The App Shelf for iPhone and iPod touch
Top Shelf Apps for week of May 15, 2012New apps added every Tuesday! |
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Get the Hit iPhone App Topple 2 Free and Now with Plus+
To celebrate its addition to the Plus+ network, Ngmoco's award winning app, Topple 2, is now free on the App Store. While it appears this might be a permanent price drop, anyone interested should download this full featured app ASAP and not take the chance.
Topple 2 is a fun and enjoyable iPhone OS specific stacking and balancing game with a sense of humor; for those not familiar, it's definitely worth the download.
The Idiot Test 3 Free Until Sept. 26
For all those fans of the Moron Test, You might want to check out The Idiot Test 3 while it's still free. The giveaway ends September 26.
The HUGE list of Labor Day Sales [Updated]
It’s becoming somewhat of a tradition to see apps go on holiday sales. The list is organized by sale price for lack of a better method. There are lots of great sales this weekend so be sure to check the entire list! Updates will be periodically posted. Be sure to double check prices on the App Store before purchasing!
[UPDATE]
Free
Sheep Abduction $0.99 → Free
Cornhole All-Stars $0.99 → Free
[Original]
Free
World Defender $0.99 → Free
Nano Fighter 2.1 $0.99 → Free
$0.99
Ynth $2.99 → $0.99
Fruit Juice Tycoon $1.99 → $0.99
Kenken $4.99 → $0.99
Silent Hill: The Escape $7.99 → $0.99
Dirt Moto Racing $4.99 → $0.99
Boulder Dash Rocks $4.99 → $0.99
Airport Mania $2.99 → $0.99
Wacky Worlds Mini Golf $2.99 → $0.99
Luxor $2.99 → $0.99
FaceFighter $1.99 → $0.99 (Review)
Ancient Tribes $1.99 → $0.99
Lost Empires $4.99 → $0.99 (Review)
Castle of Magic $4.99 → $0.99 (Review)
iMech $2.99 → $0.99
$1.99
Yahtzee Adventures $2.99 → $1.99
The Kings $4.99 → $1.99
Creepytown $2.99 → $1.99
$2.99
SimCity $4.99 → $2.99
Townrs Defender $4.99→ $2.99
Trivial Pursuit $4.99 → $2.99
Clue $4.99 → $2.99
Civilization Revolution $9.99 → $2.99
Crash Bandicoot Nitro Kart 3D $4.99 → $2.99
Mega Man II $4.99 → $2.99 (Review)
Rolando $5.99 → $2.99
Resident Evil 4 $7.99 → $2.99 (Review)
$3.99 +
Super Monkey Ball $5.99 → $3.99
Real Racing $9.99 → $6.99
Check Back for Updates!
Chillingo Releases a Fun, Free Side Scroller Based on Knights Onrush
Chillingo recently released a free and fully featured promo game for their Knights Onrush app entitled A Quest of Knights Onrush. The app uses the same graphic set as Knights Onrush, with side scrolling, survival-based gameplay rather than castle defense.
The app uses a RGP-like level-up system that allows players to select their own ability paths. Abilities include faster health recovery, higher jumps, and special attacks.
Overall, the game handles very well and seems to offer some decent replay value; the app keeps track of how many feet into the foray your knight managed to travel for each attempt.
Personally, I’ve found this game to be fast, fun and addictive. I’d call this app a must download or at least worth a try, because you can’t go wrong at the price of free.
The developers have asked players to let them know if they enjoy the app. If so, they’ll make a highly improved premium version. Also included with this promo app is the lite version of Knights Onrush.
iSamurai Free for 2 Days Only, Video Contest, & Update Possiblities
In a forum post made at toucharcade.com, Toy Kite Software has just announced that the FULL version of their hit app, iSamurai, will be available for Free for 2 days only.
You can see our previously posted video review of iSamurai here.
In the forum post, Toy Kite made two additional announcments:
- Toy Kite Software will be holding an iSamuari Video contest. Grand Prize will be an iPod Touch.
- Toy Kite also mentioned some of the upgrade ideas they have in the works for future iSamuari updates. As listed on the forum, the ideas include:
We are testing an upgrade that makes the game more interesting and more fun. It works like this: if a player blocks 3 attacks in a row, his next hit is a critical hit worth 3 normal hits. In our tournaments, this forces a player to watch his opponent and not just attack wildly.
We are also looking at another option: if a player does all 4 attacks in sequence, the opponent dies instantly.
Lastly, we had a suggestion for a "finishing move" similar to Mortal Combat. Perhaps if a player wins by 50% or more (10 hits to 5), he gets to do a final finishing move.
As fans of the of the original version of the app, we look forward to the updates!
Apple Releases Official MobileMe iDisk App
Apple has released it's promised iDisk App [Free] for MobileMe subscribers. Below are the list of features as listed on the App Store:
– View files on your iDisk
– Access Public folders
– Easily share files from your iPhone
– Quickly access recently viewed files
– View iPhone-supported file types–including iWork, Office, PDF, QuickTime and more. (Files larger than 20MB may not be viewable.)
There are a number of other apps available in the App Store that offer similar or greater functionality--the Quickoffice series is among my personal favorites. One major difference between Apple's iDisk app versus others is that Apple's app allows the use of MobileMe's email file sharing. This feature lets subscribers send download links to files rather than the files themselves, allowing large files to be managed much more efficiently.
Apple has posted a tutorial video for the app:
More Great Sales - Updated!
Get'em while their hot, and in some cases, free!
- Coast Guard 99¢ --> Free
- iWrath $1.99 --> Free
- Defender Chronicals: Legend of the Desert King $2.99 --> 99¢
- Clue $4.99 --> $2.99
- Zenonia -- $5.99 --> $2.99
UPDATE:
- The Price is Right $4.99 --> 99¢
Fourth of July App Sales! UPDATED AGAIN!
As with most holidays, expect to find some great sales on some of your most desired apps this 4th of July weekend. Keep in mind the end of the holiday weekend is drawing near, so if you're interested in any of these says, check them out sooner rather than later.
Here's another set of sales for you:
Update 2:
- TargetTap: 1.99 --> free
- TapStar 4.99 --> 0.99 (The Sony Music Entertainment supported "Tap Tap Revenge" style app)
- Beatrider 4.99 --> 0.99 ("Tap Tap Revenge" style app that supports uploading your OWN music tracks! Pretty Awesome!)
- Fast and the Furious the Game 5.99 --> 1.99
- Hero of Sparta 5.99 --> 0.99
Update 1:
Originals :
- Sega Columns Deluxe 1.99 --> Free
- Sentinel: Mars Defense 1.99 --> 0.99
- Archon: 3.99 --> 1.99
We'll keep our eyes open for more 4th of July sales as they come available and post them here. Happy 4th of July!
App Basics for Every New iPhone Owner
With the price drop of the iPhone 3G and the launch of the new iPhone 3GS, it's no doubt that there are many new iPhone owners out there looking to navigate the ever-shifting labyrinth of the iTunes App Store. As the App Store burns its way past 50,000 apps, this can truly become a tiresome endeavor. Whether you're looking to find some free and simple starter apps to get the most out of your device, or trying to trick out your new phone with the best apps and games around, this iPhone Beginners Guide to Must-Have Apps is for you:
iPhone Beginners Guide to Must-Have Apps:
Intro: Even by itself, iPhone is one of the most complete smartphones on the market, but what truly makes iPhone outstanding is the near limitless ability to expand its horizons with Apple's heavy-weight App Store. With the right apps, your iPhone can become a mobile news hub, social network, productivity planner, portable game system, and so much more. While we can't possible cover the entirety of the App Store, we can over some good starting points to get you going.
This guide will take you through several categories of basic necessity apps, including productivity, news, social networking, music, utilities, photography and gaming, offering several suggestions for each, ranging from basic to premium (and typically from free to paid). It's up to you to distinguish which apps best meets your needs and how much you're willing to spend, but rest assured, this guide can help you load your iPhone with apps without spending a dime! (Click Continue Reading to read on)
Home Page Organization: While your personal iPhone organizational style is up to you, I recommend creating designated pages for each category discussed below. This makes it easy to find the apps you need when you need them. Additionally, I recommend moving any of the default Apple Apps that you don't often use to the back page (either the 8th or 11th page depending on your OS), this frees up important app space on the front page for quick and easy access.
The Categories:
To-Do Lists
Unfortunately, other than using the Notes Apps, to-do lists is one area where the iPhone Lacks: Fortunately for us, there are a lot of options.
Basic:
- To Do's (free): Simple single list to-do app.
- DoBot ToDos (free): Simple multiple list to-do app.
Moderate:
- Zenbe Lists (2.99): Simple multiple list to-do manager with online back-up syncing.
- EventHorizon (2.99): Highly adaptive and customizable task manager (more complexity).
Premium:
- Things (9.99): Well organized, predefined lists, with "project" support and exceptional streamlining .
- ToDo (9.99): A highly customizable to-do list app with great streamlining.
- OmniFocus (19.99): The father of all To-Do apps. Can even plot to-dos on a map.
Social Networking
These apps turn your phone into a mobile facebook, twitter, or instant messaging center.
Popular Networking Sites Apps:
- Facebook (free)
- MySpace Mobile (free)
Twitter Apps
Basic:
- Twitterrific (free): Simple twitter management app.
- Tweetie (2.99): Another simple twitter management app with similar features.
Moderate:
- Twittelator Pro (4.99): Allows for audio and video tweeting and a few other extras.
- Tweetdeck (free): Slightly more complex twitter management.
Instant Message Apps
Basic:
- AIM free edition (free): AIM Instant Messaging with Push Notifications. Ad Supported.
Moderate:
- AIM (2.99): AIM Instant Messaging with Push Notifications. Ad Free.
Premium:
- Beejive 3.0 (9.99): Supports multiple IM accounts from several different clients, including AIM, ICQ, MSN, Yahoo, GoogleTalk, Facebook IM, Jabber, and MySpace IM and easily manages them all in one app. Supports Push Notifications.
Free SMS Text Messaging - For those without SMS Text Messaging, including iPod Touch owners.
Basic:
- Textfree Lite (free): Send and receive free SMS texting (limit 15 per day).
- Textfree Unlimited (5.99): Send and receive unlimited free SMS texting.
- Picfree Unlimited (5.99): Send and receive unlimited free MMS picture messages.
Music
These apps can do everything from turning your iPhone into a virtual satellite radio to help you identify a great song.
Internet Radio Apps
Basic:
- Pandora (free): Personalized music radio based on your recommendations and preferences.
- imeem (free): More personalized music radio stations.
- AOL Radio (free): Tons of great, easily searchable internet radio stations.
Premium:
- Wunder Radio (6.99): Find and listen to most all of your favorite local major radio stations over edge, 3G, or Wi-Fi.
Music Taggers - Heard a song you don't recognize, but want to find? Hold your iPhone up while running either of these apps to get ALL the songs info (name, artist, album, etc).
News, Weather, & Listings
Turn your iPhone into a mobile news hub.
Newspapers and Magazines
- AP Mobile (free): Associated Press & local news.
- NYTimes (free): New York Times.
- USA Today (free): USA Today.
- WSJ (free): The Wall Street Journal.
- People (1.99): People Magazine.
TV News
- ABC News (free): Provides video for local and world news, including local video weather forecasts.
Sports
- ESPN Scorecenter (free)
Weather
- The Weather Channel (free): Much more detailed weather forecast than Apple's "weather" app.
- Weather Bug (free): Much more detailed weather forecast than Apple's "weather" app.
TV Listings
- i.TV (free): Currently the best TV Guide-like app.
Movie Listings
- Movies (free): One of the best movie guides. Find new releases and upcoming titles, along with close theaters and showtimes. Run by Flixster. Tons of Extras: Watch trailers, look up dvds, see critic ratings, and much more.
Reference
Miscellaneous, but noteworthy reference apps.
Basic:
- Google Mobile (free): MUST HAVE APP. Internet search with accurate voice recognition. Perfect for driving. Searches maps, phone numbers, and more.
- Dictionary.com (free): Free dictionary with sound pronunciations.
- eBay (free): Full fuction eBay app; manage bids and sales.
- Amazon.com (free): Easy Amazon.com shopping.
- WhitePages Mobile (free): Better than the phonebook.
- YPmobile (free): Yellow pages for iPhone with some great extra features.
- Wikipanion (free): An easy to use wikipedia reader. Far easier than using Safari.
Premium:
- American Heritage Deluxe (34.99): Full featured American Heritage Dictionary and Thesaurus.
- Wikipanion Plus (4.99): An easy to use wikipedia reader. Far easier than using Safari. Can save and queue articles for future or offline reading.
Games
By far the biggest section of the App Store, there is no way this brief guide can do justice to the over abundant selection of iPhone games. That said, we'll still try to get you started. Games will be divided by free, lite (i.e. demos), paid, and premium. The following only scratches the surface of iPhone gaming, but tries to show off some of the most unique and most famous iPhone games.
Free:
- Wild West Pinball
- Tap Tap Revenge 2.6
- Tap Defense
- Topple
- Space Deadbeef
- MazeFinger
- Darts
- Aurora Feint II: Tower Puzzle
Lite Versions (i.e. free demos worth playing):
- Unblock Me Free
- Lock 'n' Roll
- Aurora Feint II: Lite
- Checkers Free
- Knights Onrush Free
- Lemonade Tycoon Free
Paid:
- Flight Control (0.99)
- MASH (0.99)
- Pocket God (0.99)
- Topple 2 (0.99)
- WordFu (1.99)
- Let's Golf (1.99)
- Trism (2.99)
- Fieldrunners (2.99)
- Crazy Penguin Catapult 2 (2.99)
- Ben Stein: It's Trivial (2.99)
- Bounce On (3.99)
Premium:
- Scrabble (4.99)
- Tetris (4.99)
- Castle of Magic (4.99)
- Sway (4.99)
- Rolando (5.99)
- Who Wants To Be A Millionaire (4.99)
- Need for Speed Undercover (6.99)
- The Sims 3 (9.99)
Photography Apps
iPhone photography is quickly carving its own little niche, and the App Store shows it. Here are some of the basic and best.
Basic:
- HP iPrint Photo (free): Print photos directly from the iPhone to select HP printers.
- Night Camera (0.99): Helps take steady, non-burry shots in low lighting.
- Camera Zoom (0.99): Lets you digital zoom your iPhone camera (note: digital zoom is not optical zoom; it lowers quality.)
Premium:
- Photogene (2.99): A great photo editing program with tons of extras.
- Colorspash (1.99): Give your photos an artistic look.
- Juxtaposer (2.99): Like Photoshop for iPhone.
- Sketches (4.99): A draw program for iPhone. Great for "enhancing" photos.
Odds & Ends
Apps that don't fit into specific categories, but are worth mentioning.
- Kindle for iPhone (free): Just what sounds like. Amazon.com's Kindle eReader for iPhone (a $350 value for free). You have to purchase ebooks via Amazon's Online Kindle Store (cheaper than paper copies, though).
- Free RSS Reader (free): A free RSS Feed reader.
- Newsstand (4.99): A fully featured RSS reader.
- Pocket Money (1.99): A fully functional checkbook and finance manager for iphone.
- Phlix (2.99): Browse and manage your netflix account, including queue and instant queue.
- Quickoffice Mobile Office Suite (19.99): Allows for creation and editing of Microsoft Office documents (.doc, .xls, ppt, etc.) Also allows Mobile Me subscribers access to their iDisk files.
- Documents To Go (4.99): A cheaper version of Quickoffice with less features.
- BlogPress (2.99): edit and post to your blog from your iPhone.