AppCraver » Entertainment

Police Scanner or Emergency Radio?

Barbara Holbrook — Thu, 22 Oct 2009 00:36:18 +0000

If you’re one of those edge-of-your-seat types that enjoys following police, fire and EMS transmissions there are half a dozen apps that make it easy to listen to those calls on your iPhone.

Most of the scanner apps are still rookies with less than a month in the App Store. Only two of them — Police Scanner by Juicy Development LLC and Emergency Radio by EdgeRift, Inc — are seasoned veterans with experience and multiple updates under their belt. Both apps do a very good job of providing live streaming transmissions to your iDevice, but there are subtle differences between them.

Police Scanner provides more than 1700 streams from 7 countries, so finding an agency to listen to is fairly easy. Police Scanner allows you to select a location from three different pages of listings or use the Near Me page to see a list of pre-selected agencies based on your current location. The Browse page is your guide to every available agency. Select a country, then drill down and narrow your search by region / state / county until you find an agency that sounds interesting. The Favorites page stores quick links to your chosen agencies making it faster to get to where you want to be for future sessions.

While listening to a stream on Police Scanner the screen displays the name of the agency, a play and pause button, volume control, and a favorite button that allows you to add that stream to your favorites page.

Emergency Radio provides around 1500 streams from 2 countries — the U.S. and Canada. Much like Police Scanner, Emergency Radio opens to a page that lets you choose how to select a station. The All page allows you to scroll through the streams or enter text to jump ahead to a specific city. The Nearby page is, again, a list of available streams close to your current location. You can adjust what distance Emergency Radio considers “Nearby” from as few as 5 miles to as many as 1000 miles. The Favorites page stores your list of preferred agencies. For those not familiar with police and fire codes, a glossary of terms is listed below the channel as it is streaming.

Overall both Police Scanner and Emergency Radio do a fine job and provide a good service. But in any head-to-head somebody has to win. So, here’s the break down:

Police Scanner has an edge on clarity with, what seemed to me, a crisper listening experience. By providing additional countries and more than 200 additional channels, they also have the edge on quantity. Finally, maybe looks aren’t everything, but Police Scanner has much better graphics.

Emergency Radio has the edge with their search function by allowing users to type in a city name. They also get points for including a glossary.

So many features in Police Scanner and Emergency Radio are similar but for now the nod of approval goes to Police Scanner. The clear audio and slick graphics are attractive, however its the ability to eavesdrop on crime-fighting play-by-plays in so many other countries that really won me over.

Just something to keep in mind, both apps can have long periods of silence. That’s the nature of a police scanner: Transmissions correlate to the call load and some areas naturally have more activity than others. If the action is too slow you can always find another channel or country to listen in on.

Zenscape: Colorful Lightplay is Quietly Calm

Barbara Holbrook — Thu, 08 Oct 2009 18:12:38 +0000

Zenscape - More than a year ago, Koi Pond floated onto the app scene with a gorgeous (if pointless) app that allowed users to affect an onscreen world with a touch, tap or swipe. It was an instant success and app developers have been using the model ever since hoping to achieve the same fame.

Zenscape is a new wrapper for an old trick. That said, it’s a trick many users enjoy and new iPhone owners may not have experienced yet.

Zenscape is an “interactive visual experience” to “calm and relax your mind” says the App Store description. The app has a pretty simple set-up. Open the app and the home page greets you with a little piece piece of daily zen — a quote from an eclectic mix of personalities Buddha, Martin Luther King Jr, William Penn, Lily Tomlin and more. If you need more encouragement to find your inner peace, you can scroll through to get more quotes in random order.

The music for Zenscape is a new-agey, space-inspired soundtrack that feels like the intro to a Sci-Fi flick. I kind of like it, but if you don’t it can be toggled off by tapping the musical note. The music is obviously created to encourage relaxation, but I was disappointed by the loud clack that accompanies tapping the options buttons. I’m all for auditory feedback, but in this case it’s unnecessarily disruptive to “the mood.”

After you’ve been sufficiently inspired by quotes and music, it’s time to get to the heart of this app. Zenscape has 6 similarly designed themes: underwater, snowy day, outer space, romantic, psychedelic, and flames. My two faves are snowy day and outer space. The rest are basically the same experience with different colors schemes.

Choose a theme and enter an interactive screen with gently undulating background colors. Tap and swipe to watch trails of light swirl in the wake of your fingers. Zenscape describes it as “waves and flames.” Personally, I found the trails to be more subtle. Pretty? Yes. Entrancing? Well, that depends on you.

I think I’m wound a little too tightly to find zen in an iPhone app, even through the warm glow of Zenscape’s interactive color parade. However, if you like these types of touch and play “visual experiences” then give this app a try.

One last thing: Fractal Softworks is also the developer of one of my current favorite apps, Crystal Clear. If you prefer an app with more zeal than zen, give it a try instead.

rating: 7/10
app_name: Zenscape

Anitello: Animated How-to Videos for Life’s Little Problems

Barbara Holbrook — Fri, 02 Oct 2009 00:44:17 +0000

Anitello is an app designed to provide “clarifying animations” to “entertain and assist.” The animations cover basic tasks such as jumpstarting a battery or cooking a steak — simple stuff that people frequently have questions about. Sounds pretty good so far.

Each silent video lasts about a minute and can be viewed with captions in seven different languages. The best feature though, is the zoom option which offers a second animation with more detailed instructions for specific steps.

Regular AppCraver readers will know that I’m a big fan of paid apps. I believe that developers deserve to get paid for their hard work and good ideas. And, I think it’s shameful that most users are willing to tip their barista more than they pay app developers. However, in this case, I think that Anitello is overpriced. How-to videos are a good idea, but this app is too raw to charge full price. Anitello should be a $0.99 app. Here’s why.

Anitello starts off with 6 animations — 7 if you count the animated “help” video. The Anitello website says more videos are on the way, and are asking for feedback from users about what type of how to videos they’d like to see. If you like getting in on the ground floor, now is the time. In fact, it doesn’t get much more ground floor than this.

Although you can pause the app at anytime — and even zoom in for more detailed instructions — there is no way to rewind. This may seem minor, but if you’re jumpstarting a car, you may have to start again from the beginning when told to “remove jumper cables in the reverse order in which you attached them.”

I applaud the people who can take complex problems and then break down solutions into a few easy steps that laymen can understand. It’s a very special skill. However, in some cases Anitello’s “instructions” are overly simplistic. Trying to find safety in a thunderstorm? “A building is also a good shelter.” Hmmm… If you don’t know enough to come in from the rain then I doubt an iPhone app is going to be much help.

Another issue with Anitello is that it requires an Internet connection to watch the animations. Once again, it’s a design choice that defies logic. “Wherever you are, you usually have a mobile phone at hand,” say the developers. “Anitello and the animations are always within reach.”

Well, if you need instructions for tasting wine then you better hope that the wine bar has WiFi because downloading video without is enough to drive you to drink. On the other hand if you’re still on the Edge network, your wine will have plenty of time to breathe.

I admit, it’s a pain to download a 440MB app filled with video animations. (We did it recently with Italian Video Recipes.) But, I think most users would rather spend a little extra time installing the app than be unable to make a paper airplane while in airplane mode. Other apps have solved this problem by downloading videos as they’re requested but thereafter keeping the video on the device, but even this is a lackluster solution in my opinion.

Anitello could end up being a great resource. The animations are quality and the graphics are polished, but the app just isn’t “there” yet. Buy now and you can send in your suggestions to help make the app better. Or you can wait for an update or two and see if the features improve. Personally, I’ll keep the app around. The videos are entertaining and I’m curious to see where this goes next.

rating: 5/10
app_name: Anitello

Italian Video Recipes Vol. 1 Displays Step-by-Step Instructions for Authentic Cooking

Keith Lewis — Tue, 29 Sep 2009 19:05:19 +0000

For those that like to get their inner chef on, there is nothing like finding a new recipe or a book of recipes to inspire you to create that next memorable meal. When I first heard about the Italian Video Recipes Vol. 1 iPhone app by Andrea Vettori, I was ready to start sharpening my chef’s knife and reach for my bamboo cutting board.

Italian Video Recipes Vol. 1 offers nine recipes: four starters, four first courses, one second course and one dessert. Each recipe is designated with a preparation level of difficulty. Six are categorized as easy, the others as medium. Each recipe also lists a preparation time.

The app is very easy to use. Scroll to any recipe and tap on the ingredient tab. Each ingredient is listed along with the amount needed and a colorful photograph. Only two ingredients are listed per page so you’ll have to scroll through pages to see all of the required ingredients.

After you’ve got your list, return to the start page to select the Steps tab and read the instructions — one step per page then scroll to the next. While in the Steps section you can also click the show video tab and watch step-by-step video of the narrator completing each step.

Some of these video sections are very short, as little as 12 seconds to show you the ingredients needed for the recipe or to watch the instructor crack eggs into a bowl. After each step, you must tap again to get to the next step and then again to the next step. Step by step instructions are a good idea, but Italian Video Recipes just seems to have more “steps” than necessary.

Italian Video Recipes Vol. 1 is a good concept. The ability to watch a step-by-step video prep of a recipe is a good idea — especially for beginners. Another nice feature is that all the information is stored locally on your device, so you don’t need an Internet connection to get cooking. (This also means that you shouldn’t try to install the app over WiFi because it’s a 440MB download.)

Although, I’m sure some folks will find the slow pace and super simple instructions are a benefit when learning to cook a new recipe, I found that navigating through Italian Video Recipes seemed to take longer than necessary. And, I really would like to have the choice to watch the steps straight through so I can have an overview of the cooking process.

The photos look good enough to eat and, according to the developer, all the recipes are for traditional Italian meals handed down “through generations.” She’s actually from Italy, so we can be pretty sure the recipes are authentic.

rating: 7/10
app_name: Italian Video Recipes Vol 1

3D Aquarium: Dive into a Peaceful Underwater World of Virtual Pets

Keith Lewis — Mon, 28 Sep 2009 17:56:06 +0000

3D Aquarium — The great thing about having a pet is the interaction — the petting, funny expressions and playtime. So, I’m usually not too keen on the world of virtual pets and the related iPhone apps.

But, what if your pet of choice is fish? The real fascination of fish is in watching them swim, seeing them swarm at feeding time, tapping on the glass to get a reaction, or just from enjoying the peaceful sounds of gurgling water.

The 3D Aquarium app by raiX UG is a realistic pet fish experience. The app offers all the peaceful pleasures of owning an aquarium without the maintenance of cleaning the glass or maintaining proper temperatures, ph and salt levels.

3D Aquarium has many positives. The sharp colors and realistic movements of the fish and plant life are wonderful to watch. Users can set up three different aquariums — each with its own set of fish and choice of substrate (sand, rocks, etc), background, plant life, and fish.

While watching your new pets, you can also configure options such as sound, light, camera, and tap to feed or tap to chase fish away can further customize the aquarium. By default the Auto Camera is off, which offers a full view of the aquarium that can be rotated with the accelerometer just by tilting your device. Turn Auto Camera on for a close up view of your fish that follows your pets automatically as they roams about the tank.

The only downside to this aquarium app is the limits — currently only six fish and one crab per aquarium. I would love to have the ability to add more. I suppose it’s rather unhealthy for the fish to be too crowded, but the whole point of virtual reality is pushing past the “reality.”

The other caveat with 3D Aquarium is that you need to remember to set your device not to sleep if you plan on passively enjoying your aquarium. I set up mine up the desk using an iPhone stand and my device turned itself off a few minutes after I tired of feeding the fish.

3D Aquarium by raiX UG delivers on what most would expect from the aquarium experience. If you enjoy the calming effects of gazing into an aquarium and watching fish glide through the gentle currents of relatively calm waters then you’ll enjoy the 3D Aquarium app for quite some time.

app_name: 3D Aquarium
rating: 8/10

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

Disneyland iGuide by Walkee is a magical link to Walt’s Kingdom

Barbara Holbrook — Thu, 10 Sep 2009 02:02:01 +0000

I wasn’t too sure I could test the Disneyland iGuide by Walkee without a visit to the “happiest place on Earth.” However, since my app purchase did not include a ticket I realized I’d just have to give it my best shot. So, mouse ears in place I prepared to be imaginarily whisked away.

To my surprise, this guide to getting around Disneyland, California Adventure and Downtown Disney is interesting from the comfort of one’s own couch too. There is so much information! Each ride has a description and a separate “back story” with historical tidbits or entertaining facts about the attraction.

The Disneyland iGuide is organized around a circular legend that lets users select attractions, shopping, dining, favorites or “did that.” Choose any single category or mix and match to customize what you’re looking for. After you’ve made a selection, tap the big blue button to open the map. Places from your preselected categories will be flagged.

The map of Disneyland is one of Walkee’s big claims to fame. According to the company, users can zoom in closer than any other Disney map available. The map is a great way to browse through the app, let your fingers do the walking to visit your preferred “land” and learn more about your favorite rides or attractions.

For people that are actually in Disneyland the map has extra features that make it even better. Coupled with built-in GPS, you can use the Disneyland iGuide to route you from one ride to another, find your current location and the nearest restroom, or just track your progress as you travel through the park. If you are planning on being in Disneyland all day, you may want to turn off that last feature though or it’s unlikely your battery will last long enough to take pictures at the afternoon parade.

Walkee has included everything you would expect to find in a guide to the Magic Kingdom: daily schedules for opening, closing and parade times, lists of attractions, special requirements (like height or health), where to find characters for photo opps, even restaurant menus!

The guide takes advantage of user-submitted data to provide up-to-the-minute details about the park. Users can use the Line-Timer to record wait times and will soon be able to send in alerts about down rides as well.

But, what I really like about the Disneyland iGuide is the personalization features that make this more than any paper guide could hope to be. As you enjoy your day, you can mark off the rides that you’ve been on and add notes to individual attractions. You can also use the app to snap a photo that will be stored with your notes. At the end of the day you can relive every minute of fun. After the next upgrade you’ll also be able upload your pics to Facebook or send e-cards to family and friends all from within the iGuide.

The Disneyland iGuide is a fully complete, well-thought out iPhone app, rather than just a digitized map with zoom. Use it plan your trip, guide your day, and relive the good times over and over again.

rating: 8/10
app_name: Disneyland iGuide

Zamodo Faces Serves up Indie-Art Wallpaper in 3 Yummy Designs

Barbara Holbrook — Thu, 03 Sep 2009 19:38:06 +0000

Zamodo Faces — Monsters, robots and animals. Sounds like just another day at the office for the folks at Zamodo Interactive. Zamodo’s new line of iPhone Wallpaper apps uses colorful designs from indie artists to fulfill the groups mission of “bringing fun ideas, delightful characters and alluring designs to the mobile world.”

If you’re a fan of clean, vector-y, candy-coated art (and, really, who isn’t?) then the iPhone Wallpaper sets available from the Zamodo Faces collection are a good place to start. Each art pack has 10 designs with just the right dash of whimsy and cool to give your device a little attitude that says, “I may ride the waves of popular culture, but I’m still a kid at heart.”

So far, Zamodo has released three wallpaper packs — monsters, animals and robots — and has more on the way.

Once installed, Zamodo Faces couldn’t be easier to use. Just swipe to browse through the different images, then with the tap of a button save your favorite face to your photo library. Or, if you prefer save all 10 images to your library at the same time. If you’d like to learn about the artist, tap the info button from the Zamodo home screen to read their bio.

Once an image is in your library you can use it the same way you would any other photo — set it as your wallpaper or assign it as a contact image for your grumpy friend that refuses to take a picture. In fact, since they are all faces, these apps make fun avatars for your contact list.

rating: 8/10
app_name: Zamodo Faces

uKnowit Crams a Whopping 10,000 Quotes, Facts, Trivia into One App

Barbara Holbrook — Tue, 01 Sep 2009 22:30:28 +0000

Have you ever been stuck mid-sentence because you don’t know how to refer to that group of wild boars crossing the expressway? Or spent sleepless nights wondering what type of insanity might make a man think he is an ox? Then, pay close attention to uKnowit.

uKnowit, the trivia app from Baba Ganu, is a scrolling wonderland of minutiae. The compilation includes 10,000 quotations, trivia, factoids, how-to tips, definitions and etymology that could keep even Cliff Clavin occupied for quite some time.

UKnowit is easy enough to grasp. Open the app and a random factoid (referred to as a “Knowit”) will appear, slide to scroll through additional trivia right to left. If you come across a particularly juicy tidbit, you can email it to a friend with a quick tap.

Double-tap to add the current Knowit to your personal list of favorites. Build a list of favorites and you’ll be able to browse through them with the same scrolling motion. Favorites are differentiated by purple background.

Knowits are short by nature, but if you find that one paragraph is simply not enough information about Koala Bear fingerprints then tap the “learn more” link. This quick find feature will fire up Google in a new browser with suggested search terms already entered.

One of the best features of uKnowit is the ability to customize the categories. By default the app comes with 14 categories of trivia turned on: animals and pets, arts and entertainment, business and economy, food and beverage, health, history, hobbies, math and science, people and personalities, politics and culture, regional, social science, sports and recreation, and technology.

Each category has a toggle switch that can be turned off or on to force uKnowit to exclude the hokum and show only the details you find most interesting.

Most of the Knowits are interesting, verifiable facts. Most hold up fine under scrutiny. However, I did find one error in my random sampling, Herb (not Ed) Peterson invented the Egg McMuffin. It’s unfortunate, but with 10,000 Knowits an error or two is bound to sneak in. Plus, there’s always that Learn More button to check anything that doesn’t ring true.

Thanks to uKnowit, I now know that a herd of boars is actually called a sounder. As for the ox-driven insanity, you’ll just have to purchase uKnowit and find out for yourself.

app_name: uKnowit
rating: 7/10

The Mood Setter is Good for a few Laughs

Barbara Holbrook — Tue, 28 Jul 2009 20:00:10 +0000

The Mood Setter from Sobits is the only iPhone app I know that literally includes the phrase Bow-chicka-wow-wow, which depending on your taste is either hilariously hip or totally gauche. The Mood Setter falls exactly within the confines of what I expect from a 99-cent app — it’s simple, humorous, and has just enough “maybe-I’ll-use-it some-day” potential to stay in my iTunes Library, even if it doesn’t stay on my iPhone.

Here’s the scenario. A true “ladies man” is always prepared with proper lighting and background music. So, to make sure you never “miss the moment” again, The Mood Setter offers your choice of romantic candles or crackling fireplace accompanied by any of 4 sound-tracks. The app is easy to use so I won’t go into the how-tos here.

The funny part is the idea that some lonely soul may actually think that this app will “set the mood.” Um, unless your honey’s into comedy hour, not so much. The cheesy music is great for a few laughs, but even if you decide to turn the music off, just going through the settings is enough to kill the mood and reduce your partner to fits of giggles.

This is not to say that I don’t see a use for The Mood Setter. The video quality of the fire and the candles is actually quite fine. With the sound turned completely off, The Mood Setter would make a nice desktop ornament around the holidays or an awesome fiery background for your next action-figure stop-motion video short.

If you’re looking for a way to break the ice, The Mood Setter may be just the joke you need. Watch The Mood Setter video demo to decide if it’s worth your buck:

Read this article for or more sexy iPhone apps.

rating: 7/10
app_name: The Mood Setter