Review of 101 iPhones Apps





iphone comes with a couple of basic but competent apps
ever since apple released their sdk,
there has been a slew of all kinds of apps imagineable
as a rule, many are free, or priced within US 99 cents to US$1.99
this writeup is on my favorite apps, starting with utilities



upcoming + is a nice little app
that allows you to keep track of birthdays on your contact list
and with some imagaination, stuff like car service due etc
i especially like the fact that each time you open the app
it defaults yes, into your upcoming events which you can set up to 60 days



fizz weather is the weather program that iphone should have included
it gives you the current weather, 2 days (detailed) and 5 days
besides there is also a nice regional map (like the ones you see on tv)
and airports which i am not sure how accurate it is
really beautiful program - a delight to use



iphone built-in notes does the job, although no cut and paste etc
if you want something more capable, sketches is a feature rich notepad
plus drawing, painting and everything else you can think of
really fun as you can see from the screenshot
good for maps, directions, reminders and even poking fun at friends



i used to have bible thumper on my palm - really liked the interface
but even though i had it on my palm all the time
i guess i only used the dictionaries and commentaries not more than a few times
the bible i need on my pda is mainly to follow the preacher
the faster it can locate a passage, the better
and olivetree's bible reader is one of the fastest around
besides, it has a search feature which is really essential for a bible program



WeDict is a pretty capable dictionary based on word net 2.0
that i also use as a spell checker
it is fast, includes chinese if you select it in the options and free
it has helped me a good number of times when i am on the road
and i highly recommend this simple to use program
especially for bad spellers like me



every writer needs a good thesarus
whether it is for writer's cramp
or at those moments when the cat caught your tongue
thesarus is plain vanilla but does the job



medicinedic is rather strange
in that it offers a cancer dictionary
health care dictionary
medical acronyms dictionary
medical dictionary
then goes to spoil it all with a dreams interpretation dictionary
hmm....



Wikiamo is a great little freebie
where you can access all of wikipedia database
formatted to read on your iphone
havent used it much
but good to know that it is there
if you need it



jetset is a quick record of your expenses on the go
i was attracted to it because of its nice interface
and it is really easy to use
ever since i got the software
i was able to track my expenses
and double check with statements and claims as well
one interesting feature is that
it allows you to take a photo of your receipt



i must commend media corp for being the first singapore company
to come up with an app for iphone
itoday is really nice, fast even with graphics
now i dont have to be disappointed
if my regular 7-eleven runs out of today newspaper



i must have tried dozens of enewspapers until i come across newsdesk
it really has a nice interface,
headlines from major newspapers at a glance (with photos)
and a scitech section that i enjoy
my advice: go with the best, forget the rest



endless walls is a nice online program
where you can view wallpapers specially formatted for iphone
on a good number of themes or simply randomly
if you see one that you like, you can save it to the iphone
i am amazed at the quality and the variety that it offers



if videos are more your cup of tea...
truveo is really a nice video news program
that has a good selection of many channels including the onion
as well as stuff for children as well



if we want to download videos on your iphone
and watch it on the go
moviemate is really good
and offers you a good selection of trailers



photowizard is a nice program
that allows your picture to be transformed
as a sketch, oilpaint, fish eye or blockwaves
the settings allow you to set how deformed each should be
kinda fun, just the kind of thing you want to impress friends with



face melter takes fish eye a step further
entirely unproductive and useless
but i guess some people may get some fun
out of deforming the face of another
hmm... strange world we live in
who is more strange?
the one that develop such a program
or the one who purchases it? http://photos-h.ak.fbcdn.net/photos-ak-sf2p/v358/101/99/668362229/n668362229_943183_378.jpg



currency is a good forex program
it is free, sponsored by adverts
but it works really good
allowing you to set your home currency
and display the ones you need and use



there are many body mass index calculators
but i liked abmicalc interface best
just spin the wheel and hope you're ok



my final recommendation is the free facebook app
though not as full featured as the pc version
it is great for me to upload screenshots and photos
off my iphone and use them for my web postings





ok, here's my first games review
it is amazing that the buttonless iphone
can come up with so many playable games
i will begin my series of games review with retro games
not only they bring a rush of nostalgia
but all new os - palm, apple, anroid...
all started out with great retro games

this review will center around the 3 iconic retro games
space invaders, breakout and pacman



first, pacman - certainly work US$9.99
perfectly presented with choices of controllers
every one worked well; most playable
gamepad controller shown on the screenshot
if only iphone will license it and make it standard for all games
really, really nice; highly recommended



next, ms pacman - just as well done as pacman
always enjoyed ms pacman
as it is pacman with more features and fun
unlike pacman jr which is really lousy
joystick controller shown on the screenshot



now, lets look at breakout games
the original by atari is available at itunes store
but imho it is to jazzed up and looks like any other clone
space buster is really good and very enjoying
the last time i looked, it was going for free



astro tilt is another breakout clone
it is rather funky
but i specially like the controller
very easy to use
and moves from one end to other
with greased lighting speed
guess what, free!



i was very doubtful of blocks touch
- a 3d breakout
3d tetris is really bad
so how good can this one be
- surprise, suprise - really good
when you get too much of plain brick busting
try blocks touch - really a blast!



then there is the retro pack
where you get 4 very playable games in one
it reverts to old pixel look
but plays well and is a lot of fun
the breakout (pong) game is good
so are space invaders, canon and tetris
you cant get more retro than this



now lets look at the mother of all arcade games - space invaders
so many available from itunes store
here are those i recommend


invazion project r may not look really authentic
but it's controls are the best i've seen
really hours and hours of fun from this app



alien attack looks more like the original very playable, really nice if looks are important, go for this



finally a marriage of breakout and spaceinvaders
spaceout looks good, plays good
now, if only someone can do a breakout pinball
like the old commodore game



when i was using the htc diamond touch
there was one such marble-tilt game that comes with it
good, but not great - 5 out of 10 points
- as i search the web, i found a few more
all of them home brewed and rather lame



now that the iphone is out
there is a slew of such games
more than you can shake a stick at
and most of them free!
the best of these imho is amaze!
the orginal and comes with loads of levels



there are many creative ways in which developers have used the senor
rhinoball is a great free app with a very good game
as well as nice videos and stuff
that promotes the upcoming movie, bolt



then comes those great guys from sgn
who released a few wii-like games
starting with igolf which now has a commercial version
which i believe is their goal all along
i liked ibowl best
easier to play than igolf



here is igolf
i believe the gameplay will take some time to master
once you get the swing of things
it is really very nice
wheee, wii on the go!



sgn took ibaseball a step further
now you can use the iphone to throw the ball
or bat the ball when your turn comes
even an option for curve balls
hmm... what will they think of next?
well, they have just released ibasketball
imho, not very good



here is a totally useless game ithrown
with bad gammer to boot
much like the freebie soccer ball kicking game
the saving grace for this game is that it is extremely well done
easy to play
sound, voice and everything else
that makes a game enjoyable



ah, ifish - probably the best fishing stimulator for iphone
i purchased pocket fish, but the controls are just too clumsy
this is a goodie
but like all the above
it is a game of chance, not skill



i thought ihunt would be something like ifish
but it's totally a different gameplay
and not at all polished
well, who knows
the next update may improve things quite a bit
but still an ok game
with choice of deer, birds or just clay shots



finally, sgn are not the only guys that are going for this genre of games
those guys from dumb games are coming out with some pretty good stuff
all of them very playable
i got 'em all and looking forward to their every release
motionbowl allows you to select between finger or motion play
both plays well, really a good buy
be forewarn that it is memory hungry
so do a shutdown first before running this app



here goes another series of brief reviews
this time on racers
that's not my favorite genre
although on my psp
i have almost every racing game



first is cro-mag, a comic racer
methinks the interface is too busy
and the characters too ugly
never even completed a race on this game



GTSWR is really a great racer
easy for someone like me
who is not a very good racer
i liked this game as it is easy to play
and using auto accelator
no need to mess around with too many buttons
so i can concentrate on the game



ipod user called motochaser as dry as dirt
but it is actually pretty fast and furious
needs an option for auto acceleration like GTSWR
to put it in the same class



raging thunder is probably the best racer on the iphone
very clean interface
auto accelerator
nice tracks
defintely highly recommended



here's a nice freebie, audi A4 driving challenge
it has a lot of extras
but the control of the car is really nice
if the sensitivity is tuned down to zero
as seen on the picture below





lots of sports genre for the iphone
here are some i downloaded



used to play a lot of carroms when i was a kid
so i got this app when it was released
i will give it 5 out of 10
it works, plays
but nothing to bring you back again



pinball rc is one beautiful pinball table
very nice and plays well
scrolling lights and all
but without the burdensome tilt factor
highly recommended



itilt is plain vanilla compared to pinball rc
but it doesnt look too busy
and still a good blast
imho, go for both
if pinball is your game



motion pool plays a good game
as in most of their games
you have the option of using the sensor
or the touch screen
recommended



la sharks pool does not have the 3d feature
which i like more than a 3d approach
plays a fair game
not bad



shuffleboard is extremely difficult to play
as pucks keep going into the gutter
takes a while to master the controls
but still, not very fun
don't pour money down the drain on this one



here is par 72 golf game in action
an ok golf game
but not one that you'll be playing a lot
very simple touch and shoot
not much fun value built-in



neverputt is an ok minigolf game
because it is 3d in concept
the courses are rather small
still, a good blast



if you can only afford one mini golf game
go for mini touch golf
the latest update is rather good
and the courses are very nice
highly recommended



i have already reviewed iblow, ithrown, igolf, ibaseball,
motionbowl, ifish, ihunt in an earlier series on sensor tilt games
but did not feature pocket fishing
i prefer ifish to pocket fishing
as controls are not as intitutive
saw some good reviews for flicker fishing
tempted to give it a go



if you like air hockey
this is one of the better ones
a good quick blast
but after a while
these games can get a little boring



yet another air hockey game
not as nice looking as the one above
but plays almost the same



flick bowling is quite beautiful
but the gameplay is not too precise
really a bother to have to keep choosing the bowling ball



300 bowl has been around since the days of palm
by a really good team of programmers in russia
very precise gaming
best bowling game for the iphone



not many soccer games on the iphone
here's a kiddie goal shotting game
after a few plays
it really becomes repetitious



ah, foosball
got one in my office which doubles as a table
plays well, good controls
lots of options
you can play with another human too



acquahoops is lots of fun
not just for kids
imho too many balls on the game
makes it hard to play
as it gets into the way



i like lilbball better
as it is more pinball-like
and the control is more precise
recommended



i love kids and kids love my PDAs
so i always have a section with programs just for kids
in case they gravitate towards me



disney all star cards is really a nice game
feature rich with all the bells and whistles
it comes with several games
hearts, crazy 8s, memory master, go fish
and an arcade-type card tossing game
really good value for money
one that both children and adults will enjoy



kid's adventure will delight very young children
it has 5 sub programs
colours, body, matching, shapes and sounds
all of these are very well done
colourful with nice sounds
even older kids love this app



braintoot is a nice app
one of those brain boosters programs
made popular by the japanese on the nds
imho it is better than most of its genre
as it has 4 distinct categories
- think, memory, vision and compute
above is one of the vision games
where you are ask to guess which shell has the ball
kids love this one



madshells is a very well crafted shell game
with all kinds of shells and background
it was a pity i grabbed it at the high price when it was released
and now it is FOC
now i'm really mad with madshells!
hmm... such is life



braintuner is yet another brain booster
with very simple maths stuff aimed at kids
it's a freebie



etch a sketch is a device i played with as a child
and some guy is bringing it back for the iphone
really, this is not child's play
as it comes with all kinds of features
one of the better drawing/sketch apps
recommended



imho mymemory is the best matching app for iphone
the feature i liked most
is that you can use your own photos
as you can see from the screenshot above
really fun to while away your time



kids like finding faults
so here is an aptly named app - faultfinding
2 pictures are displayed
can you spot the difference within a minute
really a lot of fun



here's another spot the difference app
this time using photos instead of cartoons
good to while away the time
but dont know if it improves or spoils your vision



just when you think that these spot the difference apps are becoming repetitious
out come big fish games with everest expedition
which takes find the object to great heights
well crafted and well worth your money
if searching for lost keys etc is your thing



lost keys take finding a step further
buried in a mess of stuff on the screen are your car keys
can you find them before the ticket officer arrives
very fun



tric-trac is a very simple game
but very hard to win
i remember i had this game on my PDA
when i was at a farmstay in australia
the kids there were very keen on this game
and played it all the time i was there



RPS is one of the better rock, paper and scissors game for the iphone
it has all the bells and whistles
and will keep your kids occupied on long journeys



kaleidoscope is really nice
full featured and a delight to play with
just the thing when you need a break



another show-off app that kids will enjoy is kai pond
very beautiful with lots of options
you can even configure birds, frogs and butterflies
children love to touch the fishes
flick the water plants and make waves
to chase the fishes away
there's now even a festive touch in the new upgrade



duck shot is a colourful shooting gallery game
using the tilt sensors
actually quite difficult to control
so not recommending this app



shooting gallery is the better duck shooter
it has 3 sections
really nice graphics
quite a good blast



everyone loves to scratch and win
so some clever guy has already got an app for it
scratchy is not very well done
in fact not so much fun to scratch
as it does not do as good a job as burning monkey casino's scratch and win



tickleme is a rather silly app
but all the kids enjoy it
once you pass it to a kid
he is not going to return your iphone
kind of fun, i guess



there isnt a kid who does not enjoy tic tac toe
now tic tac toe plus comes with a twist
you can use your own photos
instead of the noughts and crosses
soon after this was released
a guy came out with tom and jerry ttt



which kid does not like whacking someone on the head?
whackgroundhog is a pretty good game
then comes a japanese guy
who release space mogura
which is as good if not better
very nice



ixmastree will keep your kids busy for hours
a freebie that's extremely well done
so many ways you can decorate the tree
and when it is done
turn on the lights
and your masterpiece comes alive!
grab this one



this one is also not a game
more of a storybook
very well done
chinese morals
nice illustrations
and best of all, free
get this to show off
or keep your child occupied
and still learn something



if your kids need to make noises
how about some music instead
ibango does nothing
except make music when tapped
3 tunes with 3 different banjos



if mindless activities is not your cup of tea
pocket panio will let your kid
play actual songs
or even compose one of his own on the go
nice



puzzle games are especially suited for PDAs
as touch screens make it so intuitive



diamond twister is one of the better bejewel clones
however because of the complixity of the game
it takes you through many minutes of loading
that by the time the game starts
you may have lost your interest



you may want to op for jive
a cutesy bejewel clone
that plays pretty good
if you want to save $$$
or not too keen on this game
there is a lite version that is FOC



yahtzee is one of those games
that is just right for PDAs
but iyathzee just dont cut it
although the interface is pretty nice
1 no sound or excitement
2 dice dont roll, just dance around
3 placing scores are difficult - small area
and no undos if placed on wrong slot



reMovem free is a rather nice freebie
when you pop balls of the same colour
the more, the better the points are
this game is just the thing for touch screens
no need to move a cusor all over the place



isamegame is pretty much the same as removem
but more polished and plays better
if you are running out of real estate
and have nothing better to do with your time
then to burst bubbles,
go for isamegame



hanio plus is really challenging
- just when you think that no moves are possible
then you get a breakthrough
very well done
with all the bells and whistles
highly recommended



i really like these parking lot puzzles
and there's a bunch available for iphone
in fact, i like 'em so much
i got 3
above is gridlock
which is pretty nice
but i wish some hot shot developer
would take the trouble to animate the car
once all the obstacles are cleared



what blocked lacked for graphics
it comes with loads of puzzle
that probably take weeks to complete
good value



kyodai is a kind of mahjong solitaire game
however, all the tiles are laid out flat
with a hole in the centre
totally meaningless and unproductive
requires little or no challenge
perhaps this is why it appeals to so



ah, good old tetris that was released as freebie - tris
now there's a feature-rich version from the usa itunes store
still, imho this game should be played with buttons
as touch screen do not provide the precision
nor the rythmn for a high score game



rainbow is a deceptive looking game
appearing cutesy and easy
but really quite challenging
- if you like banging your heads on the wall
try rainbow
it's less painful but just as frustrating



this series of reviews are on board games





reversi plus is a really nice othello game
with prompts of possible choices
as the game proceeds
like most board games
better to play with another human
than to test out the iphon's AI



i'm going to lump word games under the board genre
above is word trail, a pretty good game
not very pretty
but it works
and will stimulate your grey matters
as you race against the clock



there are several mastermind clones for the iphone
mastermind is one of the better ones
but none of them anything to write home about
somehow the controls are not really easy
but if this is your cup of tea...



hangman is a nice freebie - adware
plays well
and on thanksgiving
you get a hangturkey instead
great for kids of all ages



skippy is a really nice marble/peg jump game
it comes with lots of shapes and sizes
the goal is to leave just one marble behind
quite a challenge for some
but it does wonders
in massaging your grey matter



here are some apps i purchased
while doing these reviews
so i thought i'll put them in a bunch
and review them all here



first is a 3d puzzle game
with an unusual name of hupply pupple
plays a fair game
but methinks the timer is too short



pocket jockey is really very well made
but no matter how i tapped
my horse always disappears out of view ie lagging behind
gave the developer my feedback
and within a few hours, got a reply
watch for updates



horserace is a pretty simplistic jockey type game
however if you choose 0 players
you actually have a horse racing game
pity the graphics are really kiddy
as is the gameplay



idarts is really very well crafted
if you enjoy darts, you get the whole bale of hay here
nice 3-d graphics, sensor throws etc
very nice indeed
- as you can see from the above screenshot



ihearts plays a good game of hearts
like the free windows heart
everything is there
nothing to complain about
just a good old game
without any frills



burning monkey casino is a blast
for 99cents you get a lot of really nice games
above is a variation of ball in the shell games
except the queen of hearts is the one to spot for



then there is this scratch and win deal
unlike scratchy, this time it is easy to scratch
and makes this game quite fun



the spin the wheel is very nicely implemented
very hard to win
but very fun to play



there's even a variation of pachinco
you know, shooting a steel ball
and hoping that it will land on a winner
as i did on this shot



bughunt is a good clone of galaxian
retro graphics updated a bit
easy controls
although not as precise as palm's galaxy
still a good game



postman plum is the first of a series of interactive books for children
not very impressive
but kids likes poking around
and most things respond to your touch



spacemogura is a japanese product of whack the mole
and by far, one of the best
also like most japanese games
well crafted and freebie



bugz is very nice
with touch screen, very intuitive
very well implemented



billy frontier comes with 8 games
the 3-d graphcs are very impressive
as in the shootout
i find it kind of difficult
but on good days, i managed to go very far into the game
key to watch out is not to lose your shields
and try to get all the ammo you can



city bomber is an ok game
that doesnt allow you many chances to make a mistake
why doesnt someone do a canyon bomber
that will really be retro



aqua invaders play a pretty good game
doesn't follow exactly the space invaders layout
but very fun
highly recommended
freebie



shooz is a horseshoe throwing game
quite well implemented
and quite fun
many levels



masterbrain is the mastermind clone for iphone that best suited me
on the easy mode, 4 colours
unintrusive just tape on the roller
and plays a nice game



pipes remind me of a flowering game on the palm
quite meaningless, but fun
there are many levels
the hardest, filling up many screens



reef wars is a battleship clone
plays an ok game
but constantly switching between the 2 screens
causes me a headache
why not put 2 battlefields on one screen
the inactive one in smaller size?



vision is a really nice app
it tests your sight
plus throws in a lot of fun stuff
like the 3-d sterograms you see below
really amazing







i must have purchased several favorites contact lists
and finally settled on 'favorites'
this is the fastest
- as it comes up with a basic screen first
then loads the picture
also, i liked the GUI



i thought this escape santa was a loderunner clone
but really it is very difficult to play
unlike palm's loderunner
maybe an update will fix this