Re-live your first visit to Melee Island. [get it]
My rating 4.5/5, iTunes Store rating 3.5/5
The Secret of Monkey Island is a LucasArts adventure game from the 1980's. This year two new versions have been released. Tales of Monkey Island, which is intended to take the place of the long awaited fifth installment, and The Secret of Monkey Island: Special Edition, a remake of the original game for the PC, the X-Box and the iPhone too.
The Secret of Monkey Island is credited by many for bringing humour into computer gaming. The game had three popular sequels and a fourth one has been an Internet talking point for a long time. For those who have fond memories of playing the game in the 1980s any reminder of the theme music or humour may be enough to bring a smile to the face. As one such fan, I have to give "The Secret of Monkey Island: Special Edition LITE" almost top marks. Had the full version been free (it is currently £4.99 for the iPhone or £6.99 for the PC) it would certainly get 5/5.
The Secret of Monkey Island: Special Edition LITE brings that first installment of the Monkey Island series back to life with fresh artwork, music and voices (including the voice that Guybrush Threepwood had in later episodes of the game). Chatting with the dog in the SCUMM bar gives a clear example of how much better the game is with these enhancements.
The control system does not work in the way that you might initially expect it to, but instructions are given on screen and once you have had a little wander around you will become familiar with it, it is a good control system once you have the hang of it.
Ultimately, of course, this is just a demo, it is the start of the game. If you feel you might be tempted to buy the full version for any platform then you may wish to limit how much of the game you play in the demo, but if you are thinking of buying the iPhone version it is probably worth checking you can use the control system first.
If you are new to Monkey Island then you may not feel this app is worth my 4.5/5 rating, but if you loved the game as I did first time around, it is worth the download just to see a something of the old favourite brought into the 21st century.
I have kept The Secret of Monkey Island: Special Edition LITE on my iPhone and am launching it ever other day.
Saturday, 26 September 2009
Audiobooks
Listen to a wide selection of Audiobooks. [get it]
My rating 2/5, iTunes Store rating 2.5/5
Audiobooks is an iPhone interface to the Librivox service, Librivox offers a wide selection of audio books, read by volunteers, which are available for free download or as a podcast.
Audiobooks allows you to search through the Librivox catalogue and find information on the audiobooks it contains, it then allows you to stream the book to your iPhone. Internet connectivitiy is required for this application and you cannot download an audiobook to listen to off-line (there are paid apps, including a paid version of this app, that allow that).
Since it is not particularly difficult to visit Librivox and download the audiobooks to listen to on your iPod at your convenience, off-line, for free, the only significant value this app adds is its simple interface for browsing the catalogue and launcing a book immediately without the need to follow the process of downloading it, adding it to iTunes, and syncing it with your phone.
Because the readers are volunteers the quality of the audiobooks on Librivox varies and may fall a long way short of expectations. If you are always on a good Internet connection when you would want to listen to an audiobook this application may be for you, otherwise you might wish to search for podcasts of audiobooks in the iTunes app on your phone, and choose from a smaller selection of books which you can download directly, and listen to off-line, for free.
I have removed Audiobooks from my iPhone.
My rating 2/5, iTunes Store rating 2.5/5
Audiobooks is an iPhone interface to the Librivox service, Librivox offers a wide selection of audio books, read by volunteers, which are available for free download or as a podcast.
Audiobooks allows you to search through the Librivox catalogue and find information on the audiobooks it contains, it then allows you to stream the book to your iPhone. Internet connectivitiy is required for this application and you cannot download an audiobook to listen to off-line (there are paid apps, including a paid version of this app, that allow that).
Since it is not particularly difficult to visit Librivox and download the audiobooks to listen to on your iPod at your convenience, off-line, for free, the only significant value this app adds is its simple interface for browsing the catalogue and launcing a book immediately without the need to follow the process of downloading it, adding it to iTunes, and syncing it with your phone.
Because the readers are volunteers the quality of the audiobooks on Librivox varies and may fall a long way short of expectations. If you are always on a good Internet connection when you would want to listen to an audiobook this application may be for you, otherwise you might wish to search for podcasts of audiobooks in the iTunes app on your phone, and choose from a smaller selection of books which you can download directly, and listen to off-line, for free.
I have removed Audiobooks from my iPhone.
AroundMe
Local knowledge at your fingertips. [get it]
My rating 2.5/5, iTunes Store rating 3/5
AroundMe uses your location to tell you what is around you. You can find your nearby petrol stations, supermarkets, parking facilities, cash machines, places of interest and many other facilities too. You are offered a map, address, directions and contact details where available.
On the occasions I have used it I have found it to be either missing information or holding some out of date information, but I only know this because I am using it where I already have the local knowledge. For the most part it seems accurate and useful.
The application is very easy to use, you launch it and then select what you are looking for, this has to be considered one of the main appeals of the application because much of the functionality is actually available in the Google Maps application that comes with the iPhone, if you select "Search" and enter what you are looking for (such as "Supermarket" or "Petrol") it will drop pins in all the nearby places that such facilities are known to exist, giving you access to similar information to that which AroundMe provides. Because the iPhone comes with this functionality via Google Maps, I have rated AroundMe lower than I would have done if it was a unique app.
I have kept AroundMe on my iPhone but I rarely use it.
My rating 2.5/5, iTunes Store rating 3/5
AroundMe uses your location to tell you what is around you. You can find your nearby petrol stations, supermarkets, parking facilities, cash machines, places of interest and many other facilities too. You are offered a map, address, directions and contact details where available.
On the occasions I have used it I have found it to be either missing information or holding some out of date information, but I only know this because I am using it where I already have the local knowledge. For the most part it seems accurate and useful.
The application is very easy to use, you launch it and then select what you are looking for, this has to be considered one of the main appeals of the application because much of the functionality is actually available in the Google Maps application that comes with the iPhone, if you select "Search" and enter what you are looking for (such as "Supermarket" or "Petrol") it will drop pins in all the nearby places that such facilities are known to exist, giving you access to similar information to that which AroundMe provides. Because the iPhone comes with this functionality via Google Maps, I have rated AroundMe lower than I would have done if it was a unique app.
I have kept AroundMe on my iPhone but I rarely use it.
Thursday, 24 September 2009
AppConnect
Discover more apps, especially free ones. [get it]
My rating 3.5/5, iTunes Store rating 3/5
AppConnect offers several ways to discover iPhone applications. You can see how other people rate applications, you can see which other applications other people recommend, you can recommend applications yourself and you can make friends with people to see which applications they recommend. You can also search for applications as you would in the iTunes app store, you can see which applications are hot and which applications are new.
There is one feature of this software, however, for which it really stands out from the crowd, it tells you which apps are on special offer and which apps have been reduced to cost absolutely nothing.
Many application developers decide to lower the price of their apps, often only for a limited period. The reduction may be to get the app more widely known or may be to celebrate a special day on the calendar or to promote the release of a new or improved application.
With AppConnect you get a list of all the applications that are currently on offer. There are quite a few apps which seem to drop their price every other day, presumably to get noticed, but looking through the list of offers there are often some real gems, some of which will be reviewed on this blog in the near future.
The networking features are certainly worth looking at, but "on sale" and "free" application lists make this a gateway to yet more bargain apps, and for that alone it is well worth the price! (which is nothing)
I have kept AppConnect on my iPhone and have a quick look at it several times a week.
My rating 3.5/5, iTunes Store rating 3/5
AppConnect offers several ways to discover iPhone applications. You can see how other people rate applications, you can see which other applications other people recommend, you can recommend applications yourself and you can make friends with people to see which applications they recommend. You can also search for applications as you would in the iTunes app store, you can see which applications are hot and which applications are new.
There is one feature of this software, however, for which it really stands out from the crowd, it tells you which apps are on special offer and which apps have been reduced to cost absolutely nothing.
Many application developers decide to lower the price of their apps, often only for a limited period. The reduction may be to get the app more widely known or may be to celebrate a special day on the calendar or to promote the release of a new or improved application.
With AppConnect you get a list of all the applications that are currently on offer. There are quite a few apps which seem to drop their price every other day, presumably to get noticed, but looking through the list of offers there are often some real gems, some of which will be reviewed on this blog in the near future.
The networking features are certainly worth looking at, but "on sale" and "free" application lists make this a gateway to yet more bargain apps, and for that alone it is well worth the price! (which is nothing)
I have kept AppConnect on my iPhone and have a quick look at it several times a week.
Alarm Tunes Lite
An alarm clock which allows you to wake up to music. [get it]
My rating 3.5/5, iTunes Store rating 2.5/5
As the name suggests, this is a restricted version of a fuller product, but as a restricted version it is still the best app of its kind that I have found for free in the iTunes store.
With Alarm Tunes Lite you can select any song from your iPod to use as an alarm at a time of your choosing. When the tune plays you can acknowledge the alarm by turning it off or by tapping a snooze button to get a little more sleep, or you can just lie there and listen to your selected track looping continuously.
To work, the app must be left open, you may choose to have it stay on as a bedside clock, or you can let the iPhone go into standby mode, it will work either way, but the app must be open when you fall asleep. To be sure the the battery does not run out it is wise to leave your iPhone or iPod Touch on charge when using this app.
You can only set up one alarm time within this app and it doesn't integrate directly with the default iPhones alarm, but the alarm that comes with the iPhone will continue to work over the top of Alarm Tunes Lite, so you can still have multiple alarms but only one of them will be a piece of music from your iPod.
As a bedside clock the app is quite good looking, it has a day mode and a night mode in which the display has a relevant brightness. The controls for setting the alarm are not the most intuitive, but it doesn't take long to work out.
I have kept Alarm Tunes Lite on my iPhone and use it quite often.
My rating 3.5/5, iTunes Store rating 2.5/5
As the name suggests, this is a restricted version of a fuller product, but as a restricted version it is still the best app of its kind that I have found for free in the iTunes store.
With Alarm Tunes Lite you can select any song from your iPod to use as an alarm at a time of your choosing. When the tune plays you can acknowledge the alarm by turning it off or by tapping a snooze button to get a little more sleep, or you can just lie there and listen to your selected track looping continuously.
To work, the app must be left open, you may choose to have it stay on as a bedside clock, or you can let the iPhone go into standby mode, it will work either way, but the app must be open when you fall asleep. To be sure the the battery does not run out it is wise to leave your iPhone or iPod Touch on charge when using this app.
You can only set up one alarm time within this app and it doesn't integrate directly with the default iPhones alarm, but the alarm that comes with the iPhone will continue to work over the top of Alarm Tunes Lite, so you can still have multiple alarms but only one of them will be a piece of music from your iPod.
As a bedside clock the app is quite good looking, it has a day mode and a night mode in which the display has a relevant brightness. The controls for setting the alarm are not the most intuitive, but it doesn't take long to work out.
I have kept Alarm Tunes Lite on my iPhone and use it quite often.
iPhree
This blog is a stand-alone location for my reviews of iPhone apps that are either free or were free when I acquired them.
This is not a general review site for every iPhone app under the sun, I will only be reviewing those apps which take my interest or which look like they make great use of iPhone functionality.
I will consider requests for review of apps that are free, but any comments left advertising apps that are not relelvant to the app under review will be deleted.
This is not a general review site for every iPhone app under the sun, I will only be reviewing those apps which take my interest or which look like they make great use of iPhone functionality.
I will consider requests for review of apps that are free, but any comments left advertising apps that are not relelvant to the app under review will be deleted.
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