I've never been particularly interested in new technologies, but when I decided to get an iPhone 3GS last August to replace my dying LG Cookie for a mere £5 more a month... I didn't know that hours of my life were about to be lost.
Here are my favourite news, games, and generally useful apps which I use on a daily basis.
News -
BBC News – Free – An application I use first thing in the morning, it is neatly separated into top stories, world, UK and sport, but you have the ability to edit the layout to suit your interests directly. My personal favourite sections are World, Science and Environment, Entertainment & Arts and Features and Analysis.
Sky News – Free – The live feeds on Sky are the best way to keep right up to date, however are only featured on certain stories. I find there is a lack of daily stories and the top stories are just not updated enough. I do like the ‘strange’ section, however.
Time Mobile – Free – One of the best magazine apps, Time Mobile features interesting News stories, however most are American based. The Top 10 Lists are mostly hilarious and the photos section is good when you’re not feeling the in-depth reading.
The Weather Channel – Free - This app is about as accurate as it gets and can even predict the weather by the hour. I’m particularly taken by the Map function which allows you to see where all the clouds are, and also allows you to see where in the world it is raining at that moment.
Information -
AroundMe – Free - This app is insanely useful. It locates where you are and tells you EVERYTHING that’s nearby; banks, bars, petrol stations, cinemas, hotels, hospitals, parking, pharmacies, restaurants, supermarkets, taxis and more. All built in with a map to direct you and it even works abroad!
TV Guide – Free – Neatly displayed, accurate and provides everything you need to know about what’s on freeview tonight.
Wikipedia – Free - This is the most useful app to find out everything about anything with the ability to bookmark any important pages.
Shazam – Free - Ever heard a song, recognised it but just couldn’t remember the name? This app allows you to ‘tag’ a song, and keep it in a ‘My Tags’ playlist. The only downside is you are only allowed 5 tags a month, unless you pay £2.39 for a year or £3.49 for a lifetime.
Dictionary – Free - I use the thesaurus that comes with this mainly for essays, but the dictionary proved useful for my Spanish housemates.
SpanishDict – Free - As mentioned above, this comes in most useful with my Spanish housemates and of course studies. I wouldn’t recommend translating full sentences, only words.
iTranslate – Free - This is useful for the most basic of sentence translations. It has the largest list of languages I have ever seen in a translator, from your normal European languages to Arabic, Afrikaans, Chinese, Greek, Hebrew, Persian, Russian……..I could go on.
Say no to 0870 – Free - This is something I first used on the computer, but was so glad to find out there is an app for it. It finds replacement numbers for those calls that will really make your bank account cry. It’s fantastic and saves me a ridiculous amount of money.
Sikipedia – Free - This is an app especially designed for my immature side. Thousands of jokes based on current news, categorised into different types and publication date… it always provides such a laugh.
Banking/Organisation -
NatWest – Free - This is definitely one of my most used apps on the iPhone. Through this app I can check my balance, mini statement and it even texts me when it knows I’m getting a little bit skint. It’s completely secure, and NatWest are working on adding facilities to transfer cash and pay your bills…on your iPhone!
XE Currency – Free - I’m quite money conscious, and this is the perfect app for when you go abroad and switch on your Airplane mode, allowing you to find out what the Pound is worth in 165 different currencies.
My budget – Free - This is specifically a student budget planner, allowing you to put in any incomes such as loans, wages, grants and savings and also outgoing such as rent, bills, transport and savings. It then calculates your allocated weekly budget and keeps track of your weekly spending when you add new outgoings in the ‘update’ box.
Errands – Free - This is useful for those of us that like to write lists of things to do in priority order everyday; however it could do with a user-friendly redesign to create at least some enjoyment in having to do work.
ShopList - Free – The free version allows you to simply make your shopping list and tick them off as you go along, but the £1.79 full version allows you calculate the total amount of your shopping list and filter the list by done/undone items. I have to admit this app didn’t get hardly any attention after I discovered Tesco Groceries (read on…)
EasyTask – Free - As opposed to Errands which I use mainly for daily reminders, I use EasyTask for educational deadlines as it has a specially designed ‘Projects’ page. It puts each task into date order, and unlike Errands it has a ‘completed’ section to make you feel better about yourself.
TouchTable – 59p - This is a mini ‘school’ time table on the iPhone. I have every day planned by time, module, room number and lecturer, with the ability to add notes for certain sessions and even colour separate modules. For those with awkward GCSE style timetables, it ‘Week A’ and ‘Week B’.
Social Networking -
Facebook – Free - Having facebook on your mobile makes it dangerously accessible in lectures; however it’s one of those apps that I definitely use everyday. It has all the features of facebook on your laptop, but this time your news feed isn’t blocked up with game advertisements and uninteresting quiz results. The only thing I don’t like about the Facebook iPhone app is that it constantly wants to locate where you are for the new ‘Places’ feature…something which I definitely do not use.
Twitter – Free - I’m not 100% up-to-date with how to use twitter yet, but I find it very novel being able to see what Stephen Fry and Snoop Dogg are up to. I find the ‘trending now’ and search facilities most interesting for finding out current topics.
Skype – Free - This is something I was suggested to install by my Spanish housemate, who uses it to give his friends a tour of the house via Wi-Fi on his iPhone. It allows users to make a voice call over the internet and is incredibly useful if you don’t have a computer to hand, however it would be nice to be able to see each other talking as due to the camera position behind the iPhone screen viewing both people at the same time is not possible.
Shopping -
Tesco’s Groceries – Free - This really is such a useful app, especially if you have a Tesco Club card. Not only does it have a basic shopping list, but it collects your ‘Favourite’ items that you buy all the time according to your Club card and gives you full access to everything they sell in Tesco’s with prices and pictures. Shop away in your online basket, book a delivery slot and pay away!
Tesco’s Club card – Free - Forgotten your Club card? Need the points? Your iPhone has an online Club card barcode, so you won’t miss anything. However this isn’t the best part, I’ve found out on average I save £52 a year with the Points Calculator and can view the amount of money vouchers I have on the way.
Subcard – Free - Something which I don’t use that often, but when I do it is much less effort using the iPhone Subcard barcode than rifling through my purse to find the Subcard. Through MySubcard on the app I can find out the date and place of any recent transactions and how many points I have until a free Subway.
EBay – Free - This app is well designed with a specific search engine. It is easy to watch and buy items and keeps a list of all items won and lost. I would suggest getting eBay selling if you are looking at shifting some goods.
Shopstyle – Free - Hours of my life have been spent on this app. Products for Women, Men, Kids, Baby and the Home from hundreds of different stores all rolled into one search engine. Amongst the shops are All Saints, Boots, Dorothy Perkins, Fat Face, French Connection, La Senza, Mango, Miss Selfridge, Next, Oasis, Schuh, Topshop and many more. You will lose yourself in finding and saving all your favourite items of clothing, shoes, accessories, jewellery and beauty products. Just be careful you don’t get carried away with the ‘buy’ button!
Amazon UK – Free - Find all your books, CDs, videos, DVDs, toys, electronics and more in this little add. Search for what you need, make a wish list, view your recommendations and even use the new feature ‘Amazon Remembers’ which allows you to send a photo to Amazon so they can find a similar product...my checkout basket gets bigger every day.
Useful-
TouchMouse – Free - This is one of those apps that reminds you of how technical the world has become. After an incredibly easy set up, you can connect your iPhone to your computer’s ISP address via Wi-Fi and literally use your finger on your iPhone screen as a mouse for your PC. I can also hijack my housemates PC when I’m feeling evil.
TheoryTest – Free - This is something I installed as a first attempt at doing anything driving-related. I surprised myself by getting 45/50 in the free test, which seemed to be mostly common knowledge. The full version which costs £1.79 features the Highway Code E-book, a progress meter and over 970 multiple-choice questions.
Dropbox – Free - I find this app most useful for viewing and saving document files that I want to read on the go. The free version comes with 2GB of storage, and provides easy access to a PDF view of your document. A little difficult to set up, but eventually eases a lot of boredom.
Flashlight – Free - This app is self explanatory. You shake your iPhone, you have a torch. But this wasn’t good enough, so they gave us strobe lights, emergency lights and glow sticks!
Dragon Dictation – Free - This is an app which has proved very popular on the internet but I wouldn’t describe it as very accurate. It is supposed to be able write down your dictation in words, but provides more giggles than ‘oohs and ahhs’ at the outcomes.
British Sign Language – Free - I will learn anything if it has the word ‘language’ in the title and this app has taught me the sign language alphabet. It certainly encouraged me to learn something new and I’d like to think I’m now adapt if a situation where I need it ever arises.
Photography/Drawing –
PS Express – Free - This Photoshop Express app is good for basic editing and effects on any pictures in your Photo Album. It comes with tips on exposure, focus, tints, saturations and more with border options to make a boring picture interesting.
Color Splash – Free - Want a colour to stand out amongst a black and white picture? This app allows you to take a picture in colour, but colour it black and white allowing you to accentuate the areas you like. The full version which is currently 59p has video tutorials, four different brushes and a share option for Facebook, Twitter or Flickr.
DoodleBuddy – Free - This app is for when you’re feeling creative and just want to draw. Use a brush, stamps, or text to draw on a plain screen, background and one of your own pictures.
Gorillacam – Free - This app will completely take over the bog standard Camera app sent with your iPhone. It can zoom, has a self timer, time lapse, anti-shake and most importantly a press anywhere option.
Action Games –
DoodleJump – 59p - How can something so simple be so fun? You’re a little alien, you really like to bounce, and you need to get as high as you can by using platforms. You can be a space alien, football alien, deep-sea alien, scary alien, jungle alien, snowman alien or a Halloween alien. I need not explain more.
AirportMania – £1.19 - I was recommended this by a friend and became addicted within a very short time. Before I knew it, I had sent all my colourful planes out of several runways in only a week. It needs more levels, but has proved really popular with everyone I’ve showed it to.
Tap Fish – Free - I didn’t fancy fish flakes or smelly tanks, so I installed myself some virtual fish. Be careful not to buy ‘fish bucks’… they cost actual money and I’ve recently seen a story similar to this on Watchdog. You’re given a set amount of ‘virtual spending’ at the beginning but it takes time to build it up and the fish need a lot of cleaning and feeding.
Hungry Shark – 59p - This is one of the first and best apps I discovered on the iPhone so I was pleased to find the sequel a few weeks back. You are a shark, you need to eat which makes you grow and gain levels. You tilt your phone to swim the sea eating humans, puffer fish, tuna, penguins, scuba divers etc.
Blowfish – Free - Simple but fun, see how far you can puff up until you hit a moving spiky ball.
Godfinger All Stars – Free - This is one of those games that takes time to build up, but is fun nonetheless. You’re a god of a planet and you have little midget workers. Control the weather, build farms and shrines all using Mana producing Gold and gaining Experience Points.
NinJump – Free - You have the ability to jump wall to wall Kung-Fu style, but watch anything that gets in your way!
Fruit Ninja – 59p - Such a simple but addictive app, you have to slice all the fruit that jumps up on your screen but avoid the bombs.
Office Heroes – Free - This is an app that allows you to build up your own office and complete 50 different levels and titles without the stress of actually having to do it.
Spider Man – Free - The free version allows you challenge any enemy that gets in your way. Kick, punch or Spider Web your way through the different areas. The full version is £3.99 and features more than 20 fighting combos and 12 different levels.
Crash Bandicoot Nitro Kart 2 – 59p – Reunite with your childhood friend Crash in 12 3D tracks and 9 different characters. Challenge each other on multiplayer mode which can handle up to four people over the internet.
The Sims 3 – 59p (on sale, usually £2.99) - The Sims is a guilty pleasure on my computer now and again but when I discovered it was on the iPhone I installed it straight away. As you can imagine, it is incredibly limited compared to the PC version, but still offers enough objectives, wishes and skills to make it worth another go.
Balance and Puzzle –
Perfect Balance Inferno + Paradise – 59p each - These are two of the first games I installed and the graphics are great. The aim is to balance different shaped blocks on top of each other… it sounds simple but gets really difficult.
Angry Birds & Angry Birds Halloween – 59p each - This is a real favourite with my boyfriend who has spent a lot of time trying to annihilate pigs hiding in structures with birds of various capabilities such as exploding and dropping eggs. The Halloween version was a brilliant excuse for some new levels.
Paper Toss – Free - So simple but so addictive. There is a bin, you have a scrunched up piece of paper, and you need to get the paper in the bin. Be careful of the changing wind and distance.
iQuarters – £1.19 - This is a game I was persuaded into buying by my boyfriend and his friend who never know when to stop playing it once they’ve started. The aim is to flick a coin into different sized cups and get as many Ricochets as possible.
Slice It! – 59p - This game requires good maths, symmetry and an eye for shapes. You have a certain amount of pencils, and have to divide a shape into the amount of sectors it tells you to. It gets pretty technical and specific towards the latter of the 100 levels.
Cut the Rope – 59p - In this app, your need to get the candy to your hungry little frog by slicing the rope the candy is attached to in the correct places in order for it to land in the frog’s mouth. With more levels than I can count it is one of the only apps I have ever seen with all five stars.
Trainyard & Trainyard Express – 59p - This app really wrecks my brain sometimes. You have to get several coloured trains to their correct docking stations without crossing paths unless merging colours. It is complex and becomes very technical but provides a real puzzle if you want one.
fingerBalance – Free - This app requires steady hands to balance a ball on a line throughout various obstacles to the end. This is an app which can become very addictive but only has 15 levels on the free version as opposed to 98 levels on the 59p version.
Bloons – 59p - This is a game I first discovered years ago on the internet, but found again thanks to the App Store. It gives you three different game slots with 150 different levels and 50 opportunities to create your own levels of balloon popping monkeys.
iJewels – Free - The classic Bejewelled… need I say more?
Red Remover – 59p – This app contains 80 different levels to remove red shapes without any green shapes falling off the screen. Enhanced by the smiley and shocked blocks this simple game can get really mind boggling.
Topple – Free – This is one of the best but simple free games on the App Store. You have to stack and balance a load of evil looking weird shapes to build your way to the top.
Physics - Free – Similar to topple but with the ability to just keep going higher and higher. I wouldn’t consider installing the 59p version.
Sports-
Air Hockey – 59p - A game which we’ve all played in the arcades, but is now on your iPhone screen! This game lets you play against the iPhone, against a friend and even against a friend’s phone who has Air Hockey installed on their iPhone.
Flick Football – 59p - This is a game I’m currently involved in a battle with. In fact, it’s so addictive my house has erupted in competitiveness of who can get the high score. You flick a ball around goal keepers and footballers into the goal. Simple? Oh god no it’s so much more than that.
Flick Rugby – 59p - This is similar in style and rules to Flick Football and could be equally addictive, unfortunately I have been neglecting this app due to the above.
VTT Lite – Free - This virtual table tennis app will really take you by surprise, you are simply playing against a computer of three different levels but once you enter into the worldwide competition for top scores you will always revisit.
PES2010 – 59p - I downloaded this app for my boyfriend while it is on sale for 59p. He was amazed by how good the graphics and game play was for a mobile game. My housemate has PES 2011 which costs a staggering £4.99 but I know he has made his money back through usage.
iBasket - Free – The aim of this game is to get the ball into the net with a bit of guidance. I would only consider downloading the free version as I do not use it that often but it is good quality.
Sound Based –
Talking Tom – Free - A cat that repeats what you say at a hilariously high tone who also doesn’t like being punched or stomped on. Who came up with that?
Baby Scratch – Free - The boys usually like doing stupid freestyles and scratching their record over a back tune. It’s simple but quite funny at appropriate times.
Tap Tap – Free - This app is similar to guitar hero but quite complicated to use. I cannot differentiate between the free songs and the priced songs… and quite frankly it’s not making me that bothered.
Anonymous other apps hiding at the back of my phone -
Monster
Stick Wars
Doodle Find
HellKid
DoodlePool
CC Soccer
Pigrush
BubbleXplode
MrRunner
Graffiti Ball
HeadsWillRoll
Toyshop
0.03s
CubeMaze
Catapult Madness
Ragdoll 2
If you have made it this far well done, and I hope you enjoy your new found apps.
Adios, Nia
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