There are dozens of Tic Tac Toe games for the iPhone. Don’t mistake this for one of them. With a simple change in the rules, Tic Touch Toe is something very different. You have a 4×4 grid, and need to get 4-in-a-row. But that’s not the hard part. You only get 4 marks. When you make your 5th mark, the 1st disappears. Quite a challenge against a computer opponent.
ProCamera takes pictures just like the standard iPhone camera app. But it adds three important features. First, you can set a timer to take a picture. Second, you can have it wait for the camera to stop moving before it snaps the picture, very useful for eliminating blurry photos. Third, it gives you a level for taking photos that line up straight. All very nice if you take a lot of pictures with your iPhone.
In the crowded world of online reviews, Yelp is getting some traction. You can often find reviews of places that aren’t reviewed anywhere else. And with the Yelp iPhone app, it is quick and easy to find reviews of places near you, while on the go. A great way to see if that restaurant you are driving by is any good.
There are a lot of voice recording apps out there, but iTalk Recorder comes from a known brand (Griffin) and in two flavors: a free iTalk Recorder with ads at the bottom, and an ad-free version called iTalk Recorder Premium. YOu can record at high quality and then transfer the files to your Mac using a free application. You can add notes and play back your recordings on the iPhone as well.
Amazon.com’s electronic book reader comes to the iPhone, sort of. The Kindle For iPhone allows you to read books you purchase at Amazon’s Kindle store on your iPhone, but doesn’t really support other Kindle functions. But since those other functions include reading Web sited and blogs, which we already can do on our iPhones, it is a good option over carrying around two devices.
Have some spare time while waiting for a bus or in line at the bank? Explore the entire planet with the iPhone version of Google Earth. This free app is a lighter version of the Mac application of the same name, but there is something very satisfying about knowing you have satellite images of the entire globe available in your pocket. Plus, its free.
The genre of puzzle games where you build something to solve levels seems to be a mainstay of iPhone gaming. At the pinnacle of this genre is Fantastic Contraption, a game where you build mechanical devices to reach a goal. It is sure to bring out the engineer in all of us.
One of the most useful features of Leopard is the ability to connect from one Mac to another via Screen Sharing (VNC). You can do the same thing from your iPhone with the Mocha VNC app. While navigating a large screen on the small iPhone one restricts this to simply accomplishing a single task or two, it can be invaluable for someone who is frequently away from their computer. You can also try the free Mocha VNC Lite.
Here’s a great twist on a word game. Instead of just re-arranging letters, you have to re-arrange letters and pictures to form words. Stitch’em Words keeps you thinking in many levels and is pretty clever.
Six months ago I would have no idea how to tune the guitar my daughter got for her birthday. So iPhone apps came along just at the right time. There are a few guitar tuner apps out there, but I found TyroTuner to be the most straight-forward one. Just select the string and play it. The mic picks up the sound and you get a meter display to tell you how far off the string is.
There are a lot of Twitter clients for the iPhone, and many of them are overly complex while, at the same time, limited. But Tweetie seems to get it right. It is a Twitter app designed to look a lot like iChat. It is pretty easy to look at your incoming tweets, and also glance at replies and direct messages.
Evernote is a note taking application and organizational tool for the Mac and PC. The Evernote iPhone app is a free download that will autmatically sync your notes from your Mac to your iPhone. So you can add some notes on your Mac and then find them later on your iPhone. You can also add notes on your iPhone and have them sync the other way. This includes handy photo and audio notes. The basic service and software is free, with a premium version for heavy users.
At first I thought that an app that simply showed movie times and information was a bit unnecessary. You can look that info up in so many places on the Web. But this little app has gotten so much use that I now have to recommend it. Movies from Flixster will use your GPS location and very quickly find info for you. For instance, while at dinner one night I was able to pull my iPhone out and find the showtime for a movie in about two clicks and 20 seconds.
It is already pretty easy to search Amazon on your iPhone using the Safari Web browser. But a new App from Amazon.com itself makes it even easier and faster. You can log in with your account and quickly search and get results including prices, information and reviews. You can order it, of course, but you can also add it to your wish list. So the next time you are out shopping and see something you want, use this App to compare prices and maybe add it to your wish list so someone else gets it for you.
Sure you can probably access your bank’s Web site from Safari on the iPhone, but an app sure makes it easier and adds a little more security to help you sleep at night. But what if your bank isn’t big enough to have created its own iPhone app? Well, check out the free Mobile Banking on AT&T app and see if your bank is listed as one of the supported banks. If so, you might be able to do things like check your balance, transfer between accounts and even use your online bill pay system.
This app is both cool and bizarre at the same time. Ocarina turns your iPhone into a musical instrument, like a flute. You actually blow on the microphone and press on little holes in the screen. And amazingly it works and you can produce something that sounds like music — probably real music if you are talented.
From the very first day of the iPhone App store, we’ve loved Pandora Radio. This App is basically the same thing you get at the Pandora Web site, but on your iPhone. You can listen to streaming music based on a song or artist you choose. As you indicate how much you like each song that is played, Pandora continues to customize the music. The App is free, as Pandora is advertising supported. This App makes your car’s FM radio obsolete.
Galcon is a combination of a strategy game and an arcade game. You start with a home planet among a bunch of uninhabited ones. You spread out in an array of conquest — that is, until you meet your enemy. But instead of happening at a slow turn-by-turn strategy game pace, you’ve got move as fast as you can, touching and dragging the screen to move your ships. It’s a lot of fun.
Seems a bit ridiculous to carry around a scrap of paper with a shopping list when you have all the power of an iPhone in your pocket. But most shopping list apps make a scrap of paper look good. However, Groceries Grocery List from Ontomni is a pretty cool app. You only need to type the first few letters of most items to add it to your list, and it remembers new and unique items that you’ve added before. It also organizes your list by section, so you can proceed through a super market in a logical manner and save time. So far it seems to be the best choice for a shopping list app.
