2009 January : Free Iphone Applications

Archive for January, 2009

Jan

EyeTricks

posted by iPodFirst in Games

A new idea comes along every once in a while, and when some of those ideas do come, they surely bring in a breath of fresh air to Apple App community. One such idea is EyeTricks, made by independent developer George Giaslas. The App, as the name suggests, is a collection of optical illusions and tricky pictures. Not only is the concept new, and never done before on iPhone or iPod touch, but it’s also unique in that it adds a whole new angle to an App.

The App is basically a photo gallery, with 30 different optical illusions to choose from. You can browse the illusions in order, randomly, or alphabetically. Some of these optical illusions are famous, and have already been publicized plenty, so you’ll be bored with them. Others, however, are fairly unknown, and are pretty interesting to look at. It helps that the App displays instructions on how to view the optical illusion correct (what you should be looking for), than gives you a chance to look, and on third tap displays the results. This is something that is fairly essential in an optical illusion app, because lots of people may not get the correct answer, or may not see the 2 possible answers, and this app will let you do it.

EyeTricks

After all was said and done, however, we got bored of the App before we even finished all the optical illusions. While there may be a place for such an App in the future, we believe some major kinks will have to worked out first. The developer needs to add more optical illusions, as 30 is way too little for a serious App, and they need to add some value-added features, such as downloading new optical illusions daily, the ability to upload and share your own optical illusion, and perhaps even a discussion section. Those reasons and above are exactly why we’re giving this App a disappointing 2 out of 5 stars.

Jan

Soccer Kickoff Free

posted by iPodFirst in Games

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Soccer Kickoff Free is a game Application released by independent developer Mark Andrade. The game also comes in a paid version of the game, which simple drops the “Free” from the title. There is practically no difference between the two versions except in-game advertising, so we highly recommend you get the free version. In fact, you can’t even see the ads if you aren’t connected to the web, so there’s no question on which version to get

As for the actual game play in this App, it’s not much more than one of the traditional POWER/ANGLE shooter games that were very popular in the late 90’s and early 2000’s. The goal of the game is to kick the ball as far as you can, avoiding obstacles in the way, and taking advantages of powerups. You do so through the power/angle selector, and while it may seem simple, there is much more to the game than just choosing the highest power and angle. The obstacles and powerups make the game very interesting and addicting as well, with obstacles such as pylons, full-stop barriers, and slow down barrier, and powerups such as an additional kick, ball throw-up, and ball roll-down.

Soccer Kickoff Free

Besides all the obvious features, this game also takes it a step further for it’s users by creating high score tables. Not only can submit your score online to compete against millions of other people, but you can also save your score locally to compete against people that use your iPhone or iPod touch, and even yourself. Even with all these features, however, the developers were only able to take such a simple concept so far, and the game can get quite boring for repetitious play. So, even though the game was well developed, the concept for the game is fairly poor, and we award this game a sizable 3 out of 5 stars.

Jan

Magic iBall Free

posted by iPodFirst in Games

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Hasn’t everyone, at some point in their lives, used a Magic 8 Ball to answer various questions about their life? Now, kids of the tech age can do so as well, with the release of the Magic iBall Free for iPhone and iPod Touch. This App is completely free, and released through the App Store by independent developer Eric Redmond. It takes the traditional concept of a magic 8 ball, being a question answerer, and brings it to the next step through the iPhone and iPod Touch.

Function in this App has been expanded by the developer, and we applaud him for that. Just like a traditional Magic 8 Ball, Magic iBall Free lets you shake the ball to get your new fortune. Unlike a normal Magic 8 Ball, however, you can go into the settings page for the iPhone or iPod Touch and change some of the default options. You can choose the mode of the fortunes, which is basically what type of fortunes you would like come up. There are many choices to choose from, including Classic, Weird, Zen, Positive, and Negative. There are also some different viewing styles you can choose from, including Classic, Gold, Full Screen, and Smiley Face.

Magic iBall Free

So what did we think? We found the developer did an excellent job of creating a great app from a very simple idea, and for that they should be commended. We also had a lot of fun with this App, and it’s unique nature provided repetitious play for hours as we joked around with our friends. We couldn’t imagine playing this alone, however, and we can’t imagine playing it in a normal situation (we were on a long bus ride). Either way, this App can be some fun, and that’s why we’re going to award it a prestigious 4 out of 5 stars.

Jan

MagicPad

posted by iPodFirst in Productivity

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Many of the prebuilt Apps that come with the iPod Touch and iPhone aren’t exactly great, and App Developers have been working around the clock to create new Apps that can not only replace the functionality of those Apple Apps, but reinvent them altogether. One such App is MagicPad, which is an extremely advanced version of the Apple NotePad. The App was created by Proximi Inc, and the App certainly seems quite promising!

This App functions quite like the normal NotePad that comes with your iPhone or iPod Touch. You can easily perform tasks such as creating a new note, editing and old note, and erasing a previous note. The forte of this App, however, lies in it’s added features. There are a variety of really awesome features in this App, such as the ability to change fonts, change colors, change the size,Â and add stylings to your font (bold, italic, strike through, and underline. The biggest gem in this tool is, of course, it’s ability to allow users to easily copy and paste sections of the note from page to another.

MagicPad

The wasn’t without it’s fair share of complaints though! Some of the major complaints we had were limited fonts and hard to select settings. For example, it took us a couple of tries just to switch from one font to the next, and from one color to a different one. This was because the App doesn’t allow you to click on a setting and make your selection, and instead you must choose the setting you wish to edit and then slide your finger over to the selection. We found it would have been loads easier if they would have just went with the first way. Can’t argue much with a free App, however, and that’s why we’re giving this App a spectacular 4 out of 5 stars.

Jan

iHandy Level Free

posted by iPodFirst in Productivity

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It seems like Apps for just about everything are being released these days, and of course, home improvement wasn’t far behind. iHandy, a suite of Apps released to replicate every carpenter’s toolbox, now has a free demonstration App, called iHandy Level Free. The App functions as a very simple calibration tool, offering users a chance to use their iPhone or iPod Touch as a calibrator. The App was releasedÂ by iHandy Soft, which, as I mentioned above, also releases other various Apps for home improvement.

The App is very simple. There are only 2 buttons in the App, one is to center the calibration tool and the other is to hold the position you currently have. While there is some hidden functionality built into the App, such as the ability to switch from horizontal display to vertical display, there isn’t much more to this App or using this App. It was made as a simple carpenter’s tool, and that’s pretty much all it does.

iHandy Level Free

So while there’s not much for us to review in this free App, it certainly left us with an interesting question. What carpenter, even in today’s devastated home-building economy, is willing to tout around their iPhone or iPod Touch just to use their $1.99 tools? While we don’t know of any carpenter’s with the need, we wouldn’t be surprised to some actually using this in the future, and the price is a definite advantage since it can save you tens of dollars over traditional apps. Just don’t quiz us on the accuracy of the instruments! So, with that said, we still believe each individual tools has a value of $0.99, so if you’re going to get it, you should get it all together. Finally, we don’t see many normal people using this App, and it’s simplicity certainly doesn’t make it worth the price just to try it. With all that, we’re going to award this App a respectable 3 out of 5 stars.

Jan

iSki 2008 Lite Review

posted by iPodFirst in Games

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It’s Winter for most of the world, and that signals a huge change for the gaming world as well. What change is that, you may ask? Well, Winter is the time that most gaming companies move out of Summer sport games and into the Winter sports, and when that happens, a great skiing game or two are sure to come out! That’s exactly what the free version of iSki 2008, iSki 2008 Lite, sets out to do!

After downloading and installing the app from the store, we instantly went over to open it up. The app has fairly decent graphics throughout, and this was complimented with the burst of music we heard as soon as we opened up the app. The clip seemed to not flow nicely, and reset every minute or so, but that’s not what the reviews based on. You’re given a choice of 3 characters, and the concept is simple. You use the on-screen controls and the Apple Accelerometer to manoeuvre your character, who is snowboarding (not skiing!) down a slalom course. You get points for sticking on the correct side, and later for performing tricks. You can also go and submit these points to a high score table after you lose, which occurs after you crash too many times.

iSki 2008 Lite

This app certainly left us wondering about the future of this company, let along it’s other apps. First of all, they labelled a snowboarding game incorrectly as a skiing game. Secondly, their game was fairly boring, and nothing more than some very old Atari games. Finally, the fact that they sell any version of this type of game was enough alone to surprise us. We’re not sure about most people, but this game was certainly a major letdown for us. We feel if the developers would have done a bit more work, they could have earned a bit more than the dissappointing 2 stars out of 5 that’s we’re awarding them.

Jan

iChess Lite Review

posted by iPodFirst in Games

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As far as video games go, Chess is the only one that has been ported to every imaginable system, console, or machine, and of course, the iPhone and iPod Touch can’t be left behind! The aptly named iChess from MyMobileApps has claimed the seat for the Apple market by introducing two version, iChess Lite and iChess. The first one, of course, is free and that is what we will be focusing on in this review.

Upon downloading and installing the App, we were told that this App would include all features of the full-version game, with the addition of a small nag screen. Sure enough, the nag screen for MyMobileApps came up when we first started the App, and after waiting several seconds, a button to go to the came did too. The game looks just like a normal chess board, and the rest of the game functions just like one too, so we thought we’d focus on the unique features. The fact that the board is so small bit it slightly harder for our fingers to touch the little pieces, and that was a big letdown as we had to tap 3-5 times just to move on piece. The artificial intelligence, on the other hand, was very intelligent, and even gave an experienced chess player like myself a challenge.

iChess Lite

After a short game to get the feel of the app, we certainly feel like this application could make an exciting addition to any chess player’s iPhone or iPod Touch. We liked the fact that MyMobileApps released a full-feature version of their premium App for free, and we will definitely consider upgrading as the App is astounding. The only thing we would really fix is make the board larger to allow for easier gameplay, and the addition of online gaming. So overall, we gave this App 4 remarkable stars out of 5.

Jan

Falling Balls Review

posted by iPodFirst in Games

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Falling Balls is an extremely simple, yet addictiveÂ free arcade game from Bit 101, and is one the most popular games in the App Store right now. The game revolves around a very simple concept, and that is that you are a stick man, and you have to run from one side of the screen to the other to avoid getting hit by hordes upon hordes of falling balls. The game starts out fairly easy, and then gets harder and harder as time progresses. The object of the game is to get the highest score, which is calculated by the amount of time you can survive in this abnormal world.

We found the game to be fairly entertaining, and it certainly kept us tinkering around with it longer than most Apps do. The creator has done a very good job incorporating the Apple Accelerometer into their game, as that is how you move your stick man around. Even though it provides some fun game play, we found it was too simple for our taste, and we ended up getting bored. Bit 101 could have went further in the development of the game, such as adding powerups for the stick figure, creating a high score table, or playing online.

Falling Balls Review

Simpleness aside, we thought that Bit 101 should have put some real time and effort into creating this app, as it could have been something really great. The concept of the game was solid, and would have kept users playing for hours on end, but the fact that they only created one parallel and left it that turned us off. So after a couple of tries at the game, we uninstalled it, and that’s why we’re only giving this game 1 start out of 5. That’s not saying that Bit 101 can’t come back and re-invent the game though.

Jan

Chocolate Shop Frenzy Free

posted by iPodFirst in Games

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Digital Chocolate, an up-and-coming games developer, has released a free version of their highly popular app, Chocolate Shop Frenzy. The App, appropriately dubbed Chocolate Shop Frenzy Free, is another remake of the highly popular and addictive business management genre of games. In this game, you play a woman who has just decided to quit her day job and start her own chocolate shop full time. The game follows the example set forward by many another games that are just like it, and gives the player a chance to control the woman and run the shop. The concept is not new, by any standards, and is just another adaptation of the already highly congested genre.

The game play is fairly good, providing short 5 minute levels in which your goal is to serve the customers, using the new tools at your hands. We felt the levels were easy, and maybe even a bit too easy, and therefore we were able to sweep through them in under 15 minutes. The game also locks at the 4th level, in which you play a Bejewelled-style game, and after which you must purchase the premium version.

Chocolate Shop Frenzy Free

After all was said and done, this game failed to impress us, and we found ourselves removing the application just minutes after installing it. The concept behind it is addicting, yes, but the fact that you can not get past the fourth level without paying for the full version led us to ask why they even decided to release a free version. So, while the game had a good foundation, the company’s choice to not release an appropriate levels and provide enough gameplay for their users ruined that very foundation. Based on those reasons, we award this app a measly 2 out of 5 stars.

Jan

Facebook App Review

posted by iPodFirst in Social Networking

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Facebook, the legendary social networking platform that took over the browser, is now aiming for the mobile market with its new application, which is very simply called â€œFacebookâ€. This application has been released directly from Facebook and joins a host of other applications from competing social networks. The goal with all these applications is to grab a share of the mobile networking scene for their respective companies, and with Facebookâ€™s App, it seems we have found a winner.
The Facebook App was designed with the traditional Facebook navigation and feel in mind, and the App looks exactly the site would on a browser, minus some of the quirks. The entire App flows smoothly, with one page flowing into the next and easily touchable buttons to add comments and make updates. Facebook has really gone out of their way to make sure that both iPhone and iPod Touch users would have no problem performing essential functions on their App.

Facebook App Review

The functionality aspect of the Facebook App is very useful as well. Not only can you access your essential functions such as the news feed, notifications, and requests, but Facebook has also included various extras, such as their Facebook chat, photo uploading, and on-the-fly status updates. In addition, iPhone and iPod Touch specific functions such as the shake-to-refresh were very handy for us as well.

So, all in all, the Facebook App provided us with a great way to connect and perform the essential functions with one of the top social networking platforms on the web, which is why we are going to award it 4 out of 5 golden stars.

Free Iphone Applications

Archive for January, 2009

EyeTricks

Soccer Kickoff Free

Magic iBall Free

MagicPad

iHandy Level Free

iSki 2008 Lite Review

iChess Lite Review

Falling Balls Review

Chocolate Shop Frenzy Free

Facebook App Review

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