148Apps 2014 Holiday Shopping Guide for Creative Types

Welcome, one and all, to another 148Apps holiday shopping guide! Are you having trouble figuring out what to get for a distant relative, new neighbor, or estranged second cousin? Thankfully there are people like us putting together handy-dandy holiday shopping guides for you! Whether you’re looking for new hardware and accessories, or just something a bit less impersonal than an iTunes gift card, we’ve got you covered.

Other 148Apps Holiday Gift Guides: for [Health Nuts] [Socializers] [Gamers] [Power Users]

Today’s guide is for those creative types in your life. These are the people who like to draw, compose music, sculpt, or otherwise make things with their iOS devices. So long as they enjoy creating, and you’re in need of some gift ideas, you should check out our list below.

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yantouch Diamond+ “Music + Light” Bluetooth Speaker

Whether they’re listening to your favorite songs while they work, or composing songs of your own, it often helps to have some ambient audio while you’re creating stuff. The yantouch Diamond+ ($149.00) even takes things a step further by adding a hypnotic light show. In addition to being a nice set of wireless speakers in the first place, of course. [Our Review]

Someone who wants to listen to their favorite artists and albums in the background would probably want to use the Diamond+ with apps like Spotify and Pandora Radio. But aspiring (or already aspired) musicians should also be able to put music creation apps like djay 2 and Figure to good use.  

Livescribe 3 Smartpen

What’s interesting about the Livescribe 3 ($149.99) is that it lets you write and sketch into a physical notebook, then will transfer the data to your iOS devices. What’s interesting about this is it allows you to create and hang on to a physical copy of your work, as well as digitally transfer everything to a number of different apps for a number of different reasons. [Our Review]

The Livescribe+ app is a must, naturally. However, users will also want to consider other apps like Evernote, Notability, and PDF Expert 5 to help keep track of notes. Illustrators can also give Pixelmator a shot if they want to transfer their drawings and sketches to their iPad for touching up.  

Merchant Case + Square Reader

For artists and other iOS users who have the option to sell their work, the Merchant Case from Square ($19.99 - iPhone 5/5s) is definitely something to consider. It gives you all the handy credit card reading functionality of the standard Square Reader, but also includes a protective case that both guards your iPhone from drops and will make swiping those cards a lot smoother. Plus the case has this little compartment in the back that allows you to store the Square Reader, so you won’t need to leave it attached constantly. [Our Review]

Entrepreneurs will, of course, want the Square app to manage their sales. They’ll also want to keep a couple of other financial aids on hand like Stacks 2 to help them keep tabs on their earnings.

Feel free to peruse our Editor’s Choice selections for more top-rated fitness app ideas.