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Massively Mobile: iPhone apps for World of Warcraft

Dan O'Halloran
Updated ·3 min read

Every two weeks, Massively Mobile brings you the latest news, guides and analysis about MMOs on mobile devices. Covering iPod Touch, iPhone, iPad and Android platforms, we're on the lookout for the next generation of MMOs.

Today I am going to cover mobile apps for World of Warcraft for the iPod Touch, iPhone, and iPad. If you own a mobile device that runs a different OS, fear not! I will be covering WoW apps running on Google's Android OS and for the Blackberry in the next column.

It must be noted that the official WoW iPhone app is one of the best MMO-related apps out there with the recent addition of in-game auction house access through the app. It has set the bar for other MMO apps that are mere character and/or server look-up services. Seriously, it blows other MMO-related apps out of the water.


iPod Touch, iPhone, and iPad WoW apps

World of Warcraft Mobile Armory (Free + monthly subscription for Remote Auction House)
There were quite a few homebrew WoW apps available on iTunes awhile back, but Blizzard cracked down on them so they could release their own official program, the WoW Armory app. This one app includes many of the functions of the official WoW Armory webpage such as a character look-up service, item listing by character slot and item upgrade recommendation. You can also check out the talent builds of your toons and use the talent calculator to work out other specs.

For those in a guild, you can see a list of your guild members and check out their profiles. It also keys into the guild calendar and you will get prompts to accept/decline to guild events.

Then there is the new auction house functionality. Coming out of beta just this month, it includes both free and subscription-only functionality. The basic functions that come free with the main app are the ability to browse the auction house on your character's server and check on your current bids and auctions. Upgrading to the $2.99/month subscription plan will allow you to create new auctions from items in your inventory, bid and buyout current auctions, and claim won auctions out of your mailbox.

A complete guide to the Remote Auction House can be found on our sister site, WoW.com.

Battle.net Mobile Authenticator (Free)
The theft of World of Warcraft accounts is legendary and on-going. With characters selling on eBay for hundreds of dollars, illegal gold farming operations needing unbanned accounts to spam their services in-game and other unethical shenanigans, Blizzard came up with the solution of an authenticator.

Accounts keyed to an authenticator must enter a multi-digit code at the time of login to access the game. The code changes every 10 seconds or so. At first, players had to purchase the authenticator as a keyfob, but with the growing problem of keyloggers and account theft, Blizzard released a free app that does exactly the same thing. So if you have a World of Warcraft account and an iPod Touch (with wifi connection at the time you are logging into WoW), iPhone or iPad (see iPod caveat), do yourself a favor and download this app before you really need it.

In two weeks, I'll cover mobile apps for the Android and Blackberry. While there is an official Remote Auction House and Authenticator app for Android system, there is strangely no official WoW Armory app. So there are plenty of apps to cover that fill that same need.

Dan O'Halloran covers the emerging fields of mobile and Facebook MMOs for Massively. For suggestions or tips, send an email to dano at massively dot com.