20
Nov
Posted by Michael D Jensen in Social Networking. 5 Comments
If you use Twitter, and you have an iPhone, you need Tweetie. Early in the days of iPhone apps I proclaimed Twitterrific the best Twitter app, but it has now been dethroned by Tweetie. Yes, it is $2.99 more than free, but in my opinion, worth every penny.
The first thing you will notice is how fast and responsive Tweetie is. No waiting, it just delivers the goods. You can quickly look at all the things you need (timeline, replies, directs, my directs), and even view links in a built-in browser, with the option to tweet the link (love it!) or open it in Safari. Taking a picture or grabbing one from your photo gallery is standard, with a nice retake option. What’s cool is the picture is compressed, then uploaded to TwitPic.com.
The really cool feature is having “search” built in. I use TweetBeep.com (ok and I built it) to track whenever someone tweets “gotapps”, “tweetbeep”, “@mdjensen“, or anything else about me or my companies, but this is a great way to browse different searches on the go, and Tweetie will even save your searches for easy access later.
You can have multiple accounts on there, and switching back and forth is rather simple.
Hard to find anything bad to say, but the only thing I could think of would be that the links should be clickable from the timeline, not just the “view” of the tweet.
Great job to @atebits for a fantastic iPhone app!
Download now for $2.99!
13
Nov
Posted by Michael D Jensen in Entertainment. 2 Comments
I’ve looked for movie showtimes in many ways in my life. Hunt down the section in the newspaper, find the phone book and call the theater, or wade through Google and try to find the theater you want and pray they have a home page. Now I just click Showtimes on my iPhone, and I instantly have the showtimes for the closest theater! For a free app, this app is super useful!
The app is well designed and easy to navigate. It uses your location automatically to show theaters close to you, or you can set it for any location. You can watch movie trailers and never leave the app (and even take screenshots of them, which I was surprised to find out). List movies by popularity, ratings, or newest.
Showtimes is definitely worthy of a spot on your iPhone, it will certainly come in handy! Plus its free!
Download Showtimes for free now!
Disclaimer: Avantar is an advertiser on GotApps.com, but I still reviewed it like any other app. 
30
Oct
Posted by Michael D Jensen in Utilities. No Comments
I’ve got 2 boys that just LOOOVE Star Wars, so this Voice Changer app is going to be another one of those things that makes my iPhone disappear.
With SonicVox you can use several different “voices” and have your voice echoed in real time with the new voice. There are several to pick from, and the developers are working on several more right now for future updates.
It’s best to use it with headphones on, or you can even make Skype phone calls with your iphone and SonicVox, kind of like that one “hide the identity of the witness” type voice.
To change the voice, just swipe the screen left or right. Looking forward to the new voices!
Download Sonic Vox for only $0.99
30
Oct
Posted by Michael D Jensen in Games. No Comments
SciFly is like a flight simulator, but without the endless buttons and controls, and you get to shoot everyone else! I really enjoyed playing SciFly, there are various planets and planes, some of which are unlocked to start. You can “lock on” to the enemy jets but sometimes they still elude you, which makes it fun. You can even crash into the ground or a mountain if you aren’t careful!
Some things I’d like to see: (1) If I close the game, don’t make me click all the buttons again, I just want to play where I left off. (2) When I “roll” I want to really roll, like Top Gun!
Overall it’s a fun game, I think you’d like it!
30
Oct
Posted by Michael D Jensen in Games. No Comments
Personally I play very few games on the iPhone, and lately in any spare minute I find myself with eReader reading a Brad Thor novel. But… this app has games that definitely have some “addictiveness” to them, and I had a hard time not loading more puzzles to play.
There are 15 different types of games, all with limitless numbers of puzzles, so you’ll never get bored! Some of the games I liked more than others, but with 15 to choose from you’re bound to find several that you like.
Rectangles: To play this game you make rectangles in the size of the number, with one number per rectangle. The whole board is algorithmically created (so much in fact you supposedly never play the same board twice?) so all the rectangles fit together to fill up the board. Boring? Actually not! There is definitely some strategy that you pick up after the first few puzzles, and then its really a time and strategy game after that.
I love the daily puzzle that lets you compete against everyone else in the world, and ranks you in terms of how long it took you to finish your puzzle. I’m ranked 21 for the day! You can see global scores for all the games at PuzzleManiak.com.
A great set of games, always a new challenge, and its great for your brain too! Well worth the price, it’s like getting 15 iPhone apps (including Sudoku!) for the price of one!
Download PuzzleManiak for $4.99
20
Oct
Posted by Michael D Jensen in Productivity. No Comments
I was recently turned on to “Getting Things Done” or GTD, by David Allen. As I learned about the methods and principles of GTD, I started looking for an application to run on my Mac to organize myself better, especially being someone who works for himself and works from a home office. I found Things.app which is still in beta, but is free until January when the first version gets released. As I started to use it, I loved the workflow and increased productivity, so I went looking for an iPhone app! I didn’t have to look too far, when I found Things for the iPhone!
The Things iPhone App syncs beautifully with Things on my desktop, every time I open the app and am connected to the same network as my MacBook Pro. The interface is easy and simple, and adding a new task couldn’t be more simple (which is one of the principles of GTD).
When I’m on the go I can quickly write down things, and I know when I get back to my home office it will all sync up and be ready to go again. The other night I was laying in bed and thought of one thing I needed to do. Instead of getting up and going to my computer, I could just add it directly to the Things iPhone app!
I’m really impressed, and for $9.99 I think it is worth every cent!
Download Things for the iPhone or iPod Touch!
2
Oct
Posted by Michael D Jensen in Utilities. 1 Comment
If you’re like me, you try hard to remember to get everything when you’re at the store, but you seem to always forget one thing! Never again, with Grocery IQ! It’s a quick (and fun) way to keep a grocery list going all week until you have to get to the store, and then you have your phone with you already so you won’t ever forget your grocery list!
I really like how Grocery IQ stores a list of Favorites and a History, which 95% of the items I purchase are things I had on a list from the last few weeks.
Another cool thing is, like on Mail or SMS, the icon shows how many items are still “open” on the list with a number in a red circle. Cool! That’s the first 3rd party app that I’ve seen do that!
I spoke with the developer of Grocery IQ, and he filled me in on some up and coming features that will make Grocery IQ even better. Later this month an update is coming to let you handle multiple lists, like for me I usually have a Costco list and a Wal-Mart list, and sometimes even a Harmon’s list (great produce). In November, version 2.0 will have a shared/syncing option, which will be perfect for my wife and I managing the weekly grocery list.
Sure there are a few other grocery apps out there, but not only does Grocery IQ have an intuitive interface and great features, but it was also highlighted this week as Apple’s App Store Pick of the Week!
I’m very impressed with Grocery IQ, and I’ve tried several of the other ones out there. I think you’ll love it too!
Buy Grocery IQ for $4.99!
23
Sep
Posted by Michael D Jensen in Games. 2 Comments
I’ve been really impressed with Skizzle, a “picture puzzle” game created by Sudo Labs that is not only fun, but social too! Skizzle is by far the best picture puzzle app available, and is highly rated by customer reviews (5 stars!).
Besides being able to use your pictures (see the cute pictures of my three kids below), Skizzle has Google images integrated right into the program, so you can do a puzzle of anything! I did a search for Star Wars and found a cute “Lego Star Wars” image (both my boys love Lego Star Wars stuff).
The “easy” setting is pretty easy, and is perfect for my 4 year old. The “medium” setting is great for my 7 year old, and even for me. The “hard” setting is a bit harder, and something to do when I have more time.
You can also share your puzzles with others, all you have to do is click the share button, and an email goes out giving instructions to that person on how to do it (they will need to have an iphone/ipod touch and get the app too). Very slick! Sk-izzle! The free account that is set up will store your shared puzzles so you can do them anytime.
A great app I highly recommend, great for the brain, and when you have some spare time waiting in line somewhere. Great for the kids too, they love puzzles, and its better for them than Super Monkey Ball!
Buy Skizzle now for $1.99!
23
Sep
Posted by Michael D Jensen in Lifestyle. No Comments
If you love Craigslist, you’ll love CraigsMobileList, a recently updated iPhone app! The developer of this app contacted me about doing this review literally right when I was on CraigsList looking for a new Apple Cinema Display (oh yeah, it will rock). So the CraigsMobileList app is now a staple of my iPhone usage!
CraigsMobileList makes it super easy, easier than using the browser, to find exactly what you’re looking for on CraigsList. Just find your city, then either do a search or a browse through a category. You can even bookmark your searches (super handy).
Once you find what you’re looking for you can read all the details, email the author, and go to the listing in Safari.
And if you haven’t used CraigsList, what are you waiting for? It’s a great way for local exchange and finding stuff even cheaper than ebay! And with CraigsMobileList, you can search anytime, anywhere. In fact I was at a lunch meeting today and just before I got there I checked for any new listings for that Apple display!
Buy CraigsMobileList for $2.99!
23
Sep
Posted by Michael D Jensen in Utilities. No Comments
You’ve probably seen some of the iPhone “ruler” apps out there, but RulerPhone is not your typical ruler app. RulerPhone uses a wallet sized card (driver’s license, credit card, whatever) to let you accurately measure anything when you’re on the go and forgot your measuring tape.
Scenario 1: You’re determined to get rid of your 1970s flower orange couch you got from your neighbor and replace it with a brand new couch from the local furniture store. You head to the store, find the perfect sofa, but you’re not sure it will fit in that living room corner. Of course, you forgot the measuring tape, who brings measuring tape to the furniture store? Enter RulerPhone. You grab your wallet and your iPhone, take out a card, take a picture, line up the card, measure the couch, buy the couch, and relax at home on your new couch.
Scenario 2: You’re house hunting. You love the 7th house if you’ve looked at, but there’s one problem. Will that hutch fit on that wall? You didn’t bring a measuring tape, and neither did your realtor. You pull out your phone and a card from your wallet, snap a picture, line it up, and presto. Yes the hutch will fit, and your wife is ecstatic that you (and RulerPhone) saved the day.
There are tons more uses than these, but you get the picture. RulerPhone will inevitably come in handy, so you might as well buy it now!
Buy RulerPhone for only $2.99!
You can see in my screenshots I measured a picture frame (for a 4″x6″ photo) and you can see how accurate it was!
