By Graham K. Rogers

There were a number of app updates available to me this morning in iTunes. This is the second time this week that there has been a large release of apps. There are several interesting updates, with a couple of significant changes.

• Camera + is top of the list. It has been updated to version 5.0 with some changes and additions. Best of these is "The Lab" which is an editing feature that the developers, tap tap tap, claim is "World-class".

  The editing section includes "Clarity Pro (clarity and a vibrancy adjuster); Straighten (with an auto-straighten option), Tint, with several ways to add tone to photos; Duotone; Soft focus; Film Grain; Sharpen; Blur; Saturation; Temperature; Exposure; Brightness & Contrast; Highlights & Shadows; Vignette; and several more, including a new app icon.

• Slow Shutter Cam is optimised for iOS 7 and also has a number of improvements, particularly to output quality and full resolution support. Many of the features have been updated and improved.

• Waterlogue which I reviewed only a few days ago, has some minor fixes. The update has an enthusiastic message from the developer indicating more to come in the next months.

• Wood Camera has also been optimized for iOS 7 and that there is better feedback when taking photographs. There are minor improvement with bug fixes and stability improvements. The developer adds that there are three new expansion packs.

• Echograph now adds support for the iPad Air. Users may save output to the camera roll with a switch. The camera "flip" issue has been fixed and there are other fixes and improvements.

• Vintique has had some minor bugs fixed and there is also the addition of new filters: Turquoise and Amethyst.

• Bamboo Paper - Notebook a writing app for those who want the older feel of working with handwritten notes and sketches (like Paper 53 and Moleskine) has been updated to version 2.2. This Wacom app now has full screen mode, users may select multiple pages and there is improved stylus support: the stylus can be configured directly in the toolbar. There are also a number of bug fixes.

• Tatsui Sketches another app with sketching in mind like the Wacom app (but definitely not the same) has a new IAP so that users may buy extra tools an layers separately. 5 more tools are available for the iPhone, while for the iPad there are changes to layers. A brush editor is now available on the iPhone and the color picker is in iOS 7 style.

• Color Blindness Test by Enchroma has several improvements to accuracy for the extent of deficiency. There are also improved instructions at startup and the demonstration section has a better confirmation of understanding for users.

• Tempo Metronome adds localisation for Chinese, Korean and Japanese. A new option allows changes in tempo from external input devices. There are bug fixes and improvements and a new app icon. The developer adds that for the iPhone (only), the interface has been improved to work better with iOS 7.

• Mobile Mouse - for using the iOS device as a way to control a computer - has two fixes: for an issue that caused crash on startup when there was no internet connection; and when the volume increased multiple times for each button press.

• Dictionary.com Dictionary and Thesaurus has fixed an issue with iCloud that some users experienced and which caused a hang on launch.

• NYTimes has several changes including an enhanced Top Stories section, control of text size, an improved process for a forgotten password, and it is now possible to refresh the display with the pull-down.

Graham K. Rogers teaches at the Faculty of Engineering, Mahidol University in Thailand where he is also Assistant Dean. He wrote in the Bangkok Post, Database supplement on IT subjects. For the last seven years of Database he wrote a column on Apple and Macs.