Archive for the ‘App Store Apps’ category

iOS4 Updated Apps: Osfoora, Agendus, Reeder, AT&T MyWireless, Pano,

July 29th, 2010

As you all know by now, we’re still watching for iOS4 updates that crop up in the app store, and as always, if you guys see interesting ones, feel free to let us know. Here’s the ones we found in the last week or so, and if you haven’t checked for updates, go check that update tab and let us know if you caught something we didn’t!

Osfoora

Osfoora has taken the place as my favorite Twitter client (for now anyways). They received an iOS4 update we covered a few weeks back, but this one is even better. It adds full retina display support for the iPhone 4 and boy is it pretty. The whole app got somewhat of a facelift as well. The text really pops and the main menus have been revamped. So if you haven’t updated, go for it, or if you are looking for a Twitter client, Osfoora is definitely one of the best around.

[iTunes Link]

Agendus

Agendus is basically an all-in-one app for all the important information on your phone. It basically intertwines your contacts, calendars, and apps into one native app. If you’ve always wanted something that would do this, Agendus is more than decent. The new version adds iOS4 support as well as a new high res icon.

[iTunes Link]

Reeder

Reeder is one of my favorite RSS clients. If you don’t have one and want a full featured one with Google Reader integration, there’s a good chance Reeder will do what you need it to, and then some. This update adds support for the iPhone 4 retina display. The icon just looks so fancy on my homescreen now, as well as all my articles being incredibly sharp. Good job on this one guys, it’s an awesome update.

[iTunes Link]

AT&T MyWireless

AT&T just pushed through an update to their MyWireless app that adds retina support for the iPhone 4. This app basically allows you to view usage, manage features, and even pay your bill via the app. I’ve been using it to pay my bill for quite a while now. Pretty convenient. If you’re an AT&T customer, go ahead and pick it up, it’s free.

[iTunes Link]

Pano

Pano is an awesome app to stitch together pics on the go. It’ll save them directly in your camera roll. The interface is dead easy to use and once you snap a pic it’ll give you guides to line up your next shot with the previous one. This update fixed several bugs and crashes. Mine was continuously crashing under iOS4 but it doesn’t anymore. If you guys noticed anything different than iOS4 compatibility in this one, let us know!

[iTunes Link]

iOS4 Updated Apps: Osfoora, Agendus, Reeder, AT&T MyWireless, Pano, is a story by TiPb. This feed is sponsored by The iPhone Blog Store.

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Posted in App Store Apps, Apple, Apps, app store, app updates, iOS 4 apps, iOS4, ios 4, iphone

Plunderland for iPhone- app review

July 27th, 2010

Plunderland is Apple’s App of the Week this week. Does it deserve it? Yes and no. Developer JohnnyTwoShoes has made a solid effort to bring pillaging across the sea in the hands of eager gamers.

The premise of Plunderland is you are a ghost with pirates that sail across the sea to attack and sink enemy ships, pillage tribes people and take money from their monuments then make it to the next port. Sounds fun? Well, get used to it because that is what you do over, and over, and over again with little variety. Call me a stinker, but I don’t see the allure with this game.

Sure, the water physics are nice. You tilt the iPhone left or right to make your boat move in that direction. When there is a storm, etc, the water behaves in a more erratic manor, making maneuvering more difficult. Once you are on the high seas, you come across your enemy; the British warships. You have a couple ways to take them out. First is to use your ships cannon. You have a nifty way of angling the cannon to shoot your targets, just move your finger along the bottom and you will get a reticule via a line that helps your aiming. Release your finger and you fire your cannonballs. Second, you can use the enemies cannonballs against themselves. Before the enemy launches an attack, the cannon will puff smoke, that is your cue to ready your finger and deflect the cannonball back upon the enemy ship and with luck, split it in two!

I know, I make it sound exhilarating, and it is the first two or three times you do it. Sadly, Plunderland does little to keep your attention. Future attacks add blimps and more, but the fun is gone by that point. The attacking villagers is a simple “tap, tap. tap” on the totems to get money and fling some villagers around in an effort to extract some more dough. Again… zzzz…

There is nice upgrade system though, you can upgrade your ship, cannons and bowsprits by earning said money above. The game has excellent promise. The controls, physics and graphical style all lend them selves to a success. However, the bland I really, really wanted to like this game, being highlighted on Apple’s App Store, but alas, mateys, I just can’t bring myself to recommend this lack-luster treasure.

[$2.99- iTunes Link]

UPDATE: I had a delightful Twitter chat with the developers. I explained that I had played 50% thorough the game and became unchallenged with the levels and objectives. They understood and are looking at a way to unlock the more exciting and complex levels earlier for more “hardcore” gamers. I also said that when I find the time to complete the game 100%, I would update this review to include my findings. I am hopeful that by the time I do this, they will have some new content available. You can follow the developer on Twitter here.

TiPb iPhone 2-star rated

Pros

Great graphics
Solid frame-rate
Good physics engine
Upgrade system

Cons

Very, very, very repetitive
Takes a while to become a challenge (the end of the second chapter)

Plunderland for iPhone- app review is a story by TiPb. This feed is sponsored by The iPhone Blog Store.

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Posted in App Reviews, App Store Apps, Apps, Games, Reviews, app, game, iphone apps, iphone games, pirates, plunderland

Pottery HD for iPad- app review

July 26th, 2010

Pottery HD is a unique virtual clay pottery app that can really only be done on the iPad. It shows what an enterprising developer can do with a large multitouch interface. This game is fun and relaxing.

When the game first launches, I was caught a little off guard as I had no idea what to do. You have a “Create” button and that is it. So, I started to create, experimenting with the controls. You can make the clay taller and shorter, wider and thinner. That’s about it. So, I made a pot and fired it up in the kiln. When it was done, it gave me an option to sell it. I thought to myself, “Who is going to buy it?”. As it turns out, no one regretfully as it is all virtual. Once I sold my pottery I earned some virtual money. At the main menu a new feature appeared, “Shop”. Now I had access to paints and brushes. I had a new feature appear as well, “Inbox”. So it appears that as you play the game you are given different objectives; unique pieces of pottery to make. You can reference the photo given to you and once you make it, you can send it off to the virtual requestor. You can play Pottery HD independent of the virtual quests and just have fun adding lots of different pottery creations to your collection. If you like, you can even share these creations with friends via email.

I have had a lot of fun with this game, however, I left it me wanting so much more. For example, I would like a way to regulate the spinning of the pottery wheel; it stays at a constant speed. Also, you can’t add or remove clay either. It would be great to add globs of clay to truly make your pottery any size you want, but instead, you are limited by the vertical size of the screen. The biggest enhancement I would like to see is the ability to share online. The marketplace is limited to a virtual settings, you can’t see other users creations. This is such a wasted opportunity in my opinion.

Overall I really enjoyed Pottery HD, but it’s glaring lack of features and options lend me to recommending only for the most casual of users.

[$4.99- iTunes Link]

Pros

Pottery looks beautiful
Sensation of actually making pottery
the Inbox adds hours of creative fun if you are stumped on what to make

Cons

Not completely fleshed out with features (missing ability to control clay wheel rotation)
No Internet- based way to trade with others

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Posted in App Reviews, App Store Apps, Apps, Reviews, app, collection, colors, create, email, inbox, ipad, ipad apps, pottery, share

iOS 4 app updates: 1Password Pro, Dragon Dictation, BargainBin

July 24th, 2010

Just a quick update on some freshly released iOS 4 goodness today. As you know, Ally has been watching the App Store for iOS4 compatible updates and if you guys find anything especially awesome, feel free to leave it in a comment or send it to her in an e-mail (ally (dot) kazmucha (at) tipb (dot) com) and if we think it’s awesome too, we’ll include it in our next roundup!

1Password Pro

If you’re a 1Password desktop (Mac or Windows) user with a Dropbox account, 1Password Pro’s latest version is nothing short of a revelation. Just open it up, log into your Dropbox account, and all your passwords and secure data are automagically synced to your iPhone, iPad, iPod touch over the air (OTA). This is the big one. This is what all Todo, Notes, and every other app that should be everywhere needs to do, with every major online storage option. It’s the future.

Oh, and it looks great on Retina Display and works great with iOS 4 fast app switching as well too.

(And yeah, there’s even an Android version now for those who dual-wield).

[$14.99 - iTunes link]

Dragon Dictation

Sure, iOS 4 still lacks universal voice integration but luckily… wait for it… there are apps for that. Dragon Dictation is one of the big guns and it’s just updated to include Facebook and Twitter support, send text to the clipboard and paste into SMS. It’ll also be coming to the UK soon. (They’ve figured out brogue, apparently).

[Free - iTunes link]

BargainBin

App Advice’s BargainBin lets you set a price for an app (including free) and then alerts you when the app drops to that price. So, for example, if you know holidays usually beget sales and there’s a game that’s been just a bit too expensive for your tastes, you set it up in BargainBin and if it drops to your sweet spot, you’ll know about it and you can go get it. (And if you’re cheeky enough to have set BargainBin itself to free, here’s you’re alert — it’ll cost you nothing for a limited time).

[Free on sale - iTunes link]

iOS 4 app updates: 1Password Pro, Dragon Dictation, BargainBin is a story by TiPb. This feed is sponsored by The iPhone Blog Store.

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Posted in 1password, 1password pro, App Store Apps, Apps, bargain bin, dragon dictation, iOS 4 apps, iphone 4 apps, iphone apps

Chain Link Pro for iPhone – App Review

July 24th, 2010

Chain Link is based on the concept of creating as many links as you can and dragging them into the vortex in the middle of the screen without disturbing any other types of links. The game starts off fairly easy and gets harder pretty quick. There’s also support for OpenFeint to share your scores with your friends and other Chain Link users. I found the game pretty addicting after a while. Hit the jump for more screens and a walkthrough.

When you first open Chain Link, you’ll be asked to choose a game mode. The differences are that in easy mode (static), the pieces won’t move by themselves. They stay in one spot, where in arcade mode, they’ll move around, making it harder to avoid collisions. Whenever pieces collide with another piece that isn’t a like kind, instead of creating a chain, the pieces that collide will shatter. You’ll also lose one of your lives. You get 3 lives. After your third collision, game over.

Besides having regular game play modes, you can also choose timed modes. The pieces will float up from the bottom and down from the top and you’ll have to try and coordinate chains as quickly as possible and drag them to the center.

All in all, Chain Link is a pretty decent game to kill time with. It gets hard pretty quickly and there’s tons of game play modes to keep you busy. There’s nothing more depressing than beating a game you like in a couple days and either having to wait for an update to add more levels or just retiring it altogether. Especially when it’s a game you enjoy. I don’t see this being the case with Chain Link. There’s a lot of different game play options to keep you busy for quite some time. I think adding a few more options and maybe more visually appealing menus could improve the user experience.

[iTunes Link]

Pros

Easy to play

Lots of game play settings

OpenFeint Support

Cons

Some of the game play modes are a lot alike

The addition of more shapes would be welcome in order to make game play just a bit more complex for expert players

Main menu is somewhat cluttered

YouTube Link

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iOS 4 App Updates: Foursquare, Pulse News Mini, Paypal, iTranslate, eBay Mobile

July 23rd, 2010

We’re still keeping our eye out for great iOS 4 apps that take advantage of the new APIs and features available to developers under iOS4. We’ve found a couple more good ones to share with you guys, and as always, if you see any good ones, drop ‘em in the comments so we can check them out too!

Foursquare

Even though Foursquare has already received a general update for iOS4, it seems they’re still adding new features. Along with several needed bug fixes, they’ve added support for in-app sms and e-mail as well as more support for iPhone 4 retina display. I was pretty disappointed in Foursquare for quite a while as far as the GPS refreshing and multitasking but it appears this version fixed most of my complaints. It’s nice to see they’re taking an active role in improving the overall user experience.

[iTunes Link]

Pulse News Mini

I took a look at this app about a month ago. It’s still got a ways to come functionality, but its hands down one of the most gorgeous RSS apps available for iOS. I’ve found myself using Pulse for quick reading and using Reeder when I actually want to sit down and catch up on any missed RSS feeds I hadn’t had time to read. This version adds support for the iPhone 4 retina display as well as adding some speed enhancements. It also adds a cool feature where you can bump phones with a friend that uses Pulse and share your feeds and articles. Beats e-mailing them a link for sure.

[iTunes Link]

Paypal

The Paypal app got a much needed update a few months ago that added more core functionality, but since then, it’s somewhat sat stagnant beyond minor bug fixes. It appears this version adds iOS4 support but Paypal hasn’t elaborated on exactly what that entails. I don’t believe there is retina display support (at least it doesn’t look any sharper to me). I’m assuming basic enhancements such as multitasking and better compatibility is what they’ve added. I had a few crashes with the Paypal app on iOS4 but since the update, it appears to be crash free.

[iTunes Link]

iTranslate

I know there’s tons of translation apps out there, but iTranslate still remains one of my favorites. It’s simple and clean. This version adds support for the retina display for iPhone 4 users as well as fast app switching and in-app SMS. If you’re looking for a simple translator, it doesn’t get any easier than this app. There’s also a plus version and in-app purchase available for text to speech.

[iTunes Link]

eBay Mobile

I’ve been a fan of the eBay mobile app since it came out. It’s been nice to be able to browse through auctions quickly on the go. This update adds support for fast app switching and high resolution images for iPhone 4 users. It also addresses some issues as well as adding an easier Paypal solution in-app. If you haven’t picked it up yet, it’s free. Check it out!

[iTunes Link]

Hope you guys are having as much fun with iOS 4 as we are! Let us know your thoughts on these updates as well as anything you guys may stumble upon that we missed!

iOS 4 App Updates: Foursquare, Pulse News Mini, Paypal, iTranslate, eBay Mobile is a story by TiPb. This feed is sponsored by The iPhone Blog Store.

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Posted in App Store Apps, Apple, Apps, app store, compatible, iOS 4 apps, iOS4, iphone 4, iphone apps

Apple launches free case program, app

July 23rd, 2010

Apple iPhone 4 free bumper case

Apple’s free iPhone 4 bumper/case program has just gone live on the web… and in an app. (Insert app for that joke here if you really, really have to).

If you haven’t bought a bumper already:

Download the iPhone 4 Case Program app from the App Store. 2 Launch the app on your iPhone 4 and sign in using your iTunes Store account or Apple ID.
Select your Bumper or case.

For iPhone 4 purchases made before July 23, 2010, you must apply no later than August 22, 2010; otherwise, you must apply within 30 days of your iPhone 4 purchase. To qualify for this program, you must purchase your iPhone 4 by September 30, 2010.

There’s also information on how to get a refund for those who did purchase a bumper already from Apple or AT&T.

Have you gotten your refund yet? Or are you getting a free case? Let us know which one in comments!

[Apple.com, iTunes app link, thanks to everyone who sent this in]

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NOVA gets Retina Display and Gyroscope support

July 22nd, 2010

Gameloft’s NOVA has just received one awesome update; high-res retina display support and the ability to use the gyroscope (looks like Gun Range proved useful after all) for iPhone 4. First let’s talk graphics…

This game looks absolutely amazing. Color. Crispness. It’s all there. No aliasing problems, things just look great. Now for the not so great news, the Gyroscope.

I have been playing with the NOVA update for the last couple of days and for the life of me, I can’t seem to feel comfortable using the gyroscope in conjunction with the traditional controls. Sure, the gyroscope is precise. Sure you can pivot in a circle and the game will rotate with you. But when it comes to playing in a firefight with aliens, it is hard to be using the traditional controls to pan while using the gyroscope to aim. Perhaps I just don’t have the reflexes of my youth, but I found the experience frustrating. Thankfully you can turn the gyroscope controls off.

This was just my experience, how are you liking the update? Let us know in the comments!

Video after the break.

[$4.99- iTunes link]

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Posted in App Store Apps, Apps, Games, app, fps, gameloft, gyroscope, high res, iOS 4 apps, iphone 4 apps, iphone games, multiplayer, nova, online, retina display

Skype updated to support iOS 4 background VoIP multitasking

July 21st, 2010

Skype for iPhone has just hit version 2.1 and brings with it the ability to run iOS 4 background VoIP multitasking. Yes, you finally have the ability to leave Skype running and answer calls as an almost equal citizen to the built in, old-school Phone app.

Hurrah.

If you try it out, let us know how it works for you.

[iTunes via BGR]

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Spider: Bryce Manor HD for iPad – app review

July 21st, 2010

Having played Spider on the iPhone, I was really excited to see what Spider: Bryce Manor HD had to offer for the iPad. As with most iPhone to iPad games, the experience is much better having the increased screen real estate. Let’s take a look at the game.

The premise in Spider is that you play a spider in the forest who makes its way into the Bryce Manor. Because of this, you have a wide variety of locales from the outside forest, closets, bathrooms, cellars, attics and more. The point of every level is to unlock an exit portal after defeating a certain amount of enemies.

Movement is accomplished by tapping and holding the direction on the screen you wish to walk. You can leap great distances by swiping your finger in the direction you want to go. You can spin webs by tapping the spider, then swiping the direction you want; that will spin a section of a silk web. You need to interlace at least three pieces of silk to make a web.

How do you defeat your enemies? Well, you have a couple of different ways. Your enemies consist of several different types of annoying bugs. Some are simple to capture, others can be very frustrating (such as the mosquito that dodges your every move). You capture insects by spinning silk. You have a silk meter in the bottom left. When you launch to make a web, you use one piece of silk. Silk is replenished x2 when you capture and consume your prey. So, it may take 3 pieces of silk to make a web, but if you only capture one insect, you are down one piece of silk. The goal is to capture as many insects in a web as possible to rack up silk and points. If you run out of silk, you have just a little bit of time before it’s game-over; you will need to consume prey before the timer runs out!

Insects can be killed differently depending on the enemy, for example, wasps can’t be captured in a web, you have to leap at them and crush them against a surface. Moths can be tricked to swarm together by triggering a light and dragon flies and be knocked dizzy and pushed into a web for consumption.

Spider HD has 38 levels to keep you busy and many levels have “secrets” to unlock. There is also a fun multiplayer mode and once you beat the game you have additional game modes to play such as a time attack mode and more.

I really enjoyed Spider HD and with the iPad’s larger screen, it is even more fun to play. This is one of those must-buys on iPad if you like this style of game.

[$4.99- iTunes Link]

Pros

Unique game
Beautiful graphics
Lots of levels
Challenging gameplay

Cons

Sometimes I find the leaping precision to be off, but it could be me
Some levels are really short

Spider: Bryce Manor HD for iPad – app review is a story by TiPb. This feed is sponsored by The iPhone Blog Store.

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Posted in App Store Apps, Apps, Web, app, bryce, ipad, manor, spider, unique

MOG music app for iPhone/iPod touch launches in App Store

July 20th, 2010

Today MOG (Music on the Go) [iTunes Link - free download] has been released into the App Store. For $10/per month you will get access to over 8 million songs with the ability to store the MP3 files (up to 320Kbps) directly on your iPhone/iPod touch to listen to them whenever and wherever you want. Keep in mind this is purely an app that allows you to store the music locally on your iOS device and not actually keep or transfer the files.

Unlike some of the streaming music apps such as Pandora, with MOG you get ad-free music from favorite artists with no limit on the number of consecutive tracks by a single artist. The one big pitfall is the current lack of multi-tasking support. On a positive note we were promised that this will be added within a few weeks time period.

Be sure to check out the video after the the break and if you give MOG’s free three-day, no commitment trial a go let us know what you think in the comments below!

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iBooks 1.1.1 hits App Store

July 20th, 2010

Apple has just set iBooks 1.1.1 loose in the App Store. A point release, it does sneak in some nice functionality none-the-less:

Double-tap an image within a book to view it in greater detail.
Experience books that include audio and video.
Enjoy substantial performance improvements when reading PDFs.
Look-up definitions to English words inside books without a specified language.
Addresses an issue that may have caused some book downloads to not complete.
Includes many stability and performance improvements.

If you’re trying it out, let us know how it works for you.

[iTunes, thanks @daveizzle!]

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Camera+ for iPhone – app review

July 19th, 2010

Camera+ for iPhone is a photography application that allows you to take photos and edit them. tap tap tap claims Camera+ is “all about one thing – GREAT PHOTOS!” How does Camera+ hold up to this expectation? Follow along to find out.

When you launch Camera+, you will be looking at the back of camera with a view finder. Under the viewfinder, where there would normally be a screen on a digital camera, there are two options: take photos and Lightbox. Behind the camera, you can see a little of what your iPhone’s camera can see. Inside the viewfinder, you’ll see a very small version of exactly what your camera sees. Tap on the viewfinder or “take photos” to take a picture.

When taking a photo, there is a 3×3 grid to help line up your shot (optional). There is also a stabilizer which will not snap the picture until the iPhone is held still. This is great for low light situations or when you are zoomed in (up to 5x).

The Lightbox is where you go to view all the photos you’ve taken with Camera+. The Lightbox is designed with filmstrips containing 3 photos each and is very visually appealing. None of the photos save to your camera roll until you tell it to. This is great for keeping your camera roll clutter-free of photos you don’t want. Tapping a photo brings up options to edit, save, copy, or share. Double tapping a photo makes it larger and provides the same options.

There are 4 different ways to edit your photos: scenes, crops, effects, and borders. Scenes is similar to the different modes you might find on a digital point and shoot camera: auto, flash, sunset, night, backlit, portrait, beach, scenery, concert, food, and text. There are 9 different common crop ratios available. The 21 different effects are categorized as color, retro, and special. I am impressed with all the options and quality of these effects. They are fun and look great. There are 7 different borders to choose from. Most are very basic; the only “fun” one being “instant” which makes your photo look like it was taken with a polaroid camera.

Overall, I was impressed with Camera+. The plethora of good effects makes the app worth it alone. Camera+ does a great job of producing great photos.

[$1.99 - iTunes link]

Pros

Unique UI
5x zoom, stabilizer, and grid available when taking photos
Creatively designed Lightbox to scroll through pictures
Many scene modes, crop ratios, borders, and effects
Share to Facebook, Twitter, and Flickr
Support for multitasking, Retina Display, flash, and front facing camera on iPhone 4
Access photo library to edit photos not taken with Camera+

Cons

Landscape only supported when taking and viewing photos
Cannot view photos in full screen
Saving a photo to camera roll removes it from the Lightbox

TiPb iPhone 4.5-star rated

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Posted in App Reviews, App Store Apps, Apps, Reviews, camera, iphone, iphone apps, photography, tap tap tap

Sex shock! Nudity disbelief! iChatr Chat-Roulette-style app for iPhone 4 pulled from App Store

July 18th, 2010

Apple has yanked iChatr — the chat-roulette-style app for iPhone 4 — from the iTunes App Store.

If you’re familiar with what goes on in these kinds of apps, the (predominantly male) nudity and sexual activity, then this probably doesn’t come as much of a surprise. If you’re not familiar, you probably downloaded it, became familiar quickly, and near instantly complained to Apple prompting the removal.

According to the developers, SKJM:

“The iChatr application has currently been removed from the App Store due to reports of a number of users exposing themselves during the random video chat sessions. We are currently discussing possible solutions to the problem with Apple.”

Jeff Scott from 148.apps adds:

you might as well stop now unless you have some wicked automatic genital recognition technology built in.

Good luck with that. And as to Apple’s second, open development platform, HTML5, we’re not sure that supports the porn-cam yet…

[148apps]

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iOS4 apps: Amazon.com, WebMD, SimplyTweet, Mapquest, Audible

July 18th, 2010

It’s been a while since our last iOS 4 compatible apps roundup so we figured it was time for another. I’ve seen quite a few updates come through in the past week or so but here’s the ones that caught my eye the most. And as always, if you see any you think are above the curve, let us know in the comments!

Keep reading to see what’s been added this time!

Amazon.com App

Amazon has a pretty appealing iPhone app. I frequently browse it on my iPhone while laying in bed or when I’m sitting somewhere bored. You can not only browse, but manage your account and purchase things. The entire process is pretty simple. Amazon has now added high resolution images to support the iPhone 4’s retina display. Best of all, the app’s free.

[iTunes Link]

SimplyTweet 3

SimplyTweet has long been at the top of my list for great Twitter clients. This time around, it got even better. Their update for iOS4 is probably one of the largest I have seen. They’ve not only added resolution enhancement for iPhone 4, but background uploading, fast app switching, and several other features. This update also seems to fix a lot of bugs. If you’re looking for a more than decent Twitter client and don’t mind dropping around $5, SimplyTweet is right up there with Osfoora and Twitter for iPhone.

[iTunes Link]

Mapquest 4 Mobile

There’s a lot of quality navigation apps out there, but for some of them, you’ll spend a pretty penny. Mapquest 4 Mobile is a very decent GPS app that won’t cost you anything. It’s been updated to support background voice navigation under iOS4. It’s also a very decent app to view common things such as restaurants, gas stations, coffee shops, schools, etc.. I’ve used it for a few weeks now and it suits my navigation needs just fine. If you haven’t tried it yet, it’s free to check it out!

[iTunes Link]

WebMD

WebMD is an incredibly useful tool for looking up a lot of medical issues all in one place. It has features such as a symptom checker, treatment recommendations, and my favorite feature, the pill identification tool. If you’ve ever found random pills in a drawer or the label is peeled off, odds are you can probably narrow it down to a few with this. I’m not exactly sure what all WebMD has added but I’m pretty sure fast app switching is now working (assuming they aren’t just caching like some apps did under 3.x), and it seems to look a little better on the iPhone 4 than it did before. I’m not 100% on this so if anyone knows for sure, drop it in the comments!

[iTunes Link]

Audible

Audible is a great site (and app) to access your digital audiobooks. Once you have an account, you simply sign into the app and it’ll show what you have available. It also gives you a few choices for new users for free (not that great of a selection, but there is some). The app is free and now supports feature in iOS4 such as background downloading and background playback, which is awesome for those of you who want to listen to a book while being able to do other things on your iPhone. It’s a free download in the app store so if you are an audiobook fan, go and grab it!

[iTunes Link]

Those were our favorites, if you guys have some, drop ‘em in the comments for us!

iOS4 apps: Amazon.com, WebMD, SimplyTweet, Mapquest, Audible is a story by TiPb. This feed is sponsored by The iPhone Blog Store.

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Posted in App Store Apps, Apps, app store, compatible, iOS4, iphone, iphone 4

Blogshelf for iPad: give-away

July 16th, 2010

Blogshelf for the iPad is an RSS reader that displays your feeds as magazines on a shelf. Imagine iBooks filled with blogs – that’s Blogshelf.

Magazine layout, just swipe your finger to navigate
White/Black theme
Contrast setting for night reading
Font adjustment
Offline reading with images
Download full content articles for selected news sources that usually only give you the short article summary on other readers
Organize blogs and feeds visually
Swipe menu bar designed for left and right handed users
Translate text from foreign languages to your own, based on your iPad’s regional setting
Search feed powered by Google
Hundreds of handpicked blog and feed organized by topics (TiPb is included in Apple topic!)
User Favorites (request your favorite feeds by email)
Subscribe to to 90 blogs and feeds

The good folks over at gdiplus have generously provided us with some promo codes to give you! Just let us know why Blogshelf would be a great addition to your iPad app collection and we’ll randomly choose 3 winners. After you’ve done that, be sure to check out our review of Blogshelf!

Give-away starts now and ends Sunday, July 18 at midnight PST. (Promo codes require US iTunes Store account — Apple’s rule, not ours — and they expire so if you get one, use it quickly!)

[$4.99 - iTunes link]

Blogshelf for iPad: give-away is a story by TiPb. This feed is sponsored by The iPhone Blog Store.

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Osfoora for iPhone – App Review

July 14th, 2010

Osfoora is a Twitter client that’s been gaining a lot of traction on the iPhone platform. Me, being me, decided to finally give it a go. As we already know, I’m extremely shallow and finicky when it comes to picking an everyday Twitter client. But as we all know, there’s tons to choose from and what may suit one person, doesn’t suit another. For me, I’ll use whatever serves as the best all around client for me until something better pops up. In my opinion, Osfoora is the best all around client right now.

Hit the jump for tons of screens and an overview!

[iTunes Link]

Like clients such as Tweetings, Osfoora’s general layout looks a lot like the official Twitter for iPhone client, which isn’t a bad thing. It also adds a couple simple customization options such as a user home screen. You can tweak the colors to your liking as well.

You can also choose between two themes, light and dark. I prefer the light theme but a lot of users like the dark look as well. I think it provides a balance without overdoing it and ruining the UI.

Osfoora boasts a lot of the features we’ve come to expect from a good Twitter client. It supports pull down to refresh, lists, uploading pics and videos, conversation views, read it later, search (nearby, users, keywords), now playing, link shorteners, hashtags, and much more. Another feature I like is the Follow Friday feature. It allows you to set up follow Fridays in a much easier way than editing and adding people manually. You can choose how many people you’d like it to post from your friends list. It’s definitely a neat feature a lot of users may enjoy using over entering their Follow Fridays manually.

Nearby Tweets also has a cool add-in I haven’t seen many Twitter clients implement. Given I’m not a huge user of nearby, maybe some do, but I’ve never noticed it. Osfoora has added in a list view in addition to the map view. This seems a lot easier to browse through than looking at a map and tapping individual bubbles to read tweets. It’s minor, but shows the developer really put a lot of thought into user experience.

Profile viewing is also similar to a lot of other popular Twitter clients. It’s got basic user profile information, follow information, list support, block user, and report as spam access. Overall, I feel comfortable saying Osfoora will stay in my iPhone dock until something better comes along. The only thing I’d really like to see added is native push. Boxcar does support Osfoora, but I’ve been having a lot of issues with Boxcar lately. I’ve also tried Notifo, but as of now, I couldn’t find a way to make Osfoora my default Twitter client for things to open within Osfoora instead of Twitter for iPhone. I don’t believe the functionality is there just yet. If I missed it though, let me know in the comments!

Pros

Clean but powerful UI

Easy to navigate, you can use it right from the gate without having to teach yourself too much

Developer put a lot of thought into the “little things”

Decent price

Cons

No native push support

Osfoora for iPhone – App Review is a story by TiPb. This feed is sponsored by The iPhone Blog Store.

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Posted in App Store Apps, Apps, iphone, iphone apps, osfoora, twitter apps

Updated: Facebook for iPhone down – crashing repeatedly

July 14th, 2010

Facebook for iPhone seems to be experiencing some — hopefully temporary — problems as we’re getting flooded with users saying it’s crashing for them on launch, repeatedly.

So take some solace in knowing it’s not you or your iPhone, it’s Facebook. Feel free to sound off in the comments until they get it fixed…

Update 1: As mentioned below, remember Facebook is a website and you can still go to http://www.facebook.com on your iPhone while you’re for the app to come back online.

Update 2: Seems to be working again, let us know if you still have any problems or notice any other glitches.

Updated: Facebook for iPhone down – crashing repeatedly is a story by TiPb. This feed is sponsored by The iPhone Blog Store.

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Fruit Ninja for iPhone- app review

July 13th, 2010

My latest favorite iPhone game is Fruit Ninja. The premise of Fruit Ninja is simple; slice fruit, don’t miss any and don’t slice a bomb by mistake. Sound easy? Think again grasshopper! After beginning a game, fruit flies up from the bottom of the screen. You use your finger (or fingers) to slice the fruit. If a fruit falls back off the screen without being sliced, you receive an X. Three X’s and it’s game over. To make things interesting, bombs are thrown into the mix as well. So, not only are you trying to slice a lot of fruit coming at you and not missing any, you have bombs that shoot up as well. The challenge is, if you slice the bomb, it’s instant game-over.

When it comes to difficulty with this game, it is a nice and smooth curve. The issue is that once you get good at it, it would be nice to start at a higher difficulty. However, Fruit Ninja always starts you back at the beginning. Your efforts are not at a loss though, the game has plenty of achievements via Open Feint and unlockables. Different colored swords and backgrounds can be unlocked if you have the dedication and skill of a true ninja.

Fruit Ninja also has two different play modes. First is Classic. This is the primary play mode I have described above. Score points by slicing fruit while avoiding the bombs. Zen mode is fun and fast. There are no bombs, but you have a time limit to slice as many fruits as you can. This is not hard, what is hard to is to slice with combos to rack up more points. Check out the Open Feint leaderboards and you will see what I am talking about.

I can’t say enough about this game. It has great art direction, animation and fun. When you lose, it even gives you facts about fruit. This is a near-perfect game, I love it!

[$0.99- iTunes Link]

TiPb iPhone 4.5-star rated

Pros

Fun gameplay
Great graphics
Unlockable content

Cons

No option to start at a higher difficulty

Fruit Ninja for iPhone- app review is a story by TiPb. This feed is sponsored by The iPhone Blog Store.

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Posted in App Reviews, App Store Apps, Apps, Games, Reviews, app, fruit, fun, game, iphone, iphone apps, ninja, open feint

Skype vs fring – Fight!

July 12th, 2010

A war of words is a brewing between fring and Skype on both company’s respective blogs. It was just last week Fring updated their application to include 2-way video calling so that all of you iPhone 4 owners out there could video chat with your cross-platform buddies. According to the official fring blog users can no longer communicate with their Skype friends and fring is encouraging users to invite their Skype friends to join fring.

“We are disappointed that Skype, who once championed the cause of openness, is now attempting to muzzle competition, even to the detriment of its own users” said Avi Shechter, fring’s Co-Founder and CEO “We apologize to our users for the impact of Skype’s bullying and we will be happy to reconnect with Skype once Skype reverses their decision.” Avi continued, “We believe in communication openness and know that users will continue to vote with their mobile phones – opting for fring’s innovation, clarity, honesty and openness”.

Not long after fring released their statement Skype posted one of their own on their blog firing back and blaming fring for damaging their brand and reputation.

“Fring was using Skype software in a way it wasn’t designed to be used – and in a way which is in breach of Skype’s API Terms of Use and End User License Agreement. We’ve been talking with Fring for some time to try to resolve this amicably. However, over time, Fring’s mis-use of our software was increasingly damaging our brand and reputation with our customers. On Friday, for example, Fring withdrew support for video calls over Skype on iOS 4 without warning, again damaging our brand and disappointing our customers, who have high expectations of the Skype experience.”

We will be watching this one very closely, until then who’s side are you on? Sound off in the comments!

[TechCrunch]

Skype vs fring – Fight! is a story by TiPb. This feed is sponsored by The iPhone Blog Store.

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Penultimate for iPad- app review

July 12th, 2010

My latest productivity app this week? Penultimate for iPad. There are several competing “free hand” note taking apps on our favorite tablet device. After our recent TiPb at Work Post, I thought I would see if Penultimate tries to separate itself from other note apps on the iPad. Is being simple with just enough of a “feature” to get the job done enough?

Penultimate starts you off with a single notebook. That notebook serves as a tutorial to show you how to use Penultimate. The example notebook is excellent as it “teaches” you everything you need to know about the app. The basic setup is this; you can have virtually unlimited notes in your notebook. You tap the bottom right corner to go to the next page and the bottom left corner to go to the previous page. You have a pen, eraser and a clear page button at the bottom as well. On the main screen you can create your own notebook, email or delete notebooks as need, you can even rename them by tapping the name located below the notebook.

Writing in Penultimate is a pure joy. As you draw or write with your fingers, the developers have given the virtual ink a very distinct look, almost like calligraphy. The ink is thick in some areas and thinner in others. If you want to adjust the thickness or color of your ink, simply tap and hold the pen icon at the bottom of the page to make your changes.

You can create new notebooks with the tap of a button located in the top left hand corner. The top right hand corner gives you additional settings. The style of paper be changed from graph to lined for example, you can reposition the tools (pen, eraser, etc.) to the top of the page and even email the entire notebook or just the page you are on via email. Penultimate converts the notebooks to PDFs for emailing.

I like Penultimate for what it does; it is a simple no-frills note taking tool. I find there to be a couple of irritations however. In landscape view, you are given a cropped view of the page and you can flick the right side of the screen to scroll towards the top and bottom. I feel there has to be a better way to implement this, or, give me completely different functionality in landscape. The other issue is that there is no way to zoom to give yourself more space; the notebook is it’s real size and there is no zooming. I would have liked to have seen a pinch-zoom function that increased the size of your note area. Ah, perhaps in a future release. Regardless, Penultimate is a beautiful fun and easy note taking tool that most of use can find a use for in our busy lives.

[$2.99- iTunes Link]

TiPb iPad 4-star rated

Pros

Simple
Beautiful design
Ink looks great
Animation is smooth

Cons

Landscape view is awkward to use
No pinch to zoom functionality

Penultimate for iPad- app review is a story by TiPb. This feed is sponsored by The iPhone Blog Store.

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Posted in App Reviews, App Store Apps, Apps, Reviews, app, draw, ipad, ipad apps, notebook, notes, pen, penultimate, sketch, writing

NAVIGON MobileNavigator goes iOS 4

July 11th, 2010

NAVIGON dropped us a note to let us know that new, feature-filled, iOS 4-friendly version of MobileNavigator they previewed for us back at WWDC 2010 has hit the App Store and is available now. It includes:

Live Weather
Clever Parking
Destination Information Display
iOS 4 integration (including multitasking)
Enhanced Retina display buttons and icons for the iPhone 4
Latest NAVTEQ Maps
Pedestrian Mode Voice Guidance
Enhanced Reality View™ Pro and display of street names in the map view

What’s more, NAVIGON is offering limited time, promotional pricing to help ease new users into the new version — $49.99 for MobileNavigator North America and $17.99 for MobileNavigator US MyRegion is available for $17.99 (additional regional map can be accessed as an In App Purchase for $12.99).

[iTunes link]

NAVIGON MobileNavigator goes iOS 4 is a story by TiPb. This feed is sponsored by The iPhone Blog Store.

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Posted in App Store Apps, MobileNavigator, Navigon, News, iOS 4 apps, ios 4, iphone, iphone 4, iphone 4 apps, iphone apps, turn-by-turn

Chirpy for iPhone – give-away

July 11th, 2010

Chirpy for iPhone is a Twitter application that focuses strictly on direct messages. High Order Bit, the creators of Twitbit, have designed this app with the intention of it being a replacement to the Messages app. They have focused on bringing nearly instantaneous push notifications and a stripped down, yet beautiful, interface to make direct messages quick and easy.

Simple and easy-to-use design modeled after the built-in Messages app
Incredibly fast push notification
Support for multiple Twitter accounts
Integrates with your iPhone or iPod touch’s contact list
Upload photos
Photo previews right in the conversation view
Supports multitasking in iOS 4
High resolution app icon for iPhone 4’s Retina Display

High Order Bit has generously provided us with some promo codes for you, our lovely readers! For a chance to win, just leave a comment below telling us why you’d like to have Chirpy and we’ll randomly select 3 winners.

[$1.99 - iTunes link]

Chirpy for iPhone – give-away is a story by TiPb. This feed is sponsored by The iPhone Blog Store.

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Happy 2nd Birthday iTunes App Store!

July 11th, 2010

2 years ago today Apple launched the iTunes App Store and it’s safe to say the mobile world hasn’t been the same since.

1 year ago the iTunes App Store had 1+ billion downloads and 56,000+ apps, added turn-by-turn navigation, in-app purchases, and other new features.

Today there’s 5+ billion downloads and 225,000+ apps (including over 8500+ ipad apps), along with $1 billion paid out to developers, iAds, and multitask, among other things.

And it shows no sign of slowing down.

There are still issues with the app approval process to be sure, and Apple has wedged HTML5 every so slightly into the app spotlight. Never mind every competing OS, manufacturer, and carrier is falling all over themselves (and each other) to launch and grow app stores of their own — and some like Google’s and Palm’s are showing ever increasing and innovating results.

Overall, however, with the gateway device that is the iPod touch, the mobile mainstream converger that is the iPhone, and the bigger world that is the iPad, if anything it’s getting faster.

What will we see next, iOS apps on a new Apple TV? Replacing Dashboard and Front Row on the Mac? And what will Apple bring next March is iOS 5?

Jeff Scott from 148apps thinks iOS could hit 35 billion downloads next year. That sounds crazy, but 5 billion sounded crazy just a couple years ago. (And if it’s true, I think we’re going to need a bigger cake.)

So happy birthday iTunes App Store, congratulations on 2 great years. We can’t wait to see what you’ve got in store for us next.

Happy 2nd Birthday iTunes App Store! is a story by TiPb. This feed is sponsored by The iPhone Blog Store.

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Posted in App Store Apps, Development, Games, app store, birthday, ipad, iphone, ipod touch

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