Category: I-phone

There’s no doubt that the iPhone serves as a general-purpose tool, allowing you to customize it to the way that you like it by adding different apps for different purposes. There are two different kinds of apps: those that do one thing well, and those that try to do many different things within one application.

Is one way better than the other? That’s what I would like to explore with you today.

The Philosophy of Each Method

It’s easy to trace the idea that iOS apps should do one thing well back to the core of OS X, UNIX. Mike Gansarcz famously said of UNIX  “Make each program do one thing well” and that ideology has stuck with many Mac and iOS developers  to this day. Single-function, well-designed apps are the best, according to this school of thought.

The iPhone only offers so many spaces for your apps on each page; it's important to organize them wisely.

On the other hand we have applications that try to do everything, or “umbrella” apps. These applications are generally for something broad like “writing” or are for a service with a lot of different parts, like Twitter or Facebook. The idea is that it’s better to have one application cover all of the functions of a service than to have eight different applications taking up space on someone’s home screen.

Both of those schools of thought have valid points, and bring us to our first problem in regards to an application’s function.

Digital Clutter

The problem with having an application that does one thing well is that it can take many different tools to get one job done. Say, for example, that I want to have the best possible experience with Twitter. Arguably, my best bet for tweeting something is Birdhouse, while my best bet for a minimal, hands-free reading experience is an app like Trickle.

It’s no doubt that these two apps are very good at the one thing that they aim to do, but the problem arises when it comes time to arrange your home screen. Are you going to prioritize between either saying something or reading something, or do you devote more than one space to Twitter?

Tweetbot offers a lot of functionality in one package, taking up less space on your home screen.

In this instance, we can safely assume that anyone pressed for space would prefer an all-in-one, umbrella solution like Tweetbot. Tweetbot handles tweeting, reading and much more in a very good manner, replacing some of the functionality of those two apps within one space. Umbrellas place a lot of functionality into one space; what, though, if the umbrella isn’t as good as a single-function utility?

Optimization

Where single-function applications really shine is in their optimization. Because the developers decided to focus on one thing, they were able to take that one thing and really bring it to a polish. One recent example of this would be with Facebook launching their new Facebook Messenger app.

While it’s possible to access your messages in the Facebook iOS app, Messenger makes it faster to get in, talk to somebody, and get right back out of the application. It’s no doubt that the Facebook app offers more functionality out of the box, allowing you to read your news feed, post a status, add a photo, etc.

Facebook has many different functions in one app, while Messenger does one thing really well.

The optimization is where it counts. When you have something as important as messaging lumped in with other things that you may or may not use, it’s hard to create a really excellent messaging experience. Facebook Messenger really shows that a single-purpose application can be home screen worthy, despite not covering all of the bases that its older brother covers.

Finding a Balance

It’s not necessarily an all-or-nothing type of thing. Finding a balance within an application is more important than deciding that you’ll only use single-function applications or umbrella apps. That balance can be hard to find.

With the Twitter example, what really affects which application(s) you’ll choose to use is how you prioritize what each application does. Trickle may only be useful when you’re charging your iPhone, for example, while Birdhouse is handy for those not-quite-hatched tweets and Tweetbot can handle your non-specialty needs.

Another example might be Evernote. Evernote is an incredibly popular “anything bucket” that keeps your digital life synced across practically any device you can get your hands on. It’s a powerful umbrella app that does many things well. Does that mean that you can’t use something like Simplenote that aims to hold only plain-text notes in the cloud and on your devices? Absolutely not.

Building Your Own App

Where this article may be particularly useful is with developers. It’s important to consider what you aim to do with an application, and whether you’ll have the time or resources to do a lot of things in an OK manner or one thing in an awesome manner.

It’s important to consider the service that you’re building, who your market is and each individual user of your app. Is your application designed to be used in conjunction with other applications? Is it an all-in-one solution that can handle all of your users needs? This needs to be decided early on and clearly presented to a potential customer.

There’s no doubt that it would take less resources to build an application that does one thing well than it would take to build one that does a bunch of different things well. It’s important to take the bigger picture into consideration before you start building, and to think of your customers as people instead of markets. Don’t promise to have eighteen different features that will make the rest of the applications on someone’s phone obsolete unless you can back it up.

Conclusion

It’s fairly clear that this whole issue is a mixed bag that depends on personal preference. I, for one, don’t mind having a couple of single-function apps (Messenger, Definitions, and others) on my home screens, but I also make use of some umbrella apps as well (Facebook, Tweetbot, Evernote).

This really comes down to you. What do you want in an application: a single thing that gets done in the best way possible, or the ability to do multiple things? What types of umbrella apps do you have on your phone and how many? We’d love to hear from you in the comments in order to get a better idea of how people feel about these two different types of applications.

Travel guides, Urban Daddy, Yelp; while these are excellent resources for finding the pulse of a city, that pulse is often buried under trivial tourist traps, ad dollars and dated information. Enter Urbandig, an insider’s guide offering users unique city guides curated by local experts.

These guides are not just any run-of-the-mill list of recommendations; instead, these guides run the gamut from offering up the best spots for late night grub to retracing Charles Manson’s most notorious stops.

Interested? Learn more after the jump.

The Basics

Barely launched a few weeks ago, Urbandig is still a newbie on the local discovery app scene, however the useful guides diligently curated by local urban experts combined with the quirky rabbit mascot shows promise.

Urbandig's quirky rabbit mascot

At its most basic form, Urbandig provides a list of specialized guides. These guides are themed and can range from a Blade Runner shot list location tour (Los Angeles) to the crowd-favorite Cougar Dens (hello, Demi Moore) bar guide (San Francisco and Los Angeles). Urbandiggers can do the full tour, or just use the list as a guide for anything that might pique their interest.

Ready to start Diggin’?

Get started on your “off the beaten path” experience by creating a user name, password and selecting your city. Currently, Los Angeles, San Francisco and Vancouver are the only cities to choose from, however Portland, New York, Austin, Minneapolis, Chicago and Washington DC are scheduled for later this year.

After you have selected your user name and city, Urbandig takes you to the main Start page. Here you will find a scroll view of the city’s featured guides. At the bottom of the main screen is a scroll view of that city’s curators. Before I get into the in’s and out’s of the curator’s section on the app, let’s work out all the details of the main premise of UrbanDig, the content.

Home screen and a list of City Gem Guides

On the main Start page, you can choose one of the featured guides, or you can tap the Browse icon. The Browse page is divided into three sections: Categories, Curators and Nearby. The categories include such basics as City Gems, Drink, Fashion/Style, Food, Film, Music, etc. Once you choose a category, the page view changes to show the city guides that fall under your chosen category.

When you first start out, Urbandig provides a transparent overlay offering tips to help get you started. If you are like me, you will impatiently tap out of it before reading in order to get to the next page. Don’t worry, this app is fairly easy to navigate and the home buttons never disappear from the bottom of the screen.

Cougar Dens Tour with transparent overlay instructions and without

Alright, first guide up to bat is Cougar Dens.

Once you tap on a guide or tour, you will be directed to the homepage for that guide. On this homepage, there will be the general information about the guide, which includes the number of relevant locations, if the tour can be done in one day, a basic description, the author’s image and blog and the ability to save, share or “like” the guide. At the top of the screen you can dive right into the list of locations by tapping the Start tab, or you can tap the Places tab and be taken to the same location. You can also review the locations of your tour with the map tab.

When you check into the venue, the checkin shows up on your Urbandig feed

Once you tap on your first location, more detailed information will pop up on your screen. This includes the Curator’s notes, photos, location (I think they should include a phone number for reservations), the ability to share, save, “like” and check in. Once you check in, a green check mark will show up on the map for that location, helping you keep track of which Cougar Dens you have already raided, er, visited.

When you check into a location it will also appear as a green check mark on the location map

As promised, back to the Curators.

The Curators are the bones of this app, as they are the chosen urbanites offering up their handpicked favorite spots as a guide to the city for your enjoyment. The curators range from food critics to fashion bloggers and there is quite an eclectic collection of recommendations as a result.

The Browse section features a map that shows the locations of the closet venues featured in one of the guides and the list of Curators

At the main Start page, the curators are featured at the bottom of the screen, these smiling faces are the keyholders to the city. Each curator has a profile, which lists the number of followers, and the number of tours they have created.

Extras

As with almost every app these days, Urbandig offers a social sharing feature. When you sign up, you create a profile, and every “like,” checkin and follow is documented in your personal feed. When you follow other Urbandiggers their personal feeds are supposedly shown in your feeds. Unfortunately, as the app is so new, there isn’t too much action happening in my personal feed. Currently, the only way to share the guides is by email, however “likes” and checkins are only shareable in the native app through the feed function.

You Dig?

Overall, I think Urbandig is a great concept for a local discovery app. By utilizing local experts to curate content, the resulting guides are interesting, fresh and best of all, useful. While the graphics used throughout give off a Donnie Darko vibe (blame it on the rabbit ears), I find the quirkiness amusing.

The only thing that Urbandig needs to work on is the social sharing and the “likes.” I found it slightly irritating that I could “like” a specific note by a curator, which would then translate on my feed as liking that venue rather than a particular note about that venue. So if I “liked” multiple notes on the same location, I essentially “liked” that location multiple times in my feed. I’m guessing the intention of this feature was similar to Foursquare’s tips, but I honestly think it is unnecessary.

I also was unable to change my profile picture from a rabbit head silhouette to, well, anything else, which is unfortunate. As the app the just recently released and is still in Beta mode, I imagine the little glitches will be taken care of shortly. Regardless, I think that Urbandig is a great tool and I can’t wait for it to take root in more cities.

Farewell, September! Pretty soon we’ll be seeing Halloween apps making their way to the App Store, but in the meantime, here are our picks for this week’s best games.

Go play!

Where’s My Water?

Ok, so it’s not surprising that a monolithic company like Disney can make a good iPhone game, but it’s nice to see that they’re interested in pursuing original IPs too and not just making games based on their film work. Where’s My Water is a winning example of this endeavour and it proves that they don’t need a familiar franchise to make a great game.

In this fresh title, the sewer alligator, Swampy, needs some help preparing his bath. He loves clean water, which makes him the target of his fellow alligators’ malicious tricks. Your job is to get the clean water to him, and you’ll have a challenging time of it since you need to avoid traps, sewage and all other manner of obstacles.

There are lots of levels and the visuals are so gorgeous that you’ll want to keep playing just to see more of Swampy and his rubber ducky. Terrific top to bottom, Where’s My Water is an easy recommendation. And did we mention it’s universal binary?

Price: $0.99
Developer: Disney
Download: App Store

Monster Island

How’s that for a happy icon? It belongs to Monster Island, and you’re going to find a lot more just like it on the island as you fight to rid it of unpleasant thug monsters that are causing trouble.

Each level requires you to lob various kinds of bombs to clear away the baddies, and there are five different types of projectile to unlock — each with its own specific strengths and characteristics that will help you. There are many many levels to get through and simple gameplay and vibrant visuals make it easy to lose yourself in the game.

Game Center features are included for social gaming fans, and if you want to listen to your own music while you play, the game will automatically silence its own soundtrack on startup which is thoughtful. If you’re not convinced, they have a web-based version of the game on the developer’s website that you can play for free!

Price: $0.99
Developer: Miniclip
Download: App Store

Stardash

OrangePixel, the talented developers behind Meganoid, are back with another deliciously retro game — Stardash! This is really a continuation of their goal to bring nostalgic ’90s arcade gaming to the modern mobile world.

This time, however, even colour has been removed from the equation, leaving you in a sepia-toned world that may as well have been crafted for the original Gameboy. The game is very much a typical platform jumping game, complete with coins to collect, monsters to squish and hidden levels to uncover. There’s not much in the way of innovation here, but that’s the point — and few games so faithfully reproduce the unique charm of old arcade games as well as this one.

Despite the retro stylings, the levels are extremely well designed and very detailed, and the legitimate chiptunes in the soundtrack are sure to bring a smile to your face. If you’re a fan of nostalgic gaming then Stardash will make you very happy, otherwise your enjoyment will depend on how fond you are of games that eschew visual flair in favour of polished gameplay, strong style and retro sensibilities.

Price: $1.99
Developer: OrangePixel
Download: App Store

Tiny Journey

In the puzzle category, the charming little Tiny Journey pulls into the station bringing a neat gameplay mechanic and plenty of charisma despite its basic premise.

If you recall being an air traffic controller in Flight Control, then you’ll understand the perspective here as you control a train on its way through each level. You’ll need to pick up passengers along the way, and you have to be careful to avoid obstacles, connect power, switch tracks and more. It plays very well and ramps up smoothly in difficulty so you always feel challenged but never frustrated.

Candy-like graphics wrap everything up in a pretty package, and the price is just right for this streamlined train puzzler. All aboard!

Price: $0.99
Developer: wafu game
Download: App Store

Hero’s Way

We’ll end off with an RPG this week, and a free one at that. Hero’s Way is actually a title that we noticed earlier but wanted to spend some more time with before including. It’s not the largest or most visually arresting RPG that’s been released on iOS, but it offers some innovations and plenty of replay value instead.

For starters, the gameplay includes some clever drag-and-drop motions for combat which feel perfectly suited to the iPhone and help make an otherwise familiar battle experience feel fresh and immersive. The three hero classes you can choose from are also upgradeable, and you’ll want to progress so you can collect the hundreds of items, gems, spells and attacks available to you. The levels are all randomly generated so you’ll never get bored, and plenty of monster types will keep you on your toes as you battle through.

While the graphics aren’t some 3D showcase, they’re beautiful and very artistic and the sound design helps carry the mood superbly. Although free (and universal binary, by the way!) the app features in-app purchases of coins you can use to buy equipment and such. While not necessary, the steep difficulty curve might make it tempting for those who are more impatient. Hero’s Way is a great game that you can easily spend hours with, so give it a try!

Price: Free
Developer: Lakoo
Download: App Store

What Have You Been Playing?

That’s a wrap, folks. Come back next week and leave us a comment if you have some other titles to talk about. Don’t be shy!

There are two things all professionals seem to have in common these days: smartphones and LinkedIn accounts. Accordingly, LinkedIn created a native iPhone app a few years back to help busy people connect on the go. Though it allowed you to use basic LinkedIn functions like viewing profiles and updates, it was far behind other social media apps in terms of usability, design and features.

This August, LinkedIn released Version 4.0 of their iPhone app, and it’s more than just an update: they’ve completely overhauled the app’s interface and functionality, bringing LinkedIn to the forefront of social media app development. Take a look inside after the jump!

Meet LinkedIn 4.0

The LinkedIn app defines four categories for you to interact with: Updates, Profile, Inbox and Groups & More. In recognition that updates is the most accessed feature, the updates screen is the first one you see. The new redesigned app features a stylish leather theme with a more intuitive interface. Touching the logo/page name at the top of the screen will take you back to the “home” screen, and the share and search features are available from any page through the icons beside the logo.

"Home" screen and updates page

Though I mostly like the main interface and organization of content, I found myself wishing it was easier to access a list of all my connections.

Updates

The main Updates screen shows you a few top news stories, a quick visual overview of who has new connections and a stream of LinkedIn or Twitter updates from people you’re connected to.

Though you might not initially think of LinkedIn as a place to go for news and updates, I’ve found that it can be surprisingly adept at automatically curating news feeds to your interests.

Viewing news feed and sharing options from within browser

From the Top News page, you can scroll through news stories related to your interests, or manage the kind of stories you want to see. If you find an interesting story, you can open it up in the built-in browser. Unlike some other apps, the built-in browser is usable and stable, with the same back/forwards/reload/stop functionality as Safari, as well as options to share, open in Safari or email the link. Integration with ReadItLater or Instapaper would be a welcome addition.

Though the interface is attractive and functional, I found it a bit irritating that it took so many clicks to actually get to the story in the browser. If you see a story you want to read on the first page, you first have to go through the article list, then the summary, before getting to the article.

Profile

The “You” section is where you can access a read-only version of your profile, browse through your connections and check out people you may know. It doesn’t seem very obvious that you need to go to your own profile to find connections, and this could frustrate some users. The “People You May Know” interface features buttons that allow you to quickly connect to or hide potential connections as you scroll through.

Profile view and suggested connections

Clicking on a connection displays their profile, recent activity and any connections you have in common. The profile view also gives you access to one-touch emailing and calling from your phone.

Scrolling through connections, viewing a profile

Inbox & Groups

The inbox and groups features work pretty much as you’d expect them to; the inbox works like an email app, and the groups feature works like any message board with simple comment/like features for links and posts. The groups feature was missing from previous versions of LinkedIn for iPhone, and was a highly requested feature. The app doesn’t disappoint, and participating in groups on the iPhone is intuitive and enjoyable.

The "& More" is really just another "People You May Know" section

Speed Improvements

LinkedIn boasts that they’ve made their new app 2–10 times faster, and it’s really noticeable. Not only is LinkedIn 4.0 faster than its predecessors, it’s also noticeably faster than most other similar apps (definitely faster than Facebook), which makes a real difference when you’re using an older device (like my iPhone 3G) or on a slow network.

Mobile Web App

If you’re looking to check LinkedIn on the go without the commitment of downloading the app, they’ve also created a new mobile-optimized HTML5 website at touch.linkedin.com, with many of the same cool features you find in the native app. In fact, the only thing missing from the mobile site that exists in the app is the groups feature.

What’s Missing

Though this update makes a lot of improvements, there are still some features I’d really like to see in a future update, such as integration with device contact lists and job search functionality. It would also be nice to see a more easily accessible connections list — in my opinion, connections are the most important part of LinkedIn and should be more prominently featured.

Conclusion

You can tell a lot of work was put into this app to make it intuitive, easy and fast for people to stay connected to their LinkedIn peers on the go. With major design, speed and functionality improvements, I think LinkedIn sets the bar for mobile social networking apps.

I was surprised to read several negative (but vague) reviews on the App Store, and a lower star rating for this version than over all. There are definitely a few areas for improvement (article reading, profile editing, accessing connections), but I definitely think it’s a massive improvement over previous versions, and a great app in it’s own right. I’d be curious to hear your thoughts: how does LinkedIn 4.0 stack up?

In this Quick Look, we’re highlighting Revertis. The developer describes Revertis as a tactical reasoning game for everyone. Whatever you are looking for — just some fun or a real challenge — Revertis is the right choice!

Are you curious to find out what Revertis is?

The friendly alien Vali will explain it to you in just a few seconds.

Ever enjoyed painting with a finger on a damp or frozen glass?

Website: http://revertisapp.com

Read on for more information and screenshots!

Screenshots

Revertis

Revertis

About the App

Here are the top five features you can expect to see in the latest version:

• Unique and simple game principle — It’s a Tetris killer
• Competitive modes with limited time per turn
• Post your results on Facebook
• Game Center integrated
• Unique animation

Requirements: iOS 3.0

Price: 0.99

Developer: Ewgeniy Oganian

Vote for a Review

Would you like to see us write a full review of Revertis? Have your say in our poll:

Would you like to see Revertis reviewed in-depth on AppStorm?

Quick Look posts are paid submissions offering only a brief overview of an app. Vote in the poll if you think this app is worth an in-depth AppStorm review! If you’re a developer and would like to have your app profiled, you can submit it here.

It’s official, Apple is holding a press conference on October 4th to discuss the iPhone. We’ve been waiting for this with baited breath for months now, and yet today, less than a week before the event, what do we know about the new iPhone? More importantly, what don’t we know?

Let’s take a moment and piece together this puzzle after the jump.

What We Know

Well this is an easy answer. We know nothing.

OK, that’s not a totally fair statement, because technically we knew nothing prior to the iPhone 4 launch, but once we found out that all of those rumors and images were true, well it turns out we knew quite a bit. So to quote the rumor sites a bit, here’s what they say is happening with the next iPhone.

It Will Have a Wedge Shape and Is Wider

Case designs show that it’s got a wedge-shaped body, similar to the MacBook Air, with the thickest part of the wedge being towards the top of the device. It’s also slightly wider, which some say means it will have a larger screen.

The rumored first image taken with the new iPhone's camera.

It Comes in Two Flavors

The talk right now is that there will be two iPhones released soon. One, an iPhone 4S that’s just like the iPhone 3GS was to the iPhone 3G, in that it’s faster. The second will be a low-end iPhone, something like an iPhone Nano, that would be released to pre-pay customers. This would be a new market for Apple, and could mean more expansion.

Of course, the iPhone 4S thing isn’t set in stone either, and there’s also talk it will be the obviously named iPhone 5.

It’s Upgraded

Many sites are saying that the iPhone 5/4S will come with the A5 processor from the iPad 2, an 8-megapixel camera and 1GB of ram.

It Might Have Better Voice Commands

Right now, 9to5 Mac is reporting that the killer feature in the next iPhone is named Assistant, and is a progression of the Voice Command feature found in the iPhone 4 and 3GS. Apparently, Apple is using the Siri purchase from a few years ago to allow users to speak text messages, emails and the like into the phone and get output into the various apps. This would be awesome if it happened, and it completely makes sense. Problem is, it’s not in any of the iOS 5 betas yet, so it’s still a rumor.

The A5 Processor

It Could Have a Dual-Band Chip

In the U.S., we have four major cellular carriers and right now only two of them carry the iPhone. We’ve heard recently that Sprint might get it, and we’ve heard that T-Mobile is getting it, but now they’re saying they won’t. So which is it? Either way, the rumor is that Apple will use a Qualcomm dual-band chip in the next iPhone, making it possible to run on both Verizon and AT&T. Whether it works with other carriers is up to Apple and them.

As for 4G compatibility, there is a lot of debate on that one, and no real confirmation either direction.

What We Don’t Know

We can say fairly accurately that we don’t know much about the next iPhone, because Apple has done a pretty decent job of locking this one down, with one exception. There have been no spy photos of any iPhone that didn’t look like an iPhone 4, so we really don’t know what exactly we have in the works. All we do have is rumors.

And those rumors, in most cases, are really just assumptions based on previous experiences with Apple. Take the A5 processor, for example. Last year the iPhone 4 got the same processor as the iPad, so it seems to follow that the next iPhone will have the same processor as the iPad 2. That’s not rocket science. Neither is the 8-megapixel camera either, but people have been asking for that size since the iPhone 3GS, so who knows if it’s going to happen. My personal hope is that the front camera on the iPhone gets upgraded, but I may be in the minority.

We also don’t really know if there’s going to be a low-end iPhone this round or not. Now to be fair, we have a low-end iPhone on the market today, it’s the iPhone 3GS. You can buy an 8GB iPhone 3GS today for $49.99 on AT&T’s network, and there were even sales with it for free a few months back. To me, it makes more sense to keep that pattern going and offer the iPhone 4 with 8GB of storage for less, than to develop an entirely new iPhone for a low-end market.

What Happens Tuesday?

It’s hard for me to keep typing this, but we really don’t know for sure. The only thing we do know is that Apple wants to talk about the iPhone, but we don’t know when it’s coming out or what it’s going to be called.

What we can say for certainty is that we’re going to have reports on the announcement as soon as possible, so come back next Tuesday to find out what happened!

When you think of multi-player games for the iPhone, you most likely think of Scrabble, Words With Friends and other word games. However, there are a multitude of multi-player games for nearly every game genre available in the App Store.

After the break are 45 great multi-player games that should keep you and your friends busy for quite some time. So, whether you’re into board games, card games, strategy based games or shooters, there’s something here for everyone.

Board Games

Chess With Friends Free

Chess With Friends is the default chess app in the App Store, allowing you to play up to 20 games of chess at once with friends, family members or random opponents. With push notifications to inform you when it’s your turn and an in-game chat system, you can’t do much better than Chess With Friends. If you’re not into annoying ads, buy the premium version for $2.99.
Price: Free
Developer: Zynga
Download: App Store

MONOPOLY

Everything you love about the classic board game is available on the iPhone, with a few added tweaks. You can play through three levels of difficulty and customize the games look and rules. In addition, you can play up to three friends via local Wi-Fi or up to two friends via Bluetooth.
Price: $0.99
Developer: Electronic Arts Inc.
Download: app Store

Reiner Knizia’s Samurai

Reiner Knizia’s Samurai is a turn-based strategy board in which you gain the influence from the major castles: the Samurai, the Clergy and the Peasant. You can choose to go head-to-head with friend in both thePass ‘n Play and online multi-player modes. Do you have what it takes to become Emperor?
Price: $4.99
Developer: Conlan Rios
Download: App Store

PirateFleet for Friends

For those who love Battleship but love pirates even more, there’s PirateFleet for Friends. You’ll enjoy the battle for pirate supremacy in a wonderfully designed game that’ll make you feel like your a captain of your own vessel. You can even challenge multiple ship captains as you please (cap of 10 in the free version).
Price: Free
Developer: United Toy
Download: App Store

Four in a Row ?

Optime Software hits another homerun with Four in a Row ?. Much like Checkers Free, this app is a simple and stylish adaption of Connect Four. Four in a Row ? offers a fun Pass ‘n Play mode for you and your friends.
Price: Free
Developer: Optime Software
Download: App Store

The Game of Life Classic Edition

Watch the classic board game come to life (get it?) on your iPhone. While you’re unable to play with friends over Wi-fi or Bluetooth, The Game of Life features a Pass ‘n Play mode for up to four friends, which beats enjoy dragging out and setting up the original board game any day.
Price: $0.99
Developer: Electronic Arts Inc.
Download: App Store

Checkers Free

There are a plethora of checkers apps in the App Store, but Checkers Free takes top honors with its simple, yet sophisticated design and ease of use. Checkers Free doesn’t sport an online multi-player mode, but it does offer a two player Pass ‘n Play matches so you and your friends can be in the thick of it face-to-face.
Price: Free
Developer: Optime Software
Download: App Store

Depict

Similar to Pictionary, Depict is a online drawing game for all ages. Take turns with friends as the artist, whose task is to draw one of six options while friends attempt to guess what’s being drawn. Games are short and easy to play, and players can jump in at any time.
Price: $0.99
Developer: Makeshift Games
Download: App Store

Jenga

While you wouldn’t expect a studio like NaturalMotion (developers of the Backbreaker football games) to produce a great physics based board game, Jenga is an amazingly developed and stunning game. With realistic physics and gyroscope integration, you’ll be battling your friends in online multi-player mode for hours on end.
Price: $0.99
Developer: NaturalMotion
Download: App Store

Marble Mixer

With realistic physics and high quality visuals, Marble Mixer has something for everyone to enjoy. This game features three fun and engaging modes that will challenge your marble shooting abilities, exercise your strategic mind and work out your button mashing finger. Each mode allows for up to four players, so no one will be left out.
Price: $0.99
Developer: GameHouse
Download: App Store

Carcassonne

This tile-based board game, with gameplay similar to dominoes, comes to life on your iPhone. Play up to five players in Pass ‘n Play mode, local network or online multi-player and build a medieval landscape, tile by tile, claiming landmarks with your followers and scoring points. For those unfamiliar with the game, never fear as Carcassonne has a comprehensive in-game manual.
Price: $9.99
Developer: The Coding Monkeys
Download: App Store

Tic Tac Toe Free

The classic game comes to life with terrific graphics and exciting sound effects in Tic Tac Toe Free. The game follows suit in a long line of great Optime Software apps, but has one distinct advantage over Checkers Free and Four in a Row ?, which is an online multi-player mode.
Price: Free
Developer: Optime Software
Download: App Store

Strategy

Galcon

Booked as the space version of Risk, Galcon is a fast-paced multi-player galactic action-strategy game. Your goal? Defeat enemy planets to become ruler of the universe. You can wage galactic war with friends locally, or battle thousands of players worldwide online.
Price: $1.99
Developer: Galcon
Download: App Store

Armada — Galatic War Online

Armada — Galactic War says it all in the title. Your objective in this four player online real time strategy game is to gather resources, create mechs, tanks and ships, and destroy your opponent’s mothership. Choose to battle random opponents or challenge your friends to a private match.
Price: $5.99
Developer: Pixel Stream LLC
Download: App Store

UniWar

With over 1 million games played and counting, UniWar is one of the most successful games in App Store history. Take turns building an army to pit against your opponent, using the strength of your unit to take control over the map’s terrain. Play against as many people as you like online multi-player mode, or battle it out with your friend in Pass ‘n Play mode.
Price: $0.99
Developer: Xpressed
Download: App Store

Flight Control

Ever wonder what it would be like to be an air traffic controller? Well wonder no more! Flight Control is an easy and fun touch-and-drag game in which you must safety land a variety of aircraft, including jets, helicopters and seaplanes. Challenge your friend locally or via online multi-player to see who lands an aircraft the best.
Price: $0.99
Developer: Firemint Pty Ltd
Download: App Store

Worms 2: Armageddon

The Worms are back in this follow-up to the best-selling turn-based strategy blast-a-thon original. Grab your grenades and do battle against three of your friends with offline Bluetooth multi-player mode in a slew of different adventures.
Price: $4.99
Developer: Team17
Download: App Store

Action & Adventure

Fruit Ninja

One of the most celebrated games of all time now offers a multi-player mode. For those of you who hate fruit — or just love slicing things up — you can’t go wrong with Fruit Ninja. Do you have what it takes to become the ultimate bringer of sweet, tasty destruction?
Price: $0.99
Developer: Halfbrick Studios
Download: App Store

Dungeon Defenders: First Wave

Join the battle in this action-RPG meets tower defense game in which you take on the role of one of four distinct hero classes and battle hordes of invading creatures. Combine hero class strengths by teaming up with friends online, which you can drop in and drop out at any time.
Price: $2.99
Developer: Trendy Entertainment
Download: App Store

Infinity Blade

Winner of more than 20 “Game of the Year” and “Top App” awards, Infinity Blade is a must-have game for any action role-playing fan. Customize your character with dozens of swords, helmets, armor, shields and magic rings and then challenge your friends to multi-player matches via Game Center.
Price: $5.99
Developer: Epic Games Inc.
Download: App Store

Card

World Series of Poker Hold’em Legend

Love playing poker with friends, but can’t get a game together? World Series of Poker Hold’em Legend lets you go head-to-head with against a Game Center friend to determine who really knows when to hold ’em and when to fold ’em.
Price: Free
Developer: Glu Mobile Inc.
Download: App Store

UNO

Challenge your friends over a Wi-Fi connection in this classic card game. Everything you love about UNO, including action cards and up to nine types of game customizations, are available at your fingertips.
Price: $0.99
Developer: Gameloft
Download: App Store

Trivia

Trivial Pursuit

Trivia lovers rejoice, as the world’s most famous trivia game is available for the iPhone. Challenge up to three of your friends in Pass ‘n Play or Wi-Fi multi-player mode to see who’s the brainiest of the bunch.
Price: $0.99
Developer: Electronic Arts Inc.
Download: App Store

Family Feud

One of the most popular game shows of all time comes to life on the iPhone. Take on the role as leader of the family and go one-on-one in multi-player mode to see who has what it takes to get the number one survey answer.
Price: $0.99
Developer: Ludia Inc.
Download: App Store

Racing

Real Racing 2

Meet up with up to eight of your friends of Wi-Fi multi-player to see who’s the fastest driver on the asphalt in Real Racing 2. Featuring gorgeous graphics and real life automobiles, including the 2010 Ford Shelby Mustang GT500, 2010 Nissan GT-R (R35) and 2012 McLaren MP4-12C, you’ll soon understand why many call this the best iOS racing game of all-time.
Price: $4.99
Developer: Firemint Pty Ltd
Download: App Store

2XL ATV Offroad

Extreme sports and racing collide in 2XL ATV Offroad! Challenge up to four of your friends over a local Wi-Fi network and race at any one of 16 unique ATV Supercross and Outdoor Nationals tracks.
Price: $4.99
Developer: 2XL Games
Download: App Store

Need for Speed Hot Pursuit

The ultimate cat-and-mouse road race comes to the iPhone with Need for Speed Hot Pursuit. Lay down the law as the Cop while your friend tries to make a clean getaway as the driver. With a plethora of weapons at your disposal, find out who has what it takes to be the king of the road.
Price: $4.99
Developer: Electronic Arts Inc.
Download: App Storm

Asphalt 6: Adrenaline

Get behind the wheel of a Ferrari, Lamborghini or Aston Martin and take on up to five friends in online and local multi-player mode in Asphalt 6: Adrenaline. Make sure to take full advantage of a long list of tuning options to make sure your vehicle is running at peak performance on any track.
Price: $4.99
Developer: Gameloft
Download: App Store

Fighting

Street Fighter IV Volt

While it may not be as fine tuned as its console brethren, Street Fighter IV Volt packs enough of a punch to make even die-hard fans smile. Challenge your opponent over Bluetooth or Wi-Fi, to find out who is master of the Hadouken, Sonic Boom and Tiger Punch.
Price: $6.99
Developer: Capcom
Download: App Store

Street Fighter IV

Want to play checkout some Street Fighter action on your iPhone, but don’t feel like shelling out six bucks? Drop a couple bones less and checkout Street Fighter IV. Sporting a slightly smaller ensemble of fighters and ability to play against a friend over Bluetooth, Street Fighter IV packs as much punch as Street Fighter IV Volt.
Price: $4.99
Developer: Capcom
Download: App Store

Ultimate Mortal Kombat 3

Featuring all 23 warriors from the original game, Ultimate Mortal Kombat 3 is a great port of the classic fighter. Go head-to-head against your friend over local Wi-Fi or Bluetooth and tear them from limb-to-limb with classic Fatalities or leave them humiliated by performing a Babality.
Price: $0.99
Developer: Electronic Arts Inc.
Download: App Store

Sports

NBA Jam by EA Sports

Arguably one of the best arcade basketball game of all-time, NBA Jam was a corner stone friend-on-friend matchup in the Super Nintendo days. Flash forward to the present, and the same great, air-defying dunks can now be done on your iPhone. Go one-on-one with your friend in local multi-player mode, via Wi-Fi and Bluetooth.
Price: $0.99
Developer: Electronic Arts Inc.
Download: App Store

Homerun Battle 3D

Every year, baseball fans tune-in to watch one of the best competitions in professional sports, the homerun derby. While you may not be Robinson Cano, you can step up to the plate in Homerun Battle 3D and challenge your friends via online matchup mode to see who’s crowned homerun derby king!
Price: $4.99
Developer: Com2uS Corporation
Download: App Store

FIFA 11 by EA Sports

In a shoot-out for the title of No. 1 soccer game in the App Store, FIFA 11 tackles the competition with its brilliant graphics and sophisticated animations. Challenge a friend via local Wi-Fi and Bluetooth multiplayer to see you can make the game winning goaaaaaaaaaaaaal!
Price: $2.99
Developer: Electronic Arts Inc.
Download: App Store

Super Stickman Golf

Though a puzzle game at heart, Super Stickman Golf is nevertheless one of the best golf games available in the App Store. Challenge a friend to a round online or locally to see who can overcame obstacles and unlock all six super clubs.
Price: $0.99
Developer: Noodlecake Studios
Download: App Store

Let’s Golf! 3

If a puzzle based golf game isn’t your thing, but still enjoy a bit of Arcade action, Let’s Golf! 3 offers a host of game modes, character/equipment unlocks and a slew of social links. Play up to three of your friends in online multi-player via Wi-Fi, and local multi-player via Bluetooth and Play ‘n Play mode.
Price: Free
Developer: Gameloft
Download: App Store

World Cup Table Tennis

World Cup Table Tennis is the No. 1 table tennis game on the iPhone, and for good reason. With a bevy of player modes (career, tournament, arcade and multi-player) and eight unlockable paddles with each offering its own unique combination of spin and power, you and your friends will finally see who truly is the master of the paddle.
Price: $0.99
Developer: Skyworks Interactive
Download: App Store

Glow Hockey 2

Air hockey on its own is great, but add the style and flair of Glow Hockey 2 and you’re in for a real treat. The colorful glow graphics, smooth and responsive gameplay, and realistic physics will keep you and your friend glued to your iPhone over local multi-player (Wi-Fi and Bluetooth) well past your first best-of-three tournament.
Price: $0.99
Developer: Natenai Ariyatrakool
Download: App Store

Shooter

Archetype

One of the most critically acclaimed and popular shooters in the App Store, Arhetype sets a standard in iPhone shooter games. Delivering a high-quality console style first-person experience, you and your friends will enjoy a slew of multi-player modes, including 5-on-5 death matches, team battles and capture the flag.
Price: $0.99
Developer: Villain LLC
Download: App Store

Tom Clancy’s Rainbow Six: Shadow Vanguard

Debuting in 1998, Tom Clancy’s Rainbow Six began a new era of elite first-person shooter games. Now, Tom Clancy’s Rainbow Six: Shadow Vanguard for the iPhone brings a whole new first person shooter experience to the palm of your hands. Team up with a friend for co-op mode, or invite up to nine of your friends to battle it out in multi-player mode.
Price: $6.99
Developer: Gameloft
Download: App Store

Call of Duty: Zombies

Sometimes after a long day at work or school, you just want to blow away some zombies. Call of Duty: Zombies offers your sweet relief, with four massive zombie maps and three distinct control schemes to suite your style. Team up with a friend via local Bluetooth multi-player mode, or invite three of your friends to join you over Wi-Fi multi-player mode.
Price: $4.99
Developer: Activision Publishing, Inc.
Download: App Store

Modern Combat 2: Black Pegasus

Modern Combat 2: Black Pegasus is the perfect game for those looking for a Call of Duty type experience on your iPhone. With an intuitive control scheme, brilliant graphics and a multitude of online multi-player modes (battle, team battle, defuse the bomb and capture the flag), you and up to nine of your friends will have a blast blasting each other.
Price: $6.99
Developer: Gameloft
Download: App Store

N.O.V.A. 2 – Near Orbit Vanguard Alliance

Named as the “ultimate sci-fi first person shooter” and “the finest first person shooter on the iPhone,” N.O.V.A. 2 offers up the best Halo-esque experience available in the App Store. Enjoy up to five multi-player modes (free for all, team deathmatch, capture the flag, freeze tab and InstaGib) over Wi-Fi, and keep track of your stats and rankings via the Near Orbit Vaguard Alliance website.
Price: $6.99
Developer: Gameloft
Download: App Store

Eliminate: CO-OP

Grab a friend and get ready to team up for Eliminate: Co-Op. Featuring ten multi-player environments and multiple ways to get new gear, this first-person shooter offers stunning 3D graphics and a variety of special items, such as jet packs, berserker shields and cloaking devices to help you dominate your enemy.
Price: Free
Developer: ngmoco
Download: App Store

Gun Bros

Don the role as a Freakishly Rugged Advanced Genetics Galactic Enforcement Division (aka F.R.A.G.G.E.D.) special agent and protect the cosmos from T.O.O.L.s (Tyrannical Oppressors of Life). With a wide range of weapons at your disposal, you and a friend can do battle together over 3G and Wi-Fi to rid the galaxy of every T.O.O.L. alive.
Price: Free
Developer: Glu Mobile Inc.
Download: App Storm

Have any other multi-player games you would like to recommend? Let us know in the comments!

As a child of the 1990s, I look back fondly on the genre of simulation games, like Maxis’ popular series of of Sim games. As a young boy, I got my start with SimTown, but as I matured I played the more complex games like SimCity and SimTower. These games, as well as games like RollerCoaster Tycoon, taught me about financial responsibility, organization and macro-management.

TinyTower is a SimTower-style management simulation game designed for iOS by NimbleBit, LLC. It is simple in execution, but provides many levels of complexity that increase replay value. Let’s talk about it more after the break.

Design

TinyTower is one of the few games that I play on my iPhone that exclusively uses the device’s portrait orientation. The screen is laid out with the elevator (a crucial element of game play, but more on that later) running along the left edge of the screen, and your ever-increasing number of floors taking up the rest.

The lobby.

TinyTower was designed with an 8-bit aesthetic. The object of the game is to simply expand your tower with residences and businesses, and as that happens, your apartments will become inhabited by “Bitizens.” Those Bitizens communicate on a fictional Facebook-like platform called Bitbook, which you can read from the options menu for a good laugh.

Watch as your Bitizens update their Bitbook statuses.

TinyTower, perhaps more than any other game on my iPhone, facilitates “playing without playing.” The game’s economy continues to function even when you’re not playing the game, so you can continue to make money. This causes the game to be a unique hybrid between those games that you play when you need to waste some time and more involved strategy games. When I have a little bit of time to kill, I play Angry Birds. When I have even less time to kill, I play TinyTower.

Gameplay

When you first start out the game, you’ll be walked through a brief tutorial on building floors and installing business and residences. You only start with a lobby, but the game is sure to get you set up with your first apartment and business before setting you loose to dominate the 8-bit economy.

Currency

Because of its impact on the way you play the game, the first and most important thing to grasp is the currency system. TinyTower has two types of currency: coins and Tower Bux. The coin system is pretty simple, you gain them and spend them in ways you would expect. Businesses earn you coins from selling product, which you then spend on building new floors and restocking your businesses with product.

Tower Bux on the other hand, are bit more unique as a form of currency. Your tower will can be expanded without them, though they can be used to make things a bit more convenient. The primary way to acquire Bux is by helping surprise guests find residents in your tower, but can also be gained by building a new floor, or from an elevator patron who has a small amount of change to tip you.

The main uses for Tower Bux are for “hurrying” a process such as construction or stocking, upgrading your elevator, and purchasing paint for making aesthetic changes to your businesses. As they’re mostly used for convenience and aesthetic purposes, Bux can only be gained while playing, as opposed to coins which can be earned while you’re not.

The Elevator

Bitizens will, like clockwork, enter your building and wait in the elevator for you to deliver them to their altitudinal destination. If their desired floor is an apartment, then congratulations! You have a new resident. Otherwise, you’ll simply deliver customers to business, earning coins at a rate of the floor number they arrive at times two.

Elevator upgrades let you move more people in less time.

As I mentioned above, the elevator can be upgraded using Tower Bux (this takes time, the upgrades are expensive). An upgraded elevator moves Bitizens at a faster rate, which really comes in handy when your tower starts getting tall.

Construction: Residences and Businesses

When you have enough coins, you can tap above the tower to build a new floor. This happens instantly, granting you bonus Tower Bux, but you must install a business or residence before you can use that floor. Installing a business or residence, much like stocking a business, occurs according to a real time clock (often taking several hours). Tower Bux can be used here to “hurry” the process, costing one Bux for every hour remaining on the process.

Tap above the top floor to build a new floor.

When installing a new floor, you have six options. You can either install a residence, or you can install one of five different types of businesses: creative, service, retail, food or recreation, but keep in mind that you want to keep the balance of business types relatively even, as well as the balance between job positions and residents. It’s also worth mentioning here that the game has several types of VIPs that can visit your tower. Most of them will come into play later, but if a Construction Worker shows up in your elevator, deliver them to a floor that is under the construction to knock 3 hours off of the installation time.

Business Operations

Each business can employ three employees and stock three items, but can only stock as many different items as employees currently working. Like construction, restocking takes time (though, much less than construction) and can be “hurried” with Tower Bux. If a Delivery Man VIP enters the elevator, deliver him to a floor that is currently restocking to knock 3 hours off of the restocking time. As you progress, it may be useful to spend Tower Bux on upgrading the stocking capacity of your business, so they don’t run out of product quite as fast.

Manage employees and product stock from the Business window.

The last VIPs that have a chance to show up at your tower are the Big Spender (buys out all of one item on the floor you deliver them to), Celebrity (increases business temporarily on the floor you deliver them to), and Real Estate Agent (automatically moves a Bitizen into an empty apartment spot).

The Menu

The Menu contains the aforementioned Bitbook for monitoring your Bitizens happiness, which is a bit creepy. The Bitizens menu gives you a sortable list of your Bitizens, allowing you to see their dream job, where they’re presently employed, and their skill levels in each department.

Menu and Bitizen Roster.

There’s also a statistics tab which will inform you of your sales per minute and the demand for any new businesses. Finally, you can visit the bank to exchange extra Tower Bux for coins if you’re short-changed.

Statistics and the Bank.

Conclusion

TinyTower is a fun game that’s simple to learn, but has the complexity to make playing satisfying. It take both roles, as a time-waster for when you have a few minutes as well as a game you can sit and play for hours on end. TinyTower supports GameCenter integration, and has a lengthy list of achievements for making play more objective-oriented. The final achievement is to build 100 floors, which is quite a task.

At the time of this writing, my tower is has 20 floors and is inhabited by 32 Bitizens, and I have no intention of stopping any time soon.

In this Quick Look, we’re highlighting Puzzle Love. The developer describes Puzzle Love as a puzzle platform that lets users download and play traditional puzzles that have been hand picked and curated by actual humans.

It’s got sudoku, 5×5, wordbuilder and target at the moment, and we’re hoping to add more puzzle types soon.

We designed it to be the most beautiful puzzle app out there, well suited to the home screen of even the most stylish individual.

Read on for more information and screenshots!

Screenshots

Puzzle Love

About the App

Here are the top five features you can expect to see in the latest version:

• Beautiful, calming user interface.
• Fun puzzles for every age or ability.
• Not just sudoku — there’s wordbuilder, target and 5×5 with more coming soon.
• Puzzle Love is free and new, with curated free puzzle packs released every week.
• Hand-picked premium puzzle packs are available for purchase.

Requirements: iOS 4.1 or later

Price: Free

Developer: Naked Apps

Vote for a Review

Would you like to see us write a full review of Puzzle Love? Have your say in our poll:

Would you like to see Puzzle Love reviewed in-depth on AppStorm?

Quick Look posts are paid submissions offering only a brief overview of an app. Vote in the poll if you think this app is worth an in-depth AppStorm review! If you’re a developer and would like to have your app profiled, you can submit it here.

I play a lot of iOS games. I mean … A LOT of iOS games. And one of my favorite things to see in iOS game development is the difference between great games being ported to iOS (which usually make use of on-screen virtual controls) and great games made specifically for iOS, which typically use multi-touch controls that couldn’t easily be replicated on a desktop computer.

Games from the latter category are often the most impressive, demonstrating the potential of a seemingly simple interface. And every once in a while, I’ll come across a game that will actually keep me from getting any work done. These are the games, despite the frustration of falling behind in my work, that I really love coming across. And Battleheart is one of these games.

Battleheart is a real-time, RPG-style, party-based battle game from Mika Mobile, developers of Zombieville USA, and OMG Pirates! Unlike their first two games (which utilize onscreen virtual controls), Battleheart uses a set of completely intuitive controls that are often as simple as drawing a line between characters. So what’s kept me playing all this time? Find out after the break.

Getting Started

When you first launch Battleheart and choose a game save slot, you’ll be greeted by a cleric (healing character) you’ll get to know as Lucille. She’ll walk you through a tutorial with another character (a knight) named Shepherd where she’ll teach you how to command your units to attack and perform other functions. These will become the first two characters of your party.

Lucille and Shepherd will teach you how to play.

Commanding your characters is painfully simple: just draw a line from one character to another. And this works for any character — a line can command a knight to engage in melee combat, a ranged attacker to begin shooting at the target or a healer to heal a friendly unit.

Draw lines to move you characters across the battlefield.

Draw lines to attack or heal as well. Geometry!

Wrapping up the tutorial, Lucille will explain how to use special abilities. Select a unit on the battlefield and his or her special abilities will be displayed in the upper left corner. Tap an ability to execute a complex action, such as a defensive stance or a group heal. More abilities can be unlocked as your characters level up, but more on that later.

Preparations

After the tutorial, but before beginning your conquests, you’ll be allowed to prepare with the Town screen. From this screen, you can visit several locations that will aid you and your party in gearing up for battle.

The Town menu lets you prepare for battle.

Armory

The Armory is where you’ll outfit your characters for battle. Tap on a character at the top of the screen to see their stats and currently equipped gear, and equip them with any items in your inventory that they’re eligible with. This gives you a level of customization and fine tuning very similar to a classic RPG.

Gear up at the Armory.

Merchant

The Merchant provides a collection of wares available for purchase. Gold can be acquired from finishing battles, and used to purchase these items. It’s nice to have in a pinch, but as with many role-playing games, the best gear drops from combat, rather than being sold at a merchant.

You can buy items at the Merchant, but the spoils of battle are probably better.

Academy

Your characters gain experience through battle, and as they level up they’ll be able to learn new special abilities. These abilities are learned at the Academy. Every five levels, a new tier of abilities will be unlocked, giving you the opportunity to choose between two different skills. Additionally, these abilities can be swapped out between battles.

Decide which special abilities to give your characters as they level up.

This is probably one of the most RPG-like experiences of the game. There is a heavy focus on leveling, because the new abilities your characters can learn open up a wide range of character/skill combinations that allow for a myriad of playing styles.

Tavern

At the Tavern, you can enlist other characters to serve in your party. This is how you can introduce new classes to your group, further increasing the capabilities of your class/skill party dynamics. Your maximum party size during combat is four, but Battleheart does a great job of translating the age-old skill of leveling up more than the maximum number of members.

The Tavern: for recruiting party members, not for getting drunk.

As you play through the game and level up your characters, a broader range of characters and classes will become available at the Tavern.

Keep

The Keep is simply where your unused party members hang out when they’re off-duty. Visit this screen to swap out party members to keep all of your enlisted characters in tip-top shape (as you can see, I have failed to do that).

The lazy members of your party hang out at the Keep when they're not on the battlefield.

The Battle

When your forces are adequately prepared and ready to engage in glorious battle, simple tap the Battle placard at the top of the main Town screen. You’ll be shown a map of encounters that you can fight your way through.

Fight your way through each of the encounters on the map.

After selecting an encounter to enter, you’ll be brought to the battlefield. Before long, enemies will start attacking in waves from the side of the screen. Stay calm, and remember your training: draw lines.

That spider already claimed the life of my other Knight. I shall avenge him.

I must commend Battleheart for gracefully upscaling the difficulty as you play. As your fights progress, you’ll be faced with large enemies that have massive amounts of hit points and will require some strategy to defeat. It may also take a bit of strategy when faced with multiple enemies. Your party makeup is up to you, but keep in mind that you should balance characters that can heal, do large amounts of damage and are well armored in order to get through some of these encounters.

Conclusion

I’ve been an avid RPGer for as long as I’ve been playing video games. Battleheart lacks a lot of the defining RPG elements — namely a story arc — so I’m hesitant to call it an RPG outright. But the game is definitely RPG style, and is reminiscent of the combat in classic party-oriented role-playing games.

The stripped down style of gameplay, I think, is what makes Battleheart so appealing as an iOS game. Prior to the proliferation of “spare time” games on iOS, I was never really into handheld gaming. Most games seemed to be designed for you to spend hours hunched over a tiny screen, and I wasn’t into that kind of long play. But Battleheart has proven that even those “spare time” games can sometimes suck you in.

What games have you played that you’ve been unable to put down?

The current rumor gossip has the next Apple event being this October 4th, and if that holds true, odds are a new iPhone is coming out soon. Some people buy accessories for their iPhone on opening day, from cases to screen protectors and anything else.

So what’s the first thing you buy for your new iPhone? Do you have to have a new case with each new model or do you even buy anything at all? Let us know in the poll to the right.

It’s been a pretty rough couple of days for Barry Steakfries. Sales are down across the board and he’s not in a very good mood. As he wanders aimlessly towards another potential rejection, he notices that this next house isn’t like all the others on the block. No, these people seem to be testing out some kind of jetpack, and it looks really cool. So cool in fact that Barry decides he wants to take it. So he does.

And that’s where Jetpack Joyride begins, in all its unabashed glory. There’s no complex plot to be had or hidden messages of political corruption, it’s all about flying on a jetpack. Oh, and did we mention that the jetpack is actually a machine gun? Let’s work out the details after the break.

The Concept

The world of Barry Steakfries is not a complicated one, and neither is the game itself. This is your classic side scroller in the vein of Super Mario Bros. or any other Nintendo platform from the ’80s, and there’s nothing wrong with that. Barry starts equipped with that fancy machine gun powered jetpack, and he can walk on the ground like anyone else, although you can’t adjust the pace. By touching the screen the jetpack roars to life, lifting Barry up into the air to avoid obstacles or collect coins, and then gravity brings him back down to Earth. Simple, right?

Just a man and his jetpack.

Well it is, and that’s part of what makes it so fun. When playing, your goal is to get as far through the world as possible, which is essentially one long hallway full of pratfalls and hazards. You don’t have any lives per se, so every time you hit an obstacle you die and go careening through space until your body stops. If you picked up any of the special coins along the way then you can go for extra coins or a bomb that will propel you further, or you can just end the game right then and there.

Gameplay

Since there are no additional physical levels, and since everything is just move forward and proceed, this is a very easy game to pick up and play at anytime. I found that your actual playing time on the game varies greatly, depending on how addicted you get. At one point I played just one game and it lasted maybe a minute or two at the most. Later on in the week, I played a few times in a row and the next thing I knew I lost 30 minutes.

Each level gives you various goals, which you try to beat to advance in the game.

Interestingly enough, there really is no set point system either. You’d think that every little scientist that you decimate would count towards a point total, but it doesn’t. Instead, your points come purely from collecting coins and progressing forward.

Additional Features

The game would be pretty boring if all you did was fly at one speed through a hallway, so there are a few little gems in the game as well. For one, you can pick up additional vehicles along the way. They come randomly, but each one has its own advantages and disadvantages, and they all tend to ramp up the speed after a bit ensuring that you will lose the vehicle along the way. But by losing it, you also essentially gain a life, and now you’re back to moving on your jetpack.

The end of each game shows you a screenshot from your last adventure, and lets you make purchases as you go.

You can buy some of these neat toys as well using the coins you’ve collected, although most of them don’t really add to the gameplay other than aesthetically. In my time playing the game I bought a few Head Starts and Final Blasts, but not much else. There are a lot of options here though, and I didn’t tap into all of them by any means, so your experience may vary.

Leveling Up

Each time you play, you’re given a group of three goals that you need to try to accomplish, and each of these goals has their own star rating. By completing the goal, you’re awarded the stars and the more stars you have, the higher up in the game you progress, giving you more vehicle options and so on.

Each completed mission gives you more stars.

These goals range from the fun to the insanely difficult. For example, at one point you have to high five a certain amount of scientists, which really is pretty simple to do. On another, you have to narrowly miss several missiles, something that’s much more difficult. I found that these missions are really the key to motivating you to keep playing, and in my case, pushed me on until I got past level 9 or so.

So Is It Fun?

Wow, what a loaded question, but a fair one.

I spent quite a few hours playing Jetpack Joyride, and even while I wrote this review I picked it up and played it again a few times, just for fun. For me, playing an old school styled game is a bit of nostalgia, and when it comes complete with the fun music and characters, it’s just the icing on the cake.

One of the many extra vehicles in Jetpack Joyride.

Yes, it’s lots of fun. So much so that I even moved the app to my second screen, that way I play it more frequently. Now, whenever I have a few minutes to play, Jetpack Joyride is my go-to game.

Final Thoughts

This game is great fun, but it’s not 100 percent perfect. It would be nice to have additional level options, if only so that you could see something different scrolling across the screen instead of the same old thing. But other than that, there’s really not much to complain about. When you can play a game for several hours straight and still come out having fun, that’s a pretty good average in my book.

Have you played Jetpack Joyride yet? Do you like it? Let us know in the comments!

I had to do a restore on my iPhone recently, and in the process all of my apps got knocked all over the place and I had to reorganize. Being the OCD kinda guy that I am, it took me quite a bit of time to make sure that everything was put in its most optimal location, and after an hour or so of futzing with the interface, I got things good to go.

And then I used it. After a week or so I realized that there are two types of apps out there that sit on my homescreen and every other page: Ones I use, and ones I think I use. Ever run into that problem? So to maximize my layout, I decided to play around with a few different techniques and methods, each of which with their own advantages and disadvantages. If you’re a bit OCD like myself (or just curious), hit the jump and we’ll talk it out.

Determining the Problem

Like any good detective, the first step is to determine what the problem actually is. For me, that just meant unlocking my iPhone and taking a look.

The starting point

After seeing all of our reader’s homescreens a few weeks back, it gave me a few good ideas on apps to pick up, as well as some organization tips. A quick assessment of what I have on my home screen tells me what I need to know:

• Top row: I use these all the time. I’ve debated getting rid of Fahrenheit and going with Outside, but I haven’t made that plunge yet.
• Second row: I use SiriusXM, Camera and Photos daily, but I haven’t used Capture since I bought it. I think it’s there because I want to use it more, but the whole point is that it’s easily accessible when I need it. I just never end up needing it.
• Third row: Music is daily, and MLB.com At Bat 11 is as well, but TomTom USA and LightTrac just aren’t daily requirements. They’re there mainly so I don’t forget I have them, and because I figure they will come in handy sometime.
• Fourth row: Daily use, all the way through.
• Fifth row: Same as above, these are all apps I use every day. I could get rid of Safari in the home bar, but that’s about it.

Cleaning It All Out

To start, I went ahead and removed all of the apps that I knew didn’t belong on my homescreen, which left me with three empty slots across the bottom. Now the issue was, what do I replace them with?

To move the icons on your homescreen, simply hold your finger down on any of the apps until it starts to wiggle. Tap on the X to delete the app, or just hold your finger on the icon and move it around the screen. When you’re done, push the home button and everything will stay in place.

What I had to do next was figure out what apps I actually use on a day-to-day basis, and not just the ones that I think I use. The first step was to pull up the multitasking area and see what apps were not only open, but used recently. In my case, it was pretty much all of my remaining homescreen apps, and then a few randoms. AP Stylebook, IMDB and Calculator were there, which gave me pause. Do I really use these every day?

The next few days I spent writing down any app I used that wasn’t on my homescreen. This may sound tedious, but it was as simple as keeping a Notes file available, which isn’t a big deal at all. Turns out that I do pull up the AP Stylebook an awful lot, and IMDB seems to come up more on the weekends (when I tend to watch movies). As for the Calculator, I use it all the time, but since it’s not a fancy app I’ve often just pushed it to the background, forcing me to swipe through and find it time after time.

Additional Apps

As I said before, there are apps I use, and apps I think I use. But there’s also a third category, which is apps I’d use more if I remembered I had them. Often times an app will go into a folder for organizational purposes, just to get lost in the mist with the rest of them. With only three empty spots on my home screen, I had to make some tough choices and figure out what made sense. Here’s where I ended up:

Stage 2

Savvy viewers will notice that there are a few changes here. First off, I decided to pull the trigger and buy Outside. Then I moved Safari off the home page and onto page 2, because after some thought I realized that I don’t use it that much. I also added Instagram to the page, which is one of those third category apps. After moving AP Stylebook, Calculator and App Store to the home page, I was full and ready to start sorting.

The Perimeter Method

While doing the homescreen roundup, I learned that lots of people put their apps in specific places based on the way they hold their phone. It seems to be easier to hit an app that’s located around the perimeter of the screen than in the middle (although the difference is negligible), so one train of thought is that if you put those important or more frequently used apps around the edges, you’ll find them easier to access. By doing that, I ended up with this:

Using the perimeter method.

Everything is fairly accessible, and all of the important bits are on the dock where they should be. The disadvantage is that the apps that are closest to your dominant hand’s thumb are a bit more difficult to reach, and there is no logic to how the apps themselves get sorted out other than by usage. If you like everything that’s the same in one bucket, this may not be the option for you.

The Folder Method

Since you can’t dictate exactly where each icon will land to create a pattern, some people choose to put everything in a folder on the dock. This way, everything is still accessible, but the home screen is nice and clear to show off that fancy wallpaper. By trying that, this is what my homescreen looked like:

One maxed out folder.

Want to put your apps in folders? Hold your finger on an app until it starts to wiggle, then drag it on top of another app with your finger. When a box appears, drop the app in the box and you’ve got a folder!

Although this does give you a cleaner look, you still have five apps on the screen, assuming you’re working with the same 20 apps you started with like I did. To fix that, you need two folders in the dock:

The minimalist look.

If you’re the type of person who wants an image of a person for their wallpaper, this is probably your optimal layout. Your homescreen will now always show the picture as clear as possible, and you still have access to all of your favorite apps, albeit with an extra tap or two. On the downside, anything in those folders now takes an extra tap to access. Is the picture more important than accessibility? That’s your call.

The Combo Platter

What I ended up choosing was a combination package. It’s a little bit of both methods, and the result is a clean homescreen that’s simple to work with, yet all of the important apps are easy to get to at all times.

The final result.

Closing Thoughts

Want some more inspiration? You can always check out our previous homescreen roundup to see what readers like you are doing on their homescreens, or you can check out First & 20, a site with other people’s home screens for their iPads and iPhones.

How do you organize your apps? Let us know in the comments.

Often times you find yourself in a situation where you might want to control your application remotely. You may want to enable/disable features at a certain time, push messages to all of your users, or do some cross promotion whenever you launch a new application. All of this can easily be done with a little JSON and some simple web interface coding.

{
    "nag": true,
    "message": "Check out Smart Lockscreen Creator!",
    "url": "http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/smart-lockscreen-creator/id419890996?mt=8"
}

    // 1. Fetch out to the web
    NSURL *url = [NSURL URLWithString:@"http://localhost:8888/test/alert.json"];
    ASIHTTPRequest *request = [ASIHTTPRequest requestWithURL:url];
 
    // 2. Completion block
    [request setCompletionBlock:^(void) {
        NSString *responseString = [request responseString];
        // 3. parse the response
        NSDictionary *responseDict = [responseString objectFromJSONString];
 
        // 4. pull out data
        BOOL nag = [[responseDict objectForKey:@"nag"] boolValue];
        NSString *message = [responseDict objectForKey:@"message"];
        self.nagURL = [NSURL URLWithString:[responseDict objectForKey:@"url"]];
 
        // 5. If nag is true, then show the alert
        if(nag) {
            UIAlertView *alert = [[[UIAlertView alloc] initWithTitle:@"Message" 
                                                             message:message 
                                                            delegate:self 
                                                   cancelButtonTitle:@"Cancel" 
                                                   otherButtonTitles:@"Go",nil] autorelease];
            [alert show];
        }
    }];
    // 6. Start the request
    [request startAsynchronous];

- (void) alertView:(UIAlertView *)alertView didDismissWithButtonIndex:(NSInteger)buttonIndex {
    if(buttonIndex == 1) {
        [[UIApplication sharedApplication] openURL:self.nagURL];
    }
}

For the past few years, I have been attending a fantastic conference put on by Pearson Education. The conference is called Voices That Matter. It’s a 2 day event (3 if you do the additional workshops), where you will learn about cutting edge iOS development from many of the leaders in the space.

Well, this year is no different, and on November 12th, Pearson will be putting on another one of these conferences at the Harvard Medical Center in Boston. This year’s speaker lineup is better than ever with topics including:

• ARC (Automatic reference counting) – Jeff LarMarche : Jeff is one of my programming heroes and if you have never heard him speak you are missing out.
• iCloud
• Blocks/Cocoa Run Loops
• Game Development – Put on by Rod Strougo, this will be an interesting talk on Game Dev using Cocos2D. Rod and Ray Wenderlich literally wrote the book on Game Development using Cocos2D.
• Moving To 3D : Mike Daley I have seen Mike talk a few times and he really shows us 3D n00bs how it’s done and makes OpenGL easy and fun to learn.
• Many More!

If the list above isn’t quite enough to get you excited, I have a deal for you!!! You can use the promo code BSTBLOG at checkout and get $100 off your ticket. But you should probably hurry. If you register by Friday, September 30th, you get an additional $200 off. So, let’s do the math:

Cost:$745
Early-$200
Promo-$100
Total$475

So, register by the 30th of September, and go for $475.

I will not only be going, but the company I work for will be doing the VTM sponsorship package and have a table where we will be demoing our new secret project. It will blow your mind. So, if you do come, please stop by and chat with us (more details to come).

I hope to see you there!

Happy iCoding.