The iPhone App Review : iPhone, iPod Touch and iPad App Reviews

The iPhone App Review : iPhone, iPod Touch and iPad App Reviews

Mind Scan Camera Free Fails to Find Inner Emotions

February 3rd, 2011

A. Papachristos

Price: Free Score: 6/10 By A. Papachristos

Perhaps you’re smiling on the outside, a mask that shields the world from your innermost feelings. However, Mind Scan Camera Free: The Emotion-Aware Photo Booth by BlueFinger claims that it can differentiate your mind from your facial expressions, exposing how you truly feel through photo analysis.

The basic concept implies that Mind Scan Camera Free can detect up to 12 different moods: happiness, excitement, “no-idea”, anger, joy, worry, loneliness, fatigue, sadness, “poker face”, surprise and boredom. With multiple face technology, users need only snap a face-front picture to supposedly reveal the inner emotions of all their subjects, the post to Twitter and Facebook.

Upon startup, users will find the main menu, which allows them to either take a picture right within the application or choose any image from their photo library. Below, the menu also provides buttons for purchasing the full version, rating the application and reading its basic information. When you take a picture within the application itself, use the camera feature as you normally would, then choose ‘retake’ or ‘use’ once you’ve acquired said image. Mind Scan Camera Free will begin to scan and process your image. Simply touch the image once the app is ready to reveal your subject’s true emotions.

For those using the Pro version, you not only cut out all of the annoying ads, but the need to touch the image to reveal the result as well. Unfortunately, the small price tag still seems like quite a bit of money when you consider how ridiculous Mind Scan Camera Free truly is in the first place. While I think we can safely assume that no one expects an application to really be able to detect your innermost feelings, Mind Scan Camera Free also fails in the fun department. I’m sure such an app should be taken in jest, but when you fail to make customers laugh and enjoy, the premise goes from gimmicky to god-awful.

Mind Scan Camera Free [iTunes Link] requires iPhone OS 4.0 or later and is compatible with iPhone, iPad and iPod Touch. A small expedite fee was paid by the developer to speed up the publication of this review.

Magic Beans Makes Gamers Go Bonkers

February 2nd, 2011

A. Papachristos

Price: $.99 Score: 5/10 By A. Papachristos

Magic beans may have built Jack a giant beanstalk, but not every seed sown can lead to a goose that lays the golden eggs. Sometimes that beanstalk is really just a weed growing up through the cracks. With Magic Beans by Sangwoo Im, users must transport magical beans through given portals, making game play nearly as ambiguous as the concept itself.

Magic Beans begins with an introduction that touches upon the games main task – transporting magic beans through the magic been portals, of course. Once you arrive at the main menu, you will see the Play button in the middle along with numerous icons sprawled across the bottom.

The beans icon represents Upgrades, which it appears you can purchase with crystals. This page also lists your current Force, Attraction and Repulsion levels. The gears icon opens the Options page, which lets you adjust your background music and sound effects preferences. Users may also elect to show or hide their hints and the introduction. Unfortunately, the dollar sign, bar graph and trophy icons refused to open their respective pages, for all that resulted was an incessant error message every single time I tapped.

Luckily, the Play button worked, leading to the page where you must choose single player mode or Player vs. Player. However, Player vs. Player costs an additional $.99, so do not bother with the added expense unless you truly love this game and can convince others to purchase Magic Beans in the first place. You will then find a screen with two signs, though neither sign features words. Simply tap so you may proceed to unlock levels.

As you play, the mini tutorial will finally provide you with some guidance so you no longer have to walk through the game blindly. You will learn to collect crystals so you may purchase upgrades that will ultimately enhance game play. I’m not entirely sure if there’s any distinct technique for success, but tapping the portals seems to coax these crazy beans into the transporter. Strange dark orbs will also appear, and they seem to come in handy when luring the beans to their rightful resting spot.

Unfortunately, the game quickly escalates to an annoying level of confusion when you must build bigger beans to break down obstacles. No matter how hard you try, the obstacle just won’t move because your bean just isn’t big enough, though that may stem from the fact that it quickly shrinks despite your efforts to condense those jumping nuisances. While I’m sure persistence would eventually lead to success, the game quickly morphs into something tedious and uneventful, which seems to be the exact opposite definition of entertaining gaming.

Magic Beans [iTunes Link] requires iPhone OS 4.0 or later and is compatible with iPhone, iPad and iPod Touch. A small expedite fee was paid by the developer to speed up the publication of this review.

Plan for Parenthood with Parent Prep School

February 1st, 2011

A. Papachristos

Price: $2.99 Score: 8/10 By A. Papachristos

For new parents, the months leading up to your child’s birth can be quite confusing and busy as you try to adjust your current lifestyle and habits to accommodate a newborn. For those who are the first in their circle of friends to have a child, advice may be sparse for known of your pals know the ins-and-outs of parenthood quite yet. Luckily, Parent Prep School by Parent Prep School acts as a surrogate mother, programming weekly events into your normal calendar so as to guide you through your pregnancy slowly and easily.

Users will begin with the welcome screen, which also doubles as the About tab. This page alerts you to the fact that you are about to sync Parent Prep School with your device’s built-in calendar. Because iCal does not have any privacy settings, anyone may be able to access your entries, so protect your information if you’re trying hide your pregnancy from others. On the Sync page, users need only to enter their name, email address and due date. Choose the calendar you wish to sync with and on which day you’d like the events to appear each week. To change event dates, simply return to the Sync screen and adjust your settings.

You see, Parent Prep School aims to help expectant parents prepare for their child’s arrival slowly and in manageable intervals so they’re never overwhelmed. These events range from practical advice that will help you stay ahead of the game, to humorous tidbits that ease some of the stress that comes along with bringing a new life into the world. These events appear once a week, spacing things out evenly, though you can create your own events to tack on to your calendar as you would naturally. This way, users can track doctor’s appointments and to-do’s all at once!

However, Parent Prep School only consists of advice from those who have “been there, done that” and up-to-date information that shall consistently be updated to reflect the latest information regarding expectant parents. And while they cannot begin to cover every single topic or situation you may come across in the next nine months, or the months following, they do a wonderful job of guiding you in the right direction.

Parent Prep School [iTunes Link] requires iPhone OS 4.0 or later and is compatible with iPhone, iPad and iPod Touch. A small expedite fee was paid by the developer to speed up the publication of this review.

Create Interval Workouts With iWorkout Muse Pro

January 31st, 2011

michelleschusterman

Price: $4.99 Score: 8/10 By M. Schusterman

Interval workouts are one popular way to exercise, particularly for runners. The idea is that your workout is made up of short, strenuous sprints interspersed with resting periods for recovery. When you don’t have a trainer by your side, it’s important to monitor your time for the intervals – which is where iWorkout Muse Pro comes in.

Designed by Workout Muse, LLC, this app allows you to build several highly customized training programs and add your own soundtracks to each. While the app is thankfully not overly complicated, it’s worth reading through the helpful “Getting Started” page just to make sure you know the difference between things like “Rest Period” and “Transition Period.”

On the main menu, you’ll be able to select “Pre-Workout,” “Workout(s),” and”Post-Workout.” For the actual workouts, you can create up to 25, and you have the option of setting both pre and post-workouts on and off.

Once you select a workout (including pre and post), you can set a number of minutes or seconds for a work period and a rest period, then choose a number of rounds of times you go through those two periods, as well as a number of cycles. You can also select a time for the transition period, which is the time between stopping and starting points of cycles. The duration of the entire workout is calculated automatically for you. The last option is to select music, which is optional – you can browse your library by playlists, artists or songs and add what you want to your workout soundtrack.

In “Settings,” accessible from the bottom of the main menu, you’ve got more options for music and sounds. You can opt to have music playing only during a work period, or have music throughout the workout but at a higher volume during work periods. The third option is to play audio instructions and sounds letting you know when you’re halfway or finished with a round; you can choose from a few different sound effects and whether you want a male or female voice.

Initially, I was confused because you can set vibration and/or sound effects and voices with one of the first two music options selected. I started a workout with the music set to dim during rest periods, but didn’t hear the sound effects or voice instruction during the workout (although the vibration did work when I completed a period). Then I discovered that you have to have the “Play audio instructions” selected, meaning you can’t opt to have softer music or no music during rest periods with verbal instructions and sound effects.

Despite my moment of confusion, iWorkout Muse Pro worked well. I do think it would be useful to be able to name your workouts, as remembering simply by number can be difficult, but overall it’s a great way to create several of your own customized interval exercise routines.

iWorkout Muse Pro [iTunes Link] requires iPhone OS 3.1 or later and is compatible with iPhone, iPad and iPod Touch. A small expedite fee was paid by the developer to speed up the publication of this review.

Save and Share Beautiful Photography With SceneryShare

January 30th, 2011

michelleschusterman

Price: $.99 Score: 10/10 By M. Schusterman

I, like many writers, am a master of procrastination. One of my favorite ways to put off things I need to do is finding a good photography website or blog, or even just browsing Flickr. I owe a thanks to GraffitiLogic for making it easy to indulge in this habit on my iPhone, too.

Because that’s what their app, SceneryShare, is all about; sharing awesome photography. This app is a collection of hundreds of photos, including HDR pics, divided into the following categories:

Tropical and Coastal
Nature and Wildlife
Astrophotography
CityScapes
Graffiti and Urban

Each page and photo takes a few seconds to load the first time due to the high quality of the images. Once you select a photo, you can either tap the arrows or swipe left or right to view the others pictures in that category. There’s also a thumbs up and a thumbs down at the bottom of the screen for you to cast your vote for the picture. The SceneryShare photo catalog changes regularly – there’s even an option for you to view the most recent uploads – and the photos are ranked based on user votes.

Tapping the “save” icon at the bottom left brings up a few options as well. You can opt to save the image either regularly or in high-definition to your photo library, allowing you to set it as wallpaper. You can also follow a link to the photographer’s website and view more of his work.

Which makes SceneryShare an ideal app for photographers as well. In fact, the last option in the main menu is to submit a photo. You can fill out a form with a name for your photo, a purchase URL, and photographer contact info (as well as submitter contact info if you are submitting a picture on behalf of a photographer), then select the image from your phone.

SceneryShare is a simple, fun way to collect pictures and share your favorites with others – a great deal for the price.

SceneryShare [iTunes Link] requires iPhone OS 3.1.2 or later and is compatible with iPhone, iPad and iPod Touch. A small expedite fee was paid by the developer to speed up the publication of this review.

AbbleDabble Ideal for Those Who Love Scrabble

January 30th, 2011

A. Papachristos

Price: $.99 Score: 7/10 By A. Papachristos

Crossword puzzles, Scrabble and word games in general have always been a popular pastime. With such success, these games have been copied and tweaked over and over, each hoping to become just as popular as their predecessors. One such variation, AbbleDabble by Coresoft Inc, takes Scrabble’s concept and adds an abundance of extras that promise a highly intense, interactive word puzzle game.

Users must begin by logging in or creating an account. Tap the button in the top right corner to do both, entering a username, email address and password when creating a new account. The main screen will provide two buttons for adjusting your gaming settings. Account Settings allows users to change their username, email address, and password, or they may logout while on this screen. Game Options allows users to adjust the sound effects volume, auto zoom settings, view the credits, and access the Help section. The Help section will teach users the ins-and-outs of game play, including word formation rules, scoring rules and ending game rules.

Across the top of the main screen, users will find a number of tabs linking them to news from the developer, leaderboards, more games by the developer and the Tell A Friend option. To begin a game, return to the top right corner and tap the New Game button. A Quick Match will allow you to start or join any 2-player game. Users may also design their own Custom Game. Users may pick between one and four players, or opt for Sandbox mode, which is a special single player mode that presents gamers with an unlimited number of chances to trade their letters and create the highest scoring word and game.

For these custom games, users may select random opponents or invite their friends to join. Under more options, gamers can enable bonus patterns, bonus tile movement, tile selection (random, balanced, any), and the standard dictionary. Here, users may also restore the default settings.

As crazy as it sounds, users can play up to 25 games at a time with the option to chat right within the game. Considering their server promises lightning speed service, users can also set the pace for any and all of their games. The real-time spell check feature doesn’t hurt, either. However, presented as some sort of enhanced Scrabble – if the name doesn’t allude to it, I don’t know what does – AbbleDabble supports the theory that less is more, for the added features merely make the developer seem desperate to differentiate the game from its more famous counterpart. With AbbleDabble, users have so many options and so many ways to distract themselves that this overabundance may detract from the true word puzzle experience.

AbbleDabble [iTunes Link] requires iPhone OS 3.0 or later and is compatible with iPhone, iPad and iPod Touch. A small expedite fee was paid by the developer to speed up the publication of this review.