AppCraver » Best Free Apps

iCaption Mobile Harnesses the Power (and Pain) of Community

Barbara Holbrook — Thu, 24 Sep 2009 01:50:17 +0000

iCaption Mobile (Witty Captions and Ratings) is an iphone application for all you Dane Cook fans out there — meaning I don’t think it is remotely funny or even tolerable but I guarantee some of you out there will.

With that tender opening aside lets get to the meat of this slap stick application. The concept behind this wunderkind (it is still in its early stages after all) is that a community of assholes can be entertaining — if only to each other. iCaption Mobile executes this thesis by allowing registered users to upload photos of funny/disturbing situations and then allow the community to add comments and rate the photo with a quick and easy thumbs up or down.

From a technical standpoint iCaption Mobile is smooth, aesthetically pleasing and relatively complex. You can create your own profile, sort through stupid pictures by category and shift through random photos of people being kicked in the groin — not bad considering it’s a free app.

iCaption Mobile does something unusual that merits a mention. The doesn’t “force” you to join the community. If you prefer not to hand over your name and email you can still browse the photos profile free, albeit without the ability to add captions or ratings. It’s a small thing, but it’s an option I wish more apps offered — the ability to test the waters before taking the time to set up yet another profile.

Unfortunately, like many of its peers this type of app is predicated on its ability to galvanize a real community around it. And, with so many social apps tugging for attention, it’s probably not going to happen anytime soon.

iCaption Mobile comes with a NC-17 rating — pretty standard for an unmonitored community where users are free to take turns trying to outgross the previous commentator. Even seemingly innocent pictures were inevitably captioned with lewd remarks. It’s not “The Aristocrats,” but don’t enter if you’re shocked by blue humor.

A broader user base might just take iCaption Mobile up a few notches. I Can Has Cheeseburger is another community-oriented photo app (and website) that doesn’t suffer nearly has much from the jerk factor. Instead of focusing on a closed community, the developers should look at ways to make iCaption a feature app rather than a stand alone community app — there may be better ways to utilize other social graphs (i.e. Facebook and its 300 million users).

Until then, I welcome iCaption to ranks of the Appcraver 6 — the parental equivalent of telling your kid that you are disappointed but you know that they have so much potential.

app_name: iCaption Mobile
rating: 6/10

Friend Mapper is a Cool Concept for the Right Audience

Barbara Holbrook — Mon, 17 Aug 2009 21:00:33 +0000

Friend Mapper — Combine the iPhone’s built-in GPS with our natural tendency to be nosy and you get a plethora of location-based apps that allow users to find, follow and map their friends. Friend Mapper, (formerly Amigo Mapper) by Winkpass Creations, would be just another in this line of apps were it not for one seriously ambitious twist.

Friend Mapper lets you show your location to friends. You can also find friends that have opted to share their location. So far, it’s pretty standard stuff. The twist is that Friend Mapper offers live updating. So, not only can you see that your friend Jane is at the mall, you can watch as she moves from store to store. Or, more practically, if the family is planning to meet for dinner you can watch live as Uncle Larry takes a wrong turn and call him before ends up in the next town. Friend Mapper includes one touch calling or texting for any of your linked contacts.

Did I mention this app was ambitious? Unfortunately, it may be too ambitious for the current iPhone. The caveat to live updating is that it only works if your contact’s iPhone or iPod touch is turned on and they have the app open. Otherwise, it’s just a map which shows where your friends were recently — and if your friends don’t tend to update their location, it may not even do that.

Friend Mapper also works much better with iPhone 3G or 3G S. Original iPhone, without built-in GPS, won’t locate or track as precisely. Of course, this isn’t Friend Mappers fault.

In fact, most of what’s wrong with Friend Mapper isn’t the developers fault. It’s a brilliant idea. If only the iPhone could run multiple apps. Or, if your friends could be relied upon to consistently turn on and update their location. These are the two things that keep the live updating from being very live.

It would be nice to see some extra features to keep us entertained until live location updating becomes a more viable feature. The ability to snap and attach photos to a location, or a list of favorite locations for when the GPS doesn’t get it quite right.

In the meantime, Friend Mapper is a nice concept and is probably handy for very specific situations as long as your entire group owns iPhones. It would be fun during a scavenger hunt to spy on the other teams or it could add a new dimension to extreme hide-and-seek. If you have a group of friends willing to play along, you’ll probably get your dollar’s worth. But, don’t expect Friend Mapper to change the world. It’s just not there yet.

Watch the Friend Mapper video demo:

app_name: Friend Mapper
rating: 6/10

MyNewPlace Helps Apartment Hunters Organize Their Search

Barbara Holbrook — Tue, 04 Aug 2009 20:00:19 +0000

MyNewPlace.com is a website that connects renters with apartments. The site claims to list 6 million apartments in 20 major metropolitan areas so far — including my home town Long Beach, CA. I recently went through the heartache/headache/excitement of finding a new place — I’ve got the boxes to prove it — so, I know first hand how a service like this can come in handy.

MyNewPlace.com recently released an iPhone app to compliment their website. The MyNewPlace iPhone App is a stand-alone product as it doesn’t have the ability to tie into your online identity. Despite this shortcoming, it’s a useful tool for apartment hunters.

MyNewPlace has all the standards one would expect from an apartment finding app: Zip Code or GPS-based search; results filtered by distance, price range, beds, baths, and amenities; interactive maps to compare, locate and get directions to properties; and click-to-call or email property managers.

In addition there are a few extra features to make organizing your search for the perfect apartment a little bit easier. The Notes & Photos section lets users take a quick snapshot and add a personal note which are then saved directly to the property’s listing. Properties that you tag are saved to your “favorites” for easy reference at the end of the day.

The features I appreciated most are the photos and the maps. When searching through apartment listing it doesn’t take long before everything starts to sound alike. The ability to scroll through photos can help to narrow down your options. After photos, the next step in apartment hunting is the “drive-by.” MyNewPlace can create a map listing all the locations from your favorites so you can easily navigate to your potential new pad and check out the neighborhood. Find something you like? Go to the saved listing and tap the phone number to call the property manager from the parking lot!

There’s no denying that MyNewPlace has a lot of listings. However, for me, this app wouldn’t replace a craigslist search. Many of the listings are of the “apartment home” variety, gorgeous properties with lots of amenities. If this is what you’re looking for, then MyNewPlace will have everything you need. But if you want something a little more off the beaten path, managed by a smaller property company or individual landlord, then MyNewPlace will supplement your current apartment search plan, not replace it.

Because MyNewPlace isn’t likely to be the only place you search for apartments, I wish there was a way to add a listing to my favorites from an outside source. For instance, if I find an apartment I like through a newspaper or word of mouth I want to be able to keep the info in the MyNewPlace app. This would make the app a true information hub for any apartment hunter.

MyNewApp also touts their ability to use Facebook Connect to let users share information about their apartment hunt on their profile pages. This has the potential to be a great feature. I would love to share favorite apartments during the search process and get feedback from friends and family. There’s one problem, though. The Facebook Connect option isn’t available until after you email the property for more information. This seems a little backwards to me and is a real limitation to the viral possibilities of MyNewPlace.

If I had to look for another apartment tomorrow — and let’s hope I don’t — I would definitely use MyNewPlace during my search. It’s not the only tool needed by tech-savy apartment hunters, but it a good tool.

rating: 7/10
app_name: MyNewPlace

Shift Is a Fine Puzzler

Shawn Leonard — Wed, 01 Jul 2009 01:00:47 +0000

Echochrome was one of my favorite games of 2008. It was a PSP downloadable puzzle game that was all about changing perspectives and using physics to solve puzzles to complete levels. So when a game brings back memories of spending hours playing through Echochrome, it’s a very good thing in my world. Shift isn’t a clone of Echochrome in any sense, but Armor Games has created a puzzle game that puts the emphasis on creating a way out of no way to move through the game. An interesting premise for sure, but as always, folks want to know if the execution is on point and if this is a fun game. At its core, Shift is a classic “here” to “there” puzzle game. From there, it trails off the beaten path dramatically. You’re a guy that’s in a square shaped environment that consists of only two colors, black and white. This is the means to create the main mechanic for the whole game, as the way to navigate around the level is done by shifting perspective to get a different view of the level. So what appears to be a dead end can magically become a stair case by shifting perspective by tilting the iPhone forwards or backwards. You’ll climb stairs, make jumps, avoid spikes, and collect keys to unlock moving platforms all in the effort to exit through the door to complete the level.

Control mechanics are solid, but they’ll take some time to get used to. Movement left or right is controlled through holding the arrows on the screen. If you want to jump, you have to tap the arrow that isn’t being used while holding the arrow that is being used to walk. This isn’t a scheme I was used to, but it was the right decision versus having an imprecise control stick on the screen. Shifting is done by tilting the iPhone, but there are ways to modify that mechanic in the options menu.

The presentation in Shift will not blow up anyone’s skirt, but the minimalistic approach is effective. After all, there’s only so many things you can do with a black and white color palette. Slick menus and short loading times are included, but my favorite part of the presentation is the music. It uses a throwback detective musical ditty that’s full of percussion and brass instruments. If you’re not feeling the music, the game allows you to listen to stuff from your iPod library as well. For a buck, I had a great time playing through Shift. It’s not the most full featured game out there, and it’s not going to be the hardest or most expansive game you’ve ever played either. All I can say is that Shift is an outstanding and unique puzzler that I suspect many people will enjoy.

rating: 8/10
app_name: Shift

Hello Vino Associates Wine with Food

Michael Alexander — Tue, 30 Jun 2009 23:30:16 +0000

Hello Vino, from Drive Thru Interactive, aims to answer one of life’s greatest mysteries: What wine makes a good match for a pizza with pineapple and ham? Answer: Any wine that will kill the taste of pineapple (Ba-doom!).

But seriously folks, it’s a Riesling, a sweet wine with a “peach orange blossom [to] match.” If you want me to be more specific, a good match (one of three listed) is a Knoll Riesling Loibenberg Federspiel. I have no idea what that means.

I know some of this because Hello Vino, which is free, told me so. Hello Vino is a wine-cask-full of food and wine pairings. Perhaps no other aspect of the sometimes arcane rituals of wine drinking confounds most people than what food and wine go together. Somewhere there are wine-drinking rules — by Hoyle or someone else as authoritative.

Suppose you found the bottle of Knoll Riesling Loibenberg Federspiel you purchased was decidedly delightful and delicious and you just had to tell someone. Tap the Share icon and tell your friends on Facebook and your followers on Twitter or submit your notes with a rating of the wine to the Hello Vino Web site.

According to Drive Thru Interactive, the app contains 2,000 pairings, which the company claims is the most comprehensive of these apps. I’ll get to work eating and drinking and get to you in about 6.5 years and let you know how I made out.

You also can search for a specific wine while you’re booze shopping or ordering at a restaurant.

Helpfully, Hello Vino provides pricing for each of the suggested wines, among other bits of info. I can’t vouch for the prices, but they must vary quite a bit from one place to the other. So I wouldn’t go by them solely if I were you.

I was dismayed to find typos in this app and I didn’t have to look very far to find them.

Still, if you need to know what wine goes with what food or occasion, by style and taste, and country and region, Hello Vino does that very well. It’s a good looking, easy to use app too.

rating: 7/10
app_name: Hello Vino

Little Runner Keeps on Going and Going

Jennifer Beam — Tue, 30 Jun 2009 20:30:11 +0000

Little Runner – Though there are a handful of simple, black and white line art games in the App Store, few are truly worth more than a few moments of play. Though I was skeptical of Little Runner because of its super simplistic presentation, it turned out to be a semi-addicting little game that seems to have some good potential.

Developed by Red Rocket Games, Little Runner features a little alien guy who actually power walks more than runs, and your objective is to keep his running path clear.

As the Little Runner guy is in continuous motion, you need to stay a few steps ahead of him. By swiping the platforms that make up his path, you adjust them to give him a continuous road. Some platforms go up, others go down, and it isn’t until the fourth level that you have to really keep on your toes in order to keep Little Runner off his face. If you leave even the smallest obstacle in his path, it’s game over.

Little Runner uses simple one-touch maneuvering to play and has catchy background music to keep the momentum going. Seeing how long you can keep Little Runner going is the only real objective, and while Little Runner is a super simple game to play, it becomes more difficult to meet the long-distance objective as the levels progress.

Though at present there are a few performance issues with Little Runner, including a painstakingly long load time and possible lags, it appears the developer is well aware of these issues and has already submitted updates to improve them. In addition, more levels and obstacles, as well as the ability to select a level (which is definitely an added benefit) are in the works also. For the attention the developer appears to be giving to Little Runner, I can’t say I’ll be deleting it from my menu any time soon. It’s fun enough to play as is and with improvements and additions, Little Runner could go a long way.

Watch a video of the newly updated version of Little Runner:

app_name: Little Runner
rating: 7/10

It’s Not A Stick Up, Wild West Pinball is Free

Jennifer Beam — Tue, 30 Jun 2009 17:30:10 +0000

In anticipation of their latest pinball game launch, OOO Gameprom has made Wild West Pinball available for free. Wild West Pinball is a video pinball game with a western-theme table. Anyone would be hard pressed to complain about a free game and a free pinball game is all the better.

Since so many “free” apps are either condensed “trial” versions of full games, pointless utilities, or shameless plugs for other products, it’s always nice to find a free game you can actually play the full version of. Wild West Pinball is not only a full pinball game, but has smooth game play and live online scoring updates.

Overall, Wild West Pinball replicates the physics of pinball decently. Though I personally don’t like the camera action, I’m sure there’s those that will. In case you’re wondering, the camera follows the ball and zooms in and out, sometimes at inopportune moments.

Still, smooth as the game play is and responsive as the touch screen flippers are, I didn’t find Wild West Pinball to be that exciting. The table is appropriately themed for the title and replicates a true pinball game, but there’s not that much to it – basically a few bells and whistles and a random opportunity or two for quick scoring boosts.

My biggest gripe with Wild West Pinball is the sound effects, which while chosen appropriately, come off sounding weak. The bells remind me less of a pinball game and more of the bicycle bell I had on my bike as a kid.

Regardless of its weak points, Wild West Pinball is not the worst video pinball game out there by any means. It’s also not the best. My personal favorite thus far for iPhone is Monster Pinball. However, given that you can get Wild West Pinball for free, this alone makes it a considerably better value. Though I feel for those who already paid a buck for it, giving Wild West Pinball away is a potentially good way for the developer’s to build a new following. Not yet sure what to expect from OOO Gameprom’s up-and-coming pinball game, The Deep Pinball, but in the mean time pinball fans can have a quick bit of good handling pinball with no investment necessary.

app_name: Wild West Pinball
rating: 7/10

You Might Need iWrecked – Auto Accident Assistant

Amelia Sauter — Mon, 29 Jun 2009 16:00:37 +0000

I would like to say that I have never had a car accident but, unfortunately, this is not the case. I have been in five car accidents in the past 15 years. (None of them were my fault. I swear it). I wish I had iWrecked- Auto Accident Assistant at the time.

iWrecked – Auto Accident Assistant is an iPhone app from Vurgood Applications that allows you to easily record the details of a car accident. Sure, a pen and paper will do, but good luck finding them in your messy glove compartment when you are stressed out.

When you have an unsettling or traumatic accident, you might also have a difficult time remembering what information to write down. iWrecked is like a friend who asks you all the right questions; all you have to do is fill in the blanks.

iWrecked prompts you to record all the things that your insurance company will need, including the location of the accident, the other driver’s information, the police report number and witness information. iWrecked – Auto Accident Assistant has a “Notes” section if you need to write down additional details such as injuries or multiple cars involved. iWrecked also allows you to take photos and save them as part of the accident report.

The best part about iWrecked is that it creates a PDF with the accident information that you can preview and email from your iPhone to yourself, your insurance company, or anyone else. The insurance rep is going to love how comprehensive you are.

In addition, iWrecked can find a local tow truck or taxi as well as call 911. Vurgood Apps says auto entry of your location via GPS is coming soon.

iWrecked has one feature that is not user-friendly: As you enter each piece of information, such as the street, and click the save button, iWrecked saves that one detail but not the entire accident report. You have to remember to click the save button back on the accident report main page, too, after you have entered and saved each detail. During my test of iWrecked, I inadvertently deleted three accident histories, and I was not under duress as most accident victims are.

I do not know the statistics, but I would guess that almost everyone will be in at least one car accident at some point in their lives. If you have an iPhone, iWrecked – Auto Accident Assistant is a handy app that can help you out in a crisis.

app_name: iWrecked
rating: 8/10

MapQuest 4 Mobile Makes It Easy for You to Find Your Way

Michael Alexander — Sat, 27 Jun 2009 00:00:05 +0000

MapQuest 4 Mobile – I’ve always been a fan and user of MapQuest but I don’t think AOL’s MapQuest 4 Mobile offers any more functionality than many other apps that use maps to help you find nearby eateries, hotels, discounts and so on.

That’s not to say MapQuest 4 Mobile isn’t a competitive offering, because it is, especially given that it’s free. There’s much to like about this app. It’s user interface is quite good and if you’re in search of restaurants, hotels, shopping malls, gas stations, coffee shops and post offices, a single icon tap will take you there.

Start by setting your location and then either run a search by business name or address or tap the corresponding icon to find what you’re looking for. From there, grab directions on how to get from point A to point B and if it’s a place you plan to revisit, you can save your search or review your search history and save them as “My Places” and access them from anywhere online.

To save your My Places requires setting up an account using MapQuest, AIM or AOL. Create a screen name and the next time you want to see your saved places, log in.

MapQuest 4 Mobile is essentially the pocket version of the Web site. You can elect to find the shortest route, shortest time, avoid highways and so on. You can also view directions stop-by-stop and maps in landscape mode, which is also a good feature.

With devs ramping up for all the new map-related, GPS and compass capabilities of OS 3.0, I expect to see AOL bring some more clever features in updates to this app. Right now, it’s just a map app with a few extra bells and whistles and huge brand recognition and familiarity to most users. It could be a lot more.

When I tried to set up my My Places account, it took me three tries before the page would finally load. The app crashed right after each attempt, but I don’t know what to make of that. I wasn’t able to replicate it later. Perhaps you’ll have better luck and not have to worry about crashes at all.

MapQuest 4 Mobile is free, so if you try it and don’t like it, there’s no harm, no foul, right?

Where MapQuest 4 Mobile will have a difficult time is convincing iPhoners and iPod touchers to use it instead of Google, AAA Discounts and many other apps with maps designed to make it easy for you to find nearby retail outlets, businesses and restaurants.

rating: 8/10
app_name: MapQuest 4 Mobile

Whole Foods Market Recipes is a “Tasteful” Recipe App

Jennifer Beam — Thu, 25 Jun 2009 23:30:53 +0000

Whole Foods Market Recipes – As awareness in food preparation, such as gluten-free foods or diabetic-friendly dishes, and an appreciation for natural and organic foods grows, it’s not surprising to see so many companies responding in kind. Whole Foods Market has developed an app for iPhone that is designed to help those interested in preparing meals and dishes from natural and organic foods, with or without dietary preferences. Whole Foods Market Recipes is available for iPhone (3.0 only) for free and is actually an impressive recipe app for anyone.

When it comes to what comes in and out of my kitchen, I can use all the help I can get. I like to browse recipe apps like All Recipe’s Dinner Spinner and I found Whole Foods Market Recipes to be an equally useful app – especially for healthy cooking. There are several features to Whole Foods Market Recipes, but one of my particular favorites is the “on hand” feature. It allows you to enter up to three items or ingredients you already have and then supplies you with recipes containing those ingredients. Granted, the more specific you are about category and dietary preferences, the fewer, if any, results you get, but it’s a nice feature for when you’re in a dinner-prep pinch.

Other features of Whole Foods Market Recipes is to narrow your recipes search by course, category, and dietary preference. These preferences include dairy free, fat free, gluten free, sugar conscious and vegan. You can further narrow your search by breakfast, dinner, desserts, salads, and more courses, as well as budget and kid-friendly dishes. Granted, you can’t perform multiple selection searches, such as fat-free vegan, but it’s definitely covered the basics individually. There are a fair amount of unique recipes in each category and the display of recipes is quite tasteful.

Not only can you view a description, as well as photos for many, you get separate views of ingredients and preparation. The overall presentation of each recipe is quite nice, but I am a visual person and wish there were photos of all recipes. As it is, even those absent of pictures still gives a brief description of the dish.

Obviously Whole Foods Market Recipes is intended to supply recipes using ingredients that Whole Foods Market retail locations carry. You can use the app to find the nearest Whole Foods Market location, but keep in mind that the recipes aren’t limited to use only with their products. This is part of what makes it nice – no specific brand names or impossible substitutions. For free, Whole Foods Market Recipes is a well designed recipe app.

app_name: Whole Foods Market Recipes
rating: 8/10