what's in store
this girl's opinions of her iPhone appsnew home for me
I haven’t lost interest in apps or in reviewing them.
I’ve just found a better place to do it!
Please join me at Appolicious.
there’s intelligent life out there … somewhere
The cleverest app I’ve found so far is The Moron Test.
I gave it a shot when it first came out and got through it relatively unscathed. I was intrigued and amused enough to put myself through the rigors of the updated version recently, and I must confess I stumbled.
I’m not a moron, but I still haven’t finished the thing; luckily the test admits I’m reasonably intelligent before I hit the point that fails me so miserably.
Without giving too much away, here’s the screen giving me so much trouble:
Of course, if you know the solution to the above screen, DON’T TELL ME! I’m very stubborn and I MUST solve this bugger on my own … or die trying! If I smash a few iPhones in the process, well, so be it.
If you haven’t tried The Moron Test (DistinctDev), the above screen shot tells you nothing. So here’s a hint at what’s to come: it plays mind games.
It starts out innocently enough:
But by the time you’ve experienced a few of these little babies…
… you’ll be second-guessing yourself on the simpletons:
It’s totally worth it, though. By the time you finish you’ll feel like Einstein.
The Moron Test ($0.99)
Compatible with iPhone and iPod Touch
Requires iPhone OS 2.2 or later
catch me if you can
Eight or so years ago, when I was in the early days of my short-lived career as a newspaper reporter, I lived in a very small northern Alberta town called Lac La Biche.
For a town of 2,000 or so it kept our newspaper staff busy enough, but I had a very difficult and lonely time as a human being. It wasn’t until I was sent to cover a yard sale for the local Victims Services unit that I made my first real friend.
Marlaine had once been married to a Jamaican guy and one of the legacies of that partnership was a game she called Jamaican Dominoes. By the time I met her she’d already taught it to just about everyone with a membership at the local Royal Canadian Legion.
The Legion soon became my favorite watering hole and so it wasn’t long before I was participating in weekly competitions with Marlaine and all the other domino lovers. It was such a highlight of my LLB life that I even signed up for an inter-Legion battle the day before I moved back home to Nova Scotia. I should have spent that afternoon packing; instead I drank beer and got crushed by outsiders.
It’s hard to find other people who like games as much as I do so I fully expected never to play Jamaican Dominoes again after coming home to the Maritimes. Naturally, the App Store put an end to that foolish thinking.
The version I found in the store is called British Domino but it seems that bunch is nearly as much fun as the Jamaicans because my addiction has been renewed. More than once I’ve caught myself tapping away happily away through the night, stopping to sleep only after the sun has begun to rise.
British Domino, by Soneso, pits you against one or two opponents. Each player gets either seven or nine dominoes from a double-six set. You match your dominoes to your opponent’s dominoes so that the outside ends make some multiple of three, five or both. Points are scored based on the multiplication factor.
For example, if you play the 
you score three points because adding five and four makes nine which is a multiple of three by a factor of three.
If your opponent then adds the 
to the board, she scores two points (4 + 2 = 6, 6 ÷ 3 = 2). And so on.
Big scores come from combos like this one (12 + 3= 15): 
. Because it represents both a multiple of three (15 ÷ 3 = 5) and a multiple of five (15 ÷ 5 = 3), it’s worth eight points (5 + 3 = 8)!
You’ll win most of the games you play but that doesn’t diminish the challenge of British Domino. Submit your score at the end of the game and compare it to other players from around the world (usually the UK); the highest I’ve ever scored is an 80 (which is pretty impressive, if I must say so myself).
In fact, if you decide to pick up British Domino, consider using the nine tiles, 121 bones, Exact End options against one opponent and see how you stack up against me (I’m lilly from Canada). My 80 points is 11th overall when you look at the Top 50 and I’d love to see how long it takes you to catch up.
If you can. 
British Domino ($0.99)
Compatible with iPhone and iPod Touch
Requires iPhone OS 2.1 or later
work it, baby
It’s the best app I’ll never use.
I won’t bother kidding myself anymore. When I bought Fitnio and downloaded iMapMyRide I told myself they’d inspire me to hike and cycle. I envisioned how much better those activities would be if I had an iPhone along and I tried to believe I’d be more likely to get my Gary Fisher back on the road if I could track my ride.
Not so much.
So why did I download SixPack App FREE – Exercise Library from Pocket Cocktails Inc?
Dunno!
I vaguely recall something catching my attention in either the app description or in one of the reviews; whatever it was, I apparently decided it was worth a look. And I was right.
This app isn’t going to get me out of my armchair and away from the PC, but that’s no fault of SixPack App.
This product is pretty damned impressive. It includes more than 125 exercises – even Yoga, for crying out loud!
Seriously, I don’t know where to start with the praise.
Exercises are organized in several ways: start at the Home screen and you can quickly target body areas or choose from exercise types. The aforementioned Yoga is an option, as are Chest, Shoulders and Abs. It’s got Barbell, Dumbbell, Machine and Ball exercises; or choose Isolation, Compound, even Bodyweight.
The Anatomy screen shows you the muscle groups your selected exercise will target, Workouts can get you started at the Beginner level or even offer you a Travel option for those days without your usual equipment. All Exercises puts the movements in alphabetical order to help you find what you may have forgotten. Heck, you can even do a keyword search to narrow the offerings even more.
Once you choose an exercise from whatever list you end up at, you get a page with large and clear images of actual human beings performing the moves. Even more awesome are the descriptions and advice offered via a menu to the right of each image. Learn the Steps to perform the movements properly, get detailed Info about the benefits of the exercise, see which Muscles are involved, and read the cautions about what not to do from the Don’t section.
I really can’t believe this puppy is free. It’s ad-supported just like iSnitch, so cheapskates have no right to complain. If you really, really hate the ads, though, you just have to spend 99¢ to get the commercial-free version. Honestly, and for your sake I hope the producers don’t read this, SixPack App is worth at least a few dollars.
I may be too lazy to ever use SixPack App, but I’m never too lazy to dream. Are you?
SixPack App FREE (Free)
Compatible with iPhone and iPod Touch
Requires iPhone OS 2.2.1 or later
for the eavesdropper in all of us
What do people say behind our backs that they don’t say to our faces?
Surely you’ve wondered what your co-workers really think of you? And can you honestly say your friends don’t gossip about you when you’re not around?
If you have the stomach for the answers you can get them once and for all via iSnitch.
iSnitch (Cyan Media) is exactly like having a voice-triggered tape recorder. A tape recorder that looks like a phone and not the whole-truth, back-stabbing revealer it has the potential to be.
It works like this: select the amount of time you want to wait before the voice-activated trigger is armed (the default is 15 seconds, which will be just enough time to get out of the room); choose how long you want to record for (you may need more than five minutes to get the juicy bits but you can record for hours if the memory is there); then mark the level on the sound meter that determines how loud a noise should be before it triggers the recording.
The user interface is really intuitive but if you need help you can tap the little question mark button for guidance.
Surprisingly, iSnitch is free. It’s ad-supported but not intrusively so. Navigating the screen will regularly bring up an image of some musician or band but all it takes is another tap to see the options to Skip or Download Album and you can advance as desired. It’s a great solution for this app; I’d never have chosen it if I’d had to pay. I’m not that curious.
Despite its obvious appeal to anyone with a nefarious bone in her body, I’m hoping more folks use iSnitch for good than for evil. Otherwise, there may be a lot of hurt feelings and broken friendships on the way.
Here’s to watching what we say!
iSnitch (Free)
Compatible with iPhone and iPod Touch 2nd Generation
Requires iPhone OS 2.2.1 or later; iPod Touch requires microphone
nom nom nom – need more apps!
It started with AppMiner.
Produced by Bitrino, Inc., AppMiner won me over the moment I read this:
With over 60,000 apps now on the store, it is easy to lose track of everything that is going on.
I love me a good understatement.
When I first got my iPhone I used to make monthly visits to the App Store to see what was new. In the beginning it was a quick exercise, of course. Back then, highlights included the hilarious Jared, the useful-for-scaring-peeps-in-a-quiet-room Wooo! Button, the still-impressive news ‘reader’ Cooliris and one of my first purchases, Addiction Solitaire, which I still play daily.
But when I forgot to make my monthly visit, returning to the Store was a chore. How was I supposed to get through hundreds of new apps from hundreds of categories?
It wasn’t happenin’.
AppMiner made the Store fun again. Every few days I can open it up and I see a completely manageable list of new apps and apps on sale. Also fantastic is the “Watch” feature; if the app you want is too pricey for you, add it to the Watch list and AppMiner will keep an eye out for discounts. You can even specify how much you want to pay!
There’s nothing I don’t like about AppMiner. It’s easy to navigate, it identifies how long ago an app was released and I like very much that I can explore another app’s features and screenshots without having to find my way back to AppMiner; the only time I’m forced out is when I visit iTunes to make a download.
AppMiner isn’t the only girl in the dance hall, though; PandoraBox, BargainBin and Store-Extend are also vying for our affections.
Store-Extend by Hambel Software is not so near-perfect. It’s buggy, for one thing: I tapped the button for Blog/Top and the default All selection gave me a MySQL error. It worked the second time I tried it, however. (And yes, I always reboot my iPhone after an install, so don’t hit me with that excuse.)
Also, Store-Extend imitates my least-favourite feature from iTunes: the goddam “25 next…” option at the bottom of the screen. I hate it I hate it I hate it.
Worst of all, when I click on an app to find out more, it just keeps loading. And loading. And loading. And loading.
Yeah, I’ve gone back to the previous screen already. Maybe it’s the bugs, but it makes the app almost useless.
As for BargainBin (Proximi, Inc), it starts with a cute graphic illustrating what might be its motto: “When app prices fall, they drop into the BargainBin”. At least, I think that’s what it said; it doesn’t load after the first time.
The next screen has some instructions, which, while handy, worry me a little; instructions for a shopping app? Make sure you pay attention to them, though, or you may never figure out how to see an app’s screenshots.
Not only does BargainBin have the “All” category I love so much in AppMiner, it even has a “Popular” category. It’s an ideal way to narrow the list.
Furthermore, BargainBin includes an app’s ratings in its presentations. Is the app on sale because no one’s buying it? Is it on sale because the publishers are cool? Look at the ratings – or lack thereof – and you may get your answer. (iTherapist may disprove my theory; with 1200+ ratings at least some of those users had to have paid for the app, yet the rating on BargainBin is an informative zero stars.)
Alas, if you forget, as I did – twice! – to ‘hold’ an app rather than just tap it, (remember those instructions I mentioned?), BargainBin sends you on your merry way to the App Store, instead of just giving you the app’s deets.
Which leaves PandoraBox, by AppZap. PandoraBox has the ratings, it’s got the in-app research, it’s got the new apps, it’s got the bargain apps AND it’s got the categories, but in a new way that I totally love. Go into the settings and you can specify the categories you want represented. And if you just want to see one or two categories, it couldn’t be easier: click the None button to clear the list, then just tap the ones you *do* want.
The downside to *all* these app-finders? They all have their own lists. Yep, that’s right; if you just get one of them you miss out on some good products. But if you must just pick one, I recommend them in this order, from best to worst:
PandoraBox (Free)
AppMiner (Free)
BargainBin (Free)
Store-Extend (Free)
All apps compatible with iPhone and iPod Touch
PandoraBox requires iPhone OS 2.0
Store-Extend and AppMiner require iPhone OS 2.2
BargainBin requires iPhone OS 2.2.1
The moment I realized I couldn't have more than nine pages of apps on my iPhone 3G I immediately went to the Apple forums to express my disappointment. We now have 11 pages available to us and I'm still not happy. Here's hoping these reviews inspire YOU to dissatisfaction!