2009 March : Free Iphone Applications

Archive for March, 2009

Mar

Twitterfon

posted by iPodFirst in Social Networking

What do you get from a fusion of the world’s fastest growing electronics device and the world’s fast growing social networking site? If you don’t know what the above two things are, you’re a little behind the rest. I’m of course talking about the iPhone and iPod Touch, and Twitter. While I hope everyone is aware what the first is, I will tell you what Twitter is and how it works. Twitter is basically a site that lets you provide updates on what you’re doing, your life, etc., as long as it’s under 140 characters. The fusion of the two creates Twitterfon, an cool new twitter application that allows you to manage the site conveniently from your iPhone or iPod Touch. Created by Kazuho Okui, the app has grown to become the largest Twitter one in the entire world!

There’s not much to say about this App, except the fact that it gets the job it was made to do done. As far as we could tell, there was nothing that you can do on a computer-based twitter application that wasn’t possible on this App as well. Sure, there were some cool features that are present on computer applications such as TwitterDeck, but we understand that those features would be incredibly hard, if not impossible to port onto the iPhone and iPod Touch. The fact that this App cost us a frugal $0 made it even more enticing, and in the future, much more accessible to average iPhone and iPod user.

Twitterfon

So, apart from a few little glitches that made it difficult for us to function with the app (the text magnifier was invisible due to the input box being at the top). So, with all that said, we award this App a near-perfect 4 out of 5 stars.

Mar

Etch a Sketch Lite

posted by iPodFirst in Interface

comments (3)

As a lot of physical toys, games, and generally fun stuff is getting ported on to the iPhone and iPod Touch, and it seems that developers are all too willing to add to that list. Every once in a while, though, between the salt shaker App and the paper clip App, comes a great App that makes you think all those other failed Apps were worth it. One App that can truly live up to that is Etch a Sketch, and it’s free counterpart Etch a Sketch Lite. Derived from the popular children’s drawing game, the App is now tearing up the App market and people’s devices everywhere. The developer is game developing company Freeze Tag Inc.

We weren’t expecting much when we downloaded this App. Basically an etch a sketch that had been directly ported into the Apple interface. If we were excited to play that, imagine our reaction when we learned that Freeze Tag Inc. had went the extra mile and added a whole host of extra features, even for the free version. These features were built on top of the already popular Etch a Sketch interface, and added a whole host of options to the game. Some examples of the great add-ons include the ability to change the colour of the frame of the Etch a Sketch, the ability to add a background, the ability to choose from many different colours and brush types, and the ability to save your picture and load it up for later.

Etch a Sketch Lite

As you can probably tell, we were really impressed by the work put into this App. We got all these features from the free version alone, so we really expect great things from the paid version (which we think is going to be a blockbuster success). With that said, we award this App a over-the-top 5 out of 5 stars.

Mar

Vegas Pool Sharks Lite

posted by iPodFirst in Games

comments (8)

IQ Boost Lite

Ever fantasized about playing pool (or billiards, as some people call it) on your iPhone or iPod Touch? The fantasy has been in the process of becoming real for months, with new pool Apps being released almost every month. Each App has had it’s flaws though, and if you had a chance to look past them, you’ll notice that pool on the iPhone and iPod Touch is evolving into something great. With each new release, we get that much closer to a perfect pool game. One App in the timeline of development is Vegas Pool Sharks, along with its free version, Vegas Pool Sharks Lite. Released by game development company Chillingo Ltd, the game is silently taking the charts of the App Store.

The game begins to what you’ve wanted from the App all along: a game of pool! You play using touch controls, such as holding the cue stick with your finger, and then swiping it to pull it make. You also move using your fingers, by changing the camera angle and your body angle. One thing we would have liked was the use of the Apple Accelerometer, in which you would shove your device forward to strike the balls, and the force with which you shoved would be translated into the game. Unfortunately, the game developers have not incorporated the accelerometer into their game. As far as content goes, this game is very fun, and can certainly be played over and over for fun.

Sol Free

So while pool on the iPhone and iPod Touch definitely hasn’t reached its peak yet, this game is certainly a step in the right direction for the genre. With the addition of some more features and gameplay modes, we’ll be right there. That’s why we are giving this App a superb 4 out of 5 stars.

Mar

Sol Free

posted by iPodFirst in Games

comments (2)

IQ Boost Lite If you were to go to any group of people and ask them who within themselves has never played solitaire, and I’m sure you would find that there are little to no people who haven’t. The game is a classic, and whether it’s played the traditional way with a deck of cards, or the “newfangled” way (through a computer or similar device), it’s still a game for the ages, made to pass time and get that brain working. Now, the game is also an iPhone and iPod Touch classic, having been ported over by game developers Smallware LLC. The App we are specifically talking about is Sol Free, the most-downloaded solitaire game for the Apple devices.

The game boasts 5 different versions of solitaire, all of which are very popular variants of the game. These 5 versions are Baker’s Game, Demon, Klondike (Deal 1), Klondike (Deal 3), and Spiderette. The game works just like any other solitaire game, except it takes advantage of the touch screen to move the cards around. We would have liked some more usage of Apple technology, such as a shake to deal or something like that, but I guess the developer thought it was a bad idea. Also included in the game is a rulebook for each variant of the game, which we would really like to applaud the developer for. It makes it that much easier to play games you’re not familiar with. The game also conveniently tracks the amount of time you’ve spent on the current game, the amount of moves, and the remaining stock of cards.

Sol Free

So there you have it. Here’s the answer we’re going to provide to all developers that say a good free game is not profitable. Smallware sure seem to have done it, and they’re making their money off of bonus content, which is a great idea. That said, we give this App a shuffling 5 out of 5 stars.

Mar

Rebel Onslaught Lite

posted by iPodFirst in Games

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Deal or No Deal Lite Want to arouse the thousands of hardcore Apple gamers out there? Take a classic game, and put it on the iPhone and iPod Touch. Want to make your game appeal to an even bigger audience of people? Take a classic game, remake it so it’s modern, and then put it on the iPhone and iPod Touch. That’s exactly what game developers Xen Games ltd. plans to do with their latest App released. Called Rebel Onslaught, this game takes a very classic game version, reinvents it with modern graphics and gameplay, and puts it right in the palm of your hand (literally!). Today, we’re going to review the free version of said game, called Rebel Onslaught Lite.

The game starts with you and a computer partner soaring through space in modern space fighters, apparently combating alien drones who have started appearing from a massive portal that has suddenly opened up. You use your iPhone or iPod Touch to steer, and you can make your craft fly pretty lifelike by just tilting the device like a yoke. We loved this great idea from Xen Games, and we are delighted to see someone making good use of this great Apple technology. After a while, your partner leaves you to fight the rest of the drones itself. While they be hard for some people, it wasn’t really hard for us, as the craft is constantly shooting, whether you want it to or not, and you can just swerve around like a madman to shoot down the enemy. This then leads to a boss, and that is the end of the free game.

Rebel Onslaught Lite

Rebel Onslaught Lite We would have really like this game, and we were sure it was going to be a blockbuster. The only reason we demote it is because it’s really short, and a novice can beat the game in under 5 minutes. For that reason, we give this game a sufficing 4 out of 5 stars.

Mar

Toy Bot Diaries FREE

posted by iPodFirst in Games

comments (2)

Deal or No Deal Lite If I were to choose the most prominent change that is happening the App market at this time, it would be the physiological move in consumer’s minds. No, it’s nothing too deep, but what I’m saying is that the biggest shift that is happening right now is the shift from simple, smaller games, to more developed and full storyline games. It’s kind of like the evolution of every other game system, and now it has come to the iPhone and iPod Touch as well. One game that is a definer of such change is Toy Bot Diaries and it’s free counterpart, Toy Bot Diaries FREE. Released by game developer iUgo Mobile Entertainment Inc, it’s taken the charts by storm and is promising to be one of the best selling games for the iPhone and iPod Touch.

The game features a toy robot (whose name we do not know), who is out on an adventure. It begins with a little tutorial level that shows you how to play and what the robot can do. I like how this game has made use of Apple technology, such as the Accelerometer. For example, you have to tilt your device sideways to make the robot move. You have to tap on the screen to make it grasp something, and then you have to keep tilting to gain momentum. Another cool feature is the “multi-touch to pause” one, although we wish they would have told us that at the start of the game rather than halfway through the tutorial.

Toy Bot Diaries FREE

Toy Bot Diaries FREE When all is said and done, however, there is one gaping flaw in this game. We found it cause a lot of frustration because some things were either not explained to us, or were glitchy, and therefore we couldn’t figure out how to win. We hope for a better tutorial next time, and until then award this App a exciting 4 out of 5 stars.

Mar

iShotty

posted by iPodFirst in Games

comments (4)

Banner Free Every once in a while an App will come along that will seem different, and to us critics, seem useless. After seeing the download-o-meter go up, however, we’re always forced to give it a second chance and a second look. One such App is called iShotty. Released by Thirtynine LLC, iShotty is a free App that wants to bring the fun of “cops and robbers” to your iPhone and iPod Touch, and with, also bring back those childhood gun-toting memories.

One thing we must mention is that this App is fairly hard to get a handle on right out of the store. Unless you’ve read the actual description of the App, you’ll definitely have a little bit of trouble figuring out how to get everything to work. Once you have, however, it’s a whole other can of tuna. We would have really appreciated instructions though, because we can’t those lost minutes back. The game replicates the functionality of a gun (similar to the ones you’d pretend your index and thumb were when you were little), only this time it’s more realistic and fun! You can choose from 2 types of rifles, and then 2 types of ammunition. The two types of guns are either a double-barrelled shotgun (“Forest”), or a modern version of a trench-gun (“Urban”), with the two bullet types being either regular ammo, or full metal jacket ammo. Once you’re in the game, all you have to do is pull your device back like you’re charging the rifle, and then swipe across the screen to pull the trigger.

Banner Free

Banner Free
All in all, we found this App to be pretty satisfying, and it was really something we could show off to our friends. We would like the addition of some more rifles, and possibly more gameplay modes in the future. For that, we award this App a very popular 4 out of 5 stars.

Mar

Deal or No Deal Lite

posted by iPodFirst in Games

comments (5)

More and more corporations are trying to break into the lucrative industry of iPhone and iPod Touch games these days, and the giant media conglomerates aren’t far behind the pack! Deal or No Deal, the extremely popular game show, is now porting its hallmark game format into the App Store, with the release of Deal or No Deal, and its free counterpart, Deal or No Deal Lite. The game was created for iPhone and iPod Touch by iPlay, a games development company.

This game comes from (what we believe to be) an affiliate of a multi-billion dollar corporation, so we expect big things from it. At first glance, it sure seems to live up to those expectations. The game opens up to quick question, giving you 10 seconds to decide whether you would like sound turned off or on. I don’t this was particularly necessary, as the iPhone and iPod Touch have built in functions for turning the sound on and off, and this could have been done using an in-game button, but oh well. Next, the game jumps right into the content, but with a new mode of gameplay. Instead of only having one million dollar case, half of all the cases are a million dollars. We found this made the game too easy to win, and in our eyes, made it less fun. We also found some parts of the game very slow, and we’re hoping that iPlay can fix it up for the next release.

Deal or No Deal Lite

Once again, at first glance, this game seems to be one of the greatest of it’s genre. As you dig deeper into this game, however, you’ll begin to either get annoyed with it or upset at what they’ve done to the interesting gameplay. Due to those factors, we rate this game an unsatisfactory 2 out of 5 stars.

Mar

IQ Boost Lite

posted by iPodFirst in Games

comments (2)

As more and more games start to populate the App Store, and in turn, the iPhone and iPod Touch, it becomes more serious of a competitor to other portable gaming systems. One such system is the Nintendo Dual-Screen (DS in short), and with the addition of IQ Boost, and it’s free counterpart, IQ Boost Lite, both the iPhone and iPod Touch have just moved one step closer to catching up with the system. Developed by Brian Williams, this App seems posed to take some of the brain-game market away from the DS, which has traditionally courted the niche.

While this game is anything far from simple, it offers an interesting aspect of gaming: self-improvement. The game maker actually claims that the gameplay in this game has been scientifically proven to increase your memory and possibly even your IQ. While we’re not sure whether or not the claim is true, we wouldn’t refute it after one play of the game. We highly recommend playing the tutorial first, however, as the game is nearly impossible to understand without it. The game, in normal english, is basically two things going on at once. A sound is played and a box on the grid flash, both at the same time. You have to identify if none, one, or both of these repeated, and then press the button that corresponds with this. While we found it fairly easy and boring, we’re sure that there are some people out there who will find this interesting and fun.

IQ Boost Lite

So, yes, we agree that games like certainly have a market out there. This game makes use of pretty cool graphics, and if marketed and improved upon correctly, can certainly join the group of elite brain games. After all, who doesn’t want to improve their memory? All told, we give this App 4 out of 5 intelligent stars.

Free Iphone Applications

Archive for March, 2009

Twitterfon

Etch a Sketch Lite

Vegas Pool Sharks Lite

Sol Free

Rebel Onslaught Lite

Toy Bot Diaries FREE

iShotty

Deal or No Deal Lite

IQ Boost Lite

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