iPhone App Reviews by iPhone App Reviewer | Games and App Store Reviews » ipod touch

iPhone App Reviewer Awesome Links August 12th to August 19th 2009

iPhone App Reviewer — Thu, 20 Aug 2009 01:28:53 +0000

Hi there folks! As an app reviewer I browse through the Internet and see what my “competition,” is up to, see what other iPhone blogging sites are up to. During these trips around the immense database of resources, that is the Interwebs, I find lots of awesome articles and reviews. I always post what I find on iPhone App Reviewer’s Delicious Page, but I think they deserve to be posted here. The following is what I’ve collected from August 12th to August 19th 2009. Enjoy!

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Readdledocs iPhone Business App Review

iPhone App Reviewer — Sat, 08 Aug 2009 05:55:28 +0000

Readdledocs: A mobile file organizing revolution.

Our Rating: 8.2/10 Thumbs Up! [Screenshots]

Version Reviewed: 1.5.2
Developer: Readdle
Price as of Review: $4.99
Current iTunes Rating: 3.5/5
Size: 2.9MB

If you want to take your files to go with you on the iPhone, Readdledocs pretty much eliminates all other competition. With a large assorted variety of ways to sync files Readdledocs can manipulate and organize files on any platform, and anywhere. You’ll need an Internet connection to sync and even download files, but after that, your files will be on your iPhone’s harddrive wherever. Need to back them up? You can copy them to your computer just like you would with a normal folder (using the iPhone’s wi-fi disk feature) and even sync them to the 512MB storage space Readdle provides for free.

With Readdledoc’s abundance of settings, it’s sure to get the job done right. The files can be stored with a complete file hierarchy and any format can be saved (though not every format can be read). It can be used as a PDF reader and then email them to co-workers and friends. Readdledocs uses the standard way to read things, panning and pinching to scroll around the file. Unlike most apps, even when viewing a large file Readdledocs does not slow down, and even if it does crash, it’s saved for later!

Unfortunately this isn’t an all-in-one office app; it lacks the ability to edit and write to files. Basically the concept of Readdledocs is to retrieve files from anywhere, anyway, and to read them wherever. The execution of the concept was simply brilliant, the programmers over at Readdle are doing a fantastic job, really showing off the iPhone’s capabilities as a replacement to your Palm Handheld or Crackberry. The user interface is smooth and stable. Now we just have to wait for an update and hopefully they’ll add some new features – perhaps something with the 3.0 features? Only time will tell.

Final Ratings:

Usefulness: 8/10 – Until the concept is expanded to a complete documents app, it’s only good for reading files. Readdle will definitely do a great job on anything they expand the app to.

User Interface: 9/10 – I come across the odd glitch but the user interface is nearly as good as BeejiveIM

Price: 6/10 – Office apps are usually expensive, this one doesn’t break that paradigm, but it could…

Technology: 8.2/10 – Great so far but I can think of more features

Execution of Concept: 9.6/10 – Readdle’s developers are some of the best I’ve seen. Bravo.

Overall Rating: 8.2/10

Further Improvements: (Note to the developer!)

Background Running – How about an alert popup when a new file is ready to sync?
File editing!!
Basic image editing.
Fix some glitches – mainly performance with network drives.
Display settings for those reading an eBook or long documents.
Monospaced formatting for shared code.

More screenshots here!

Other reviews on Readdledocs for the iPhone and iPod Touch:

Why does iPhone App Reviewer link to other reviewing sites? Because if you’re not 100% satisfied with the quality of our review, then we encourage you to go elsewhere. The point of iPhone App Reviewer is to give you an honest, open opinion of the application.

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Need for Speed Undercover iPhone Game Review

iPhone App Reviewer — Fri, 07 Aug 2009 04:12:03 +0000

Need for Speed Undercover: Simply the best racing game I’ve ever played on the iPhone.

Our Rating: 9.1/10 [Screenshots]

Version Reviewed: 1.2
Developer: Electronic Arts
Price as of Review: $6.99
Current iTunes Rating: 4.5/5

Need for Speed Undercover is a racing game concocted by one of video gaming legend’s, Electronic Arts. Although this is probably one of fifty racing games on the iPhone, iPhone App Reviewer could not resist reviewing it. It’s outstanding graphics and gameplay make it shatter the competition. With multiple gameplay modes and enough storyline and challenges to let you play for days, Need for Speed Underground is an addicting pleasure. Not only are the graphics outstanding, but there’s tons of cars and maps to choose from, and all cars have a certain level of customization.

Although I could stop the review right here, there’s more to go. The graphics are entirely 3D, even the menu has a 3D model car (your current tricked out ride) in the background. Unfortunately the graphics and high detail considerably affect stability, specifically on loading the game. Before version 1.2, you’d generally have to try quite a few times just to get the app started (even after fresh restart).

Once you get playing it shouldn’t be a problem, except for the unfortunate parts where you’re facing off against multiple cars at very high speeds. Even with the customizable cars, the game lacks settings, I’ve yet to see a racing game with customizable environment settings such as friction, drift ease, wind resistance and so on. Not to mention that there’s only a few basic car customizations. After that, just appearance.

If you’re looking for a single player racing game that will last for hours on end, look absolutely no further. Unfortunately, iPhone App Reviewer has found a few down falls to an otherwise perfect racing game, just scraping it away from that perfect 10 rating. Maybe later they’ll add more maps and multiplayer modes…perhaps… (EA has a history for not updating their games features much).

Final Ratings:

Gameplay: 9.2/10 – Everyone loves a good racing game, Need for Speed Underground has multiple gameplay modes and an awesome amount of maps.

Enjoyment: 9.8/10 – Without doubt it’s in the top 10 games on iPhone App Reviewer’s list.

Graphics: 9.5/10 – Just at the level where it won’t slow down the game entirely, perfectly detailed and high res. Just anti alias a little more.

Sound: 8.5/10 – Love the sound track, unfortunately it can be a bit distracting and not of a majority of the users taste.

Technology: 8.5/10 – Just improve performance a tad, luckily the 1.2 update fixed several errors…keep it up Electronic Arts.

Replay Value: 9/10 – A huge storyline mode that as mentioned above, will leave lots to play.

Final Rating: 9.1/10

Further Improvements:

Multiplayer Mode
Environment Settings
Performance Enhancement

More screenshots here.

Other Reviews on Need for Speed Undercover for iPhone and iPod Touch:

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Soldier Ants iPhone Game App Review

iPhone App Reviewer — Fri, 07 Aug 2009 01:37:58 +0000

Soldier Ants: A classic game turned mobile for your soon-to-be addicted mind.

Our Rating: 7.2/10 [Screenshots]

Version Reviewed: 1.2
Developer: Tiger Shark Games
Price as of Review: $0.99
Current iTunes Rating: 3.5/5

Soldier Ants is a concept that’s been done numerous times on Internet flash games; the concept will live on throughout gaming forever, probably. Soldier Ants is a 2D game where you face off against computer or human ant army opponents. Armed with several cartoon ants and a large variety of weapons you’ll go around the poorly rendered maps battling it out. Game modes are customizable allowing for probably about a week of gameplay before getting completely bored out of your mind.

The gameplay of Soldier Ants is what makes it outstanding as a game, and really, about the only thing that makes it worth buying. With tons of weapons ranging from close range to long range and explosive to subtle there is fun to be around here. Although the graphics aren’t much on the eyes, nothing beats torching your opponent to the ground with acid or a flamethrower. Gameplay is on a turn by turn basis – [here is when I'd normally say "Soldier Ants has a just-one-more-turn addiction to it" but I'm afraid it doesn't make the cut]. Between the weapon drops and explosions the map will dynamically change, similar to the sort of deteriorating map effect found in iShoot [iTunes Link].

Although the gameplay sounds nice, it’s bogged down by poor graphics, horribly inaccurate controls, and a deplorable amount of stability. One of your ants may be able to jetpack across the map but I’m afraid you won’t be able to. If you’re a fan of 2D platform team vs. team style games, you should check out Soldier Ants at a relatively fair price of $0.99. There’s a lite version available for free here [iTunes Link]. All in all, if you can get past the immense amount of severe annoyances, Soldier Ants does well for a quick pick up and play game. Otherwise, stay away.

Final Ratings:

Gameplay: 8.7/10 – Lots to the gameplay, variety of weapons.

Enjoyment: 6.5/10 – Needs a lot of improvements before I can seriously enjoy this game.

Graphics: 6.5/10 – Very colourful but the graphics look like they were done very lazily and on a much lower resolution then the iPhone’s 320×480

Sound: 8/10 – Nothing to complain about here.

Technology: 6/10 – No use of the accelerometer, touch controls are hella buggy.

Replay Value: 7/10 – Because of the many gameplay modes and customization per game this can be fun to come back to, but not for very long.

Overall Rating: 7.2/10 -

Further Improvements: (Note to the developer)

Fix unresponsive touch controls
Fix misc. glitches
Wi-fi multiplayer mode
Bring graphics up to the capability of the iPhone
What about some accelerometer madness?

More screenshots here.

Other Reviews on Soldier Ants for iPhone and iPod Touch:

Soldier Ants Review by iPhoneApps-Review

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Numerus iPhone Utilities App Review

iPhone App Reviewer — Sun, 14 Jun 2009 01:08:11 +0000

Numerus: An amazing scientific calculator right on your iPhone

Version Reviewed: 1.0.1
Developer: Balazs Faludi
Price as of Review: $1.99
Current iTunes Rating: 4.5/5

Numerus is exactly the app we need on the iPhone, it’s the best utility application I have ever used (and I use it almost every day). Although the iPhone has a calculator it’s features are limited and even in landscape mode it doesn’t compare to a real scientific calculator. Numerus can handle advanced equations and packs a large variety of features and functions in it’s small package. The app allows you to save all your previous calculations as well as email them. You can store variable data and call them in all the mathematical functions it provides (just look at the screenshots here). It’s highly stable and the calculations are always correct, I haven’t found a flaw in any of the functions, and have never had a crashing issue or glitches.

The user interface performs just like a real calculator, and there’s plenty of room to view your calculation, not to mention a great advantage of Numerus’ view area is that you can compute large numbers (over 10 digits) with ease. It provides a 2nd function button which unlocks a whole host of new abilities. Unfortunately it cannot rotate into landscape mode, a lot of people I’ve demoed the app to have noted and disliked the lack of mulitple viewing angles. Even if you’re not going to use advanced functions Numerus still beats the iPhone’s default calculator by far, it allows you do to long calculations with brackets, exponenents, and all standard operations (*/+-).

All in all Numerus is a great application to have on hand and should be on every student’s iPhone. I won’t leave to school without it!

Final Ratings:

Usefulness: 9.6/10 – The perfect scientific calculator, a few more feautres like graphing and it could replace an entire set of non-iPhone mathematical tools.

User Interface: 8/10 – Flawless but unfortunately does not have a landscape mode!

Price: 8/10 – Absolutely cannot argue with the two dollar price, obviously beats a real scientific calculators cost too

Technology: 8.5/10 – I haven’t experienced a single glitch or mathematical flaw, again though, no landscape mode.

Execution of Concept: 9.8/10 – You couldn’t expect any more from the developer, it’s an absolute programming masterpiece

Overall Rating: 9.3/10 – Average is 8.8 but I’m giving a 0.5 bonus point!

Further Improvements:

Landscape Mode
Quick access feature allowing simple quick equations
Expression/Equation simplyfing ability

More screenshots here

Other Reviews on Numerus for iPhone and iPod Touch:

Numerus Review by Apple iPhone School

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iPhone Quick Review Series 6: myMeditation, Balls Up, Iron Fist Boxing

iPhone App Reviewer — Thu, 04 Jun 2009 03:24:35 +0000

Even more for today!

myMeditation [iTunes Link] – [Screenshots]

Current Price: $2.99
Category: Health & Fitness
Developer: BLT Helps
Current iTunes Rating: 4/5
Version Reviewed: 1.0

Looking to learn meditation or want a guide to your already novice skills? myMeditation is an all in one iPhone meditation tool. It includes learning resources and an advanced timer with alert sounds. BLT Helps amazingly developed this application, it can be customized in so many ways. Especially with myself, meditation is a great thing and this app got me started. I’d recommend a great set of noise cancelling headphones.

Definitely check out myMeditation if you want an outlet to relaxation. Not to mention it’s on your iPhone or iPod Touch so if you want to meditate on the go, let’s say on the bus, myMeditation is there for you.

Final Rating: 8.2/10

Balls Up [iTunes Link] – [Screenshots]

Current Price: $0.99
Category: Games
Developer: Games
Current iTunes Rating: 3.5/5
Version Reviewed: 1.0

Balls Up goes on a classic gaming paradigm of getting the highest score possible. In this case you must bounce a soccer ball for as long as possible, aiming to beat your high score, as well as the online leaderboards. Unfortunately there is no customizing available for the application which leaves you with the same dry concept over and over again. It’s addicting enough that for a dollar why not give it a try?

It’s continuous gameplay style allows you to put it away and pick it up whenever which is ideal for mobile cell phone gaming. If you’ve been looking for a game like this on the iPhone, you’re pretty much limited to Balls Up but it’s a good choice. Wondering if this is for you? Fans of Scoops, Sky Burger, and Frenzic, or any other highly addictive game should enjoy this.

Overall Rating: 6.7/10

Iron Fist Boxing [iTunes Link] – [Screenshots]

Current Price: $3.99
Category: Games
Developer: Realtech VR
Current iTunes Rating: 3.5/5
Version Reviewed: 2.0

Iron Fist Boxing is the first impressive looking virtual boxing game on the iPhone. The graphics and gameplay are awesome but unfortunately the game is seriously bogged down by a poor touch response system. The control scheme has potential but is very glitchy. The whole app itself has some serious stability problems. Luckily I don’t think boxing game fans will be discouraged by these faults, $3.99 is just around the perfect price so hopefully quite a few will give it a punch (eheh, that’s the first but last lame pun).

Besides stability the application was well developed and as you can see in the screenshots Realtech VR put some serious time into rendering and drawing the graphics. Iron Fist Boxing tried to use a bunch of the iPhone’s capabilities but failed enough to put a serious drawback to the app.

Final Rating: 7.1/10

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Inside iPhone: How the “tilt” controls work.

iPhone App Reviewer — Wed, 03 Jun 2009 01:12:30 +0000

So you’ve played racing games like Asphalt 4 and Phaze (my new favourite iPhone addiction), you’ve browsed the web on Safari and flipped your screen; but how does this amazingly fun element to the iPhone work? Well to start, it’s not really “tilt” controls as you hear quite often, and probably read in descriptions of iTunes app pages, it’s actually an electrical sensor called an accelerometer [wikipedia link]. More precisely, a triple axis accelerometer. You might recognize that word, you got it, it’s the same sensors found in the Segway, Wii and many other modern wonders.

Figure 1

An accelerometer uses tiny weighted springs which pressure or other sensors read their level. Gravity will push each axis’ spring which is loaded with a specific mechanical resistance. The iPhone then reads the levels of each sensor to find out what direction the iPhone is facing, how fast it’s moving, and what angle it’s tilted at. See Figure 1 for a small diagram on how this works. Anyways, by reading different combinations of the axis’ values, the iPhone’s firmware can then send presets and exact information to applications.

Figure 2 - Image from and owned by Spark Fun (http://sparkfun.com)

Even though this may sound like a complex process, the hardware inside the iPhone can process it in milliseconds. And yes, this works the exact same for the iPod Touch. You can see a picture of what an accelerometer looks like (probably not the one in the actual iPhone) in Figure 2. Hope you enjoyed the post!

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Triple Shot Sports iPhone Game Review

iPhone App Reviewer — Tue, 02 Jun 2009 00:19:27 +0000

Triple Shot Sports: The most frustrating app you will ever have fun with.

Version Reviewed: 1.2
Developer: The Code Monkeys
Price as of Review: $2.99
Current iTunes Rating: 3.5/5

Triple Shot Sports is your source of olympic style shooting for the iPhone. The app contains three different game modes, Rapid Fire Pistol, Running Target, and of course my favourite, Archery. Triple Shot Sports provides a very realistic experience with more than satisfactory 3D graphics and a rich sporting experience. There’s tournament and quick play game styles that allow you to compete at different skill levels, lead a country, and earn achievements. Triple Shot Sports is one of the most realistic games I’ve played on the iPhone, and even though it sparkles with the iPhone’s capabilities as a desktop gaming platform, it’s the perfect pick up and play solution.

Although it all sounds great Triple Shot Sports is bogged down with some serious annoyances. The control scheme concept is perfect but executed by the developers quite poorly. Lots of glitches and lag with the aiming process and although it makes for a harder and more realistic experience, parts of the game can be quite frustrating (i.e. fouls on the rapid fire pistol). Nonetheless Triple Shot Sports is worth checking out, especially if you’re a fan of any of the games. The developers even included more factors to the game such as wind, moving targets, velocity, etc… all which you have to account for if you wish to get that 1st place.

Even with the occasionally annoying touch controls the game is quite stable. It has never crashed for me in the time I’ve played it for this review. Even with the immensely complex graphics the app handles it beautifully, even the user interface is near-perfect. Once things are improved, Triple Shot Sports is definetely something you should check out, enjoy.

Final Ratings:

Gameplay: 9.8/10 – So much to do, perfect sporting fun

Enjoyment: 6.9/10 – Great fun but the annoyances bog it down

Graphics: 9/10 – Pretty darn good!

Sound: 8/10 – The sound effects dynamically change and aren’t annoying

Technology: 4.9/10 – So many glitches

Replay Value: 7/10 – Very good while you play it but not something you get heavily addicted to

Overall Rating: 7.6/10

Recommended For:

Target games like Archery
A fan of challenging pick up and play games

Further Improvements: (Note to the developer)

Drastically smooth out/improve touch controls!!

More screenshots here

Other Reviews of Triple Shot Sports Here:

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iPhone Quick Review Series 4: Westward, Personality, The Fast and Furious: Pink Slip, aMAZEing

iPhone App Reviewer — Sun, 31 May 2009 00:00:48 +0000

Whole bunch of fresh new apps for you today

Westward [iTunes Link] – [Screenshots]

Current Price: $4.99
Category: Games
Developer: Handmark
Current iTunes Rating: 3.5/5
Version Reviewed: 1.05

Synopsis: A very large game themed in the wild west in which you must control characters around a map to create settlements and battle. Although I’m a fan of similar games like Civilization for PC, and other multi-unit strategy games, Westward bored me to tears to say the least. There’s a whole multitude of controls and lots to do, and the graphics are quite nice for a mobile game yet still, it feels like a drag to play.

The Good:

Quite large, lots of stuff to do
Great starting tutorial
Very stable
Feels like a game you’d find on a real gaming system

The Bad:

Huge drag to play
I could hardly get past the tutorial before I was bored
A few annoyances in the controls

Conclusion: If you want to give a game like this a try go for it, but I’m going to note that the five dollar price tag is quite steep.

Final Rating: 5.5/10

Personality [iTunes Link] – [Screenshots]

Current Price: $1.99
Category: Lifestyle
Developer: Signal Patterns
Current iTunes Rating: 2.5/5
Version Reviewed: 1.1

Synopsis: Personality is an application that thoroughly tests your personality and gives hard studied results. Not only is it a one-time test that you will only even use once and pass on, it’s also a whole resource on personality tests and psychology. Besides the test it features a science page and a results page which explains all the different traits with text and video.

The Good:

Tons of features, this isn’t one of those lifestyle apps that you’ll just use once
A great science page
One of the best personality tests I’ve ever seen (not just on the iPhone)
Clean user interface
In-app video’s rather than exiting to YouTube or Safari

The Bad:

Unable to email results to others or yourself (or any other export way)

Conclusion: This is a fun app that is simply a steal for $1.99. It’s great fun and quite accurate.

Final Rating: 8.9/10

Fast and Furious: Pink Slip [iTunes Link] – [Screenshots]

Current Price: $2.99
Category: Games
Developer: I-play
Current iTunes Rating: 3.5/5
Version Reviewed: 0.1.3

Synopsis: Yet another racing game for the iPhone, this one with the movie trademark attached to it. Fast and Furious Pink Slip is a very challenging racing game with great graphics and a unique feel to it. There are multiple gameplay modes including a multiplayer session although some of the modes are quite useless.

The Good:

Pretty good graphics
Multiplayer mode
Several different cars

The Bad:

No real tutorial
The “Quick Race” mode is actually called a Drag Race in which you do not control the cars steering, just it’s shifter

Conclusion: A decent racing game with a satisfactory price of $2.99. They’re better racing games available though…

Final Rating: 7/10

aMAZEing [iTunes Link] – [Screenshots]

Current Price: $0.99
Category: Games
Developer: f-gap
Current iTunes Rating: 2.5/5
Version Reviewed: 1.2

Synopsis: aMAZEing is a maze solving game in a pure 3D environment. Similar to Windows 98’s 3D maze screensaver but you get to control the point of view. The objective is to find the amount of gems that you specify at the start in a maze (you choose size).

The Good:

Able to slightly customize the maze at the start of the game
Greatly demonstrates how the iPhone can be used to real platform gaming! (Tip of the hat to the developer!)
Awesome control scheme

The Bad:

Get’s boring fast
Only one objective

Synopsis: This is the start to what could be a very great game, in the mean time, search elsewhere…

Final Rating: 5/10

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Sheepstacker iPhone Game Review

iPhone App Reviewer — Sat, 30 May 2009 21:43:22 +0000

Sheepstacker: I dare you to put this game away.

Version Reviewed: 1.1.1
Developer: Tiny Tim Games
Price as of Review: $1.99
Current iTunes Rating: 4/5

Ok, so this review’s tagline might be exaggerating a little, nonetheless Sheepstacker is a refreshing new game for the iPhone. Sheepstacker’s gameplay is exactly what the title depicts, you must stack digital sheep until the cows come home (I promise that will be the only corny barnyard joke). Sheepstacker comes with three different gameplay modes, achievements and a fully colourful user interface. Although all along the same theme, the unique gameplay modes each provide a refreshing twist to the game. Sheepstacker requires you to use precise timing to stack the sheep without them tipping over and/or falling off. The game forces you to use touch and tilt controls and precise thinking.

As you play bonus points and multiplyers can be awarded for stacking the sheep more accuratly. Not to mention, the farther you go the more achievements you receive! The game can be quite addicting if you find it fun, some people I’ve demoed the app to don’t like the whole barnyard theme although the gameplay is still fun.

The game almost never crashes or glitches and you can clearly tell the developer put time into making the application. Although the user interface is not quite modern, and the graphics look a little outdated, the navigation tactics are solid. The high score menu has a bunch of different categories which can motivate you to play “just that little bit longer,” to see how good at the game you really are.

Although technically a 2D game all the graphics are rendered in 3D and are little edgy but are pleasent on the eyes. This would be the perfect game for parents to entertain a small child, or even themselves! It really speaks out to the pick up and play audience. Plus the games very fitting sound effects do not interfere with your music. Sheepstacker has a lite version so try it out, you won’t regret it.

Final Ratings:

Gameplay: 8.6/10 – Many gameplay modes, one solid theme. Entertainment on the iPhone in an amazing form

Enjoyment: 8.6/10 – Pretty fun, almost everybody I demoed to thoroughly enjoyed it

Graphics: 7/10 – A little edgy but still good

Sound: 8.2/10 – Near perfect sound effects, does not interfere with iPod Music.

Technology: 8.5/10 – Uses almost everything, very stable game too

Replay Value: 7.5/10 – If you do get addicted, you’ll be hooked and cornered.

Overall Rating: 8.1/10

Recommended For:

Small children
Fans of Scoops, Sky Burger, and other tilt/stacking games (check out the master of stacking games, Ian Marsh)

Further Improvements: (Note to the developer)

Just a tiny graphics improvement
Online leaderboard
More settings

More screenshots here

Other Reviews on Sheepstacker for iPhone and iPod Touch:

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