the other Keath Moon
I recently upgraded to a 16GB 3G iPhone and I thought it was about time I posted up what has been keeping me busy on my phone.
UTILITIES
AIM – while Beejive is much better, this is also free and I don’t spend a lot of time on instant messenger on my phone. It serves it’s purpose.
CameraBag – makes your iPhone camera have purpose. With the wide variety of filters: Holga, Lolo, Polaroid 1974, etc. making every photo you take look 100% better than it did with out these. You will never take another iPhone shot again without running it through this app.
Yelp – great way to find stuff (restaurants, shops, etc.) locally, even if you think you know everything, I bet you would find something new. It enables users to upload photos and reviews so you know what you are getting into even before you get there.
Evernote – I’m still on the fence about this one. Although the idea of it is great, over the air synching of notes (written, photo, speech) to the web or a desktop application. It even has text recognition, so if you took a photo of a handwritten note or a product label, that text will show up in your search results. Web clipping and screen shot capabilities are built in too. It all sounds great, I just don’t find myself using it a lot. I always seems to revert back to the native notes program for any text based notes. I’m hoping to eventually utilize this one.
Netnewswire – pretty simple RSS feed reader. It syncs up to a NewsGator account online. I’m sure this isn’t the best, but it was also free, and I don’t spend a huge amount of time reading RSS on my phone.
Facebook – this one has been getting more and more of my time. It’s still far from perfect, there are still many features that are missing from this app. I guess they need to give people a reason to still visit the site online huh?
Twitterific – I really didn’t understand Twitter when I first signed up. Now it’s something I don’t go a day without checking, especially when apps like this one exist. While the free version may lack some features that other apps have, it’s simple and visually appealing, that’s good enough for me.
Myspace – this one is on it’s way out. Most of the people I really care to keep in touch with have switched to Facebook. Like the FB app, this one is missing many features of the site, but it’s good enough.
Remote – control and browse your iTunes library from your phone anywhere within reach of your WiFi network
Mint – keep on top of your finances from anywhere. If you jsut need a quick look as to what your account balances are, then this app is for you. It requires a bit of work on your end on the Mint.com site, but once it’s up and running, it’s pretty self efficient.
Mobilefiles – simple app to view files on your iDisk
Wikipanion – easy wikipedia access
Amazon – search, check prices, and update your wish list. Also has an interesting feature where you can take a photo of a product and they will find it for you.
iTranslate – free language translator, does the job, nothing special, but like I said it’s free!
Units – simple unit convertor. Side note: this one probably has the ugliest icon out of all the apps I have installed.
Now Playing – you can read reviews, watch trailers, find local movie theater listings and show times, even purchase tickets. You can also read about recent and upcoming DVD releases. I think I read they are working on Netflix integration as well.
iTV – movie theater listings, upcoming DVD releases, Netflix integration, and your local TV listings. This one is pretty much hanging on for dear life, because as soon as Now Playing has Netflix integration, this one is gone. I don’t really need TV listings, and the interface on Now Playing is much nicer.
GAMES
Rolando – I think it’s safe to say ngmoco is the king of iPhone games. I have every single one they have released to far. This one in particular, has amazing graphics and soundtrack. It takes the best components of Loco Roco and elaborates on it making this a great platform puzzler type game that almost anyone can enjoy. You start each level with a certain amount of Rolandos, some whom can perform specific tasks, in order to reach the goal. Some levels you have to save the Royalty, which are larger Rolandos that you have to push along with other smaller ones. This game is a must for any iPhone user who enjoys video games.
Topple – another ngmoco release. Basically you have a platform where you start stacking shapes up to get to a certain height. The accelerometer comes in when your stack starts to sway in either direction, you are the master of gravity, trying to keep your stack from toppling before you reach your height requirement.
Dropship – ngmoco strikes again with another interesting take. This game combines components of Geometry Wars (graphics, control style) and Chopper (saving officers, while dodging enemy fire), it sort of bends the rules between 2D and 3D, something you will only understand if you play it. The pint of this game is to drop down into these cavern like levels to save officers and find the pod. Once you have attached to the pod you have to fly back out of the level before time runs out. It even pulls names from your contacts list and shows them as the names of the officers you are rescuing.
Dr. Awesome – ngmoco again. This game takes the cut scene style from games like Trauma Center, but takes the game play style from an old game called Qix. This game also takes names from your contact list to admit as your patients. You control the “scalpel” by using the accelerometer, hacking off bits of the infection as you draw lines across the space, hoping to trap the virus in the pieces you are cutting off before the time runs out.
Mazefinger – last one for ngmoco, for now… this one is up for free and looks like it could have come straight out of a Japanese arcade. Complete with robot voices and techno sound track, you do just as the title suggests. You trace your finger along a series of mazes to get to a goal. There are some surprises that make it a little more interesting than it sounds. So what are you waiting for, it’s free, go get it and try it!
Spore: Origins – if I had to pick another game that has the best graphics for the iPhone besides Rolando, this would be it. This one is an expanded version of the primordial ooze levels of the PC version of the game. You use the accelerometer to control your tiny customizable organism thorough a series of levels, hoping to one day evolve onto land.
Aurora Feint: The Beginning – a great free RPG-like puzzle game reminiscent of Bejeweled or Puzzle Quest. There is now a paid version where you can actually play against other players remotely.
Enigmo – another puzzler, this time using different objects given to you, you must deflect a certain amount of drops from a beginning point to a goal. Levels get increasingly difficult, sometimes even giving you more than one color of drops to guide to their own goals. Addictive fun.
Motochaser – you have probably all seen this on an iPhone commercial or two, I know it’s what prompted me to buy it, that and it was only $1. Not as good as some of the other racing games around, but well worth $1 in fun. I’m still waiting for Need For Speed to be released to take over the racer spot on my phone.
Dizzy Bee – another accelerometer based strategy game where you attempt to save your fruity friends and guide them to a goal through simple mazes with baddies in your way. Fun graphics and simple gameplay make this a perfect title for wasting a few minutes here and there. Dizzy Bee 2 is out, I haven’t played that one yet, but I’m sure they have improved on an already great game.
Crossbones – pirate themed card game in which you can compete against friends on the same WiFi network.
Super Monkey Ball – after having played this series on a variety of other consoles, it feels right at home on the iPhone using the accelerometer as the controls. It almost feels as if this game were built for the iPhone, although the Wiimote does a pretty good job. My only complaint is that the controls are quite sensitive and have a lot of getting used to, but once you figure that out, this is a great game with amazing graphics. It can compete with any other handheld gaming device.
Scrabble – you know it, you love it, you’ve played it for years on the coffee table. Now you can play a friend on the same WiFi network, or up to 4 people total using the pass and play method. Whichever you decide to do, there is no cheating in this version, it knows words like noob and haxor are not in the dictionary.
Chimps Ahoy! – a very entertaining take on the breakout style of game. In this monkey/pirate themed game your playing field is in the center while you have a paddle at the edge of both the left and right side of the screen. You bounce your balls back and forth until you have cleared the center. Great fun, cool graphics, and you can even dress your monkey up after you have won some upgrades, what more could you ask for?
I Love Katamari – another series that just feels like it was built for the iPhone. You are the Prince once again rolling up the world with your Katamari, in order to please the King. Either love it or hate it, personally I cant get enough of this series on any platform.
Antimatter – this one is another arcade type game. You control this little bit of glowing antimatter around the screen attempting to effect (change from blue to red) these floating cosmic strings. When all have been effected you move onto the next level. There are power up involved, but the game is so unique you have to play it to even try and understand what it going on here. Epic soundtrack and polished graphics make this game well worth $1.
Trism – last but not least, this game picks up where games like Bejeweled left off. Not to say it’s better than Bejeweled, you still are attempting to create strings of similar colored blocks, but this time you are dealing with triangles. The direction the bricks fall after being eliminated is dependent on how you are holding your phone, which a full 360 range of how it can be held. The goal like similar games in the genre is to create strings of eliminations that build up into combos, score is what takes you to the next level. Don’t be fooled though there are many surprises in there attempting to get in the way of you placing a high score in the online leader boards.
MUSIC
RJDJ Single – great use of the iPhone hardware here. This is the free version of this app that contains only a couple “scenes”. One scene basically provides a sounds track to your life, it takes sounds from your surroundings and starts mixing them into a beat. Kinda sounds like what I would imagine it would be like on some sort of drug, where sounds are echoed and repeated. It’s a fun thing to show off the capabilities of the iPhone when people put it to use in creative ways. Other scenes include songs with tracks that are triggered by movement, bending the pitch, speeding up or slowing it down. This is another app only explainable by trying it out yourself.
Bloom – when the king of ambient Brian Eno makes and app, he does it right. Think of your fingers as water droplets and you touch the screen, different areas are comprised of lower and higher notes. Each group of drops you lay down are synced together to make it sound like you are writing your own Eno tune. You can set the delay between repeats to be longer or shorter, eventually your progressions will evolve. It’s another example of very creative use of the iPhone hardware. This app is both creative and relaxing, two of my favorite things.
Minisynth – an analog synth on a digital device? blasphemy! It has 10 presets and tons of adjustments that cant be made by you to create your own sounds.
Shazam – simple as holding your phone up to a song playing, it will transmit to a database and hopefully return the correct result. Not always accurate, but enjoyable never the less.
DigiDrummer Lite – this is the free version of a paid app that contains more than one set of drum sounds. 8 pads make for some fun finger drumming on the go.
Ocarina – I never, ever, expected to be blowing into my phone to make music. This app turns your phone into an ocarina. They even have tablature on their site to teach you how to play songs. Best of all, there is tab on how to play the Zelda theme!
PocketGuitar – while there are many guitar apps out there, this one costs $1 and has most if not all the features of the others. You can scroll up and down the fret board, implement effects (in while you can adjust the settings), use different instruments including acoustic and electric guitars, bass and ukulele, hammer on, bend, etc. Not much good for playing chords, but for picking its great!
MISC
I Can Has Cheezburger – if you haven’t heard of it, chances are you will, the official app of LOLcats, also has settings to check other sites like the Fail Blog. Hours of fun, great insight into what your cat is thinking while it’s staring at you.
Zippo Lighter – does what it says, suitable replacement for Freebird
Lightsaber Unleashed – Star Wars kid ain’t got nothing on you now that you have your trusty lightsaber at your side at all times.
Pull My Finger – bought this one first, wish I hadn’t, but now there is some new feature where you can light a fart? I have to try this…
iFart – fart sounds, well worth $1, great for use in quiet situations with lots of people. Elevators are preferred place to set this thing off. With names like the brown mosquito and the bubbler, how can you go wrong? You can set a timer or even set it so that next time someone picks up your phone it will go off. Timeless fun, because everyone knows how funny a fart is, right?
