AppCraver » Misc Reference

Globemaster: Offline travel guide is clever, polished and endlessly interesting

Barbara Holbrook — Mon, 16 Nov 2009 22:30:25 +0000

Recently updated, and looking quite snazzy, Globemaster: Offline Travel Guide & Utilities is ready when you are to make a winter escape. Whether you’re planning an exotic itinerary or just imagining a trip to foreign lands, this comprehensive travel app is a good place to start.

Tpo be clear, Globemaster is basically a clever repackaging of Wikinews, Wikitravel and Google Maps — all free resources used with permission. So, why pay for information you can get for free on the Internet? There are many reasons. (Editor’s note: Globemaster is on sale for $0.99 until the end of 2009.)

Globemaster is polished, easy to navigate and endlessly interesting. Even more, it passes my “airplane mode” test. All the information and functions (except for the ability to refresh news alerts) are available and work as expected even when your device is in airplane mode. This is one of my most important requirements for any travel app. You don’t want to get lost in a foreign country and find out your guidebook stops working when you don’t have a cell connection — especially when you’re using AT&T.

Other Globemaster features include:

an intuitive user interface
more than 260 countries and areas, and 1400 major cities and 4100 photos
satellite view by country/city using Google maps
information that is neatly categorized for quick access
tip calculator with one-tap access to customary tipping expectations of your currently selected country
currency converter with on-demand update
“favorites” for saving tip and currency presets
comprehensive information for each country including history, holidays, travel advice, reference information, weather, electrical requirements, languages, eating, staying safe, etc
“alerts” from Wikinews offer international news and maybe insight about which countries to avoid

One of Globemaster’s features — the “neatly categorized” part — is what makes this travel guide stand out from the pack. The app takes information from wikitravel.com and separates it into bite-size pieces so jet setters like you and me can quickly find just the information we need at any given moment. The categories make planning for your trip a breeze. Wondering what to see, where to sleep, how to show respect? It’s all just a tap away.

Keep in mind that wikis are community-edited resources. Although generally reliable, sometimes you may want to double-check the facts.

The developers, Ivan Kerpan & Evgeniy Lebed, have done an excellent job of wrapping an intuitive, user-friendly interface around a community-created information. With the addition of the currency converter and the tip calculator, Globemaster is a practical and useful travel app that globetrotters won’t want to leave home without.

rating: 8/10
app_name: Globemaster:

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

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

Wise Guide Wrigley Field Takes You Out to the Ball Game the Right Way

Barbara Holbrook — Tue, 21 Jul 2009 20:00:18 +0000

The makers of the Wise Guide Fan Navigator series and the companion site WiseGuidesOnline.com, are expanding the fandemonium by bringing more fan trivia and “locals only” tidbits to MLB stadiums nationwide. … starting with Wrigley Field.

Wise Guide Wrigley Field is a take-along app for any one visiting the Cubs home stadium in Chicago, which isn’t to say that home-viewers won’t enjoy it as well. The guide includes three sections — tips, trivia, eat & drink — and is great for pre-game entertainment or keeping antsy kids occupied if the games goes into extra innings.

The tips section is a general guide to Wrigley Field where users will find information about Harry Carey (and his statue), the source of the curse of the cubs (and what they’ve tried doing to end the curse), bathroom tips, where to wait for autographs and more. There are more than 40 tidbits in all.

The WG Wrigley Field trivia section is actually more of a quiz game with multiple choice answers. You can keep guessing until you get the answer right, which is a nice touch as are the cheering fans. However, there’s no way to turn down the fans without turning down your device, so don’t plan on sneaking in a quick Wrigley Field trivia quiz during Monday morning’s boring meeting.

The last section of the Wrigley Field iPhone app is Eat & Drink and it goes beyond The Friendly Confines. This section includes cafes, diners and bars in and around Wrigley Field. So you’re covered regardless of whether you want to eat before the game, after the game or throughout the game.

The nice thing about Wise Guide Wrigley Field, besides the graphics and general ease-of-use, is that it’s not just a quick repackage of old material. The app is truly a companion to the wise guides website. And, if you like the guide and visit Wrigley Field use the tab on the app to “share a tip” so that future visitors can benefit from your experience and wisdom.

app_name: Wise Guide Wrigley Field
rating: 9/10

Pocket Universe is Astronomy Made Easy

Jennifer Beam — Thu, 18 Jun 2009 17:30:33 +0000

Summer is a great time for stargazing and of course your iPhone can aid in that endeavor. Pocket Universe – Your Astronomy Guide by Craic Design is an astronomy guide for iPhone and iPod Touch that has a few good features that utilize the unique capabilities of these devices. Though there are a plethora of astronomy apps available, like Star Walk, Pocket Universe is thankfully uncomplicated and friendly enough for novice star gazers.

Since I aptly consider myself a ranking somewhere below a novice on the astronomy scale, I typically need help finding even the Big Dipper. What makes Pocket Universe helpful is the way it displays the constellations with or without the horizon line and the “show me” feature supplies you with directional arrows to help you find them based on the time and your current location.

In fact, there are several optional settings that allow you to use Pocket Universe to your own benefit, such as turning the horizon line on or off, eliminating or displaying constellation lines and object names, and several other functions. To access these options, tap the information icon from within the Planetarium viewing mode.

Pocket Universe also gives users access to astronomy news and information available from various web sites and also features a constellation quiz to test your knowledge of the night sky. Information such as viewable objects, sun rise and set times, and moon phases are also included. With the “auto-tilt” function on, you can also try matching up the stars to your current location. It’s difficult to say how accurate the positional function is, but I’d have to say it gets you close and you can always speed up the time if things aren’t matching up.

At the end of the day, which is when you’ll likely find this app most useful, Pocket Universe proves to be a pretty user-friendly educational tool and the addition of the quiz and news links only enhance this aspect. The best part is that even kids can use it. Trust me, if I can use it to figure out where Orion is, so can anyone.

app_name: Pocket Universe
rating: 8/10

Teach any Dog with Dog Tricks and Bark Machine

Michael Alexander — Sun, 15 Feb 2009 19:00:12 +0000

If Fido eats your shoes instead of fetches them, Dog Tricks & Bark Machine could be useful for teaching him a few new tricks. It’s an app from Robert Mann and Deidra Jones, which features training tutorials in one part and a sound machine in the second part.

As a long-time dog owner (I’ve got three now) I know how much time it takes to teach your dog how to behave and obey commands. I once had a beagle named Lily that flunked out of puppy training school and then the bitch went on to pretty much do whatever she pleased for 13 long years.

Dog Tricks & Bark Machine’s instructions were supervised by certified dog trainers, according to the app’s creators. The dog tricks part of this app includes commands, games and tips on how to correct behavioral problems. Dog Tricks and Bark Machine also features an informative section about popular dog breeds and a catalog of captioned photos. The app also has a search bar.

The bark machine part of Dog Tricks & Bark Machine reproduces eight different sounds that are intended to get your dog’s attention. They include a woof, meow, doorbell, high-frequency whistle that only dogs can hear and other sounds.

This app contains lots of good information from which even devoted dog owners can learn. The basic commands and tricks tutorials are clear, consisting of step-by-step instructions and color photographs. I plan to put those to use right away.

Just how well the tutorials work, I can’t say yet. It takes a while for dogs to get the message. My dog Henry already knows several tricks, because he’s a fast learner. Kona, on the other hand, refuses to do anything I tell her and Ellie runs away whenever it looks like there might be work to do.

The bark machine half of this app is a bit gimmicky. Dogs know the difference between the noises made by a sound machine and the real things, so I can tap the woof-woof button all day long and they won’t pick up their ears. There is one exception: They hear the high-frequency dog whistle and will look around for a minute of two before they go back to snoozing.

Related Articles: Dog Whistle

app_name: Dog Tricks & Bark Machine
rating: 8/10

When It’s Time for the Perfect Rhyme

Michael Alexander — Thu, 08 Jan 2009 19:30:25 +0000

Are you a dietician but aspire to be a musican? When you rap do people tell you it’s crap?

Then it’s time for Perfect Rhyme.

AliMusic’s Perfect Rhyme is a dictionary for musicans, poets and people like Muhammed Ali, who need to rhyme from time to time without making it a crime.

Enter a word into the search bar and what you get back are words like cigar, jar and even bizarre. It’s easy to use, no expertise is needed, just enter a word and you will have succeeded. But if you try to rhyme with orange you’ll only get orange.

It’s an app for people like me, who lack any creativity, who come up with words that are just for the birds.

rating: 7/10
app_name: Perfect Rhyme

Gratitude Journal Gives Back

Issen Alibris — Thu, 25 Dec 2008 18:30:44 +0000

Most people are generally too busy to stop and smell the roses. Well why make time when you have that help you smell them so to speak? Gratitude Journal is a convenient way to remind ourselves about what we should be thankful for each day. Users merely tap several things they are thankful for directly into the application, listing each thought as a different entry.

You can enter information for up to thirty days and even add a photo to your entry as a reminder. Gratitude Journal allows you to rate your entries as well as share them with friends. After each entry you’re left with an inspirational quote. If you’re worried about keeping your information private, the app comes password protected so you can keep your entries to yourself.

Want another reason to be grateful? The developers have been generous enough to donate 10 percent of all profits from this download to charity according to their website.

Using Gratitude Journal is similar to using the note pad function of your phone. List what you like and it appears as a simple note to you. Not only are you able to list your entry by day but you can rate it on a scale of 1 star to 5 stars.

Visually the app is clean and the user-friendly interface is simple to get use to. Using Gratitude Journal is better than leaving notes or stickies for yourself because your ideas are all in one place. This makes it easier to track and easier to share.

While the app will surely bring a little more joy into the lives of those who choose to download it, it would be nice if it had a few more features. First, if you want to add a picture to an entry you must take a new one you can’t use one from the photo album. Second, it would be nice to update an old entry without making it an entirely new entry. It has a fair amount of background selections and the quotes are tasteful and inspiring.

If we had any recommendations it would be to add more adult and neutral themes or backgrounds. Some of them feel a little bit “young.” But with its functionality and 99 cents price tag it’s worth trying out.

app_name: Gratitude Journal
rating: 7/10

Seek and Ye Shall TheFind: Where to Shop

Michael Alexander — Wed, 12 Nov 2008 17:00:29 +0000

With the holiday season approaching fast, finding the right deal and the right place to shop is no doubt top of mind for many folks. The falling economy only adds to the need to shop smarter.

That’s what this new (and free) iPhone app–TheFind: Where to Shop–aims to do. TheFind: Where to Shop bridges the gap between online and brick-and-mortar stores. It’s capable of accessing an index of more than 250 million products at about 200,000 store locations. TheFind: Where to Shop is essentially a product search engine for the iPhone with many of the capabilities of TheFind.com, which released the app recently.

Let’s suppose I’m looking for a desk chair. I enter “desk chair” into the search bar and I decide to limit my search to local stores because I want to try the chair before I buy.

In my case, my search produces a list of 25 local stores. I see there’s an office supply store only 8 miles from where I live, so I tap the store’s name to see what they have to offer. Whoa, from the product descriptions, photos and prices, I can see they sell high-end chairs beyond my budget.

I decide to try the name of a national retail chain and I see they have a few options, so I decide to go there. I can read the address and the distance in miles from my house, but I don’t know how to get there. I tap the directions button, and iPhone’s built-in map shows me the way. Off I go.

I get there, sit on all the chairs and find one I really like. But wait, I wonder if I can’t find it cheaper somewhere else. Out comes my iPhone, a few searches of other local stores doesn’t come up with anything else like it.

I decide to check out Web sites instead. A few more taps and I find it online, and on sale to boot, for a lot less, so I decide to order it. I got such a good deal on that chair, I’m willing to sit and wait for the UPS guy.

What TheFind: Where to Shop promises to do, it does reasonably well. Heck, it’s free, so I can afford to be generous in my assessment of it. But I have a couple of beefs. One, TheFind: Where to Shop’s stores are limited to companies it has partnerships with so it’s possible—even likely—I’ll miss out on some product options and good deals. Two, navigating TheFind: Where to Shop is a bother because while it’s easy to find items, it’s not so easy to work your way back to find other products and places without having to start your search from the very beginning.

If you’re willing to accept those limitations, you’ll find TheFind: Where to Shop to your liking.

rating: 6/10
app_name: TheFind: Where to Shop

bContacts: Not Enough Extras to Merit a High Price Tag

Issen Alibris — Thu, 06 Nov 2008 20:00:12 +0000

bContacts is an application that is supposed to help users organize business contacts and personal contacts by sorting them into groups and subgroups. Unfortunately, what sounds like a good idea in theory, falls flat.

bContacts allows users to organize contacts into groups using details such as business name, departments or other custom fields. The app has a search function so you can easily tap in a name or business and get the details you need.

This contact management app is not very intuitive, but luckily bContacts has a pretty easy to use help menu. Just like the iPhone’s built-it system, bContacts features one-touch dialing and emailing from the contact listing and if you click on the address you will also be transported to a Google Maps page.

bContacts syncs with MobileMe and will automatically update the next time you connect your phone to your computer and make updates in a program such as Outlook. bContacts allows you to drag and drop contacts between companies and subgroups which may be useful if you take the time to organize your contacts in this manner.

This application seems like it would be a practical utility application. But it comes up short in some areas. First, it doesn’t seem to be very stable. Of the ten times we tried to add contacts to a company or move between groups, repeatedly bContacs froze and turned off.

From the start screen you can only view contacts by business (unless you’ve entered the contact without the company name). Also, the search function doesn’t work as expected. You can’t search by typing in a detail like “contact name.” For instance, if your contacts are organized by business you can’t type in “Bob Jones” and expect Bob’s listing to appear.

You can add a picture for each contact but this feature is pretty useless for business contacts.

bContacts does get two points for syncing with MobileMe and Outlook but falls short of earning any other points. It doesn’t offer users a whole lot that the iPhone can’t do already. Most users aren’t going to spend the whopping $3.99 for an application that doesn’t even allow you to blue tooth or SMS contact information.

The app store is full of business contact applications that know how to provide users with the most bang for their buck. This just isn’t one of them.

app_name: bContacts
rating: 2/10