The Eagle has landed, but this time it’s touching down in the App Store courtesy of J-Squared Software. Lunar Module 3D is a moon-themed game that is timed just right to celebrate the 40th Anniversary of the Apollo 11 moon landing. Of course, space aficionados and wannabe-astronauts will likely enjoy the game year-round.

Lunar Module 3D is mission-based. Driving the lunar module, your  job is to safely touch down at landing sites spread over the surface of the moon — without crashing or running out of fuel. It’s harder than it sounds because, just like in real life there is no second chance to land correctly. You either crash or you don’t. If you crash, you must start the mission over. Read the rest of this entry »

iShuffle calls themselves a “classic shuffle puzzle game.” That’s a pretty accurate description. Thankfully GoGoMobile has added just enough features to keep things interesting for more advanced puzzlers while also throwing a bone to new puzzle solvers like me.

I’ve never been big on puzzles. I think I’m too fond of instant gratification to keep banging my head against an unsolvable wall. I admit this because I nearly gave up on iShuffle after four failed attempts. Then, I decided to read the instructions! Discovering swap feature saved my poor brain and with a win under my belt, I discovered that iShuffle is actually quite fun. Read the rest of this entry »

As far as photography apps go, iFlashReady is pretty basic. It is designed to help enhance pictures taken without the aid of a flash, such as those taken with the iPhone camera. At first, I thought iFlashReady worked in conjunction with the iPhone camera simultaneously, but after checking it out learned it is mostly a photo editing app that changes an existing image by lightening it up.

When you launch iFlashReady you have instant access to photos saved on your iPhone or touch. You simply select a photo and then choose a flash setting to apply and save the enhanced image back to your device.

I was skeptical at first, but discovered I was able to use iFlashReady to significantly lighten and brighten a picture I took outdoors at dusk. I suspect it may work better with outdoor pictures, but I also observed some improvements to indoor photos as well. The overall effect was to brighten the photo without losing contrast or washing out the image. In some cases, it made an altogether bad picture decent enough to keep. Read the rest of this entry »

AppCraver recently spoke with Catherine E. White, President of Llamagraphics, Inc.. She shares her experiences developing for the iPhone and iPod touch.

When did you start developing apps for the iPhone? Did you have previous experience as a developer?

My partner Stuart and I started our company in 1993 and have been mobile software developers since the Newton days. When Newton was discontinued we ported Life Balance to the Palm. We started receiving email messages asking us to develop Life Balance for the iPhone while Steve Jobs was still giving his keynote speech to introduce the iPhone.

We were very excited and started to develop for iPhone as soon as the SDK developer tools were available. We now have Mac and Windows versions that sync to both Palm and via WiFi to iPhone. Read the rest of this entry »

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. Read the rest of this entry »

Searching out unique and interesting games in the App Store is sometimes daunting, especially with some games and their developers getting more press than others. If you’re looking for something a little bit different in the $0.99 category, you may want to check out Sketch Dungeon by Casual Distraction Games. The developer asks if you remember playing old school RPG games on graph paper, and while I can’t say that I do, I found Sketch Dungeon to be a rather clever game regardless.

Sketch Dungeon is a role-playing game with hand drawn graphics set in descending levels of a dungeon. As an adventure explorer armed with a crossbow, you advance through 15 levels of play racking up points and kills by shooting the bad guys. Oddly enough, if you watch the You Tube video of Sketch Dungeon’s game play, it doesn’t really do the experience justice. It is actually quite responsive to the iPhone and touch accelerometer feature, making the controls simple. You merely tilt your way through the levels, touching to shoot, and zooming in and out where necessary. Read the rest of this entry »

Race for Home is a surreal game that combines adventure with the fantastical.  Race for Home is a simple game that draws the gamer deep into its clutch.

Race for Home from Shawn Kollat is delightfully creepy.  Your job is to help Grace float home by hooking her umbrella on different things in the sky, such as rockets or angels.  On each level in Race for Home, there is an evil one whose only goal is to foil Grace’s progress.  For example, Grace is followed on Level 6 by a shooting star who literally shoots Grace. Read the rest of this entry »