iPhone Alley - App Reviews

1Password

Michael Johnston — Wed, 19 Nov 2008 19:41:17 -0500

1Password, like its big brother on the Mac, is an application which stores all of your usernames and passwords so you don't have to keep track of them. Additionally, 1Password can automatically fill in web login forms with one tap. When you open the application, you're presented with a list of login items which you can choose from. These can be sorted by name or domain for quick access. These items are also searchable. To log in, simply tap the corresponding login item and then the url. 1Password will bring up the page in its mini-browser and fill in all of your information. The good: The greatest advantage to 1Password on the iPhone is that you don't have to remember or type in your login info. 1Password will automatically fill in any login form without you having to type a single character. If you forget a password, you can also call upon 1Password to retrieve any password that you've stored. If you're concerned about security, have no fear! All of your passwords are AES encrypted and it uses standard iPhone libraries, so everything is totally safe. Additionally, the app can be password protected so prying eyes won't have access to your logins. You can even create secure notes from within 1Password. For those who own 1Password on the Mac, all of your secure notes and logins can be synced to 1Password on the iPhone over WiFi. Setting up your Mac for syncing is extremely simple, too. You don't need to have 1Password on the Mac to use this app. You can simply tap the plus button to create a new login item. Fill out the site's URL and login info and you're good to go. If you notice that one of your logins is incorrect, you can freely edit both synced and new items. The bad: One of the big draws for 1Password on the Mac is its ability to randomly generate a unique password. The iPhone version doesn't come with this capability for whatever reason. It's not a big deal for those who sync, but it may deter those who don't. Syncing of info works great over WiFi, but you do have to have your computer available during the sync. There is no MobileMe option so you can't update login items on the go. For those who think 1Password will work in Safari, prepare to be let down. In order to access your login items and have them auto-filled, you must go through 1Password's mini-browser. It's basically the same as Safari—only you access it via 1Password. Finally, there's no way to automatically capture login info by simply logging in using 1Password. In order to add new items, you must know the exact URL your login info will be required on. This shouldn't be a problem 75% of the time, but the first time it doesn't work will surly kill your sense of childlike wonder. The Bottom line: 1Password is the login info storage application on the Mac, and the iPhone version is no different. You can't generate new passwords and syncing only works if you have a Mac with 1Password on it. However, if you need to bridge the gap between your Mac's 1Password database and mobile iPhone browsing, 1Password is the tool you need.

Tap Tap Revenge: Nine Inch Nails Edition

Omar Jasso — Mon, 17 Nov 2008 02:54:51 -0500

Tapulous has recently teamed up with Trent Reznor and company to release a Nine Inch Nails edition of their rather successful game, Tap Tap Revenge. This new game features a beautiful NIN-themed interface designed by Rob Sheridan and thirteen tracks from NIN's two latest albums, Ghosts I-IV and The Slip. Each track is available for gameplay in different difficulty levels. If you've never played it before, Tap Tap Revenge is a simple Guitar Hero-like game in which you must tap away the beats of a song as they reach the bottom of the screen. You earn points by scoring long streaks of beats, earning two, three, or four times as many points, depending on how long you've gone without breaking your combo. If you hit a long enough streak, Revenge Mode will be available for you to use in order to score eight times as many points once you rock out and shake your iPhone. The good: Tap Tap Revenge is not only a fun and easy game to play on your own, but also has a two-player mode which takes advantage of your iPhone's multi-touch capabilities and allows you and a friend to tap the beats away at opposing ends of the screen. Tapulous also allows you to register your score to the global leaderboard and see how you compare to other avid TTR players. The bad: The original version of Tap Tap Revenge is free and has new playable tracks available for download every Tuesday, whereas the Nine Inch Nails edition has thirteen preselected songs and no sign of downloadable tracks anytime soon, which may make the special edition's price seem a little hefty by comparison to the free original release.
Tap Tap Revenge also lacks the ability to automatically pause the gameplay when you receive a notification of low battery or SMS, so you may kill your score by missing several beats when you receive a new text message. The bottom line: Tap Tap Revenge: Nine Inch Nails Edition is a very fun and entertaining game that's sure to keep you tapping at your phone for hours, especially if you're a fan of NIN. There are a couple cons that the developers could easily fix, but the game's value definitely rings out its price if you enjoy the music and liked the original release. If you're not a big fan of NIN's two latest albums, however, you may be better off sticking with Tap Tap Revenge and downloading the weekly new tracks.

Torus

Michael Johnston — Sun, 16 Nov 2008 21:59:40 -0500

Torus is a simple game which revolves around catching falling tori (rings) from the sky before they hit the floor. You catch tori with a hook which is controlled by tilting your iPhone in the direction you want the hook to move. Each torus represents a different score and speed of travel. When you're running low on health, catching a green torus heals you. The good: Torus is an extremely simple game to figure out. You control the hook simply by tilting your device. A shadow on the platform shows where a torus will land, and therefore helps you preemptively position the hook. On the app's page, the developer made a point to mention Torus' "3D sound". I was skeptical as sound effects, especially if they're "3D", tend to annoy more than add to a game's enjoyment. However, in this case the music isn't that bad and gets better as you play the game. Headphones are recommended for a truly immersive "3D" experience. One of the concerns I had with this game was losing too quickly. Fortunately, the developer was aware of this potential problem and has provided an ample amount of health to play a fairly lengthy round. Finally, if you become addicted to Torus, you may want to take advantage of their high score sharing feature. According to the developer, you can compete globally using this feature. The bad: I was immediately discouraged when I realized how insanely sensitive the controls are. There are no settings to calibrate the accelerometer, set a difficulty level, or even change the sensitivity. In fact, if you place your iPhone on a flat surface, the hook will drift backwards indicating that it's not centered at all. I mentioned before that there's quite a bit of health to be spent. However, there's no pause or ability to suspend a game to take a call or read an email. Finally, there's no "off" for the music. Yes, you can turn it down but it does change the volume for all 3rd-party apps (which is really Apple's fault). The Bottom line: Torus can be a fun and addicting game, if you can get the hang of it. The controls are extremely sensitive, although you can get used to them over time. However, I would recommend waiting on this app until the developer adds more polish to the graphics, gameplay, and features.

Ocarina

Michael Johnston — Sat, 15 Nov 2008 01:33:15 -0500

Ocarina is touted by Smule as the first true musical instrument created for the iPhone, and they're spot on. Ocarina is a simple application which transforms your iPhone into an ancient wind instrument that you can actually play. The controls are simple enough. Four dots represent holes in a traditional ocarina. Holding down the holes in combination or by themselves changes the pitch, creating notes. Within the app's settings, the ocarina's mode and pitch can be changed to suite nearly any tune. The good: Ocarina is a real instrument. There are no precompiled riffs and therefore just about any melody can be played, and it's extremely easy. If you're new to the ocarina, Smule offers help and techniques on their site. Additionally, a forum is available where users can submit and request scores for various songs. You can immediately begin playing Ocarina with the scores already available on Smule's site. We went right for the score for the Zelda theme. If you feel up to writing some ocarina music, Smule also offers a score generator. Tilting the iPhone back and forth adds vibrato to the notes you play. Tilting from side to side also changes the vibrato rate. Ocarina is also a social application. Tapping the globe icon brings up a virtual rotating globe where you can see and hear other players around the world. The globe highlights the source and you can skip past the ones you don't like. The bad: There's really nothing I don't like about this application. The only issue I ran into was translating the dots into notes. Smule may have this on their site, but I couldn't find it. You may also become light-headed if you play often enough. The Bottom line: It's quite obvious that a tremendous amount of thought has gone into the creation of Ocarina. It's tons of fun to play and ridiculously simple to start, even if you don't already play an instrument. For the countless hours of fun you'll have with it, Ocarina is a must have iPhone app.

Weightbot

Michael Johnston — Fri, 14 Nov 2008 21:33:11 -0500

Weightbot is a simplified weight tracking application which lets you log daily weigh-ins. It comes with a built-in BMI estimator based on height and a graphing mode to check out your progress on the fly. When you initially open the app, you're encouraged to set a goal weight, which is represented by a red line in the graph mode. You can then enter your height for BMI calculation and begin entering weigh-ins. Dates are listed along the bottom, which can be scrolled to with a flick. To enter a weight for a particular day, simply tap the screen and slide the scale to the appropriate weight. Tapping the screen brings you back to the day view. Turning your iPhone sideways displays the graph mode. The good: Weightbot is an extremely simple app to use, and it even comes with instructions in case the controls aren't immediately obvious. Entering a weight is simple can be done in both US and metric units. Your BMI is calculated on the fly and the graphing mode let's you see your progress over time. If your concerned about others seeing your Weightbot, the app can be password protected. Weightbot also makes use of the iPhone's accelerometer for deleting entries when shaken. The bad:

No quick way to clear all data
Entries cannot be quickly deleted
You can only go back 90 days
Only works with metric and US units of measure

The Bottom line: Weightbot is a beautiful application, especially for a weight tracking app. The interface is extremely easy to use and comes with a graphing mode for a quick view of your progress. You can only go back 90 days and deleting multiple entries is time consuming. However, Weightbot will likely be the perfect weight tracking app for 90% of iPhone users.

Jaadu VNC

Michael Johnston — Tue, 11 Nov 2008 00:11:32 -0500

Jaadu VNC is an application that lets you remotely control any Mac or PC running a VNC server. In addition to having control over the keyboard and mouse, you can actually see the the remote computer's screen for total control from wherever you are. Jaadu VNC makes use of the iPhone's touch screen for a unique and extremely effective implementation of the classic VNC client. After opening the application, Jaadu automatically detects any Mac on the local network running a VNC server using Bonjour. If your computer isn't automatically detected, you can add it manually if you know its IP address. Once you connect, you're "teleported" to your desktop where you have total control over everything, as if you were sitting at your computer. The good: The best thing going for Jaadu is its unique way of navigating around your desktop. When you first connect with Jaadu, your entire desktop is visible. To get a closer look at things you simply pinch to zoom in on a particular area. To move around, you simply drag your finger in the direction you'd like to move. This actually moves the mouse cursor around your screen, but Jaadu uses its position to center your view on screen. It takes some getting used to, but once you get the hang of it you'll never want to use anything else. Jaadu also includes some neat tricks that it picked up from the Mac such as two-finger scrolling, two-finger right-clicking, and Bonjour support. You can also view your computer in landscape mode, although there is a rotation lock in case you don't want it to automatically rotate. If you don't want to view your screen at all, screen viewing can be disabled and Jaadu can also be used as a remote trackpad and keyboard. In addition to the traditional keyboard, Jaadu also comes with a slew of extra controls, including:

A d-pad, which includes esc, back, tab, and space buttons which are well suited for controlling media applications
Page up and down buttons
F-keys 1-12
A full number pad
many other specialized buttons depending on your computer's platform

The bad: Jaadu's price; I had to mention it. As amazing as this app is, I never imagined that I'd ever spend $25 on a VNC app, but there's simply no better VNC app out there yet. The other thing that really annoyed me was that auto-correct wasn't available. This means that everything you type has to be extremely precise because you WILL make typing mistakes. I'd like to think that the developer will add this feature eventually, but it may be too much to ask. There's also no SSL for secure connections. This may bother some people, but for the most part it shouldn't be a problem. The Bottom line: Jaadu VNC is simply the best VNC client I've seen for the iPhone. It's full of useful features and 100% designed for use on the iPhone. The lack of SSL or price are really the only two disadvantages to Jaadu and the former only affects those who really need security. If you're looking for the VNC client for your iPhone, Jaadu delivers the elegance and features you'd expect from a polished iPhone app.

eBay Mobile

Michael Johnston — Fri, 07 Nov 2008 20:52:05 -0500

The eBay application is exactly what it sounds like—a native iPhone application for eBay.com. You can perform simple tasks such as searching for auctions and browsing listings. If you decide to log in, you can actually bid on items and track them as the auctions progress. The good: Searching for items, which is a majority of what I do on eBay, is front and center in the eBay app. It's quick and works well. If a general search turns up too much information, you can refine your search using the "Refine" button. You can refine your search to auction type, category, other countries, and even change the sort order. But search is only half of the coolness that is the eBay app. In addition to a search engine, it's an even better tracker of auctions. Right from the home page, you can track the following types of auctions:

Watching
Winning
Won
Outbid
Selling
Sold
Unsold
Scheduled

Of course, the eBay app wouldn't be that useful if you couldn't bid. After searching for an item, you can bid on it right from the application, as long as you're signed in. If you're bidding on an item, you can immediately up your bid and stay a step ahead of pesky snipers. The bad: As a regular eBayer, I was disappointed by the application's lack of a few features. The first and most annoying is that you can only refine your searches in a few different ways. You can't refine based on the category you're browsing in and you can't browse auctions that have closed. A lot of what I use eBay for is to see how much items are selling for after all is said and done. You simply can't do that with this app. Slightly less annoying, but certainly worth mentioning is that you can't pay for an item or send an invoice from the app. Messages from "My eBay" are inaccessible. As trivial of a feature to add, I'm not sure why you can't respond to messages. The Bottom line: The eBay app is a fantastic tool for both buyers and sellers on eBay. Its greatest strength is its ability to track all types of auctions from one screen. If you're outbid, you can rebid without missing a beat. However, the search feature could be improved and access to "My eBay" messages would make this app solid.

FTP On The Go

Michael Johnston — Wed, 22 Oct 2008 02:00:53 -0400

FTP On The Go is an application which allows you to access FTP servers wherever you are. To log into a server, simply type the address, user name and password. FTP On The Go will connect to both secure and non-secure FTP servers over a WiFi or a cellular network. Once logged in, you can edit files, upload photos, and create directories. The idea is that FTP On The Go will serve as a quick way to fix something on your web server wherever you are. The good: The current version of FTP On The Go comes with a compliment of basic features aimed at helping you manage your files quickly and easily. Login information can be saved for quick access and you can even store multiple FTP accounts. Additionally, you can password-protect the application and all of your login information in case someone gets ahold it. In addition to being able to simply browse file structures, you can also view any plain-text file and edit it. This includes HTML and CSS files. You can also create new files in plain text to be used for just about anything you'd like, including creating full HTML pages. Photos can be uploaded and downloaded right from the application. Images downloaded are placed in your iPhone's camera roll and you can upload images from your photo library or directly from the camera. Other features include secure connections and the ability to sort files by size, name, and date. The bad: This application is fairly stripped down for its price. There is no refresh button, which is nearly unacceptable. Files cannot be downloaded for use later and the delete confirmation dialogue is a little too vague for my taste. It simply doesn't feel like this app is worth $10. The Bottom line: FTP On The Go has some great features, and its the only FTP client that we've seen on the iPhone. You can edit files, upload photos, and keep track of your stuff right from your iPhone. It does lack some important features such as a refresh button and you can't download files for use later. The feature set is a little small for its price, but for anyone who manages their own website, FTP On The Go is a fantastic tool to always have around.

Super Chimp Surprise!

Michael Johnston — Tue, 14 Oct 2008 23:23:38 -0400

Super Chimp Surprise! is a matching game based on various "chimp-themed" playing pieces. A simple way to describe it would be to say that it's a Bejeweled clone. The object of the game is to match three or more of the same items in a row (vertically or horizontally) in order to eliminate them. Every time you eliminate pieces, more come down and you gain points each time. When there are no more single-move matches to be made, the game is over. The good: Super Chimp works just as its advertised and can be addicting if you're that kind of person. The game is super simple to understand, so it's great for people of all ages. The game also saves your progress if you ever decide to leave the game to work on more important tasks. There is also a mute button in case you don't agree with all of the "cool" noises the game makes. The bad: As I indicated in "the good," the noises are truly unbearable, so use that mute button. Dragging of the pieces doesn't work. Instead, you individually tap two adjacent pieces. It was quick to get used to this, but it does indicate how much polish this game has. There is also no hinting feature, which is something Bejeweled has. You cannot share scores and there are no further settings. It's just "play until you lose." The Bottom line: Super Chimp Surprise! is a simple matching game, very similar to Bejeweled. While it does work well, the limited feature set and certain lack of polish gives this app a very basic feel. However, it is cheaper than Bejeweled. If you're looking for a simple time-waster, Super Chimp Surprise! might be just that app.

Files

Michael Johnston — Mon, 06 Oct 2008 22:20:00 -0400

Files is a file storage application for your iPhone. You can think of it as a glorified flash drive because it lets you put just about anything you want onto your iPhone for retrieval later. The nice thing about using your iPhone for this purpose is that you can actually read quite a few of these files on the go, without a computer. There are quite a few apps of this kind on the App Store, but Files does have its share of unique features. Every "file app" for the iPhone uses the iPhone's wireless networking capabilities to transfer your files, and Files is no different. In order to use Files, you'll need a computer that shares the same local network that your iPhone does. When you open Files, you're immediately greeted by a popup which shows your iPhone's address. At that point, you can immediately connect to your iPhone using Windows, Mac OS X, Linux, or any other OS that supports WebDAV volumes. Your iPhone will mount as a network drive which you can copy just about anything to. The Good: Files can read just about anything the iPhone can, including video, almost any audio file, Office docs, iWork docs, RTFs, PDFs, Safari web archives, and nearly any image type. Videos are fairly limited due to the iPhone's capabilities, but just about any non-DRM'd audio can be played. The application itself and every viewable file can be seen in landscape or portrait mode. If you're looking at a multi-page document or web archive, you can scroll down with a tap, and even bookmark certain scroll positions. Photos can also be added directly to your cameral roll for use later. If you accumulate tons of stuff, you may need to search through it all. Files includes a search feature which will let you search for particular file names. Unfortunately it doesn't search through text. For those who are unfamiliar with connecting to network volumes, Files offers extensive documentation and videos to help you along. In fact, just about every feature is documented and diagramed right inside the app. An indicator at the bottom of the screen shows you the status of the Files server. Green means that everything is up and running, orange means that it's starting up, and red means that the server is turned off. Tapping the indicator gives you access to your iPhone's address and the ability to turn the server on or off. Next to the indicator is a display of how much space is used along with a file count. If you're concerned about security, Files will let you add a username and password to keep people out of your stuff. A public folder can also be enabled. You can also secure the application locally so that a 4-digit password has to be entered to access the app. If you want guests to have local access to the app, you can also enable local guest access. There is also an option to prevent your iPhone from sleeping while Files is running. The Bad: Although you can optionally prevent your iPhone from sleeping, there is no timeout option. Unlike many file applications, Files doesn't offer a thumbnail preview for readable files. It's not a deal breaker, but it makes it hard to find something quickly. There's also no way to view your stuff in a web browser. Some applications offer this feature, but it's not a feature that I missed. The Bottom Line: With its solid list of features, easy to use interface and deep level of customization, FIles is my favorite file storage app so far. If you're looking for the file storage app for your iPhone, Files is it.