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Daily iPhone App: CraigsPro+
I'll admit it. I do a lot of my shopping on Craigslist. It's a fantastic website to find phones, car tires, appliances, furniture and more. I'm a patient buyer, though, and wait until I find an excellent deal. Searching for the lowest price is not that hard when you use an app like CraigsPro+. CraigsPro+ is one of several Craigslist apps in the App Store. Like the others, it lets you search Craigslist, but it has several features that set it apart from the competition. First, it lets you search multiple Craigslist locations. I live about an hour from NH and can easily search listings for both Maine and NH. I can also add in Boston, if I wanted to travel that far. If you're traveling, you can let app use your GPS location to find the appropriate Craigslist site. CraigsPro+ also lets you setup "search agents". As their name implies, search agents will regularly ping Craigslist for your search term. When it finds a listing that meets your criteria, the app will send you a push notification. This quick notification is essential when you're searching for a hot item like an iPhone or an iPad. Once you find a listing, you can use the app to call or email the seller. The app also has several other smaller features that make it a pleasure to use. It has a favorites list, so you can save a listing. There's a mapping feature which lets you map and get driving directions to an item's location. The map is extremely useful for those who live in larger state. It also lets you add search filters for select categories and prices. You can also choose to see only those listings with photos, which is a must have when you're buying a high-priced item like a car. If you're a seller as well as buyer, CraigsPro+ also lets you login to your Craigslist account and manage your listings. The app supports multiple accounts and lets you choose which one to use when you login. Once you login, you can view and edit both live and expired listings. You can also create a new listing on your iPhone and use your camera or photo gallery to upload pictures. As you can tell, I genuinely like CraigsPro+. The app has several features that make it easy to find a bargain on Craigslist. It has an intuitive interface, which means you don't have to spend a lot of time setting things up. The only missing feature is a dedicated browse function. You can leave the search function blank and find all the listings in a category, but it's still a search-driven result. Some people may miss the free-form browsing, but you can always use mobile Safari to browse the Craigslist site. The CraigsPro+ app is available in the App Store for US$1.99. The developer Escargot Studios has several other Craigslist apps, but none seem to be as full-featured as the CraigsPro+ version.
Daily iPhone App: Nearby Now
I don't use the phone book. In fact, I'm not even sure where my copy of the Yellow Pages is placed. It's been gone for months, and the only time I miss it is when I need to find a local plumber or electrician. It's so difficult to find information on nearby contractors. No search tool or website can duplicate the concise listing of the Yellow Pages. That's why I was excited to hear about Nearby Now, an iOS app for service professionals and their customers that helps to fill this gap. The app lets service professionals create an account and check-in when they are called to someone's house. They can check-in using the app, via SMS or by linking their Nearby Now account to Four Square. When they mark their location, their approximate position is saved to their profile. If contractors use it enough, they can create a detailed heat map of the locations they service. This service map will help contractors find new customers. When a person needs a repair to their leaking roof, he or she can search Nearby Now for local check-ins. The homeowner could easily see that roofer Bob Smith worked on three houses in his or her town. The app not only marks a service person's location; it also lets people review their service. When a service person works at a house, he or she can send the customer a satisfaction survey via email or SMS. All completed surveys will be attached to the worker's account for others to see. The app is a fantastic idea, but it's relatively new and needs more service providers to become a useful tool. Getting people to use the app will be key. There's been other similar services, but they've never taken off because only a few people used them. If the developers behind the app can entice contractors to use the service regularly, it could easily become the #1 tool people use to connect with service professionals. The Nearby Now app is free to use for both service professionals and their customers.
Daily iPhone App: WordsWorth
If you like word games like Scrabble or SpellTower, then you'll want to take a look at WordsWorth. According to the developer, WordsWorth landed in the App Store in 2009 and was one of the first word games available for the iPhone. It's very similar to PopCap's Bookworm game, but WordsWorth has a variety of features which makes it that much more enjoyable to play. The game presents you with a grid of letters that you use to spell words. You get points for spelling words using adjacent letters, and you get more points for longer words. In single-player mode, you have control over word size, grid size and shuffle count. You can also select from the Classic game, a timed mode, and tumble mode which starts off with a few letters and gradually drops them into empty spots. Tumble mode is especially challenging as you have to spell words faster than they're falling, because the game ends when the grid is full. WordsWorth also has a multiplayer mode, an added benefit not often found in word games. You can choose from local multiplayer, which lets you play against your friend in the next room, a Play With Friends mode that connects you with people you know and a random mode that connects you to a stranger for a quick pickup game. To take full advantage of the multiplayer aspect of the game, you need to sign up for an account with the game's developer, 99Games. WordsWorth also supports Game Center, so you can save achievements and climb the ranks of the Leaderboard. If you setup your Facebook account with the app, you can share your game highlights with your friends. If you dislike sharing, that's fine, as it's optional. The button to share on Facebook only appears when you reach a milestone or the game ends. WordsWorth is an excellent game for those who like variety. With all the different single and multiplayer modes, you'll never get tired of spelling words. The app is available for free, but it has ads which I found to be slightly intrusive. I kept getting one for "Sexy Single," which makes the free app definitely not safe for kids. I would recommend spending US$1.99 and purchasing the full version which doesn't have ads.
Daily iPhone App: Magic Guitar
Smule, as we've said before, is an interesting company. Its goal is to bring new musical experiences to people through technology like the iPhone. The company's latest release, Magic Guitar, definitely follows that philosophy. Like the very popular Magic Piano for the iPad, the app enables you to "play" guitar music, even if you don't have any experience with the real thing. The most interesting thing about Magic Guitar is you hold it. The idea is that you're fingering chords on a guitar neck, so you're supposed to hold the iPhone in the palm of your hand, with your fingers wrapped around the far side. As "notes" fall down towards a line on the screen, you're supposed to put your fingers down where they drop, and as you do, various notes in the song will be played. It's tough to explain, but once you see it in action, it makes sense. Unfortunately, while Magic Piano offers a variety of songs to play, Magic Guitar takes a freemium route. There are only a few songs that come with the free download, and some of those are very short, with only one verse and a chorus. Additional songs need to be purchased through the app, and Smule has chosen a weird, currency-based system for purchases. You buy points instead of the songs. There are some good pop tunes available, and it would be fun to hear and see some of them being played, but I felt awfully limited by the initial choices and didn't buy any. The app itself doesn't do a great job, either, of giving you specific feedback on the notes you play. Hitting the screen a little ways off from the target note does make the sound come out differently, and a match is scored with one to three lightning bolts. I found it fairly easy, even when I thought I'd made a few mistakes, to score well. Of course there are other difficulty levels, but I think the app itself pales in quality to something like Magic Piano, where there were a lot more choices of both songs and game modes. At any rate, all of those arguments are somewhat moot, given that the app in question is free to download anyway. If the idea of playing a guitar on your phone sounds interesting at all, you should definitely give it a shot, though I think Smule will find that there's not quite as much interest in in-app purchases on this as on their other musical apps. That balance of free content versus paid content is often a tough one to hit right, and I think Smule fell just a little short of the line this time.
Daily iPhone app: Lock Screen Weather
Getting current weather on your iPhone lock screen seems like a really good idea. That's what the US$0.99 Lock Screen Weather app does. Tap a button on your iPhone and you'll get the current weather at your location, plus an extended 5 day forecast. There have been other attempts to do this, like the Weather Lock Screen, app but the weather is not live and has to be updated every day. By comparison, Lock Screen Weather works pretty well. Give it your location (or any city you want weather for), run the app, and you're set. The app also gives you an option for background sounds, like the ocean or a lake. However, those sounds run all the time, and I can't think of many people who would want their iPhone constantly making noise. Thankfully, that feature can be turned off. There are some downsides. I've seen a few crashes, which makes it so the app doesn't run and you see your normal lock screen instead. I've also seen some issues where the app seems to interfere with the iPhone's sleep function. Other than that, Lock Screen Weather does what it advertises. The weather does update, and that's what you want out of the app. I expect the crashes that sometimes happen can be fixed in an update, and then the app would get my highest recommendation. Note: Some of our readers have suggested that the app weather page is actually treated as an album cover, and that even in silent mode the app is playing an empty track. If that is the case, running the app would have a negative effect on battery life. I have confirmed that playing music files crashes the app, so that gives credence to the claims being made. I've asked the app author for some explanation, so at this point, having already noted the crashing issues, it is not at this time something I would recommend. A further note from app author Michal Sedlak confirms that he treats his weather screen as an album cover: "In order to display weather on the lock screen, we need to play at least low quality 'silence sound' to make battery drain as low as possible. We are working hard to improve this app in future updates." Clearly, the app is making an end run around Apple to stay within the rules, but to accomplish something Apple does not really allow directly. I think the author should disclose his methodology in his write-up at the app store so people can choose if they want to trade some battery life for live weather. Check below for a couple of screen shots that show what you can expect. %Gallery-142569%
Daily iPhone App: Seal Force
Seal Force is an interesting app from Tactile Entertainment, makers of Pocket Creatures and the recent Pigs in Trees line-drawing game. It tries to combine two relatively new genres in iOS games: Line-drawing and running. You play as the Seal Force team (they have their own Saturday morning-style intro), who must "run" underwater, in a similar style to Jetpack Joyride. The twist is that you're also line-drawing paths for each member of the team, trying to take out differently colored krill as you move along. The controls are simple, but things get confusing fast. You have to match up the color of your seals with the krill on the right side of the screen. There are also shells to collect and, in a mechanic stolen directly from Jetpack Joyride, you work on three missions at a time, each with its own rewards. Seal Force is interesting but not entirely successful. You can only control one seal at a time, which makes things a slow. It'd be more fun, for example, to send them out on different paths all the time (and there is a powerup to do just that, though it's limited use). But the game is fun enough, and it does have that addictive "I can do better, just one more time" feel that this kind of running game requires. The setting is Seal Force's highlight. It's very cute when the characters call in with their catchphrases every time you send them out, as if this old TV show did really exist once upon a time. The price is right, too. Seal Force is a freemium title, with more shells available as an in-app purchase. Seal Force is available as a universal download right now, so if the mix of genres sounds intriguing, check it out.
Daily iPhone App: SkySafari
SkySafari from Southern Stars is an app for the astronomy enthusiast with an iPhone. It's the perfect companion for a new telescope owner, who can use the app to help locate celestial bodies in the sky, or the casual observer who wants to know the name of that bright star cluster overhead. It's also useful for the seasoned astronomer who wants a pocket reference that's chock full of information. The basic app (US$2.99) displays over 120,000 stars and has images of all the major planets and their moons. It also includes information on well-known asteroids and comets. SkySafari lets you look up details on each heavenly object including its catalog number and its coordinates in the sky. The app also explains the history and mythology behind each celestial object, so you can learn about the object as well as find it in the sky. If you have an iOS device with a compass or gyroscope, you can point the app at the sky and use an augmented reality view to locate stars and planets. It even includes a night mode which preserves your dark-adjusted vision when you're out stargazing at night. One of the best features is "Tonight's Best," which lists the best celestial objects to observe that night. The app generates this list based on your location and the local date and time. The app also has SkyWeek, a list of notable astronomical events pulled from Sky and Telescope Magazine's popular weekly column. Both Tonight's Best and SkyWeek are fantastic places to start if you're new to astronomy and don't want to miss an important event. SkySafari is also available in a Plus ($14.99) and Pro ($59.99) version which includes information on millions of stars, deep sky objects and every comet or asteroid ever observed. If you have a motorized GoTo mount, the Plus and Pro versions also let you control your telescope using the iPhone app. SkySafari is similar to Star Walk, another iPad and iPhone-based astronomy app. Both apps give you an augmented reality view of the sky and have information on the objects that you see. SkySafari, though, has additional features like SkyWeek that'll appeal more to the serious hobbyist than the casual observer. The depth of the information available and the option to control your telescope make SkySafari one of the leading astronomical apps available for iOS.
Daily iPhone App: Grabatron
For those of you who enjoy Future Games of London's Hungry Shark series, you might want to check out its new game: Grabatron (US$0.99 for the iPhone version, $2.99 on the iPad). Designed as a homage to 1950's monster and alien invasion movies, you play as a UFO which uses a claw to abduct farm animals and people or use huge objects like cars as battering rams. Like in the Hungry Shark games, you control the UFO by using the iPhone's built-in gyroscope. Tilt to the right or left to go in that direction. The UFO hovers over wide and varied landscapes, like army bases, farms and even 1950's Las Vegas, so there's plenty of changing scenery to keep things fresh. You can also explore subterranean caverns, some filled by scientists you can terrorize, while others hold power-ups, like stronger spaceship armor or a more powerful claw. While the game is fun to play, it can get a bit repetitive. You can only hurl a person to their doom with a giant claw so many times before you want more to do. Fortunately, there's a lot to explore and 30 separate missions to keep you engaged. My only beef with the game is that there are separate versions for the iPhone and iPad. I like my apps universal, and those who feel that they shouldn't have to buy the same game twice will be disappointed. However, for its fun, playability, and overall design, I recommend Grabatron to any casual iOS gamer.
Daily iPhone App: Batman Arkham City Lockdown
When I first talked to Netherrealm Studios' Ed Boon about Batman: Arkham City Lockdown, I told him it was very "Infinity Blade-esque," and even he readily agreed. The game is an iOS version of Batman: Arkham City, which liberally borrows assets from the console title (including graphics, models, and audio), and gameplay from Infinity Blade. The game has you fighting various enemies with swipe attacks and various tapping motions in one-on-one combat. But while Infinity Blade is a well-cooked steak of a game, requiring finesse and care, Batman: Arkham City Lockdown is much more like fast food -- it's quick, relatively cheap and less refined. That's not a bad thing, however. Infinity Blade tells its stories in a well-rendered world, but Batman:ACL shoots between a menu and a series of stages, in which you have to fight a series of goons to complete each stage and move on. By swiping in various directions, Batman can hit, dodge, counter strike or use gadgets. Overall, the gameplay is satisfying. The progression is as well. You can use XP earned to unlock more gadgets, and even buy new skins for Batman with in-app purchases (a recent update added the 70's skin to the game for free) . iCloud integration and Game Center features further enhance the experience, and the game will likely see even more updates going forward. Netherrealm Studios created the game with input and assets from Rocksteady, and while it's not nearly as complete as the console game, Batman: Arkham City Lockdown is still a fun hack-and-slash experience that does capture just a little taste of its console cousin. It's universal \ for US$5.99. If you can't get enough of Infinity Blade and want to get another developer's take on the mechanics, you should definitely check it out.
Daily iPhone App: Postcard on the Run
I've traveled to over 30 countries since 2009, and today I wish I had brought Postcard on the Run with me. I've been using the app for the last few weeks and have become infinitely fond of it. Postcard on the Run lets you take a picture on your iPhone, iPod touch, or iPad and turn it into a postcard that can be instantly snail-mailed to anyone in the world. I know, I know; that sounds suspiciously like an app by a certain company in Cupertino. But Postcard on the Run succeeds where Apple's Cards app consistently falls short. It's fun, it's uncomplicated, and it's even kinda kooky. When you launch the app, you're asked to select a photo to use as your postcard image. You can choose to either take a new photo, use an existing photo from your camera roll, or choose any photo you've posted to Facebook. That Facebook integration alone makes the app more useful than its closest competitor. Once you've chosen a photograph, you can zoom in or out of it and position it as you please. From there, write a short message of up to 200 characters, and choose your font and color. The next screen is particularly cool, as it lets you sign your name with your finger (or even draw little doodles on the card itself), which adds a level of personalization that you don't find in other apps. What's really nice about the app is it offers you some unique tools and lets you apply some unique features to your postcards to make them more memorable. The most handy tool is called "Postal Gopher." If you choose a recipient from your address book whose address you don't have, the Postal Gopher feature will send a text or email to that individual requesting their address. When they reply, their address will instantly be added to your saved postcard order, which will then be automatically processed and sent. Another nice feature is the ability to add a GPS photo map right onto the back of the postcard, particularly handy if you take pictures of lots of things you see when out and about. For instance, I can snap a picture of a cool, old bookstore in Germany to use as the postcard and the recipient can see right where I took the photo. But perhaps the most fun element is the ability to add smells to your postcard. Using the appropriately-named "Smell Mail" feature, users can choose to add one of eleven scratch and sniff scents to their postcards. It's an old throwback to the time when scratch and sniff was "high-tech." But that's really the point of Postcard on the Run: With the digital world moving so fast, receiving another quickly written email isn't that meaningful anymore. If you don't agree, just ask your mother (or mine). She'd much rather get a letter or postcard from me while I'm on my travels than an email. And even in this instant-everything, living-behind-a-touchscreen world, it's still really nice to have a physical memory that you can thumbtack onto your wall or hang on your 'fridge. The quality of the postcards is also top notch, with the same glossy goodness that you'd expect from any you'd find in a souvenir shop. I've already sent several holiday greetings to friends around the country using them. Each postcard costs between US$0.99 and $1.69, including postage. It's only another 50 cents if you add a Smell Mail scent to it as well. Check out the gallery below, where you'll find more samples of the postcards plus also screenshots of the app. Finally, those of you with keen eyes might notice that some of the postcards in the gallery are addressed to singer and actress Selena Gomez. That's because she's involved with the creative direction of the app, and those are some duplicates of postcards she liked that were sent to her from fans, which she was kind enough to share with me. If you're among the millions of her fans be sure to check back Friday for my exclusive interview with Selena about her involvement with the app, and keep an eye out for a sweet promotion and giveaway from Selena, Postcard on the Run, and TUAW in the very near future. Postcard on the Run is a free download and the perfect app for sending a little holiday love. %Gallery-142245%
Daily iPhone App: IM+ with Beep
IM+ is one of the top-rated Instant messaging clients in the iOS app store. It has universal device support, and a list of features that'll suit any messaging fan. Shape Services, the company behind IM +, is constantly improving its iOS app. The latest update landed today and includes Beep, a new IM+-specific messaging service. Beep will let you send instant messages to other friends and family who are running IM +. You can compare it to RIM's BlackBerry Messenger service, which lets Blackberry users message each other. The IM+ version is better than BBM because it has more features and is available on Android, iOS, BlackBerry and Windows Phone. I was able to evaluate the latest version of the IM+ app and check out Beep on both an iPhone 4S and a Galaxy Nexus. The Beep service exists side-by-side with your usual messaging services like AIM and Google Talk. While you're chatting on AIM, it's easy to switch to Beep and use IM+ to send your buddy a quick note. Beep is easy to set up within IM+, all you need is a phone number. Once you confirm your number, you're ready to start adding contacts to your Beep network. IM+ has millions of users, so you probably don't have to look to hard to find friends for your Beep contact list. The fun begins when you've added a few friends and start messaging. The interface makes it seem like you're using an IM service to communicate, but you're not. There's no login or any connection to a third-party server. All messages are sent through IM+, so you don't have to worry about racking up text messaging fees. Messages are delivered promptly, and the app notifies you when a new message is received. It supports push notifications, so you do don't have to leave the app running to receive these SMS-like messages. Each back and forth is saved in a threaded conversation which is available in your history. If you want to share a conversation, you can find it in your history and send the details via email. Besides messaging, the new Beep feature for iOS lets you send a photo, a video, or a voice note to a Beep contact. The app records the audio or video file, uploads it to a server and sends a link to the recipient who can download the file. You can also share your location with your Beep friends. I tested these location, video and audio options and found they all worked well, with the exception of the video message. The iPhone 4S recorded the video clip and uploaded it without a hitch. Within a minute, I received a download link on my Android device. No problem, except the iPhone recorded the clip as a .MOV and the Android device had no idea what to do with it. I originally thought Beep was a gimmick, but these additional messaging options make Beep much more than a novelty. After using it for a few days, I realized how nice it is to have a rock solid IM client and a rich multimedia, multi-platform messaging tool all in one app. It may not become my replacement for SMS, but it will be an app I use regularly for sending a video or audio message to someone. The biggest hindrance to using Beep is finding friends who use IM+. For me, it's easier to fire off an SMS than to identify IM+ users, add them to Beep and make sure they are online when I want to chat. Shape Services has to make it easier to find friends who use IM+ and encourage them to use the app before the service can become a usable SMS replacement. Besides Beep, the new version of IM+also includes a Rovio Angry Birds theme that you can download and install. It has a lovely wallpaper, lots of sounds and all your favorite Angry Birds characters from the game. Beep will be available in both IM+ free and paid versions for iOS, BlackBerry, Android and Windows Phone starting today. You can grab the free version of IM+ from the iOS app store. The paid version costs $1.99 and, among other things, gets rid of those pesky ads. %Gallery-142081%
Daily iPhone App: Breakout Boost
Atari's been on a remixing jag lately, and I was really impressed by the recent iOS take on Asteroids. Now with Breakout Boost, Atari aims to update another old gem. Unfortunately, this one isn't quite as successful. It certainly is Breakout, as you control a little paddle across the screen, bouncing balls up to hit bricks, earn powerups, and score points. The controls are well designed for touch, too. There's a virtual handle underneath the paddle, and there's an added element of a slider that will make ball go faster (and earn more points) or go slower (and earn fewer). That's a fun mechanic, but otherwise, there's no real innovation. In fact, I've seen better Breakout clones on other platforms (including iOS). That said, Atari sidesteps most of those issues by offering up the app for free, so if you like the Breakout style of gameplay at all, you might as well download it and test it out. I'm not so sure you'll be convinced to buy any of the level packs as in-app purchases, but that's up to you -- if it floats your boat, they're there. But I'm sorry to say Asteroids Gunner did a better job of updating the Atari classic, and hopefully Atari will take those notes to heart when it decides to update any other titles (Missile Command, I hope).
Daily iPhone App: Nixie Clock
I'm probably a little weird, but sometimes I love listening to police scanners and various chit chat as I'm going to bed. I also like analog devices, so a Nixie Clock Radio seemed like a neat idea: the look of the classic Nixie clock merged with streaming radio and an alarm/sleep timer. It works as advertised, but there's always room for improvement.The Nixie Clock app is simplicity itself. You start it up, and it takes a brief moment to "warm up" with a few flashes of the numbers, just like a real Nixie would do. Below the time readout (which has no AM/PM, using military readout only) are three functions: the radio, the alarm and the sleep timer. Tapping on each will dissolve into the options to the right of the button. It wasn't entirely evident that you could tap on these at first, but I rather like the minimalist approach. The alarm works fine, and you set the time by tapping each number using a HH:MM format. The sleep timer also works great, and gives you a sort of countdown on the minutes (nothing moves too fast in Nixie, so there are no seconds shown). Tapping the radio icon logically brings up radio controls and will show you what channel is playing. Speaking of channels, the selection is a little thin and made up mostly of news and talk radio stations, but the developer says he plans to allow you to add channels later. Nixie Clock is a nifty, limited-purpose but attractive radio alarm. For a buck it's worth it for the nostalgia alone, but add to that the app is compatible all the way back to iOS 3.1.3 and your nostalgia can even extend to older iDevices not capable of running iOS 4. I have a first-generation iPhone and iPod touch which could use this app with a dock and become little radio alarm clocks on their own.
Daily iPhone App: Inertia: Escape Velocity HD
Inertia is a really amazing platformer for the iPhone that uses a mechanic I haven't seen in any game in recent memory. It's a platformer, so you control a little spaceman that can walk left and right and jump from platform to platform. But Intertia adds another button that essentially will keep you moving at whatever speed and direction you're currently moving, sans gravity, when you press it. If that sounds confusing, it is, and fortunately, the game has quite a few levels of tutorials to really get you used to how the inertia button moves and plays. If you're rocketing up and you press the button, you'll keep rocketing up. If you're falling down at an angle, you'll keep falling, at exactly that angle. Once you figure it out, it's quite fun. And that very original movement also opens up all kinds of cool levels, where your little spaceman bounces around through 2D environments collecting various scrap pieces and running time trials. There are 35 levels to go through, and the game uses OpenFeint (not Game Center, though) for leaderboards and achievements. The lite version is well worth the download to check out the mechanic if nothing else, and you can buy a universal HD version for $3.99. I'm really impressed with this one -- the iPhone isn't always the best device to play a platformer on (given that movement really needs to be precise sometimes), but this inertia mechanic really opens up some new elements of a very old, well-traveled genre.
Daily iPhone App: Judge Dredd vs. Zombies
There have been a few strangely licensed games on the App Store this year (Army of Darkness Defense jumps to mind), and Judge Dredd vs. Zombies is one of those. There's no Judge Dredd movies in production as far as I know, and the comic is still rather obscure, despite the Sylvester Stallone movie. But it doesn't really matter, because sometimes zombies, catchphrases and a good shotgun are all you need. Judge Dredd vs. Zombies is pretty spare and is definitely a road we've run down before, but that doesn't mean it's not fun. A steady upgrade system keeps you jumping through thirty levels, and fun multiplier mechanics (hitting more zombies at a time will up your score) keep things interesting as you mow baddies and one-liners. It's a dual-stick game but these are actually single-stick controls as well. Just move with one virtual stick, and hit a big (red, duh) button to fire away. It's fun stuff, and Game Center integration and the fact that it's a universal app for just 99 cents make this one easy to recommend. It's not anything new, but there's nothing wrong with playing through old kinds of gameplay done just right.
Daily iPhone App: The River Test
The River Test is an iPhone app that's part game, part logic puzzle and a whole lot of fun. It's based on a Japanese IQ test that supposedly given to job candidates. It's believed that only 10% of the population can solve it without assistance. The idea behind the puzzle game is straightforward- get eight people from one side of the river to the other using a raft. It sounds easy, but there are five rules governing the river crossing that make it a challenge. You have a Dad with his two sons, a Mom with her two daughters, a policeman and a criminal. Only 2 people can travel on the raft at a time. The Father cannot stay with any of the daughters, without their Mother's presence. The Mother cannot stay with any of the sons, without their Father's presence. The criminal cannot stay with any family member if the policeman is not there. Only the father, mother and the policeman know how to operate the raft. Once you have the rules down, you can start placing the appropriate people on the raft to carry them to the other side. There's a counter that tracks the number of moves and a timer to log how long it takes you to complete the game. The game prevents you from making a prohibited move (like leaving the criminal with the kids), but you have to figure out the solution by trial and error. If you can't solve the River Test, the game provides the answer. It's a basic game with colorful graphics. The controls are responsive, and the game never crashed while I played. The graphics are not the focus of the game, though. Most of the fun is the challenge of the puzzle and seeing if you and your friends can solve it. I'm skeptical about the claim that only 10% can solve the river test, but that doesn't take away the challenge. Best of all, The River Test is a universal app and available for free from the App Store.
Daily iPhone App: Wizard Ops
Wizard Ops is quite a game -- it doesn't feature a ton of polish (as you can probably tell from the screens above), but what it lacks in graphical flair, it definitely makes up for in the gameplay department. It's a game about wizards, obviously, who can cast magical spells, but it's actually more of a shooter, and plays very similarly to those pseudo 3D levels in the old Contra games. The twist here is that you use just one finger to control both targeting and shooting, so the game is a constant balance of both hunting down enemies with the on-screen reticule, and dodging their shots while moving through the game. As you go, you collect dropped coins, and you can use those to upgrade your wizard and his magical weapons. There are quite a few of those to choose from, so the game feels very rewarding. It almost feels too easy, but then again, there's a lot of fun to be had in plowing through hordes of enemies, so I'm not complaining if the difficulty is a little slow to ramp up. The graphics are serviceable and fun, and the sound effects are weirdly provided by none other than Michael Winslow -- the Michael Winslow of the Police Academy movies. There's no Game Center integration yet, but updates are promised, and in fact, the iTunes listing says this is only chapter 1 of an unfolding story. Wizard Ops is a universal app that's available for only US 99 cents, and it's an excellent and colorful shooter that delivers a lot of good clean fun.
Daily iPhone App: Walkmeter 6.0
I'm not a big fan of running, but I love cycling and walking, so I'm always looking for nice iOS apps to compliment my activities. A beautiful app I've fond for tracking my walks is Walkmeter 6.0 by Abvio. If Abvio sounds familiar, it's because we've covered their Runmeter app in the past. Abvio actually makes three apps (Runmeter, Walkmeter, and Cyclemeter) that all do the same thing: they use the iPhone's built-in GPS to track and record your favorite exercises. Though all of the apps actually track any number of sports (walking, running, cycling, skying, etc. -- no matter which app you have) the developer decided to make three separate apps because he thought the individual names and icons would appeal to people depending on their favorite sport. That's something I think is cool, even though others might think the developer is trying to snake people in buying multiple apps when he's not. In our earlier review of Runmeter, we told you about the enhancements that came with version 5.0 of the apps, including the excellent voices feature, which reads various stats to you as you exercise, the tight social integration, and the ability to export .GPX files to share your exercise's stats and maps with others. Version 6.0, which were released last month, continue to add a myriad number of features. One of the coolest features is ANT+ support, which allows Walkmeter to talk to the Wahoo Fitness ANT+ system. This means that heart-rate monitors and speed/cadence cycling sensors are communicated with in real time, giving you instant feedback. No need to wait until your walk is done to see your results. You can also set target announcements for heart rate, speed, and pace, which are read to you by the Walkmeter voice of your choosing. Another cool feature is Zones, which allows you to see how much time, distance and calories were spent during a pace within a certain range. Version 6.0 also adds Notification Center support, laps and interval training, along with dozens of other enhancements throughout the app. Walkmeter and its brothers aren't the cheapest exercise tracking apps out there, but I believe they are the best. The interface is fluid, responsive and easy to navigate, something that matters a lot if you are interacting with the app during your exercise. I've tried a lot of GPS-enabled exercise apps, and I deleted them from my iPhone once I found Walkmeter. If your current exercise app isn't doing it for you, I urge you to give one of Abvio's apps a try. Walkmeter 6.0 is US $4.99 in the App Store. %Gallery-140327%
Daily iPhone App: Video Edit
I love to use my iPhone 4's camera to take photos and videos of my kids. It's convenient, and the quality is good enough that I use it over a point and shoot to capture those spontaneous, memorable moments. Of course, you'll want to share those videos, which poses a problem. Most video I shoot has extra footage that I just don't need. I want to show off my son's first few steps, not the five minutes of coaxing it took to get him to make those steps. This is where Video Edit for the iPhone excels. Video Edit is a basic video editing app for the iPhone. It lacks all the bells and whistles of iMovie for the iPhone, but it does do one thing exceptionally well. It lets you crop your videos quickly and easily. You start by creating a new project and adding your video clip to the project. You can choose from your video library or record directly to the app. You can trim the video down using slider controls to select the start frame and the end frame. When you are done trimming, you can output the video back to your iPhone, add it to an email as a .Mov file or upload it to Facebook or YouTube. The app is lightweight, extremely responsive and fast. I can edit and render a 30-second video in under a minute. The app lets you add more that one video clip to your project, but it doesn't output multiple clips very well. There are no transitions included in the app. When two clips are combined, there's no crossfade or curtain fall, just an abrupt break when one video stops and the other begins. If you want to work with more than one clip, then you should look at iMovie for the iPhone. iMovie lets you combine videos, add transitions, add music and more. Because there's no transitions, I only use Video Edit to trim individual videos and share them when I'm done. I use Video Edit over apps like iMovie because I don't need all the extra features. I just want to trim, render and share; three things Video Edit does well. Video Edit is available for US$2.99 from the App Store. Update: Some folks are pointing out the ability to Trim in iOS using the Photos app. It works similar to Video Edit, but does not have the automatic sharing features of Video Edit. I like being able to click render, select Facebook and automatically upload without any additional steps. With the Photos app, you have to select the clip, click on sharing and then choose the service you want to use. It's a small time savings to avoid these steps with Video Edit. Is it worth $2.99? That depends on your workflow. I bought video edit when I was running iOS4 and there was no was not aware of the iOS-based alternative. I still use it because it's efficient.
Daily iPhone App: Infinity Blade 2
Yes, it's out. Go get it right now. Oh, you're still here? Well then I guess I'll tell you that Infinity Blade is even bigger and better than before. There are now multiple classes and play styles, including dual wield and two-handed in addition to the standard sword-and-board hack and slash gameplay. You can now forge your own weapons and upgrade them with gems, explore a much bigger and more exciting world, and see a little bit of story along the way. Combat itself has been tweaked and fixed up, so parries are much smoother to pull off, which is good, because there are new enemies and attacks, too. In other words, Infinity Blade demonstrated how to make a brilliant iOS game, and Infinity Blade 2 is the idea expanded and writ large. There's even more to come, as Chair has promised more updates. Since first title eventually got free content, level cap raises and a multiplayer update, it's a good bet this game will get the same post-release attention. In short, Infinity Blade 2 is as triple-A as iOS games get. Consider that top-shelf console games sell around US$59.99, and it's quite nice that iOS gamers can get ours at just $6.99. Chair and Epic are still setting the bar for major studio gaming on the iPhone, and this time they knocked it up there pretty darn high.
