsome Audio Editor. This free program offers only the simplest audio editing features: cropping, fades and volume control, but sometimes that’s all you need. I’m amazed nothing like this comes with OS X by default.

Using Macsome Audio Editor

The main interface of this program isn’t terribly complicated, as you can see:

From here I can visualize what I’m editing, which is important. I can zoom in and out as I see fit, and I can listen to the recording whenever I want.

I’m a nostalgic nerd, so I’m turning the underground theme from Super Mario Bros into a ringtone. You know the one I’m talking about:

I’ve recorded the file but what I have is way too long; my phone won’t use it as a ringtone. No problem: this song is a simple loop, I really only need on part of it to use this as a ringtone. I select the part of the song I need using my mouse and crop out the rest. I zoom in while doing this, to ensure I only get the parts of the music I want, then listen to make sure again.

Cropping is one of the functions you can easily access from the main toolbar:

These buttons, from left to right:

• Open a file (duh)
• Save your file (duh)
• Set a beginning point while listening
• Set an end point while listening
• Removes everything except what is between your beginning and end points
• Removes only what is between your beginning and end points
• Increases to volume of audio between your beginning and end points
• Decreases the volume between your beginning and end points
• Fades up between your beginning and end points
• Fades down between your beginning and end points

There is also, at right, an ID3 tag editor. You can even add artwork!

When you’re done you can save the file. There is basic control over the quality and more:

Download Macsome Audio Editor

Ready to edit some audio? Download Macsome Audio Editor then. It will work on any Mac running OS X 10.4 or newer–so, basically any Mac that’s still running. Even PPC Macs work.

Conclusion

You won’t be using this simple Mac audio editing tool to record your next hit, but it’s great for a quick edit. I’ve been looking for something basic like this, and am glad to find one that’s free.

Do you know of a better free Mac audio editing program? Please: share it in the comments below. I look forward to hearing from you, so join the conversation.

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Tab syncing works perfectly on Chrome. You can sync your tabs across all of your devices. This means you can start browsing the web on your desktop, jump over to your laptop for a while and finish up on your Ice Cream Sandwich compatible Android with the Chrome beta installed. Of course, you will need to be signed in with a Google account for tab syncing to work.

Tab syncing works just like syncing your bookmarks, history, themes, extensions and other important aspects of your browser. As long as you are signed in, you click the other devices button on the new tab page, and you will see your tabs from other computers.

While Chrome 19 is out now, some users may not see the option to tab sync yet. Google says they plan to roll that feature out gradually over the next couple of weeks, so if you are not one of the lucky users that have it already, you could see it any day now.

Along with tab syncing, this update also brings the standard bug fixes and performance upgrades.

Source: TechCrunch

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