How to use this Page

Name: Matter
Cost: $1.99
Platform: iOS

Matter is the latest photo app from Pixite, a company that has created a number of other photo apps for iOS devices. This fun app lets you add mysterious and otherworldly images to your photos with a few clicks, changing your snapshots from simple records of where you have been to stunning alien landscapes.

The app comes with four different packages of objects that can be added to your photos, for a total of 64 objects, meaning that there is almost certainly the perfect option for all of your images already included in the app. Once you have selected an object, you can drag and drop it into your desired location, change its shape, and rotate it all with the standard touchscreen motions you would use on other images. You can also style the object, changing its opacity, transparency, color, and how reflective it is to suit your needs. Detailed work, such as modifying the shadow cast by the object and masking specific portions of the object allow you to completely integrate it into your existing image so that it looks as if an alien object crashed into the original setting. Once you are happy with the look of the image, you can export a looping video of the object which can show it stationary or rotating. If you opt to have the object rotate, you can specify which axis you want it to rotate along and the speed at which it should move. The final video can be saved to your device, shared via email or text message, or uploaded to Instagram. If you want to see some examples of what users have created with Matter, check out their gallery on Instagram (or from within the app) or watch the trailer for the app.

Have a suggestion for App of the Week? Let us know. And find more great Apps in the YALSA Blog’s App of the Week Archive.

Cassie Ammerman, Publicity Assistant

Happy Friday! And Happy Halloween! It’s been a really great week for fun and interesting links, which means you guys get the benefits today. Hopefully these will keep you occupied as you slog through the day, anticipating the revelry tonight. I’m actually skipping the Halloween festivities this year, so someone out there have a drink for me!

I found this one last week and was so excited about it I had to save it to share with you guys. How cool is this? There’s a new state of matter.

National Novel Writing Month starts November 1st! Here’s your chance to sign up and write that novel you’re always talking about.

Not only do stars make “noise,” but they sound like….the theme from the original Star Trek!?! How cool is that?

People in the book business (myself included) are always asking what makes you buy a book. But what makes you decide NOT to buy a book? For me, it’s comparisons. “Reminiscent of…” (insert some literary heavyweight) sounds like the author has no originality.

It’s the 104th birthday of the New York City subway! And it’s more congested than ever, which I can attest on my daily hour-each-way commute…

Some fun (or not so fun) robot links: First, creating a truly evil robot; second, we already have robots on the ground in the Middle East, and apparently they’re doing a good job.

Who said bookmarks have to be boring, plain pieces of paper?

How many of the 100 most common English words do you know? I won’t admit my score here…

Literary character themed Halloween party! Check it out if you’re in New York.

I admit it; I’m a Tetris fanatic. So the sight of this fills me with nerdish glee.

It seems like I see something like this every week. Here’s another library I would love to have someday…

You guys are probably tired of news from Mars, but I’m not! Now there’s evidence that Mars had water for a lot longer than we thought.

And finally, in the spirit of Halloween and for those of us who didn’t get to carve a pumpkin in real life, there’s virtual pumpkin carving!

ShareThis