iPhone/iPad App Recommendations & Reviews

[jlb1705]

Time Warner Cable's app is now universal. The live TV function works, but it's kinda pointless IMO unless you're desperate. It only works on your home's WiFi network, so it's not like it's live TV anywhere you want it. However, the DVR controls have come along for the ride as well so you can view the program guide, set your DVR to record or cancel scheduled recordings. That part works away from home which can be quite handy. Good to see TWC catch up with their competitors on that front.

Puzzlejuice ($0.99, reg. $2.99, universal) is an unholy frankengame, combining elements of Bejeweled, SpellTower and Tetris. It looks sharp and was apparently made by the same folks who brought us Solipskier, so I bought it on their reputation. I've only played it on my phone so far, and it's kinda tough because the letters and stuff that you have to touch to play the game are kinda small. The game seems to have a good sense of humor and a lot of different modes to explore. Probably a bit easier to play on the iPad.

ASYNC Corp. (0.99, iPhone only) is a cool little dual-panel matching game. You get two sets of tri-colored blocks, and you have to match them up to form larger blocks of at least 2x2. When you create one of those larger blocks you can keep adding to it or clear it from the board and get more. You can't move the pieces within their own panel, only from one to the other. You can also only make a move if it completes a larger block. The game doesn't do a very good job of teaching you the rules, but once you get the hang of it it's fun to play. Has a cool MIDI soundtrack.

 

[jlb1705]

Anybody have Scramble with Friends? Made by the creators of Words with Friends, fairly addicting, simple to learn.

Not me. Zynga can DIAF. I stopped playing Words With Friends when they were bought out.

 

[Dryden]

Not me. Zynga can DIAF. I stopped playing Words With Friends when they were bought out.

 

[jlb1705]

http://www.tuaw.com/2012/02/10/bill-gatess-original-pc-game-now-on-iphone/

Bill Gates's original PC game now on iPhone

by Dave Caolo Feb 10th 2012 at 12:00PM

Donkey, or more properly DONKEY.BAS, was computer game co-written by Bill Gates in 1981. It was included in early versions of the PC-DOS operating system and had players drive a car down a street while avoiding donkeys. Why there were so many donkeys on the road is a mystery.

Today, Donkey is available for the iPhone. It's a fun example of an 8-bit game with chunky graphics and super simple action. Tap to change lanes.
Take it from an old fogie: Donkey is fun and worth US$0.99. You wouldn't have your precious Zelda without it.

[Via Gizmodo]

 

[jlb1705]

Tweetbot for iPad ($2.99) was released last week. I had been a Twitteriffic (free) user up to that point, but I decided to plunk down a few bucks and make the switch. Tweetbot is more feature-rich and it's multitouch gestures are better executed. I like the look and feel of Twitteriffic better still (except that stupid-looking icon), but it lacks features that I find useful. Both Tweetbot and Twitteriffic support Tweet Marker, which syncs your timeline across devices and automatically moves you to the last-read position in your timeline. There is also an iPhone version of Tweetbot that has been out for a while.

Caylus (Universal, $4.99 -> $2.99) Is one of the latest entries to the Euro boardgame selection for iOS. I've been reading reviews and biding my time for a price drop, which finally came today. It is styled very much like Carcassonne and I'm eager to give it a try. From what I've read, it still has some room for improvement (especially when it comes to multiplayer) but I'm taking a slight gamble that many of the smaller issues will be fixed in future updates.

 

[Dryden]

Caylus (Universal, $4.99 -> $2.99) Is one of the latest entries to the Euro boardgame selection for iOS. I've been reading reviews and biding my time for a price drop, which finally came today. It is styled very much like Carcassonne and I'm eager to give it a try. From what I've read, it still has some room for improvement (especially when it comes to multiplayer) but I'm taking a slight gamble that many of the smaller issues will be fixed in future updates.

Caylus is an outstanding game. Historically in the Top 10 at BGG. That's no small feat.

http://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/18602/caylus

 

[FCollinsBuckeye]

I was browsing that game in the app store a month or so ago and held off hitting 'purchase'. With a price cut and Dryden's endorsement - I'm gonna buy it tonight! :)

 

[jlb1705]

Just ditched GasBuddy for a new app called Tank (iPhone - free).

http://appadvice.com/appnn/2012/02/quickadvice-tank

Unlike many previous gas apps, Tank does not rely on user submitted information. Instead, Tank is sent updated gas prices by a national oil price indexing service every time a purchase is made, guaranteeing the most up-to-date gas prices. This service currently includes over 95 percent of the gas stations in the United States.

Tank also allows for specific gas searches based on grade of gas (regular, mid-grade, premium and diesel). Users can change these preferences through the dashboard which is accessed by tapping the icon in the top right corner of the screen.

There are two versions of Tank available in the App Store, the free version and Tank Pro. For this review I tested the free version. The free version is supposed to have ads, but I had none. I was also able to access the Trip feature, which is supposedly a paid-only feature. According to the developer description of the paid version, I see no differences between the two versions.

Also, it blows away all competitors in terms of look and feel.

 

[jlb1705]

The Daily: Microsoft Office for iPad expected in coming weeks

Back in November, The Daily initially uncovered the existence of an iPad version of the Microsoft Office Suite. Sources now say that the app will soon be submitted to Apple for approval.

A brief hands-on with a working prototype of the software revealed a number of new things. The app?s user interface is similar to the current OneNote app, but it has hints of Metro, the new design language that can be seen in Windows Phone and in the as-yet-released Windows 8 desktop operating system.

Word, Excel and PowerPoint files can be created and edited locally and online. But it?s unclear if Microsoft will support other Office apps at launch or at all.

Sources close to the matter also commented that an Android version of Office is not in the works, and that an updated OneNote iOS app will also be released to reflect the Metro design language.

An exact launch date is unknown, but the design team has since wrapped up the project, meaning it could be released in the coming weeks.

? Matt Hickey

If the price is reasonable, this will be an instant buy for me. I already have the iWork suite for iOS, but when it came time to edit a couple documents while I was on the road back in the fall it turned out to be more cumbersome than I had anticipated.

 

[jlb1705]

MLB At Bat 12 is live in the App Store.

This year they've gone with a universal app and a freemium model. If you do the in-app purchase of $15 you get all the same features of last year's full version of the app. They also have added a $3 monthly subscription option. The nice thing about this for me is that I only have to pay for one subscription to cover my iPhone and iPad now, where last year I had to pony up $15 for each app.

http://mlb.mlb.com/mobile/atbat/

 

[Deety]

Just ditched GasBuddy for a new app called Tank (iPhone - free).

http://appadvice.com/appnn/2012/02/quickadvice-tank

Also, it blows away all competitors in terms of look and feel.

Another way to save money on gas might be not to drive 180+ miles for a fill-up. :p

 

[EasternBuck]

The Daily: Microsoft Office for iPad expected in coming weeks



If the price is reasonable, this will be an instant buy for me. I already have the iWork suite for iOS, but when it came time to edit a couple documents while I was on the road back in the fall it turned out to be more cumbersome than I had anticipated.

I might be wrong but I thought that this was shown to be more of a rumor than a actual Microsoft backed decision. Jsut thought I might have seen an article on this on Engadget or Technobuffalo or somewhere. i ask because I just ordered an iPad 3 and would like to have MS Word as well.

 

[jlb1705]

I might be wrong but I thought that this was shown to be more of a rumor than a actual Microsoft backed decision. Jsut thought I might have seen an article on this on Engadget or Technobuffalo or somewhere. i ask because I just ordered an iPad 3 and would like to have MS Word as well.

Yeah, later in the afternoon that I posted that the story was refuted, though The Daily, who originally ran the story said they stood behind it. I haven't heard anything else on it since.

The iWork suite seems to work fine, but if you're editing an existing file rather than creating and finishing something exclusively on the iPad, there are just enough diffferences to cause frustrations even when working with supposedly compatible files.

If you really need MS Office there's OnLive Desktop, which is of questionable propriety. It's also essentially a glorified remote desktop, and if you're going to go that route you may as well access your own desktop thru an app like Splashtop, which is what I use.

 

[jlb1705]

I subscribe to the New York Times thru the iPad app, and I just got an email with a promo code good for a 12-week free trial for one person who is currently not a subscriber. First come, first served, just PM me or post a reply if you use it we'll know it has been taken.

[FONT=&quot]Welcome to The New York Times. You have been provided with a complimentary digital gift subscription that will give you 12 weeks of unlimited access to NYTimes.com and NYTimes smartphone apps. To start experiencing everything The New York Times has to offer, just follow the instructions below. [/FONT]

1. [FONT=&quot]Copy and paste nytimes.com/redeem[/FONT][FONT=&quot] into the address bar of your
   Internet browser.[/FONT]
2. [FONT=&quot]If you are a registered NYTimes.com user, please log in. If you are not a registered user, please create a free NYTimes.com account.[/FONT]
3. [FONT=&quot]Enter Complimentary Digital Gift Subscription Code [/FONT][FONT=&quot]ad9969a6ebd828[/FONT][FONT=&quot]
   and fill out the online form to process your subscription.[/FONT]

[FONT=&quot]Please be reminded that only new subscribers are eligible for this offer. If you have any questions, just call our Customer Care representatives at [FONT=&quot]1-800-591-9233.[/FONT][/FONT]

Additionally, if you subscribe to the NYT digitally by using a valid .edu email address, you can get a paid subscription at half price. That's what I'm doing, $10 a month is a sweetheart deal for full access to one of the best newspaper apps going and some of the best longform journalism on the planet. The deal for college subscriptions can be found here: http://www.nytimes.com/subscriptions/edu/lp1999.html?campaignId=

 

[jlb1705]

Last year's acclaimed iPad app, Pennant, has been refreshed.

I had been waiting for it to be updated for the start of baseball season, but didn't see any signs of that happening until browsing the new featured apps in the App Store yesterday.

The old app is not really just being updated though, it has been acquired by Topps, re-branded and re-released. The bad news about that is that if you bought the original Pennant app, you'll need to buy it again to get the update.

You do get value for money though. The new version is universal, so now you can have it on your iPhone or iPod Touch as well as your iPad. The acquisition by Topps also brings with it MLB licensing, so the app is now dressed up with all the official team logos that weren't able to be used in the previous version. You also get an app that now stays reasonably up-to-date. The previous version would only pull box scores and data from previous MLB season, and wouldn't give you access to statistics from games during the current season. That's not the case anymore though - I opened the app just this morning and it had the box score from yesterday's Reds game right there. There are also now more options for browsing and viewing box scores. In addition to the app's signature "wheel"-style game log, you can now view a traditional box score too.

It's $2.99 for a short time, then the price will go up to $3.99. It's worth the money and a worthy companion to the MLB At Bat app.