Category: App Lists

4 iPhone Apps That Use Geofencing (And, Geofencing, Explained)

Exactly what is Geofencing? Geofencing is like creating an invisible fence around a location on a map, and if the iPhone enters or leaves that area, the iPhone performs an action like sending an alert or text message. It’s a pretty powerful feature that was introduced in iOS 5, but currently, there are few apps that take advantage of it. Below are 4 awesome apps that do. Also, check out our forum post for a complete list of geofencing apps.

1. Twist

Twist (free) is a cool new app that uses geofencing to automatically inform friends when you leave a location and sends updates estimating when you’ll arrive. It’s different from past GPS tracking apps in that after the initial setup, everything is pretty much automatic.

After setting up an event, like leaving your home to meet someone at a restaurant, the app won’t do anything until you actually leave your location, then it leaps into action, informing your friends about your departure and estimated arrival. Updates are sent via SMS, push notification, or email. This could help prevent angry girlfriend syndrome.

2. Checkmark

Checkmark ($0.99) is similar to Apple’s Reminders app in that it supplies location-based (geofenced) reminders. For example, you create a reminder to buy diapers, and as you drive by the grocery store, the iPhone reminds you to buy diapers. But Checkmark takes things to the next level by letting you set timers on top of your geofences. For example, remind me 15 minutes after I leave work to stop at the pharmacy. Checkmark also lets you establish how big your geofence is around a location. The app’s interface is also built around making it easier to create geofencing reminders based on repetitive tasks you do, such as grocery shopping or your daily feeding of a parking meter.

3. Instapaper

Instapaper ($2.99) is one of my favorite iPhone/iPad apps. Its main function is to allow you to save articles you find on the web for reading offline later. The app’s geofencing feature is buried in the settings, so you have to dig to find it, but it’s worth it. With Instapaper’s geofencing capabilities you can have the app automatically download your saved articles to the iPhone whenever you enter or leave a location(s). So if you’re heading home from work, by the time you arrive the articles you saved throughout the day will be waiting on your iPhone.

4. Reminders

Reminders is Apple’s official “to-do” app introduced in iOS 5. With Reminders, you can create location-based reminders for your various to-do items. For example: you create a reminder to buy milk, then the iPhone reminds you as you drive near the grocery store. The downside to Reminders is that you can only use locations in your iPhone’s Address Book, and that’s one of the big reasons why more people don’t use the geofencing feature of the app. Another official Apple app, Find My Friends, will be getting geofencing capabilities when iOS 6 arrives this fall.

The 5 Best iPad Newstand Magazines With Free Subscriptions

Most of the magazines available in Apple’s Newstand app cost money (in some cases, a lot of money) for subscriptions. However, there are a handful of Newstand magazines that offer everything for free. Below is a list of what I consider to be the top 5 6 free Newstand magazine apps for iPad. For a complete list, check out our forum post.

1. Sporting News

One of my biggest complaints about the App Store is that there aren’t many great sports news apps. That’s why I love the Sporting News iPad magazine (free). It doesn’t offer automatic downloads, but it is available for a daily manual download that’s entirely free. Once downloaded, the issue can be read offline. Sporting News features big full-spread photos and pulls in the articles from AOL’s Sporting News website reformatted in a professional magazine manner (think Flipboard except with more color). If you do read it offline, some of ads and video are missing, so it’s best experienced with an Internet connection, but it’s not required.

Each issue of Sporting News is usually around 100mb, but you can’t store back issues, so there’s no worry about it taking up too much memory. Hey, it’s completely free!

iPad only.

2. Engadget Distro

Distro iPad Magazine App

Engadget Distro (free) is a weekly magazine that features the best writing from Engadget from the past week reformatted into a slick magazine format. It reads just as well as any print tech magazine, so it goes to show the quality of writing being done online these days. The magazine has Retina-friendly graphics for the new iPad. Every issue is completely free, but unfortunately there is no subscription/automatic download, so you manually have to open the app and download each issue one by one. Memory usage is about 100MB for each issue.

iPad Only.

3. Dash Recipes

Dash Recipes (free) is filled with beautiful food photography and accompanying recipes, and it offers free subscriptions delivered once a month. The magazine’s content reminds me of those coffee-table recipe books you used to see in Borders for like $6.99, meaning it’s heavy on the beautiful photos and light on content (mostly photos and recipes with some videos thrown in). But the photography is second to none and looks great on Retina screen.

Dash Recipes is great for collecting recipe ideas and making my mouth water with top-notch food photography.

iPad only.

4. TRVL

TRVL (free) is a travel magazine that is also one of the most popular Newstand apps. Each issue focuses on a destination, so older issues are just as relevant as new. Currently there are 63 issues available for download for free (the Afghanistan issue is the only one that costs money, at $1.99). TRVL is filled with beautiful photos from travel locations around the world (try viewing in landscape to get the stunning full-screen view). The magazine also features travel stories and advice, but the strengths are the photography. I found TRVL is very useful for collecting ideas for vacations.

With TRVL, you have to download each issue one-by-one. There is an option to subscribe for $0.99 a month, which presumably supplies automatic downloads for each issue. The size of each issue is around 150MB. The developers recently updated the last 20 issues to be Retina-screen compatible.

iPad only.

5. GameQ

GameQ (free) is probably the best looking of all the magazines listed here. It’s a gaming magazine from Gamefly, the Netflix-like game subscription service. There is currently only one issue available, but it’s pretty sweet graphics wise. The content is a bit like most print gaming magazines in that it’s very advertorial in style, meaning it’s more about hyping the game than it is about reviewing games. Still, I enjoyed flipping through, seeing the latest games and what they look like. All gaming consoles/platforms are covered, even iOS. And it looks great on a Retina screen. File sizes are huge, however. The new issue is 485MB in size.

iPad only.

6. Huffington Post

Huffington (link) started out as a paid-subscription magazine but has recently gone free. The magazine is essentially a collection of the best longer-form content from the Huffington Post website from the past week reworked into a slick magazine format. You can subscribe and receive automatic downloads every week in Newstand. Each issues weighs in around 200 MB. If a political bias bothers you, Huffington is somewhat of the liberal persuasion, like a counterpoint to the conservative The Daily iPad magazine.

The 5 Best Free Grocery List Apps for iPhone

When it comes to grocery lists, some people may ask, why use a specially designed app instead of, say, the iPhone’s Notes app, or a good To-Do app, or even a piece of paper? Here are a few reasons:

  • A grocery list app will save you time, lots of time, typing in grocery items via autocompletion tools that pull from a special database of food names.
  • A history of old grocery lists stored in the app can help you remember what to buy.
  • List sharing via iCloud (such as maintaining a single master list between multiple people/devices) or email (“Honey, remember the milk!”)
  • You’re more likely to always have the iPhone on you to record spur-of-the-moment ideas.

I’ve sorted through 13 free grocery-list apps I found in the App Store, and below are the 5 best. All 5 will get the job done, but I’ve included 3 Editor’s Picks, each for a specific purpose.

1. Grocery IQ (Editor’s Pick for Best Overall)

Grocery IQ (free) is the most-popular and most-used grocery-list app, and my top choice for best all-around app. GroceryIQ has been around for a while and has added a lot of new bells and whistles along the way. It also has the largest food-name database, which is continually updated. Some of its features are:

  • A huge database of food names and brands to aid list creation.
  • Support for multiple lists.
  • A barcode scanner to scan foods you have in the fridge to quickly add to your list (I use this a lot).
  • Voice dictation in case you don’t want to type (works on older iPhones too)
  • The ability to sort items in list by the order of the aisle they are in at your local grocery (you can create aisles from your grocery store).
  • Share lists by email.
  • Sync a single list across multiple devices and users.
  • Coupons that you can email for printing or print out directly from iPhone via AirPrint.

GroceryIQ has it all, and it’s fast. If I have any complaints, it’s that it’s kind of ugly and it suffers a little from feature bloat. But GroceryIQ is the app I use to create grocery lists and has been for years. If you have a family with multiple people shopping for it, the fact that you can maintain and sync a single master grocery list across multiple iPhones and iPads is a huge plus.

2. GrocerEaze (Editor’s Choice for Tracking Costs)

GrocerEaze (free) is for the serious grocery shopper who wants to track costs and stick to a budget. The app’s best feature is the ability to add prices to items in the database and add up total costs for each list. And here’s the cool thing: you can have prices for different stores. For example, if steak costs $7.99 at Store A, and $6.99 at Store B, you can add both into the database and select a price depending on what store you’re shopping at. Features include:

  • Database of food names and drop-down list as you type for fast grocery list creation.
  • The ability to add new foods, prices, and photos to food database.
  • Budget and spend tracking (with ability to add tax rates for individual items!).
  • Multiple shopping lists.
  • The ability to create meal plans.
  • Browsing of recipes and ability to add ingredients to list.
  • Sharing of lists via email.

GrocerEaze is for the serious grocery shopper keeping a tight rein on food costs. To get the full benefit of this app, users should not mind tapping away at home and in the store to enter in data. Another cool feature is the email sharing that adds a twist. Not only can you email someone a basic grocery list you made, but the app also automatically attaches a file that can be opened and viewed by another GrocerEaze app. Slick!

3. GrocerySmart (Editor’s Choice for Easiest to Use)

Grocery Smart (free) is the best looking of the apps listed here, and its interface is the easiest to use. Here are the app’s features:

  • A database of food names to make list creation easier.
  • Support for multiple grocery lists.
  • Barcode scanner to scan foods in the fridge/cupboard for quick entry.
  • Built-in loyalty card support for a limited number of grocery stores (enter in your card’s number and it creates a scannable barcode that matches your loyalty card).
  • Ability to sync with an online account, create lists online, and sync back to iPhone.
  • Share lists by email.

Overall, Grocery Smart is fast and slick, with the easiest to use interface of all the apps listed here.

4. AnyList

AnyList (free) is another simple app, and its interface probably the least cluttered. The main annoyance with this app is that it requires you to set up an account to use. But it’s only a one-step process, and after that creating a grocery list is a breeze. Its features include:

  • Database of food names for quick list creation.
  • Support for multiple grocery lists.
  • Sync a single list across multiple devices and users
  • Recipe database and easier adding of the recipe’s ingredients to shopping list.

AnyList is a simple app, and quick and easy to use. My only two complaints are the forced account sign up, and that there’s too much spacing around each list item—only 3 list items fit on the screen at a time. But if you’re looking for a simple interface, AnyList is it.

5. Grocery Mate

Grocery Mate (free) is one of the more customizable apps on this list. And it’s pretty good-looking as long as you ignore the iAd at the bottom of the screen. It also offers cost-tracking features. If the previously mentioned GrocerEaze is too much for you, Grocery Mate is the simpler cost-tracking choice. Features include:

  • Database of grocery items and drop-down list that makes list creation quick and easy.
  • Create multiple lists.
  • Share lists via email.
  • Ability to add prices to food items.
  • Maintain history of grocery costs.
  • Create account, create lists on web, sync back to iPhone.
  • Customizable look: wood, metallic, leather (default)

My favorite features of Grocery Mate are the ability to get rid of the food categories in list view, which I feel visually clutters up the app, and the easy way to share lists via email in app. The customizable skins are also neat, although one of them (the wood skin) requires you to share via Facebook in order to unlock it (cheesy!).

iPhone and iPad Apps That Stream Free Movies and TV Shows

There’s a growing trend of people who are canceling cable TV and instead going with free over-the-air “antenna” TV. Maybe that’s why there is also a growing number of iOS apps that provide free full movies and TV shows in the App Store. Check out a list of some of the better ones below.

Crackle

Crackle is probably the premiere app when it comes to the quality of free movies and tv shows it provides. All movies and shows are free and uncut, although you do have to watch the occassional commercial. But hey, the content is free! The content changes every once in a while, but here’s a sample of what’s available right now:

  • Talladega Nights.
  • Panic Room.
  • Starship Troopers.
  • Resident Evil.
  • Baby Boy.
  • Deuce Bigalow: Eruopean Gigaloo.
  • Seinfeld.
  • And hundreds more.

Crackle is a universal app for iPhone and iPad.

Popcornflix

Popcornflix specializes in free movies. Hundreds of free movies, in fact. The service has some good gems in there, but there’s also some straight-to-DVD stuff. Here’s a sample of what’s available on the service right now:

  • Descent
  • Easy
  • Biggie and Tupac
  • Dead Tone
  • Lymelife
  • Battle in Seattle
  • American Affair
  • And hundreds more.

Popcornflix is a universal app for iPhone and iPad.

NBC

The NBC app offers full episodes of a limited number of shows. Besides full episodes, the app offers NBC’s schedule, games, and other stuff, but really, we only care about the free TV. Currently available content looks like this:

  • America’s Got Talent
  • Tonight Show with Jay Leno
  • Late Night with Jimmy Fallon
  • Days of Our Lives
  • Love in the Wild
  • Saving Hope

NBC is a universal app for iPhone and iPad.

The CW Network

The CW Network iPad app screenshot

The CW Network provides you free full-length episodes, and there’s a lot of content in the app. You get the 5 latest episodes of everyone primetime show on the CW. Way to go C dub. The app streams shows like the Vampire Diaries, Gossip Girl, 90210, Hart of Dixie, America’s Next Top Model, and more.

PBS

The PBS app (iPhone, iPad) makes a lot of PBS’s best content available for streaming for free. The only problem I have with the app is it’s hard to find all the full-length content (you have to dig too deep into the app to find it). Here’s a sample of what’s currently available:

  • Frontline
  • NOVA
  • Nature
  • Antiques Roadshow
  • PBS Newshour
  • Zen (Masterpiece Theater)
  • And more.

NBC Nightly News

NBC Nightly News offers full episodes of, what else, NBC Nightly News with Brian Williams (and others). You can also watch individual news segments and skip what doesn’t interest you. I use this one a lot if I need to catch up on the news.

NBC Nightly News is a universal app for iPhone and iPad.

Bloomberg TV+ for iPad

Bloomberg TV+ is a rare app in that it lets you watch the live broadcast of Bloomberg TV, a financial news network like CNBC. You can also access Bloomberg shows on-demand, like:

  • Bloomberg Rewind
  • Risk Takers
  • Bloomberg West
  • and more.

Bloomberg TV+ is iPad only.

WATCH Disney Channel

WATCH Disney Channel is one of those apps that requires you to log in to your cable provider (Comcast) to get the full content, but the app does offer several free full episodes of some of your favorite Disney Channel shows without signing in. There’s enough free content to keep your kids quiet for a few hours anyways. The available content rotates, but currently available are:

  • Jessie
  • Austin & Ally
  • Good Luck Charlie
  • Phineas and Ferb
  • Fish Hooks
  • Shake It Up

WATCH Disney Channel is a universal app for iPhone and iPad. There are also similar apps for Disney’s other sister channels as well.

NFB Films for iPad

NFB Films for iPad features over 2,000(!) free films, shows, and shorts. The content is all Canadian films you’ve (might) never heard of, but still, look around, there are some good documentaries and cartoon shorts for kids.

  • Cry of the Wild
  • Sexy Inc. Our Children Under Influence
  • Hitman Hart: Wrestling With Shadows
  • William Shatner Sings O Canada
  • and tons more.

ABC Family

The ABC Family app lets you watch recent full episodes of ABC Family originals. The app even saves your place when you stop watching a video so you can start where you left off. Content rotates, but currently available are episodes for:

  • The Secret Life of the American Teenager
  • Bunheads
  • Jane By Design
  • Pretty Little Liars
  • Switched at Birth
  • Baby Daddy
  • and more.

ABC Family is a universal app for the iPhone and iPad.

The 20 Best iPhone Games of 2011

20. Backstab

Backstab ($6.99) is an adventure game that plays much like Assassin’s Creed except set in the Pirates of the Caribbean. You control Henry Blake, a British military officer who gets caught on the wrong side of a frame up. His life ruined, Henry sets out for some bloody justice. Along the way you’ll run your sword through quiet a few chests and leap across many rooftops. The game also throws quiet a few bizarre twists at you, including fights with zombies, performing tasks for the favors of large-breasted women, and curing diseases. It’s an epic game with professional voice acting and 3D world environments.

Reviews:

19. Final Fantasy III

Final Fantasy III ($15.99) is the updated 2006 Nintendo DS version of the RPG classic ported beautifully to the iPhone. Control a 4-member party as they, what else, attempt to save the world from a great evil. FFIII’s gameplay is unique in that you can switch the class of any character during the game (once the switch feature is unlocked). There are over 20 classes to choose from, starting at the typical warrior and mage and including more rare D&D classes like bards and sages. This is an RPG by the masters of RPG game design. Be warned though, Final Fantasy III is an immensely challenging game.

Reviews:

18. Icebreaker Hockey

Icebreaker Hockey ($0.99) is a game dedicated to the breakaway in hockey, meaning you control a player on perpetual offense trying to put the puck in goal and achieve style points by scoring from within certain zones. You can even score points for the occasional showboating. How are your air guitar skills? The game is fast-paced sports fun and filled with achievements that add replay value. If you liked Homerun Battle 3D, you’ll like this one as well. The simplistic control scheme is perfect for casual gameplay.

Reviews:

17. First Touch Soccer

First Touch Soccer ($1.99) is not only the best-looking soccer game on the iPhone, it’s also the best realism-based soccer iPhone game period. The game allows you to select from over 250 club teams and play in 30 competitions and 7 different game modes. A Dream Team mode allows you to earn cash from victories and assemble a dream team of players from the present and the past. The game’s excellent AI keeps thing challenging over time. The replay system lets you rewatch your best moves and even upload them to YouTube.

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16. Zombie Gunship

Zombie Gunship

Zombie Gunship ($0.99) puts you in the gunner’s chair of an AC-130 military plane as it attempts to prevent waves of zombies from reaching a bunker. If one zombie makes it, the bunker door automatically closes, and it’s game over. You view the scenery below via night vision goggles that supply the black-and-white visuals and which add an element of challenge. You can upgrade your weapons over time to improve your zombie blasting abilities, just don’t take out too many civilians as well, or you’ll be forced to abort your mission.

Reviews:

15. Legendary Wars

Legendary Wars ($0.99) sets two castles against each other. The object is to build and send forth troops from your castle in an attempt to destroy the other castle while also protecting yours. Castle defense is a popular genre in the App Store, and Legendary Wars distinguishes itself with a three-lane battlefield system that requires a level of micromanagement that keeps things challenging. Things get even more complex when the variety of troops available increases. The game’s sense of humor never lets things get too serious though.

Reviews:

14. NBA Jam

NBA Jam ($0.99) is the classic arcade sports title that works surprisingly well on the iPhone. Its over-the-top actions don’t require the precise control of a physical joystick, and its less-than-serious tone fits perfect with the iPhone’s casual-gaming strengths. Each team features several NBA players, so you can substitute Joakim Noah for Carlos Boozer to start alongside Derrick Rose, if you so choose. A campaign mode allows you to unlock players from the past and introduce new style uniforms and basketballs to the game.

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13. Death Rally

Death Rally ($0.99) is a top-down racer with heavy elements of combat. As you race, you shoot at fellow racers with a machine gun and a second weapon of your choice. Prize money is earned for each race depending on how high in the rankings you finish and by how many cars you destroy and other factors. The cash can be used to upgrade the various attributes of your car. Along the way, you’ll also unlock new cars and weapons. The game features sharp graphics that take advantage of the Retina Display. The developer promises to add online multiplayer soon.

Reviews:

12. Tiny Tower

Tiny Tower (free) lets you build a skyscraper floor by floor and direct the lives of the people who live in it. The charm of the game comes with the tenants who occupy the various floors. Each has a distinct personality that you must try to match with a dream job at a business in the building. There are dozens of businesses you can create for your tenants, including laundromats, soda fountains, arcades, sushi restaurants, etc. It’s a freemium title, so the developers try to encourage you to spend real money to speed up otherwise slow tasks like building new floors, but you don’t have to spend money to have fun. Like other popular freemium titles, this is a game to be enjoyed over time as you watch the fruits of your labor grow.

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11. Ascension: Chronicle of the Godslayer

Ascension: Chronicle of the Godslayer ($4.99, universal) is a fantasy-based card game that, in turn, is based on a real-life card game of the same name. The basics work like this: players start with the same 10 cards, and as the game progresses, resources are strategically spent on new cards. Cards are used to battle against creatures, and with victory comes victory points. Whoever has the most victory points at the end of the game wins. Because the game has existed as a real card game for a while, there is a lot of help available online on how to play.

Reviews:

10. 9mm

9mm ($6.99) is a violent third-person shooter game. It has a rare age-restriction of 17+ in the App Store for sexual content, violence, and drugs and alcohol—all the good things in life! You play Jon Kannon, a detective gone bad who is battling local gangs. It’s not a complete open-world game like Grand Theft Auto, rather you are guided through the game via missions. 9mm features several hours of gameplay in all, including several difficulty levels, which add replay value. With nice cut scenes, plenty of guns, and even an online multiplayer mode (take on up to 12 strangers in an all-out gang ware), 9mm is an excellent adults-only crime game.

Reviews:

9. Angry Birds Rio

Angry Birds Rio ($0.99) is a sequel to what has become not just a game but a cultural phenomenon. Rio contains 135 levels split into 4 episodes. The classic gameplay is preserved here— you’re still launching birds to knockdown structures, except this time you’re trying to break fellow birds out of cages instead of destroying evil pigs within the structures. There is a tie-in with the movie Rio where once you defeat the initial set of stages, you unlock two macaws who were characters in the movie. As you progress to new episodes, the games throws new twists at you like interfering monkeys and even boss battles. There is also a ton of hidden content to find and/or unlock, which gives the game replay value. With Rio, the Angry Birds franchise continues its roll.

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8. Reckless Getaway

Reckless Getaway

Reckless Getaway ($2.99, universal) is a fun, fast-paced driving game with loose physics. The object of the game is to evade police pursuit all the way through 16 levels. There is no brake or gas pedal, so your only task is to steer the car through the various obstacles. Besides dodging and outrunning the police cars, your other goal is to earn points by collecting coins, performing jumps scattered about the courses, and completing other various tasks. As you gain points, you fill up 4 stars that measure your performance for each level. While surviving the police pursuit is the somewhat easy part of the game, it’s the earning of the 4 stars that gives the game a lot of replay value.

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7. World of Goo

World of Goo ($4.99) is a quirky physics puzzler that has been a hit across many different platforms. The object is to stretch pieces of goo and build elastic structures so that the goo can travel along it and into a pipe. Other obstacles like balloons and windmills need to be factored in order to solve each level. Experimenting with the gooey physics and seeing what the limitations of the pieces are is part of the fun and vital to the problem solving. The game achieves that perfect balance of not-too-hard, not-to-easy puzzle difficulty that makes it assessable to everyone.

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6. The King of Fighters-i 002

The King of Fighters

The King of Fighters-i 002 ($4.99) is a popular arcade fighting game in the same vein as Street Fighter and Mortal Kombat. Choose from 14 playable characters (6 more will be available in an update coming in October) to fight with. The game features 4 single-player modes of play, including a traditional arcade mode with 3 vs 3 team battles (this is the most popular mode), a regular 1 vs 1 fighting mode, endless mode, and a training mode. Special attack moves are simplified for the touchscreen, making the game a frustration-free experience. Currently, King of Fighters really is the king of iOS fighting games.

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5. Cut the Rope: Experiments

Cut the Rope: Experiments ($0.99) is a sequel to the now-classic iPhone puzzle game. If you’re unfamiliar with one of the best iPhone games ever, the basic premise is to manipulate a piece of candy across the screen so that it falls (or flies) into the adorable Om Nom’s mouth. You accomplish this by, yes, cutting ropes (as the title suggests) but also by utilizing other methods like whoopee cushions and suction cups. Experiments features 75 new levels to play through. While the basics remain the same, there are a few new gadgets and game twists to entertain even veteran players.

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4. Superbrothers: Sword & Sworcery EP

Superbrothers: Sword & Sorcery EP ($4.99) is a game like none other you’ve played before. The game’s storyline is that you are a warrior seeking to find the Megatome in order to destroy an evil force called the Gogolithic. The controls are essentially of the point-and-click adventure variety, but from that framework, the game frequently departs from the familiar with never-seen-before gaming twists, a few that border on the ridiculous. It’s amazing how the developers were able to wring such beautiful graphics out of what is essentially a clichéd use of 8-bit blocky pixels. And the haunting soundtrack by Jim Guthrie lifts the game to a new level. Overall, it’s a unique gaming experience.

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3. Dead Space

Dead Space ($6.99) is a horror-tinged first person shooter filled with lots of sci-fi action and a complete story arc that will leave you satisfied once you’ve made the journey. The setting is a space station invaded by ugly aliens called Necromorphs. Besides the usual big-frigging-gun appeal, the game features unique fighting skills like a cool kinesis talent and zero-gravity combat. Professional voice talent and an excellent soundtrack are the icing on the cake. Combined with the game’s Retina Display graphics, this is one of the best produced games in the App Store.

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2. Order & Chaos Online

Order & Chaos Online ($6.99) is MMORPG in the same vein as World of Warcraft. Or, to put it less nicely, it is essentially a ripoff of WoW, which is a good thing. A very good thing. The control scheme is specifically designed for the iPhone and iPad. Order & Chaos gets all the things that WoW gets right, albeit on a smaller scale. The addictive combination of quests, leveling, and chatting up strangers will soon have you wasting away your free time. I was completely surprised how relatively “bug free” the game was seeing as how many players are running around in this virtual world. Highly recommended if you’re looking for a good online RPG for iOS.

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1. Anomaly: Warzone Earth

Anomaly: Warzone Earth HD ($3.99) puts you in control of a fleet of vehicles as they travel through a war-torn landscape protected by alien war technology. Warzone Earth is a reverse tower defense game where instead of strategically building towers to destroy waves of creeps, you direct the creeps to destroy the towers. Take out towers by flanking them and taking advantage of limited aiming radius or utilize special power-ups to heal your troops. Warzone is one of those rare games that gets every element right, from the controls to graphics to game strategy.

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The 25 Best iPad Apps for Kids

1. Goosed Up Rhymes

Goosed Up Rhymes ($3.99) features 8 classic kids stories made fully animated and interactive in a silly, fun way. In addition to the interactive stories, the app features 4 interactive games and a “collect the acorns” goal where kids must find the acorns hidden in the stories.

The included classic stories are:

  • Humpty Dumpty
  • Little Miss Muffet
  • Old Mother Hubbard
  • The Crooked Man
  • Jack and Jill
  • Hey Diddle Diddle
  • The Three Blind Mice
  • Twinkle Twinkle Little Star

The app features over 70 animated interactions and lots of humor. Parents will like it as much as the kids. There’s a free lite version to try it out.

2. The Three Little Pigs – Nosy Crow

The Three Little Pigs – Nosy Crow ($5.99) is a brilliantly animated interactive book that tells the classic tale of the wolf and the three little pigs. Two reading modes allow you to follow along with a narrator or read the book on your own. The book is filled with hundreds of interactive surprises. Touch the various characters to get extra dialogue and animations. Each character gets their own special musical soundtrack as well.

Other cool interactive features include a game to help the pigs build their houses, blowing on the screen to help blow the pigs’ houses down, and tilting the iPad to create movement and a subtle shift in perspective.

The app was chosen as one of the 10 Best Children’s Books by the New York Times.

3. The Monster at the End of This Book

The Monster at the End of This Book ($3.99) is the classic children’s book from Sesame Street updated and animated for the iPad. The book stars Grover, who is trying to keep readers from turning the pages and finding the monster at the end of the book. Each page is filled with fun interactive animations that respond to a child’s touch.

The book features voice narration from Grover himself. Words are highlighted as they are read to help build early reading skills. It’s a funny, classic story that kids will laugh at and read over and over.

4. Dr. Seuss the Cat in the Hat

Dr. Seuss the Cat in the Hat ($3.99) is the classic Seuss book in a new interactive form. It uses the original artwork and adds professional narration, background sound effects, and numerous touch-activated interactive features. The app is a universal app, so buy once and use on both the iPad and iPhone.

The book features three reading modes: Read to Me to hear the story from a professional narrator with the words highlighted as they are read, Read It Myself to read in traditional form, and Auto Play to have pages automatically turned for you.

The app’s interactive features help kids learn word association by touching words and objects, hearing the objects and words named, and seeing them zoom forward.

5. Interactive Alphabet – ABC Flash Cards

Interactive Alphabet – ABC Flash Cards ($2.99) turns each letter of the alphabet into an interactive toy. Kids are shown the entire alphabet, and when they tap any letter, a corresponding toy or interactive picture is shown. Kids can then tap the screen to interact in a fun way.

The app has a kid-friendly interface, including a baby mode that keeps the screen moving every 15 seconds. It features fun background music, with an original rendition of the alphabet song. Both uppercase and lowercase letters are shown. The app is universal, so buy once to play it on both iPad and iPhone.

6. Monkey Preschool Lunchbox

Monkey Preschool Lunchbox ($0.99) is a collection of 7 simple games for young kids (ages 2 to 5) to play. An animated monkey guides kids through each of their tasks using voice narration. The 7 included game types include color selection, matching, counting, letters, puzzle, spot the difference, and shapes.

Kids are rewarded with animated stickers when they give the correct answer. Designed for unlimited play, as each game flows right into the next one.

7. The Going to Bed Book for iPad

The Going to Bed Book for iPad ($2.99) is a soothing interactive book that will teach children about getting ready to go bed, including tasks like brushing your teeth and turning off the lights. Each page has simple interactive elements for children to explore, like touching the faucet to turn the water on and off, and drawing on the screen to remove steam.

A soothing narrator guides children through the book, and words are highlighted as they are read to teach word association. The app was selected by Apple as an iPad App of the Week.

8. Itsy Bitsy Spider HD – by Duck Duck

Itsy Bitsy Spider HD – by Duck Duck ($1.99) is a series of interactive environments for kids to explore and adventure through. The scenes are based on the classic Itsy Bitsy Spider song. Kids can touch the various elements on-screen to be rewarded with animations, sounds, and mini-games and navigate back and forth through the environments.

Touching just about anything initiates a response in the game. A friendly narrator guides children through the world. The game’s simple, kid-friendly interface means frustration-free play for young children.

9. Thomas & Friends: Hero of the Rails

Thomas & Friends: Hero of the Rails ($4.99) is an interactive storybook featuring everyone’s favorite train. After a race against Spencer lands Thomas in the bushes, he discovers an abandoned train engine named Hiro who needs some fixing. Thomas must figure out a way to fix Hiro, complete his tasks, and keep out of the way of Spencer.

In addition to the book, the app contains games, puzzles, and a coloring book. The story features professional voice narration, or parents and kids can choose an option to read the book themselves. Children can touch the graphics to reveal special interactive surprises.

10. Where’s Waldo? HD – In Hollywood

Where’s Waldo? HD – In Hollywood ($0.99) is the popular search and find franchise on the iPad. Search for Waldo and other objects in 10 detailed scenes. Zoom in and out to explore the tiny details of the images. Subtle animations and encouraging audio narrations give the game a highly polished feel.

Each scene is from a Hollywood-themed movies set, including Robin Hood, The Three Musketeers, The Wild West, and more. Each scene can be revisited with multiple ways to play and different objects to find upon replay, which means the app supplies tons of play time.

11. First Words: At Home

First Words: At Home ($1.99) is simple app designed for toddlers that features 50 familiar items from around the house with accompanying sound effects and original artwork. Kids can touch letters and objects, drag letters around to form words, hear them spoken aloud, and be rewarded with fun animations.

A simple, trial-and-error, kid-proof interface makes it perfect for the young children. First Words: At Home is a universal app, so buy once and use on both the iPhone and iPad.

12. Pop Out! The Tale of Peter Rabbit

Pop Out! The Tale of Peter Rabbit ($3.99) may be one of the most beautiful apps for children available. The interactive storybook lets you relive Beatrix Potter’s classic tale of a mischievous rabbit’s journey through a farmer’s field update with fun interactive features like pull-tabs, spin-wheels, and spring-mounted elements. In addition to the beautiful graphics, professional voice narration, background piano music, sound effects make it pleasure to listen to as well.

The book features over 50 pages of illustrations and two reading modes: Read to Me and Free Read. The app highlights words as they are read to help early readers learn word association. You can also tap any word on the page to hear it read aloud. Pop Out! The Tale of Peter Rabbit is one of the iPad’s more highly rated kids apps by critics. From the same series, check out Pop Out! The Tale of Squirrel Nutkin, also from Beatrix Potter.

13. Jack and the Beanstalk Children’s Interactive Storybook

Jack and the Beanstalk Children’s Interactive Storybook ($3.99) tells the classic tale of Jack and his magic beans. The book features 32 pages of story, each filled with interactive surprises. Tilt the iPad to see the sun go down. Touch the magic beans to begin a matching game. Finger paint the entire black-and-white page to get an animated surprise. Tap a shy Jack multiple times to get him to sing.

The book features beautifully illustrated artwork that is perfect for kids. It’s a universal app, so buy once and use it on both your iPad and iPhone.

14. Dora’s Ballet Aventures HD

Dora’s Ballet Adventure HD ($3.99) is an interactive book with a fun story that girls will love. Dora’s ballet class is getting ready for a recital, but things go awry when the Delivery Duck delivers scuba flippers to Dora instead of ballet slippers. Dora and Boots must find the slippers before the recital.

The book features both a Read to Me mode (featuring Dora’s voice) and a Read It Yourself mode. In addition to the story, the app includes several interactive activities and mini-games designed for preschoolers. The book supports reading and listening comprehension and Spanish vocabulary.

15. Elmo Loves ABCS for iPad

Elmo Loves ABCS for iPad ($4.99) helps kids learns their letters through fun and interactive elements like finger tracing, sounds, and games. The app is chock full of Sesame Street material, including 80 classic Sesame Street clips, 75 Sesame Street coloring book pages, and 4 different hide and seek games.

The app features 4 different versions of the classic alphabet song that will have kids learning their letters in no time. Letter tracing features both uppercase and lowercase letters.

16. Zoo Train

Zoo Train ($1.99) is a fun and educational collection of games for toddlers and preschoolers. The app includes 5 games that teach letters and the alphabet, word construction, musical notes, and image matching. A sticker reward system will keep kids motivated along the way.

The app features colorful, bold graphics that are perfect for kids. It also features fun music, sound effects, and friendly narration with positive reinforcement. Zoo Train is a universal app that will work on both the iPad and iPhone.

17. How To Train Your Dragon- Kids Book HD

How To Train Your Dragon- Kids Book HD ($2.99) is a book based on the popular movie designed for kids 2-years and up. The book features narration and character audio from the movie. Auto page turning and navigation make it simple to use. Text is highlighted to help kids learn word associations.

Pages can be turned automatically or manually depending on the age and preference of the user. How to Train Your Dragon is a universal app that will work on both the iPad and iPhone.

18. Talking Lila the Fairy for iPad

Talking Lila the Fairy for iPad ($2.99) is a simple interactive character that you can talk to, and then have your words repeated back to you by Lila in an animated manner. You can also interact with Lila by tapping, poking, and swiping, and she will cast spells, sing songs, and perform other silly and entertaining actions.

The app has a simply interface and enough surprises to keep kids entertained indefinitely.

19. Bartleby’s Book of Buttons Vol. 1: The Far Away Island

Bartleby’s Book of Buttons (free) is an interactive book that presents a series of puzzles designed for young kids (ages 4-10) to solve. Flip switches, press buttons, and slide sliders to solve the puzzles and move the adventure along.

The book is a completely original story written for the iPad. It’s filled with professional sound effects, beautiful animations, and many surprises.

20. My First Puzzles HD

My First Puzzles HD ($1.99) is a collection of 14 super simple jigsaw puzzles perfect for young children to solve. The app features nice, kid-friendly sound effects and beautiful graphics. Dragging the pieces around and solving the puzzles will help kids learn motor skills.

To start over and replay the puzzle, simply give the iPad a shake.

21. Sound Touch

Sound Touch ($2.99) is a simple app for young children that features 360 tappable images and accompanying sound effects of household items, animals, vehicles, and musical instruments.

Tap any of the 12 illustrated items on each page to open up a real photograph of that item as well as an accompanying sound effect. Tap the photo, and it disappears and goes back to the previous screen. A simple interface perfect for kids.

Sound Touch is a universal app, so buy once and use it on both the iPhone and iPad.

22. Finding Nemo: My Puzzle Book

Finding Nemo: My Puzzle Book ($0.99) is an interactive storybook filled with mini games and rewards and starring everyone’s favorite cartoon clownfish. Little Nemo finds himself on a big journey for his first day at school, and when things go awry, Marlin sets out to discover where Nemo has gone.

The book features beautiful Disney illustrations, professional narration, sound effects, and background music based on the movie’s soundtracks.

The app gives you the option to record your own voice reading the story, which kids can listen back to later. Also features 4 jigsaw puzzles and a scavenger mini game.

23. Toy Story Read Along

Toy Story Read Along (free) is a full interactive kids book for free. The book’s story revolves around Woody trying to get rid of Buzz Lightyear but having his plans backfire when he ends up lost outside Andy’s room. Woody learns a lesson about friendship as he tries to get home.

The app includes 3 reading modes: Read to Me will have a narrator read the book to you, a read at your own pace mode, and a third (and my favorite) mode allows you to record your own voice reading the book for each page.

The book has interactive features like sparkling hidden graphics that must be tapped to reveal a special sound effect. The app also includes real movie clips from the Toy Story movie, a paint-by-finger coloring book, and musical singalongs. Quite a bargain (they’re to get you hooked to buy the Toy Story 2 Read Along and Toy Story 3 Read-Along apps).

24. Five Little Monkeys Jumping on the Bed

Five Little Monkeys Jumping on the Bed ($2.99) is the classic kids storybook now on the iPad. After saying goodnight to Mama, five little monkeys begin jumping on the bed. Things get too rowdy and some of the monkeys fall off and hurt themselves. Mama calls the doctor, who tells them, “No more monkeys jumping on the bed!” A cute and funny story kids will love.

The app features professional narration, high-res artwork, and background audio. Words are highlighted as they are read to teach kids word association.

The app features 3 reading modes: Read to Me, Read It Myself, and Auto-Play. It’s a universal app that will work on both the iPhone and iPad.

25. Winnie the Pooh Puzzle Book

The Winnie the Pooh Puzzle Book ($0.99) is an interactive book is filled surprises on every page and easy puzzles suitable for children. Kids can join Winnie the Pooh on a quest to find his favorite food: honey! The book comes with three reading modes; Read to Me, Auto-Turn Pages, and a Use My Recording mode where you can record your own voice for each page.

The book features professional narration, goofy sound effects that will delight kids, and beautiful background music. Includes mini games suitable for kids like jigsaw puzzles and a matching game. It’s a universal app, so buy once and it’ll work on both the iPad and iPhone.

15 Best Free Apps for the iPhone Beginner

1. Google Search

Google Search is Google’s official iPhone search app that adds some useful iPhone twists to the standard Google search. Chief among them is voice search, which allows you to speak into the app, and Google will turn it into a text search. It’s surprisingly accurate. I use it situations where typing is impractical, like while walking down the sidewalk.
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The 25 Best iPad Games So Far

The number of great games for the iPad has grown quickly since the iPad was introduced. The quality of the graphics likewise has increased to rival that of recent home gaming consoles. To celebrate how far the iPad has come as a gaming device, we’ve gathered together the 25 best-reviewed iPad games of all-time.

Picture Summary
1. Plants vs Zombies ($2.99) is one of the most popular and bestselling games ever for the iPad. It’s a tower-defense game where the object is to defend your home from endless waves of Zombies using special plants and their powers. A whimsical cartoony style belies the serious strategy it will take to successfully defend your home. Beautiful graphics and deep gameplay make this one a winner.
2. Angry Birds Rio HD ($0.99) is the sequel to the famous physics puzzler and a tie-in with the recently released movie Rio. The object is to launch birds and crash into structures to destroy your enemies and free your friends. Features the same great gameplay from the original as well as some unique twists from the movie.
3. Dead Space HD ($9.99) is a horror survival game based on the popular console titles of the same name. Provides a cinematic experience in a FPS structure, with professional voice acting, a movie-esque score, and sound effects. Cutting-edge graphics for the iPad.
4. Flight Control HD ($4.99) is the popular iPhone game given its own iPad version. Land planes by drawing their paths to the runway with your finger. Make sure planes don’t collide, else it’s game over. Sound simple, but when the skies get hectic, it’s harder than you think. One of the first truly classic mobile games that showed off the potential of the touchscreen for a unique gaming experience.
5. Infinity Blade ($5.99) features some of the most cutting-edge graphics available for the iPad (and iPad 2). Battle one-on-one through a castle full of warriors looking to test your skill. Collect gold and upgrade your weapons, armor, and spells. Learn gestures to perform various attacks and defensive moves.
6. Sword and Sorcery EP ($4.99) is a cutting-edge, beautifully crafted adventure game designed especially for the iPad. Filled with humor and clever puzzle-solving, it’s a unique experience with an incredible soundtrack thrown in. Come for the gaming, stay for the artistry.
7. Cut the Rope HD ($1.99) is a beautifully designed puzzle game for the iPad. Strategically cut pieces of hanging rope so that candy falls into the monster’s mouth. Sounds easy, but multiple strands of rope, moving obstacles, and all sorts of other clever twists complicate the task. One of the most well-balanced puzzle games I’ve played—not too easy, not too heard. A visual treat.
8. Fruit Ninja HD ($2.99) is a fun fruit-slicing game that offers a unique fast-finger-swiping touchscreen experience. Slice up fruit when it flies onto the screen. Avoid slicing the flying bombs. Create special combos by slicing up the same fruit into multiple pieces during flight. A whimsical game that will have your fingers, hands, and arms flying and your mouth smiling.
9. World of Goo ($4.99) is a classic puzzle-solving game that has been a hit on just about every platform it’s come to, and the iPad is no different. Stretch, sling, and build the various types of goo in order to solve the various puzzles. Unique whimsical gameplay that is only enhanced by the iPad’s touchscreen.
10. Osmos for iPad ($4.99) is a beautifully unique puzzle/physics game. Swallow smaller orbs to grow your own, carefully navigating around bigger orbs that consume yours. Avoid the stronger gravitational pull of larger orbs. Propel your orb by spewing out its own mass, only don’t spew too much, less you make your orb too small. Unique strategy and gameplay. Simply a beautiful game.
11. Real Racing 2 HD ($1.99) is a realistic racing game featuring over 30 real cars to race in 15 different locations. Play in a career mode or race others via online multiplayer. Supports up to 16 racers! Keep your progress synched across multiple devices. Sharp, detailed, realistic graphics.
12. Little Things ($2.99) is a hidden-object game with beautiful, colorful graphics. Search among the hundreds of items that make up a picture of a much larger item. Zoom in and out and the graphics stay sharp. Find all the requested items to move on to the next level. A casual, stress-free game with relaxing background music. Great for kids and adults alike.
13. Dungeon Hunter 2 HD ($6.99) is a hack-n-slash RPG game that is a sequel to the popular original. Choose among 3 character classes with 2 specializations. Improve your skills and spells, collect hundreds of unique items, change your characters look with new armor and weapons. Quest through a world 5 times bigger than the original. Spectacular graphics with nice animations.
14. MaxAdventure ($0.99) is a combination of a survival shooter and an adventure game. Aliens have invaded and locked up all the adults. Use Max to kill aliens and free friends. Collect new weapons and treasure to upgrade Max. Use the right kind of gun to destroy alien pods before they hatch. Addictive gameplay.
15. Bug Heroes ($1.99) is like a blend of tower defense, RPG, and adventure game genres. Defend your base from hordes ofbugs by fortifying your bases with supplies and killing enemies with various weapons and fighting skills. Explore new territory and collect coins and weapons. There’s a little bit of everything here. One of the best critically reviewed games on the iPad.
16. Uber Racer 3D – Sandstorm ($0.99) is a realistic racing game with plenty of jumps, shortcuts, and extras to keep this from becoming a boring racer-on-rails experience. What it lacks in über graphics it makes up in excellent deep gameplay and a cheap price.
17. Drawn: The Painted Tower: HD ($6.99) is a beautiful point-and-click adventure game that will satisfy even hardened veterans of the genre. Make your way through the painted tower, gathering clues and solving puzzles in a quest to rescue a girl who has the power to bring her drawings to life. Features well-designed puzzles.
18. War Pinball HD ($2.99) may be the best pinball table from Gameprom, makes of other iPhone/iPad pinball classics like Wild West Pinball and Pinball HD for iPad. War Pinball offers three different tables based on three classic action movies: Platoon, Missing in Action (with Chuck Norris!), and Navy Seals. Features soundtracks and voice acting from the movies.
19. Reckless Racing HD ($4.99) is a racing game with Dukes of Hazzard-like physics and gameplay. Compete not only to win the race against competitors but also to earn medals by improving your times. Features 8 tracks to rip through, then unlock the reverse direction for 16 total tracks. Features online multiplayer as well—race against strangers from the Internets. Race several different vehicles, from an Indy car to Humvees and trucks.
20. Tapper World Tour HD ($2.99) is the classic arcade game updated for the iPad. Features Retina-Display graphics with artwork from legendary artist Don Bluth (Dragon’s Lair). Work in bars around the world. Serve patrons before they reach the end of the bar and catch their empty glasses. Use special powers like stage shows to distract the customers for a brief respite. A beautiful update to the classic version with HD graphics.
21. MiniGore HD ($2.99) is a survival shooter with a unique artistic style. How long can you survive against wave after wave of monsters from the dark? Collect more powerful weapons, retreat or advance, just don’t let the monsters get to you.
22. Rage HD ($1.99) was one of the first games with high-resolution graphics for the iPhone 4’s Retina Display, so it looks great on the iPad’s larger screen too. It’s also a great first-person shooter with wicked gameplay. Make your way through a twisted game-show world, killing horrific monsters before they kill you. A well-designed game providing a console-like experience for only $1.99. It’s only drawback is that it’s a bit short.
23. LEGO Harry Potter ($4.99) brings the entire console Harry Potter game to the iPad in one huge game. Dozens of hours of gameplay that fans of the books and movies will love. A true bargain. Travel through the stories of books 1-4 and solve puzzles, cast spells, and battle enemies like Draco and Snape. A truly epic game that puts you in control of not only Harry but dozens of other characters as well. Simple gameplay perfect for kids and adults alike.
24. AirAttack HD ($0.99) is a wicked airplane shooter-on-rails that asks, what if the Nazi’s actually developed futuristic weaponry like UFOs and Zeppelins that launch ball lightning? Take them on with nothing but your trusty P-51 Mustang. Intense gameplay, fun retro-futuristic enemies, and lots of power-ups. One of the lesser known gems in the App Store.
25. Labyrinth 2 HD ($7.99) is a masterfully designed labyrinth puzzle game. The original Labyrinth was a popular iPhone game, and the sequel takes things up a notch. Navigate your pinball through the maze, avoiding the various obstacles. Cannons, magnets, bumpers, resizers, and more complicate the task. Besides the included levels, also play tens of thousands of levels designed by the community or design your own. Limitless unique gameplay.

The 50 Best Travel Apps for the iPhone

Whether you’re traveling to Paris or Yellowstone, there are apps for the iPhone to help get you there, feed you, and find the best places to visit. Below are 25 of the best travel apps for the iPhone.

1. TripIt (free) is the premiere travel-organizer app and website. Simply forward confirmation emails to TripIt to have them automagically organized into a travel itinerary. Collects check in/out dates, flight plans, gates, flight times and delays, rental car info, etc, into one place. Never fumble through stacks of papers again. An indispensable tool for travelers, see our review for full details. We love this app.

Download TripIt
2. Kayak (free) searches for prices and availability of flights, hotels, and rental cars. A beautiful interface makes it a pleasure to use on the iPhone. Book travel, check flight statuses, and look up baggage fees. An indispensable travel tool for finding out basic pricing and availability of flights and hotels.

Download Kayak
3. TripAdvisor (free) lets you browse through millions of reviews for hotels, attractions, and restaurants. Know everything about your destination from real traveler’s experiences. View millions of photos uploaded by travelers who have stayed at the locations. Use the iPhone’s GPS to find nearby bars, restaurants, etc, and read their reviews.

Download TripAdvisor
4. Priceline (free) is the popular travel bidding website on the iPhone. Currently supports only bidding for hotels as well as access to rental car deals. Bid on hotels right within the app. View recent winning bids from other Priceline customers.

Download Priceline
5. Packing Pro ($2.99) helps you organize and remember everything you’ll need for a trip. Create and edit packing lists. Discover ideas for packing through sample lists. Packing wizard can suggest packing lists based on the number of people traveling, children, destination, temperature, and more. Customize the look of the app to suit your tastes, including themes, fonts, and layout. The ultimate packing tool.

Download PackingPro
6. FlightTrack Pro ($9.99) helps you organize and track the entire process of flight travel, from creating itineraries automatically, to ticket confirmation emails, to supplying offline maps with satellite and weather radar images. Get push alerts for flight updates and delays. Works with the TripIt service. Syncs with iPhone’s Calendar.

Download FlightTrack Pro
7. Gate Guru (free) provides gate information about 115 major airports in the US, Canada, and Europe as well as lists of airport restaurants, shops, and services. Features over 20,000 reviews of those airport services. View airport maps. Share and view airport security wait times. Sort airport shops and restaurants by rating.

Download GateGuru
8. Yelp (free) is a way to find and get reviews for nearby restaurants, businesses, and services. Use the iPhone’s GPS to quickly find and filter nearby bars, cafes, restaurants, etc. Get addresses and phone numbers for businesses. View on a map, or call from within the app.

Download Yelp
9. Google Translation (free) is a powerful translation tool from Google, and it’s free! Translates both text and speech (simply speak into the app and it will return translated text). Translate between 57 languages. Hear the translated text spoken for you. Access translation history offline. View additional dictionary results for words or short phrases.

Download Google Translate
10. Flightboard ($3.99) turns your iPhone into a beautiful airport arrival and departure board. Interface based on the Paris Charles de Gaulle airport board. Features flights for 4,000 airports and 1,400 airlines worldwide. Updates flights every 5 minutes. Search for flights and quickly filter and narrow down results. Email flight statuses or share via a URL.

Download FlightBoard
11. Hipmunk (free) is a fresh take on searching for flights. View available flights on a timeline along with price and a special “agony” factor that calculates flight times and number of stops. Book flights using the phone, or email the flight to finish on the computer.
12. ZAGAT To Go ($9.99) is the trusted classic restaurant review guide on the iPhone. Get access to all 45 ZAGAT guides for the price of one guide. Quite a bargain. Features offline mode.
13. TripTracker Pro ($0.99) provides real-time flight status info. Get push alerts for travel and flight status updates. Check gate numbers, delays, cancellations, and baggage claim areas. Get hotel and car rental info, including confirmation numbers, check-in/out dates, etc. View flight maps with weather radar.
14. Maplets ($2.99) gives access to over 3,000 maps in the US that you can download and store on the iPhone for offline viewing. Visit their website to see all available maps, which include city subways, national parks, bike maps, hiking maps, zoos, theme parks, etc.
15. Word Lens (free, $9.99 for Spanish language pack) is an amazing app that instantly translates text using the iPhone’s video camera. It even maintains similar font style and color. It has to be tried to believed (free version lets you try it out). Cool app.
16. Southwest Airlines (free) is the official app from Southwest that lets you book plane tickets, check in for flights, view DING! deals, get notified of DING! deals instantly. Access Rapid Rewards accounts.
17. Fly Delta (free) helps you take care of your flight details for Delta Air. Check in for upcoming flights. Download mobile boarding passes. Rebook canceled flights. Get flight status and terminal and gate info. Search for upcoming flgihts. Get airport weather info. Save a photo of your parking spot.
18. American Airlines (free) lets you log in to your American Airlines account and view flight info. Get push notifications for upcoming flight details and alerts. Monitor your place on standby lists. Set parking reminders. Track Elite Status progress. Get gate and seat info for your flight. Access a mobile boarding pass. View terminal maps. Play sudoku.
19. British Airways (free) provides info for your flight on British Airways, including flight status, check-in, gate numbers, and departure times. Use a mobile boarding pass to board your flight. Access tweets from British Airways.
20. UpNext 3D Cities (free) offers free 3D maps of several major US cities (New York, Chicago, Philadelphia, Portland, San Francisco, Boston, Washington DC, and Austin, with more cities to come). Need a Wi-Fi to download the maps, which can be up to 30MB.
21. AAA Roadside (free) makes it easier to access your AAA roadside assistance on your iPhone. Send assistant requests using the iPhone. Use GPS to give your exact location quickly and easily. Get confirmation that help is on the way. View and display your AAA card within the app. Find nearby AAA-approved repair shops, branch offices, and AAA discounts.
22. Autostitch Panorama ($1.99) lets you capture the broad, sweeping landscapes you normally couldn’t with your iPhone’s camera. Easy to use. Stitch together multiple photographs. See our review. A great way to capture your vacation.
23. Google Places (free) with Hotpot helps discover nearby restaurants, cafes, bars, etc using your iPhone. Rate the places you visit, and Hotpot will supply you with recommendations based on your reviews. Automatically syncs your ratings with Google Maps.
24. AllSubway ($0.99) puts the subway maps of 128 cities around the world into your pocket for offline viewing. No Internet connection required.
25. XE Currency (free) converts over 180 currencies using live exchange rates. View currency charts going back to up to one year. Use the app and currency-conversion feature offline—the ratings from when you last connected will be used.
26. Free WiFi Finder (free) helps you find over 465,000 free and pay Wi-Fi hotspots around the world. Use the iPhone’s GPS to find the closest Wi-Fi hot spot.
27. UpNext 3D Cities (free) offers free 3D maps of several major US cities (New York, Chicago, Philadelphia, Portland, San Francisco, Boston, Washington DC, and Austin, with more cities to come). Need a Wi-Fi to download the maps, which can be up to 30MB.
28. Google Earth (free) lets you view gobal satellite and aerial imagery of cities and regions from around the world. View Wikipedia articles and photographs from icons laid on top of the maps. Search for places and businesses.
29. Taxi Magic (free) lets you find and book a taxi in over 4,000 US and Canadian cities. A “Magic Booking” feature lets you book a cab inside the app without a phone call (supported in 40 major US cities). Instantly find taxis based on your location. Chard the ride to a credit card. Expense the ride with an e-receipt.
30. OpenTable (free) helps you make restaurant reservations and earn rewards from doing so. Browse restaurants with open tables for a planned evening out. Get restaurant reviews. Earn Dining Rewards points that can be used for meals.
31. Best Of (free) answers the question, What is the best….barbeque in Chicago? Best sushi in New York? Brought to you by the Village Voice. Quick and easy way to find great ideas in dozens of major cities across the US.
32. AroundMe (free) quickly provides information about the businesses around you. Find bars, banks, restaurants, supermarkets, etc, around you quickly and easily.
33. GateMaps ($0.99) provides offline viewing of airport gate maps. Currently supports 38 airports.
34. World Customs and Cultures (free) provides info on customs, cultural info, and interesting facts for over 165 different countries. Discover info on common greetings, taboos, communication style, gestures, and laws. Use GPS to quickly find the customs of the country you’re in.
35. Foursquare (free) lets you quickly and easily share your adventures with friends and family. Simply check-in at various locations using the iPhone’s GPS. Share pictures and get comments. Get discounts and freebies based on location.
36. Gas Buddy (free) helps you find the cheapest gas near you. With one tap, find nearby gas stations and their prices. Easily enter in gas prices to help the community stay informed.
37. Orbitz (free) lets you search and book flights, hotels, and rental cars using the iPhone. View your booked trips, check current flight status, and find hotels near your location using GPS.
38. Menu Pages (free) provides you with the menus of local restaurants. Find nearby restaurants (and their menus) using the iPhone’s GPS. Search for restaurants by cuisine type, meal type, price, etc. Get restaurant reviews. View locations on maps. Call restaurants directly within the app. Currently only supports 8 major US cities.
< 39. iPhraseBook ($12.99) has over 10,000 audio phrases in 5 different languages available for offline playing (American English, French, German, Italian, and Latin American Spanish). Bookmark your favorite phrases for quick access. Search for a specific word of phrase within the app. Built-in access to Google Translate service.
40. InnTouch (free) helps you find the perfect Bed and Breakfast place. Search through thousands of B&B’s and boutique inns. View locations and contact info and browse photos. Read guest reviews. Bookmark your favorites.
41. Rick Steves’ Audio Europe (free) gives audio tours for tourists in European countries. Download and store audio of self-guided tourist of sights and historic places. Comes with complementary maps for the the tours.
42. Royal Carribean International (free) lets you find cruises and discover special offers. Get information on the various destinations as well as facts on Royal Carribean ships. View image galleries. View deck plans. Watch the Oasis of the Seas webcam. Get the latest Royal Carribean news.
43. Tipulator ($0.99) makes figuring out a restaurant tip easy, even when you’re splitting a check among friends. Enter the bill amount and the percentage of tip you want to leave. Check the restaurant bill’s math to make sure you aren’t being overcharged.
44. LiveATC Air Radio ($2.99) lets you listen in on the air traffic control talk between pilots and controllers. Features over 350 airports and 500 audio feeds from around the world.
45. Roadside America ($2.99) helps you find the interesting, odd, funny, and weird attractions across America. $2.99 unlocks one of the 6 regions of the US. $5.99 in-app purchase unlocks all regions. View over 6,000+ attractions with photos, maps, and directions. Find the oddities near you. Call attractions using the app. Mark attractions you’ve visited.
46. The Weather Channel (free) is our favorite app for the weather. Find out the weather in locations around the world. A no brainer download, as weather is probably the most important info to enjoy a vacation!
47. Homeaway (free) lets you search and browse over 230,000 vacation rental properties worldwide. Sort by price, location, etc. View photos. Call directly using the app. Read reviews. Check availability via a calendar.
48. iCruise – Cruise Finder (free) lets you browse cruise information for 20 different cruise lines, including 220 ships with 25 destinations and 12,000+ itineraries. Get hot cruise deals. Get port weather. Save your favorite cruises.
49. TripDeck (free) is basically a pretty wrapper for the TripIt service. If you think the TripIt’s interface is ugly, use this one instead.
50. Camp and RV ($4.99) helps find campgrounds, RV parks, and related places, featuring everything from BLM camping to Walmart (where they let you park your RV) to RV tank dumping stations. Supports both online and offline. View maps with camping and RV locations. Over 17,161 campgrounds. View campground photos.

6 Free iPhone GPS Navigation Apps

6 Free iPhone GPS Navigation Apps:

Waze
  • Voice-guided, turn-by-turn navigation.
  • Live crowdsourced traffic information.
  • Notification when approaching police traps and speed cams.
  • Learns and personalizes your preferred routes.
  • Free, community-updated maps.
  • Voice-alerts when approaching a hazard.
MapQuest 4 Mobile
  • Free voice-guided turn-by-turn directions.
  • iOS4 compatible—make calls or listen to music while voice navigation continues to work.
  • Live traffic updated every 5 minutes.
  • Search for locations, restaurants, businesses, etc..
  • Auto Re-route.
  • Energy savings mode.
  • Multiple stop route.
  • Landscape view.
  • Customizable avatars.
2. NavFree USA (no longer free)
  • 1.8GB of stored local maps.
  • Voice guided, turn-by-turn directions.
  • Auto-rerouting.
  • Live ‘Google’ search.
  • Google Local.
  • Bing search.
  • Night driving mode.
  • Search for nearest point of interest.
  • Uses OpenStreetMaps.
Skobbler (no longer free)
  • Voice-guided turn-by-turn directions.
  • Integrated iPod controls.
  • Night driving mode.
  • iOS 4.0+ compatible—keeps working during calls and listening to music
  • Quick take-me- home navigation feature.
  • Pedestrian navigation.
  • Uses OpenStreetMaps.
TeleNav GPS (no longer free)
  • Free 30-day trial for voice guidance, followed by $2.99/month or $21.99/year subscription fee.
  • Free maps content and local search
  • Text directions
  • Spoken dtreet names
  • Automatic teroute
  • 2D maps
  • 3D moving maps
  • Navigation preferences to avoid.
  • HOV lanes.
  • Tolls.
  • Fast Routing.
AAA TripTik Mobile
  • Gas station location and latest price information.
  • Provides route maps and turn-by-turn narrative directions to selected locations.
  • AAA approved hotels, restraurants, attractions, auto-repair, and camprounds.
  • AAA office locations.
  • Calculate routes to AAA points of interest (POI) as well as user-entered addresses.
  • Voice guidance on your next maneuver at the press of a button or by shaking the iPhone.
  • Pinpoints and tracks your location and allows you to turn on POIs around you.
  • POIs are automatically updated as your location changes or as you move the map.
  • Drag and pinch and double tap to move around and zoom in on the map.
  • Call for AAA Roadside Assistance.