iPhone App Reviews

Q&F: Kideos

Brad H | Jan 7, 2010 Entertainment, Quick & Free

User rating: (3 votes, average: 1.00 out of 5)

 Loading ...

If you have little ones like I do then Kideos might be for you. Earlier Media brings the aggregation of kid videos to your device.

I don’t have the time to comb through YouTube for kid videos so I was hopeful for this app. The app does do just that, it just does it in a very poor way. The videos are supposed to be organized by age groups but every video seemed to have the tag for 0-2 and not every video was geared for a kid of that age. The categories tab has a large yet redundant list to choose from , and the Wiggles section has zero videos. So why have that as an option? To top it off I can’t ever seem to get through more than 3 videos without the app crashing.

Great concept, bad execution. I’ll keep the app until the next update in hope of some major bug fixes.

iTunes Link – Kideos

Version 1.0

Reviewed on iPhone 3G OS 3.1.2

Tags: free, good for kids

Q&F: My Attorney

Tony Mei | Jan 2, 2010 Quick & Free, Utilities

User rating: (2 votes, average: 3.00 out of 5)

 Loading ...

Injured on your Caribbean vacation? Whip out that trusty iPhone if you don't remember what to do.

The My Attorney App supplies information and accident guideline checklists, all leading the wallets of prospective customers to the service of good lawyers.

I don’t have any immediate usage for this app (I don’t really hope I will need a lawyer any time soon), but the My Attorney App does provide a useful, everyday and free service. And, most importantly, the phone number of a lawyer (especially helpful after that long night at the bar).

My Attorney is on my cell phone – Is it on yours?

iTunes Link

Version 1.01

Reviewed on iPod Touch 3.1.2

Tags: free, law, lawyer, Utilities

Q&F: Hungry Dragon

Sara | Jan 1, 2010 Games

User rating: (1 votes, average: 5.00 out of 5)

 Loading ...

Hungry Dragon is an Asian remake of the popular retro-game, Snake. In this game created by Secret Game Lab, you are a dragon trying to eat the green dots to grow and the red dots to obtain shields. You don’t have to worry about bumping into the walls, as they are barriers and won’t make you lose one of your three lives.

The game is divided up into levels where you have to eat all of the dots in the level before more appear. This makes the game more challenging than the original Snake. The only flaw to this otherwise fun game is the controls. You move your dragon by tapping the bottom left and right corners. You tap the middle to activate a shield. I often found myself accidentally activating the shield and would have rather had a D-Pad for movement and a button to activate the shield. Other than this minor flaw, Hungry Dragon is a great game.

iTunes Link – Hungry Dragon
Version 1.o
Reviewed on iPhone 3G OS 3.1.2

Tags: free, fun, Games

Q&F: Braineo

Sara | Jan 1, 2010 Games

User rating: (1 votes, average: 5.00 out of 5)

 Loading ...

Recently, I downloaded the free app Braineo by Veriunique Productions, Inc. It is a fun memory game. The object seemed simple enough: study the picture, answer the questions, and get points. However, I soon learned it was harder than I thought. The questions were rather specific such as, “What color was the largest light bulb?” I aced the first couple of rounds, but my score started to go down the drain when I reached the more complex pictures. Every time I got a question wrong, a panda head would pop up and taunt me with phrases such as, “Your IQ is a negative integer.” After completing 18 questions, the panda prompts you to pay $.99 to have access to the other 11 levels. Although I would have liked the game to have a few more free levels, the game was fun and satisfactory.

iTunes Link – Braineo
Version 1.0
Reviewed on iPhone 3G OS 3.1.2

Tags: casual, free, fun, Games, lite version

WTF: Boob Party

Michael (Admin) | Dec 23, 2009 Entertainment, WTF?!

User rating: (1 votes, average: 5.00 out of 5)

 Loading ...

With so many app requests languishing in my inbox I’m a little reluctant to spend time on an app like Boob Party, but I just think it’s funny that (a) there’s an app called Boob Party, and (b) searching iTunes for “boobs” now yields over 100 sure-to-be-disappointing results that want to be “titillating” but are just kind of… eh.

Because Apple has never, and will never, allow nudity or porn in the App Store, apps like Boob Party pretty much always amount to the same thing which is mostly-tame photos and/or videos of scantily clad girls. I like scantily clad girls as much as the next guy but the reality is that there’s nothing these apps can show me that I haven’t already seen a billion times in the dark reaches of the interwebs. Guys who aren’t huge pervs like me might get more of a “rise” out of Boob Party than I did but, again, this kind of content is limited to the point where if you’ve seen one boob app you truly have seen them all.

Read the rest of this entry »

Tags: free, mature

Q&F: Emoji Free!

Michael (Admin) | Dec 9, 2009 Entertainment, Quick & Free

User rating: (No Ratings Yet)

 Loading ...

For a guy who runs an iPhone review site, you’d be surprised at how clueless I am on some things! Case in point: I’ve had my iPhone for nearly 18 months but I didn’t know what the hell an emoji was until about a month ago. If you’re still in the dark, emojis are just little icons that you insert into text the same way you’d use a smiley face, except there’s way more variety. They range from animal faces to transportation to flowers to food items and everything else, and they tend to be very cartoony with somewhat of an Asian bent to them.

When a friend posted something on Facebook about her love affair with emojis I finally decided to investigate and found Emoji Free by Awesomest Software. The app itself is kind of a one-and-done thing where you use it to install the icons and then you don’t need it anymore. Installation within this ad supported app is pretty idiot-proof, but after you’re done you’ll need to go to Settings > General > International > Keyboards > Japanese > Emoji On/Off to make hundreds of emoji icons magically accessible. Once you do that, though, you can go emoji crazy! Just push the globe icon on your iPhone keyboard to find your emoji sets.

There are other free emoji installation apps out there and they may be just as good as this one, but all I can say is this one definitely works and it’s free! If you wanna get cute  in your SMS and emails, this app will do the trick.

iTunes Link – Emoji Free!
Version 1.4
Reviewed on iPhone 3G OS3.1.2

Tags: emoji, free

Q&F: Thanksgiving Jokes

Michael (Admin) | Nov 24, 2009 Entertainment, Quick & Free

User rating: (1 votes, average: 2.00 out of 5)

 Loading ...

Thanksgiving Jokes is just one of the many flashcard sets in Dustin Kirk’s Stacks Pro.

Stacks Pro costs money, but this set of unbelievably corny jokes is free and could come in handy if your Thanksgiving dinner conversation takes a turn for the worse or if you just need to keep some young ‘uns entertained.

The Stacks interface is really nice… swipe up or down to see the other side of the card, and swipe left or right to view a different card. If you’re gonna be looking at flashcards on your iPhone, this is the way to do it!

50 very kid-friendly jokes, all of which will just make you roll your eyes, are included.

iTunes Link – Thanksgiving Jokes
Version 2.0
Reviewed on iPhone 3GS OS3.1.2

Answer: Because they use such FOWL language! (cue horn: waaaa waa)

Tags: free, funny, Thanksgiving

IAR’s 6 Random Thanksgiving Freebies

Michael (Admin) | Nov 20, 2009 Random Freebies

User rating: (No Ratings Yet)

 Loading ...

I’ve been slacking on the random freebies the past few weeks, but today I’m all over it! If you’re in the U.S., next week is Thanksgiving which means eating turkey, having awkward conversations with relatives you don’t really like, and most importantly… a long weekend! Hooray for holidays.

iShootTurkey by orientmaple.com: Apparently turkeys can fly (the skinny ones anyway) and this is your chance to shoot them down.

Thanksgiving Match by Jirbo: It’s not a holiday if you’re not playing an ad-supported holiday-themed Jirbo game!

A turkey -Let’s eat- by RucKyGAMES: Here’s an excerpt from this app’s iTunes description: EAT!EAT!EAT!EAT!EAT!EAT!EAT!EAT! I’m not kidding, that’s what it says.

TGI Black Friday by Ecatcher: I don’t know why the day after Thanksgiving, the busiest shopping day of the year, is called Black Friday but it is, and this app’s aim is to show you Black Friday ads before they hit the newspapers.

Turkey Tumble by Rich Olson: Launch cans of cranberry sauce at crates in order to get the turkey to the ground safely.

Turkey Trot by M5 Systems: Ad-supported Thanksgiving match 3 fun.

Hey, do me a solid and Digg this, wouldja? Thanks 8)

Tags: free, seasonal, Thanksgiving

Q&F: Family Guy: Uncensored Free

Michael (Admin) | Nov 20, 2009 Games, Quick & Free

User rating: (2 votes, average: 2.50 out of 5)

 Loading ...

I don’t review a lot of “lite” versions of apps, but I freakin’ love Family Guy so I had to try this one out!

Family Guy: Uncensored Free opens up with a little intro from Brian and Stewie where they call you a jerk for being too cheap to buy the full version and then encourage you to “enjoy the crappy free game”. Ha, ok, kind of funny… I like it. If you don’t watch Family Guy, it’s probably one of the crudest, most politically incorrect shows ever made so the insults are both welcome and expected.

Unfortunately, the talking dog and the evil baby are right… this lite version is crappy. SlideToPlay’s YouTube demo of the full version looks like it could actually be fun, but this lite version is totally underwhelming. It’s well-produced and the sound and graphics are pro (nice job, Glu), but the stages represented here really could be any old platform game if you replaced the characters with monsters or robots or Capcom’s Mega Man.

Thanks for the warning!

Read the rest of this entry »

Tags: free, lite version, platformer

Q&F: Touch Pet Dogs

Michael (Admin) | Nov 18, 2009 Games, Quick & Free

User rating: (5 votes, average: 4.20 out of 5)

 Loading ...

I have a dog, so I felt somehow morally obligated to check out Touch Pet Dogs. For starters, ouch on the Touch+ Network signup! Kind of a pain in the ass unless you’re already signed up through some other app.

Once the “game” gets going it’s not too bad, for a while anyway… you select a puppy, play with it in the 3D house environment, and the app will gradually start introducing you to different facets of taking care of your new virtual pet like using toys, bathing, going outside, and feeding. It’s all nicely rendered and the dog’s mannerisms are very cute and if you like virtual pets then you’ll probably think, “hey, this is really cool!”

BUT… based on user reviews in the App Store, feeding is apparently a big bummer because that’s the game’s money making angle… you have to buy food to feed your pet. 10 bowls costs $.99, and you can get quantity discounts if you buy 120 or 400 bowls at a time. You start out with a few bowls of food to begin with but when it runs out you’ll have to cough up some cash and, since it’s food, I guess you’ll have to keep buying for as long as you want to play with your iPhone dog.

Read the rest of this entry »

Tags: 3D, free, in-app purchase

IAR’s 18 Random Halloween Freebies

Michael (Admin) | Oct 30, 2009 Random Freebies

User rating: (1 votes, average: 5.00 out of 5)

 Loading ...

Halloween is tomorrow which means all these Halloween iPhone apps will be losing relevance really soon! Enjoy them while you can. This is my third installment of Halloween Freebies, so there are 6 new ones and I’m also tacking on the previous 12.

Movie Costume by DD Studio: Another dress-up-your-photos app, but this one comes with no less than 88 items for making your friends look stupid.

Singing Pumpkins by RAMDreams: I reviewed this app last year and it’s great! Tap the ridiculously cute pumpkins to hear them sing or make scary noises.

100+ Halloween Costumes by iPhoneCodeTutorials.com: If you’re desperate for a Halloween costume idea maybe this app can help?

Manic Pumpkin by Rich Olson: Roll your pumpkin downhill and jump it off ramps through a very Halloweeny 3D course! There’s also a non-Halloween-themed version called Manic Marble.

Ghostbuster by Geek Quarter: Capture at least 35 ghosts to advance to the next level. Sorry, this game has nothing to do with the movie!

Funhouse of Horrors 01 Digital Comic! by Carnival Comics: Like comics? Oh sorry, I mean “graphic novels”? This is an iPhone-ized version of Jazan Wild’s Funhouse of Horrors.

Read the rest of this entry »

Tags: free, halloween, seasonal

IAR’s 6 Random Halloween Freebies

Michael (Admin) | Oct 16, 2009 Random Freebies

User rating: (1 votes, average: 5.00 out of 5)

 Loading ...

Get your inner Pagan ready… Halloween is two weeks from tomorrow!

Free Halloween Sounds by Pixel Narrative: Make a whole bunch o’ scary sounds including Howling Wolf, Deadly Scream, and Croaking Frog. Huh… croaking frog? Eh, ok!

Halloween Music by nuTsie: Looks like this app gets updated for Christmas as well, at which point it will probably be renamed Christmas Music! Free music that you can buy or just listen to in-app (must play in shuffle mode to hear the full songs).

Halloween Deluxe by Schatzisoft: This one’s a jack of all trades… spooky sounds, days until Halloween countdown, costume ideas, and scary facts.

Halloween Quick Turn by Portable Zoo: There’s a crazy jack-o-lantern bouncing around your screen… don’t ask me why! Turn your iPhone like a steering wheel to keep him (or her?) moving towards the correct color.

AdLibs Lite: Halloween Edition by E.E. Flobes: I reviewed this app last year… not bad! If you remember MadLibs from when you were little, this app will feel very familiar.

Halloween Photo Free by ObjectGraph: Take pictures and dress ‘em up with Halloween silliness.

Tags: free, halloween