Every week, the editors at iMore carefully select some of our favorite, most useful, most extraordinary apps, accessories, gadgets, and websites. This week's selections include a collectable card game, a TV show, a new App.net client for the iPhone, a passbook compatible app, and an iPhone 5 case that we're actually giving away to 12 UK readers!

Carbon Fibre Vinyl Skin - Chris

This week I have gone for some minimalistic protection for my iPhone 5 in the shape of a carbon fibre vinyl skin. If you are concerned about scratching or scuffing your iPhone and hate using a case then there are other options and this one is a great one.

I bought a carbon fibre skin from UK supplier Carbon Fibre Skins and it is a full body skin that covers the back, sides, top, bottom and front (except the screen) of your iPhone without bulking it up at all. Fitting the skin was really easy and the final result was excellent. There is no need to apply any glue and the skin can be removed as easily as it is fitted without leaving any leftover residue.

Best of all, you can now stop worrying about scratching your iPhone when you put it down on hard surfaces or anywhere else that it may come into contact with something that can scratch it. The skins are available in many different colors and designs like an alligator skin look, wood look and white, black and silver carbon fibre look. They are really nice and come in sizes to suit the iPhone 5, iPhone 4 and 4S and many other tablets.

The good news is that the guys at Carbon Fibre Skins have given us twelve full body skins for the iPhone 5 to give away to the iMore readers. So if you fancy winning a skin for your iPhone 5, make sure you enter. To qualify, you must be from the UK with a UK postal address. Simply make sure you are following [@imore] https://twitter.com/iMore) and @carbonfibreskins on twitter then visit the giveaway forum thread and leave a post confirming you are from the UK and following both twitter accounts. Good luck!

ENTER NOW!

• £6.95 - Carbon Fibre Skins

Magic 2013 - Simon Sage

I got sucked back into Magic: The Gathering this week on the iPad. They recently released a new expansion with multicolored decks, so I just had to finish up the campaign and work on unlocking a few more. For those that aren't familiar with the classic fantasy card game, Magic: The Gathering pits players against one another as interdimensional sorcerers that tap into the natural power of the lands under their control to summon powerful creatures to their command, acquire timeless artifacts, and sling arcane spells all willy-nilly. The nice thing about a digital version of a card game like Magic is that all of the fine details of the rules are quickly accessible, and when you're playing against AI, you can always pause to guiltlessly take your time with your next move. There's also online multiplayer if you're feeling especially competitive.

You can get a trial of the core game for free, but it's $9.99 to unlock the full thing, and $4.99 for the new expansio (plus a buck for each deck that you can't be bothered to unlock through regular gameplay).

• Free - Download Now

The West Wing - Rene Ritchie

Forget the politics. Forget the era. The West Wing is one of the finest programs ever to grace the airwaves. Phenomenal actors matched with pitch-perfect dialog combines create texture and gravitas and drama and exultation rarely seen in any medium. It's not perfect. There's Mandy, but she disappears after the first season. So do other characters. So does the show runner, Aaron Sorkin (The Social Network, Sports Night, The Newsroom), after all to few seasons.

When it's firing on all cylinders, however, when it's asking us to expect more, to debate and argue better, to consider the consequences, and to prepare answers deeper than just ten words, it's untouchable. And, funny.

The pilot (s01e01) is free on iTunes (in the U.S. only) so download it and give it a try. You won't regret it.

• Season 1 - Download now

Netbot - Ally Kazmucha

If you've ever used Tweetbot for iPhone or iPad, you'll be right at home with Netbot for the App.net service. Netbot's look, feel, and functionality are exactly the same as its Twitter counterpart, which is what I love about it. I always value consistency and appreciate that there wasn't anything to learn or re-teach myself.

I've always gotten bored when it came to Twitter clients until Tweetbot came out. I'd jump from one to the next never really caring for any of them enough to stick with them. Tweetbot solved that problem and I'm glad that I have an App.net counterpart to use so I don't go through the same issue when it comes to choosing a client. Netbot is available as separate downloads for both iPhone and iPad.

• $4.99 for iPhone - Download Now

• $4.99 for iPad - Download Now

Starbucks

The Starbucks app was finally updated earlier this week to support Passbook and it's so awesome! Now you can select your favorite locations and add your Starbucks card to your Passbook. When you arrive at one of your favorite locations, a notification will appear on your lock screen at that gives you quick access to your Starbucks card. This notification will stay there, even if you view your card, so that it's conveniently available the entire time you're at Starbucks. Although it sticks to the Lock screen, I was disappointed when there wasn't a notification in Notification Center that I could swipe down and access. Instead, I have to lock my phone, then turn it back on to see the notification. Hopefully that gets fixed soon. My other gripe is that the actual Starbucks app still doesn't support the iPhone 5's bigger display.

Your choice?

Now that we've chosen our favorites for the week, we want to hear yours! Did you pick up a killer app, accessory, or game this week? Let us know in the comments below!

And if you're in the UK, don't forget to enter for a chance to win a Carbon Fibre Vinyl Skin!

It's Thanksgiving weekend here beyond the Wall, in Canada, so I'll keep things brief. The iPhone 5 has launched and while we've done our full iPhone 5 review and iOS 6 review, there's still plenty left to cover. iMore has the benefit, and responsibility, of only having one phone to focus on a year, so we're going to make sure we do the best job possible for you. Top to bottom, inside and out, day one to year two, we're going to help you get the most out of your new iPhone.

Now, before the turkey...

Çingleton part deux

I'll be at the second annual Çingleton Symposium this weekend in Old Montreal. Hosted by Luc Vandal, Guy English, Scott Morrison, and Petra Mueller, it brings a new vibe to an old idea -- get a bunch of Apple aficionados all together in one place, give them a great venue and access to great food and drink, and let them solve all the problems of the world. Or at least bitch about them.

Last year's debut was fantastic, and this year looks ready to impress. Speakers consist of pretty much the entire cast of Macworld, and more than a few developers/luminaries, including Jason Snell, Glenn Fleishman, Serenity Caldwell, Michael Lopp, Marco Arment, Molly Reed, Brad Ellis, Michael Jurewitz, Dan Moren, and Lex Friedman.

You can get more information and see videos of last year's speakers at Çingleton.com and you follow them on Twitter @cingleton and on APN @cingleton.

I'll be tweeting and netting (is that a thing yet?) any and all fun and frivolity that occurs before, during, and after as well, so be sure to follow along.

(And if you're visiting from the U.S., check out your iPhone 5 pay-as-you-go options.)

The details

I've been doing a series of posts here on iMore involving nitpicks or gripes about the iPhone 5 and iOS 6. I figure both hardware and software have been out for 5 years now and are mature enough that it's fair enough for us to start getting down to the nitty gritty. I don't believe in just complaining, however, so I'm also presenting some thoughts on how Apple could address the complaints. The latest one is about App Store search and how it could be fixed.

If we extol the virtues of iOS devices and features, and what Apple gets absolutely right, so we should be just as willing to call out things we think they can improve. These are the devices we use everyday, day in and day out, and how well they perform matters a great deal. If you have an iOS 6 or iPhone 5 gripes, let me know and we'll add them to the list.

Passbook

I've gotten a lot of questions, concerns, pushback, and feedback this week about Passbook, especially from those outside the US where support is lagging. I've already written about Passbook and my thoughts haven't changed much since then. Passbook itself is great but everything outside Apple's control -- getting passes into and transactions out of Passbook ranges from decent to deplorable.

Giving thanks

To all our readers, listeners, and viewers, for everything. Now let's go out and dent some more universes.

If you're visiting Canada with a GSM unlocked iPhone 5, you have several Pay As You Go, or prepaid, options to consider. Nano-SIM availability is still hit and miss. There's not reason you shouldn't be able to get one, since every major carrier and subsidiary is currently carrying the iPhone 5. However, getting them to give you one for short-term PAYG might be a battle, or could incur an additional charge.

Canadian carriers like Rogers, Bell, and TELUS all have discount subsidiaries, namely Fide/Chatr, Virgin, and Koodo, so we're going to focus on those. Other carriers, like Moblicity, Wind, and Videotron use AWS frequencies (like T-Mobile in the U.S.) and don't currently support the iPhone.

Chatr

Chatr is a Rogers subsidiary, like Fido, with cheap plans. However, it's hard to find a dedicated Chatr location to get a nano-SIM, and while we've heard Rogers and Fido can activate nano-SIM cards on Chatr, not every customer service rep (CSR) may know that, and not every CSR may be willing to do so.

Chart has a wide range of no-contract plans, though data is limited to the $45 plan that includes:

• Unlimited incoming talk
• Unlimited outgoing talk within Canada

• Unlimited US and Canada texts

• 100MB of data ($0.10 per MB for each additional MB)

If you're willing to go without data and stick to Wi-Fi, you can also get a different $45 plan that includes

• Unlimited incoming talk
• Unlimited outgoing talk within Canada
• 20 minutes of international long distance
• Unlimited International texts

Additional charges apply for overages.

Fido

Fido is also a Rogers affiliate and while they may be more expensive than Chatr, they can also be easier to find and get a non-SIM card activated. There are also several voice and data options to consider.

The most robust voice plan is $39.97 a month and includes:

• Unlimited local calls
• Unlimited international incoming and outgoing texts

Data add-ons include:

• $10 for 100MB (+ $0.15 a MB)
• $25 for 500MB (+ $0.5 a MB)

Virgin Mobile

Virgin is a Bell subsidiary that offers several prepaid options. The $35 smartphone plan includes the following:

• Unlimited incoming calls (US & Canada long distance is a $30 add-on)
• Unlimited weekends and evenings
• Unlimited US & Canada incoming and outgoing texts
• 250MB of data (+ $0.05 a MB, 1GB of data is a $35 add-on))

Koodo

Koodo is a TELUS subsidiary with prepaid plans and "boosters" that seem geared towards in-Canada use (if you want to call or text outside Canada, try someone else). The $35 base plan includes:

• Unlimited Canadian texts
• Unlimited incoming calls
• Unlimited local evenings and weekend calls

Data boosters include

• $10 for 100 MB
• $25 for 500 MB
• $35 for 1 GB

Other options

If you have trouble getting a nano-SIM, you can try an Apple Retail Store. As pointed out by Çingleton on APN They have them for most major local carriers and should be willing to give you one. (Flash your iPhone 5 or a receipt if you have to.) Most carriers have told us there's no difference between a prepaid and postpaid SIM, so it's worth a try.

It's also worth mentioning that nano-SIM "cutters" are available online to enable brave users to trim down micro-SIMs to nano-SIM size. If the gold contacts are the right size, you should be able to use one of these hole punch-like devices to cut down the plastic around your micro-SIM so that it's the correct size for iPhone 5. You can also attempt this manually using a good old-fashioned pair of scissors, if you're feeling adventurous.

Cutting down SIM cards can be hit and miss, though, so proceed at your own risk if you decide to go ahead with this. However, if successful, you'd be able to slice down any micro-SIM and use a PAYG SIM from any provider in your iPhone 5.

We've reached out to the other major mobile networks to see if they plan on offering PAYG nano-SIMs anytime soon. We'll update this article with any new information they provide.

• See all international pre-paid/PAYG options

The iMore show Sunday edition podcast returns tonight with special guest, Ryan Block of GDGT fame. We'll be talking about the evolution of tech blogging, Apple one year later, and the small-sized tablet market.

Join us LIVE at 6pm PT, 9pm ET, 2am BST. Set an alarm. Bookmark this page. Be here.

Gridditor is an iPhone and iPad app that lets layer multiple filters to your photos and displays them in a unique way. Gridditor will show you four filters at a time, one in each direction (up, down, left, right), and the farther you move in any direction on the grid, the stronger the effect gets. The gird preview allows you to see the effect of applying multiple filters at once and the randomization of the filters shows you creative possibilities you may not have considered otherwise.

Gridditor includes 19 different filters and effects that you can choose from. The default filters are contrasty, bright, vibrant, and dark, but you can change the initial set to be any four filters that you want. You can also individually choose each filter each time. To get a closer look at what one of the versions of your photo looks like, just tap it to make it bigger. If you like how it looks and want to apply the effect, tap the checkmark. Gridditor will the consider this new version the original and randomly choose 4 more effects.

When you're done applying filters to your photo with Gridditor, You can share it to Facebook, Twitter, Mail, assign it to a contact, save to your Camera Roll, or open in another photo editing app.

Gridditor's interface is particularly amazing on the iPad. On the iPhone, you can only see six square of the grid at at time, but on the iPad's big display, you can 12 of the 49 different versions of your photo at once.

The good

• 19 filters
• Unique grid interface that lets you see different combinations of effects at once
• Specifically choose which filters you want to consider, or let Gridditor randomly choose four of them for you
• Repeat the process over and over
• Share to Facebook and Twitter
• Open In another photography app for further editing
• Universal for iPhone and iPad

The bad

• Some users are reporting repeated crashes (I have not experienced this on my iPhone 5 or 3rd generation iPad)

The conclusion

The screenshots for Gridditor really don't do it justice, so please be sure to watch the video above to see Gridditor in action. The grid interface, as opposed to just sliders, lets you compare different version of your photo side-by-side which ultimate speeds up the editing process, and with the randomization of filters combined with the interface, Gridditor will likely expose you to ideas that you would've never though of -- stretching your creativity.

$0.99 - Download Now

Apple has issued a support article to address the mounting concern over the strange purple light being found on numerous photographs taken with the iPhone 5's camera. The problem shows on the photographs as a purple flare on the edge of a picture or as an actual purple spot in the main frame of the picture. Apple's support article addresses these issues and claims there is nothing to worry about.

Symptoms A purplish or other colored flare, haze, or spot is imaged from out-of-scene bright light sources during still image or video capture.

Resolution Most small cameras, including those in every generation of iPhone, may exhibit some form of flare at the edge of the frame when capturing an image with out-of-scene light sources. This can happen when a light source is positioned at an angle (usually just outside the field of view) so that it causes a reflection off the surfaces inside the camera module and onto the camera sensor. Moving the camera slightly to change the position at which the bright light is entering the lens, or shielding the lens with your hand, should minimize or eliminate the effect.

The question is how come we didn't experience this particular problem with other iPhone models? There is a thread in the iMore forums with examples of the problem. If you are experiencing it, make sure to drop by and leave a comment or even a sample picture. Do you think Apple's resolution is acceptable given that we haven't experienced this problem with any other iPhone cameras in the past? The idea of shielding your lens with your hand while taking a picture seems a little bit clumsy to me. Thankfully, I can't seem to be able to reproduce the problem even when taking a photograph with a light source outside of the field of view, what about you?

Source: Apple Support, Photograph: MarilynR

With iOS 6, Apple has totally changed the way search results appear in the on-device App Store app. With the old App Store search, five results were immediately visible in a list view, and you could vertically scroll or flick quickly through large amounts more. With the new iOS 6 App Store search, only one result is visible at a time, and you whether you scroll or flick, you only ever get one result more at a time. And that's not good.

If you're searching for something specific, like "Tweetbot", it won't mean much because the first result will likely be the right one, so you only need that first result. If you're searching for something more general, like a game made by Electronic Arts, but you can't remember the name, the degradation is severe. You're presented with 1 possibility instead of 5. That's an 80% loss in information density. Ironically, the new 16:9 aspect ration of the iPhone 5 would have allowed for even more search results in the list view, 6 in total. Instead, with the new iOS 6 App Store search, we still get 1. Only longer. That's an 83.33% loss in information density.

Worse, both cards and the way they're implemented deliberately make the search interface slower. With the old App Store list view interface, you could touch and slowly scroll through results, or flick and rapidly scroll through them. So, if you didn't remember an app's name but did vaguely remember its icon, you could quickly skim for it. Or you could quickly skim until the icon, title, or anything caught your eye. With the iOS 6 App Store's card-based search, Apple has made the physics such that no matter how slowly or quickly you scroll or flick, you can only ever get to the next result. No more fast skimming. So now, even if you know the icon or some element of the title or data you're looking for, you're forced to go through one app at a time, every time, to get there. The interface has essentially gone from walk/run to forced walk.

The new card view interface does show an app screenshot in the results, but it's arguable whether or not that additional information increases identification and discoverability or just creates extra noise to visually parse. (That likely depends on the content and context of the screenshots, but until Apple allows them to be video, they'll always be of limited value.)

To get an idea of how badly the metaphor works for search in the App Store, all we have to do is extrapolate it to Google search. Imagine typing a search term into Google and instead of a page full of web results, you got a card showing one page. Currently, if the result you needed was #17, it's on the second page. With the card interface, it would be on the 17th page.

Apple could explore metaphors like this for the fast app switcher, where webOS has shown that the visualization of content makes sense. In App Store search, it just borders on the absurd.

So how could Apple fix it? An option to toggle between new-style card view and old-style list view could be a good compromise. To avoid an extra setting or button, Apple could also simply present the list view in portrait mode and the card view in landscape mode, where at least more than one app could be seen at a time. That would also match the behavior seen in the Music app with CoverFlow.

Taking it one step further, Apple could implement the portrait interface they use for app categories and present a few horizontal list views. The first could present search results filtered by keyword relevance, the second by rating, the third by how many "friends" have the app, the fourth by recency of release, etc. So, for example, a search for "Twitter" could result in the official Twitter for iPhone app showing up first for relevancy, Tweetbot first for friends who have the app, and Flurry for most recent.

While that could add complexity, it would at least be balanced by the options presented -- "I just want a Twitter app" vs. "What Twitter app are my friends using?" vs. "I want to try a different Twitter app, which are the newest?"

If Apple's going to use the mixed vertical and horizontally scrolling pages anyway, they might as well use it to enhance sorting.

The iOS 6 App Store did not come gently into this world. The betas were fraught with strange behavior, some of which did not get fixed prior to release. The combination of vertical and horizontal scrolling elements in the app can be quirky and off-putting to navigate. Purchased lists sometimes don't display and when they do, the scrolling and touch events are janky. Search algorithms, reportedly now using technology from Apple's Chomp acquisition, have changed repeatedly.

For an app so important to Apple, developers, and users, it's a pain, and it's something that needs some considered, usability-focused attention from Apple. And soon.