APP Time: Story Writing Apps

I've been on the hunt for sometime looking for writing apps for my classroom iPads. My goal has been to find some things that would entice students of different ability levels to write and share. Here are three that I think fit the mold.
Story Maker HD (a FREE app) allows students to design characters and scenes to "illustrate" their stories. They type their text on to the page along with their illustration, then name their story after it's completed. Students can then access the "gallery" where they can read each other's work. While simple, fun (the kids will love making the characters) and to the point, one thing I don't like about this app is that you can't add "pages" to your story - one scene and text is it. It would be great for a poetry unit for students to write a poem and then add their images. Students in the lower grades or with limited writing ability would be best served by this app. For $0.99, you can download add-on story packs (Three Little Pigs, Cinderella, The Wizard of Oz, and Little Red Riding Hood), which provide you with more character and image choices for students to recreate a classic fairy tale - great for a unit on teaching point-of-view or for writing fractured fairy tales!
A similar app is Story Patch ($2.99). Although it's not a free app, you get what you pay for with this one. Like Story Maker, students can select characters and scenery for their stories. You have the option to add pages to your writing so it reads more like a book. After students save their stories, other students can go back and read each others writings straight from this app. You can also convert your story to a pdf with a touch of a button and e-mail it to yourself or parents - a great way to share student work. The one thing I didn't like about this app was, while you can change the size of your characters and image and move them around the page, you can't change the direction they are facing. I know that's silly, but I like my people looking at each other, that's all. Story Patch could be utilized at any grade level K-5.
This next app actually involves no writing at all - and that's okay! Toontastic (FREE!!!) lets students choose a scene (or draw one), select characters, THEN - instead of writing the text - you move the characters around the screen and use your own voice to bring the story to life! Basically, students are creating their own animated cartoon! And...they get to pick the background music to set the tone for each scene!!! Too cool!  It's really like making your own cartoon - hence the name! Student creations are saved so they can be viewed later on the app. You can also go to ToonTube through this app to watch Toontastic creations from all over the world! I got a lot of ideas for how to use this app just by watching those alone. What I LOVE about this app is that it take students through the parts of a story, from the conflict to the resolution (even showing them a diagram). What I don't like is the limited number of background scenes there are to choose from - like, there's four. You can purchase additional scenes for $1.99 each, or $9.99 for an entrire set. Any grade level would benefit from this app. This would also be a good app for speech therapy.
Hopefully you decide to add some of these apps to the next chapter of your iPad use!
http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/story-maker-hd/id428879894?mt=8
http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/story-patch/id388613157?mt=8
http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/toontastic/id404693282?mt=8