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Daily iPhone App: IHeartRadio
Clear Channel is a huge force in radio. When the Telecommunications Act of 1996 opened up radio ownership, Clear Channel Communications scooped up several stations in most big markets, consolidating power. The company also has a spinoff called Live Nation, which is among the biggest event and ticket promoters in the world (currently in a merger with Ticketmaster). In other words, Clear Channel runs the show when it comes to radio and music events. And that's essentially why the iHeartRadio app is so important -- it's Clear Channel's official hook into iOS. Most of the company's stations offer live streams within the app, along with song information and other updates. A recent update lets users create custom "stations," similar to Pandora. Unfortunately, those features require a login through Facebook. The service itself isn't bad, but given just how many honeypots Clear Channel has its hands in, some users aren't exactly comfortable with passing over more private information. That said, if the station you're looking for is available in the app, this is essentially the only way to get it streaming on the iPhone, so this one is pretty much your choice. And there is something to be said for Clear Channel's clout: the company is hosting a huge music festival in Las Vegas later on this month, all centered around this iHeartRadio brand. With the company's access, the custom stations on this app have access to plenty of different music choices and songs you might not hear elsewhere. It's just too bad the iHeartRadio app is part of the big Clear Channel empire -- something that's crushed a lot of local radio markets (and hearts) in the past. The iHeartRadio app is now available for free in the App Store.
Daily iPhone App: WordFoto
WordFoto is a photo app that will assemble a picture for you using both a source picture and any words you happen to throw in the text field. Basically, you put a picture and some words into the app, and the app's crazy algorithm spits out a picture assembled out of different variations of the two or three words you punched in. It's an interesting mix of images -- a little simple, honestly, since all of the pictures look about the same. But if you need a really interesting illustration or have a really great picture/word match, you can make some graphics that can be pretty striking. The app itself is US$1.99 on the App Store right now, and it's got a ton of nice features, including custom styles for your photos in addition to the standard presets, the ability to crop and save your outputted photos, and of course you can share them out on email or Facebook as well. The app's being updated as well, with new styles and features all the time. WordFoto is a fun way to make some interesting art. It's a little simple, but used in a subtle and careful way, it can make some really powerful graphics for you.
Daily iPhone App: Samurai Bloodshow
Sega recently introduced Samauri Bloodshow to the App Store. It's a weird mix of strategy and action. It's a samurai game, of course, so you're controlling samurai warriors in feudal Japan. And the actual game mechanic is sort of Plants vs. Zombies or tower defense-inspired -- you place troops out on a board, where they stand in place until enemies show up, at which point they cut them down as quickly as possible. But the mechanic of how you lay the troops down is the weird thing -- there's a sort of collectible card game feel to it. As you level up through the game (and you can play multiple difficulties on each level), you earn cards that get added to your deck, and it's those cards that actually summon the samurai. It's an interesting mechanic, but it's a little out of place, and unfortunately, the game's translation issues make things a little confusing. That said, there's plenty of content to play with here, with over 100 levels to go through, lots of cards to find and collect, and full Game Center integration as well. Samurai Bloodshow is US$4.99 on the App Store right now.
Daily iPad App: PlayTime Theater
Every parent who has taken a long car trip or flight with offspring in tow knows that the difference between a pleasant journey and a stressful, tiring marathon may come down to one key factor: can you keep the kids entertained (and fed) through it? If so, everyone's happier. This task is dramatically easier in the age of the iPad than it was before, but it's still not easy to find apps that appeal to kids of different ages and interests. The margin between a good children's app and a great one may be narrow, but when you see kids on a long trip getting engaged with an app for solid stretches -- without flipping back to cartoons, without taking Angry Birds/Peggle/Call of Atlantis breaks, and with a high degree of creativity and enthusiasm -- chances are you're dealing with a great app. The $2.99 PlayTime Theater doesn't have a high degree of visual polish, and its interface can be somewhat quirky and confusing; nevertheless, I think it's one of the most impressive kids' apps for the platform that I've seen in a long time. The concept of PlayTime Theater is simple, and that's what makes it so effective. The app presents a castle 'set,' complete with drawbridge, catapult and other necessities. You can populate the set with virtual puppets (knights, princesses, dragons, the entire medieval menagerie), assign them props, change their costumes and looks (including custom faces built from your photo library), and position them where you want. Once your backstage preparations are complete, you start the show. Switching into Record mode and clicking the big red button allows you to populate one of twelve show slots with a two-minute puppet show that you control. Move the characters around the stage as you (and your kid sister) give voice to each role; tap the puppets to activate their props, use the other controls to play sound effects or music, and more. Once the play is done, you can watch it with the voices and sounds perfectly synchronized to the action. Like I said, it's a simple idea, and there's nothing fancy about the visuals, but I've rarely seen an app that so completely captured the attention of my 10-year-old and six-year-old daughters in a matter of moments. I didn't even introduce it to them -- they found it, and they were off. You might have to clarify the button functions for younger kids the first time through, but they will be composing epic shows in no time. It's not just fun for the younger set, either; the friend who introduced me to the app says he uses it to create mini-epics by animating snippets of business conference calls. The app thoughtfully includes a link to the developer's YouTube channel with demo videos and sample recordings; these do help clarify the interface. You can read more about the app at the PlayTime Theater website, where it's noted that future versions will offer more backgrounds and additional varied characters. If your kids enjoy creative play and storytelling, you can't go wrong with PlayTime Theater. There is no bigger bargain to be had on the App Store than trading $3 for hours of peaceful traveling children who will be eager to show you their seatback masterpieces. Hat tip to Myke L.
Daily iPhone App: VidRhythm
When Harmonix (the makers of Rock Band and Dance Central) first announced it was creating a brand new iOS app, I was looking forward to a brand new music game of some kind. But the company surprised us all with VidRhythm, now available on the App Store for US$1.99. It's not really a game, really; it's a casual (and fun) remixing tool and music video maker. The game has a bunch of tracks (mostly original, though there are a few classical songs in the mix as well) that are assembled out of little hits of sound, everything from bass drums and high-hat hits to various other beats and samples. Your job as the music video maker is to replace those samples with your own audio and video. The app tells you exactly what to do (like "say Bom"), and you can then record video of you or some gullible friends doing just that. Record all the samples, choose a video style, hit Go, and voila: almost instantly you have an original music video, made up of your own video recordings and audio mix. It's wild to see in action. There's no actual game to play, but it is a lot of fun to play with, and Harmonix has done a great job of hiding all of the video and audio processing that must go on behind the scenes to make something like this. You can see some examples of the videos on YouTube, but until you actually dive in and make one yourself, it's hard to tell just how magical the app really is. Essentially, VidRhythm is a cool toy, not to mention a fun creative tool. I'm a little disappointed that we didn't get a full game from Harmonix, but this is nice, too, and I look forward to seeing the kind of videos people end up creating with it.
Daily iPhone App: DrawRace 2
I got to see DrawRace 2 in action back at GDC this year, and it's a wild one. The title is a racing game at heart, but it plays unlike any racing game you've ever seen: Instead of driving the car around the track, you actually just draw a path around, dictating where the car will go, when it will turn, and how fast it should move. You have to still use the same rules as driving, however, as you push your finger around. Move too fast in the straights, and the car will spin out when you try to go around a curve. Or hit the side of the track accidentally, and you'll lose time in the race. It's a weird concept, but the execution makes it work anyway. The sound is particularly notable -- as you guide your finger around the track, you can hear the tires squeal and the engine growl, so the experience is very much like actual driving. Fortunately, at just US 99 cents, it's not a big risk to download the app and see what it's like. Chillingo is publishing this RedLynx-developed title (RedLynx also worked on the popular Trials HD game on Xbox 360), so there's Game Center support, lots of content and challenges to play through, and plenty of the polish that the publisher is known for. If you like driving or racing games, or just want to try out this crazy interface, definitely give DrawRace 2 a look.
Daily iPhone App: Star Legends
Star Legends is the release title of Blackstar, an MMO whose origin I've recounted on the site here before. Spacetime Studios was a company formed from the ashes of an unreleased PC MMO that went on to make Pocket Legends, a full mobile MMO that started on iOS and then moved on to Android. Earlier this year, we heard that the company planned to use the built-up Blackstar concepts and work to create a sci-fi themed MMO for iOS, and Star Legends, released last week and now available for free on the App Store, is the product of that work. Like Pocket Legends, the game is a full World of Warcraft-style MMO, with persistent characters, environments, and lots of instances and dungeons to fight through. Of course, it's all sci-fi based instead of fantasy, but Spacetime built up a really in-depth library for its planned title, and Star Legends presumably has made full use of it (with lots more content to come, no doubt). If you've never played a game like this, it can be a little confusing, but if you've ever jumped in to an MMO before, you'll be amazed to see what Spacetime has done with the genre on a mobile platform. The game is microtransaction-based, but there's plenty to do for free right away. If you're a fan of Pocket Legends, or just want to see what kind of magic Spacetime has been working, definitely check it out.
Daily iPhone App: Gesundheit
Gesundheit is a strange but beautiful little game, recently released to the App Store by Konami. It's sort of a puzzle game, though there are action elements as well. You play a little pig whose talent is that he can sneeze boogers out at a distance, which may not sound like much, but certainly comes in handy when his little pig town is invaded by rampaging monsters who just happen to like the taste of his nose's output. It sounds gross, and it kind of is, but the game's winning art style and great soundtrack make it all much more charming than revolting. Each stage has the little pig navigating the town's roads and buildings to try and not only grab some starfruit, but also catch all of the monsters in traps by sneezing in the right direction. It's a lot of goofy fun, and especially at the launch price of just US 99 cents, it's easy to recommend this one. Full Game Center integration and a nice stream of challenges as you play keep the replayability on this one high, and that art style and soundtrack are just really, really enjoyable. Definitely give it a look.
TUAW's Daily iPad app: StumbleUpon
If you're familiar with StumbleUpon, the iPad app will be a very comfortable experience. Instead of browsing "stumbled" sites in a browser with a toolbar, the StumbleUpon app allows you to visit sites shared by others (within a couple dozen categories like "tech" or "babes") from your iPad, complete with sharing tools and the ubiquitous "Like" or "Don't Like" buttons for each page you visit. The StumbleUpon app is nicely designed for the iPad, with all the features you could access in your browser, somewhat more conveniently arranged around the main window where you'll be viewing shared web content. There's not much more to this app, except that I wish StumbleUpon had taken the opportunity to leverage the touchscreen on the iPad. It is handy to have Stumble, Like, share, forward/back buttons around your viewing area, but there's no real innovation in the app. There are glimmers of hope, as the Home screen actually has a swipe-able list of your interests (which you can edit). But it would have been nice to see this put into my history, so I could easily see previous "liked" content. Or perhaps a grid of suggestions grouped by interest, so I'm not passing through a bunch of "comedy movie" stumbles before getting to a "tech" page. Still, your profile screen offers a list of your likes, and how many people you are following and how many are following you. This is well-presented, as is the Home screen and your main browsing screen. Newcomers to StumbleUpon will find it quite easy to get started. While you cannot skip questions about your age and gender, finding others on StumbleUpon is really easy thanks to the app having access to your iPad's address book. Don't worry, this is only to match up email addresses to those already registered with StumbleUpon, and you don't have to choose anyone. Still, I found it was helpful to add a few people so I can see what they are sharing. StumbleUpon is, after all, a crowdsourced service, so the more the merrier. If anything, the StumbleUpon app suffers from a lack of coherent user interfaces. Still, the basic functionality of finding "cool stuff" by hitting that Stumble button is well-suited to the iPad. You're not going to see Flash content, but in the time I spent using the app I never saw any! If you're prone to clicking that Stumble button in your browser, or if you've never used StumbleUpon before, the iPad app is a great place to go. Within minutes you'll be up and finding all kinds of crazy things.
TUAW'S Daily iPad App: Lynda.com
Lynda.com is an online learning library filled with instructional videos for computer users. It's geared primarily for developers and designers, but it does have a growing library of content for introductory computer users. Most people access the content through the Lynda.com website, but those with an iPad have the pleasure of browsing, watching and learning on their favorite tablet. The Lynda.com iPad app mimics the Lynda.com website by letting you browse or search for instructional video courses. Once you find a course of interest, you can view a table of contents which lists all the videos associated with that course. Most videos are less than 10 minutes long and grouped together in topics. Each topic would be equal to a chapter in a book. All the videos can be watched easily on your iPad in portrait or landscape view. When you watch the videos, they count towards your completion of a course. As you would expect, the app ties into your Lynda.com online account so any video you watch on your tablet will show up as watched when you log in using your browser. The iPad app also lets you view your account details so you can see how many courses you have completed, which videos you have watched, and what training certificates you have earned. The iPad app is not meant to replace the website, but it is a nice companion for when you have some spare time and don't want to lug around your laptop. The Lynda.com iPad app is available for free, but requires a monthly or yearly subscription to fully use the resources of this online learning library. If you just want to check it out, you can download the iPad app and browse select content for free. There's also an iPhone version as well. %Gallery-128950%
TUAW's Daily iPhone App: ZooKeeper DX Touch Edition
ZooKeeper DX is a game that's appeared in quite a few forms -- it was a big game at the Nintendo DS' launch back in the day, and has since appeared online in Flash form (though how official that is, I'm not sure). But the game by Japanese developer Kiteretsu has now arrived on the App Store, and it's emerged as a cute, if not very complicated, match-3 title. This gameplay should be old hat to you by now: Click the animals to switch them around, and try to match up three of a kind. But where ZooKeeper sticks out is its style -- the cute pixelated animals are really fun to look at and play around with, and a power-up that will mark out where your matches are is also well-done. There are two modes to play through, though they don't offer much other than just the match goals you have to meet. It's true -- match-3 gameplay has changed quite a bit since this game first appeared (see the Puzzle Quest series for my favorite version of it), and ZooKeeper doesn't really take advantage of those innovations. But it's still fun, and Game Center integration as well as future updates (there's already been one big one to fix a big technical bug with the screen) are added incentive. The title is available at a launch price of US $1.99, and you can get two bucks out of this one pretty easily, especially if you're a match-3 fan.
TUAW's Daily iPhone App: Kona's Crate
Kona's Crate is a fun little physics puzzle game that doesn't bother too much with a premise -- it just gets straight to the gameplay, and that's a good thing. You control what's basically a floating platform, and by tapping on either side of the screen, you can make rockets push on one side or the other, carrying the crate across a series of levels. It's a weird idea (why is a jet-powered platform carrying crates to a voodoo priest?), but the gameplay is easy to pick up, and since the stages ramp up in complexity and difficulty, the premise stays intriguing as you progress along. Each stage can nab you up to three stars, so there's a little bit of replayability in going back and trying to do them better and faster. There's over 60 levels now, with more coming, and one nice thing about the game is that it provides both OpenFeint and Game Center integration, with a really easy screen that allows you to decide where your scores go. Kona's Crate is a fun physics puzzler with plenty of content, and definitely worth the US 99 cents it's selling for in the App Store (either iPhone or iPad, but it's the same price for each one). There's a lite version to check out if you're not sure of the gameplay yet, but I'd even recommend this one sight unseen if you enjoy a good physics game.
TUAW's Daily iPhone App: Air Penguin
Air Penguin from GAMEVIL is one of those deceptively simple, casual pick-up-and-play games for US$0.99 on the App Store. What I look for in these types of games are polish and a great control scheme. Luckily, Air Penguin has both. Your goal is to jump and slide your way through levels until your penguin safely arrives at the end of the series of obstacles and challenges in your way. Usually this means having your penguin jump or slide around obstacles, or ride various sea critters around obstacles. You pick up what look like Goldfish crackers for scoring, although the primary goal is to simply complete a level without falling in the water. Apparently your penguin cannot swim very well. The controls are based on tilt only and cannot be changed. The good news is that the controls are responsive without being too twitchy. It is possible to adjust the sensitivity, and before you begin a level, there's a countdown that allows you to level your iPhone (resetting the tilt). You can change the penguin's direction in the air, which is useful because certain levels require you to juke around obstacles while in midair -- tricky but not impossible. Sometimes you're able to flick the iPhone up at the end of a run and go flying through the air (the dream of many penguins). When you're not airborne, you might be sliding across the snow, controlling the velocity and direction with tilt. You may also ride an animal, again controlling speed and direction with tilt. Air Penguin is simplicity itself, and its speedy gameplay, polished graphics and sound and adequate controls make it a pleasant diversion for kids and adults. I have no idea what the extra fish you can buy via in-app purchases are used for, but you get 50 free fish for fun. You won't need much beyond the $0.99 price to have a quick, enjoyable game. Check out Air Penguin for cute, casual fun.
TUAW's Daily App: Sticky
I'll say this: Sticky is an original one. It's sort of a platforming game, though there are no real platforms involved. You play as a little orange blob named Sticky, tasked with saving the world from invading black blobs that slowly move from one side of your iPhone's screen to the other. Sticky can defeat these enemy blobs by bouncing on their heads, so it's your job as a player to catapult him back and forth around the little levels in order to hit the bad guys exactly right. The game is fun, cute and intuitive, and while it's pretty easy to beat the individual stages (at least until power-ups and more obstacles get added into the mix), each stage also rates you out of three stars, so you need to race against time to try and grab a perfect rating as well. Hardcore gamers will want to clear out all of the levels, while younger (or just more casual gamers) can bounce Sticky around and still enjoy playing. Full Game Center (and Crystal -- Chillingo is publishing) integration extends the experience, and the fact that it's only US$0.99 means it's probably worth a try if you're interested. It probably won't pull me away from Tiny Wings completely, but it's another fun casual experience.
TUAW's Daily App: Twitterrific (and others!)
Ok, so we're kind of cheating with this one; you probably already know about Twitterrific, if you don't actually have it installed on your iPhone. But we're using our daily app spotlight today to point out that the folks at Iconfactory have released version 3.0 of the popular Twitter client. Along with making the app universal (which means it now works on both iPhone and iPad), they've updated the interface and code for iOS 4. That means that it's not only purdier, but it's faster and works with in-app switching as well. Twitterrific is a free app, with a US$4.99 in-app purchase to remove the ads and manage more Twitter accounts. That's not enough? Alright, we'll throw in a few more upgrades. Smule's popular I Am T-Pain app has also upgraded for iOS 4, making it not only ready for the Retina Display but also adding the ability to share auto-tuned videos on a few popular social networks. That one's on sale for only 99 cents right now, too. Finally, ngmoco has released Eliminate: GunRange, an iOS 4-specific app that makes use of both the gyroscope and the premium Retina Display in the new iPhone. It's just 99 cents, too. While it's just a shooting gallery, it'll be a nice demonstration of the new hardware's capabilities if you're into the firearm range thing. So, there you go -- three brand new apps to fire up on your new iPhone 4.
