The iPhone Mom

Another magic iPhone app – one that somehow works but I have no idea how it does it’s thing. If you’re in the car listening to the radio and you want to know the name and artist of the song you’re hearing, you use Shazam to get that information. The app claims to work in restaurants, stores, etc. but I haven’t tried it out there.

It’s simple to use – just tap the “Tag Now” button and the app “listens” to the song and then pulls up the song name and artist. You have to do this while lyrics are playing.  Shazam will keep a list of all the music you have “tagged”. If you tap the name of the song the app pulls up more information. From here you can go directly to iTunes to get the song. Some songs will also pull up a link to You Tube. You can also see the biography and discography of the artist.

For those of us still driving around without satellite radio in our vehicles this app is a nice way to figure out what you’re listening to, without waiting for a DJ to tell you. One snag I’ve run into, it doesn’t do a great job identifying children’s music. I tried it out on an Imagination Movers CD and it was unable to give me the song or artist. I’ve also tried it out in my husband’s car on the XM kids channel, again without success.

But Shazam’s free and maybe they’ll add extensive children’s music to their magical database one of these days.

Price when Reviewed: Free

Seller: Shazam Entertainment, Ltd.

Available on iTunes

The premise behind Kinder Stats is not one a parent wants to dwell on, but I think it’s an absolutely wonderful thing to have on your iPhone. The idea of this app is that should anything ever happen to your child, you have a record of all their vital statistics right on your iPhone. For example, if you’re at the store and your child gets lost you can immediately pull up a photo and description of them. This is a great thing for me because I am sure that if I was ever in a situation where something happened to one of my kids I wouldn’t be thinking clearly. At all.

Kinder Stats is very easy to use. The plus sign lets you enter in a child’s information. You can add in photos, their name, nickname, date of birth, age, height & weight, distinguishing features – all the things you hope to never have to recall in an emergency. Since it’s so easy to update you can easily add new photos, or change the height and weight as your child grows. You can also email out your child’s information if needed.

A great app.

Price when Reviewed: $.99

Seller: Brad Brooks

Available on iTunes

Whenever my husband and I go out, which isn’t too often, we inevitably have a discussion about how much to pay the babysitter. I’m of the opinion that you round up and keep the babysitter happy and wanting to come back. He’s likes to figure out the exact amount of time they’ve been over and pay accordingly. Which always leads us into the discussion of do we pay from the time we picked them up or the time they stepped foot in our house. Pleasant way to end a date. I found the Baby Sitter app on iTunes and it intrigued me because it claims to keep track of the exact time you’ve had your sitter and then calculate what you should pay. 

It’s a simple app – you simply tap “Start Baby Sitter”, then select the rate you’re going to pay. Tap the green “Go Out” button and the app starts tracking how long you’ve been gone. It also updates what your time has cost you so far. When you’re back home you tap the red “I’m Back” button and the timer stops.

I wondered if you had to keep the Baby Sitter app open the whole time for the timer to work, but it continues to run even if you’ve shut the app and done something else with your iPhone. If you’ve done this you’ll notice a red number above the icon on your iPhone screen – this tells you you’ve got a timer running. When you open Baby Sitter back up you can select the date and it’ll take you back to the timer screen.

Baby Sitter is a simple app and worth a look if you go out frequently enough to want to keep accurate track of what you’re spending on your sitter.

Price when Reviewed: $.99

Seller: Patrick von Aufschnaiter

Available at the iTunes store

Is it just me or are coupons all the rage right now? I used to get looks when I presented my stack at the checkout, not anymore. Seems like everyone is clipping and doubling and looking for discounts. Which brings me to this great new app, Coupon Sherpa. If you’re looking for savings, put this one on your iPhone. You’ll more then earn back the cost of the app with what you can save the first time you use it.

Coupon Sherpa brings store specific coupons right to your iPhone. It uses your iPhone’s location and brings up the coupons that are valid in your area. So you won’t be getting any for stores located clear across the country. The coupons are constantly updated and changing. I was skeptical about what kinds of coupons the Coupon Sherpa would actually have. The last coupon app I reviewed was almost entirely internet deals and nothing that applied to my life as a mom. So I very pleasantly surprised to find coupons for JoAnn’s Fabrics, Papa Murphy’s, The Children’s Place, Bath & Body Works – all stores I shop and all for discounts I’d actually be able to use. At the time of this review Coupon Sherpa is showing 164 coupons available for my area.

Using the Coupons

The idea behind Coupon Sherpa is that you’ve got coupons available right on your iPhone. I get store coupons in the mail but seem to always forget them when I’m out and about. This app puts those coupons on my iPhone – plus it gives me coupons I might not have gotten in the mail. When you’ve found a coupon you want to use you bring it up on your iPhone and show it at the register. Some stores have the ability to scan the barcode on your iPhone. Some will need to type in the numbers of the code. If you’re hesitant about using the coupon this way you can email it from your iPhone to your home computer and then print it out. Another plus I noticed was that many coupons had an online shopping promo code, so you could use that when ordering on the internet.

I emailed the developer of Coupon Sherpa to ask him how good stores are about taking these coupons. Before he launched the app he did extensive research and said almost 100% of the time the stores accept the coupon. I haven’t tried a coupon out yet but that’s only because I don’t currently need anything from any of the stores….yet. I didn’t want to hold off on a review for this great app until I’d done my shopping. I seriously considered a splurge at Babies R’Us (in the name of research of course) but decided spending money on things I don’t need right now defeats the point of using a coupon in the first place. But I can tell you the next time I hit Papa Murphy’s for Friday night dinner I’m pulling this app out for the pizza coupon. 

If you want more information about the app you can visit the website www.couponsherpa.com. I’m excited to watch Coupon Sherpa and I’m hoping the list of stores continues to grow as people catch on to using the iPhone this way.

Seller: Coupon Sherpa, LLC

Price when Reviewed: $1.99     FREE

Available at the iTunes store

We’re getting to the point in my pregnancy where it’s time to start thinking of baby names. With our first child we discussed names (constantly) from the very beginning. Now we’re on number four and it’s something along the lines of casually mentioning “What do you think about Betsy Sue Jane?” only to quickly move on to more immediate matters. I’ve donated all my old baby name books and I’m not planning on buying another one. So I turned to my iPhone for help and I came across the My Baby app. The reason I tried this one instead of some of the others baby naming apps is because it’s free.

My Baby lets you search for baby names – choose either the boy or girl button. Tap the name you like and the app pulls up the origins of the name and the basic meaning. You can choose to add the name to “My Names” and it’ll show up on a personalized list. If you choose the meaning button you enter in a meaning and it finds names that fit. A glitch I discovered doing this – if you enter in a meaning not listed by the app it shuts down. I tried “silent” – thinking that’d be a perfect meaning for a baby name and the app kept shutting down on me. I restarted my iPhone but the glitch persisted.

If you touch the “Origins” button you can select different name origins. After that when you search for names My Baby will only search within those origins. The “My Names” button shows you the names you’ve added to your personalized list.

My Baby is a simple enough app and it works for my needs. But if you’re naming your first child and really want to do your research you might want to check out some of the pricier apps.

Seller: IRONA, inc.

Price when Reviewed: Free

Click to see My Baby on iTunes

This app works as a rattle for your baby. Let me say upfront that I’m not a rattle mom. I don’t have anything against them, they’ve just never been my thing. But if you and your baby like rattles you might be interested in the Bunny Rattle app.

Open the app up and you’ll see a white clay bunny holding a giant rattle.This is the Little White Bunny from the stories of the same name, available at the iTunes store (see my review of “Happy Birthday Little White Bunny”). He takes up most of the screen so he’ll definitely catch your child’s interest. I noticed that when I had this app open and my phone was sitting next to me, the bunny moved on his own. He looks around and his ears flap. A nice use of animation on the iPhone. Touch the moving bunny icon at the bottom of the screen and the bunny will start to shake his rattle. He goes and goes and goes. The Energizer bunny with a rattle. You’ll see circles at the bottom of the screen, touch each one and the rattle makes a different sound. I think my favorite sound was the bells.

If you tap the finger icon you can get the bunny to shake his rattle just by touching him. Here again you can change the sound of the rattle. The last icon looks like a shaking iPhone. Tap this one and you shake your iPhone to get the bunny going. When you stop shaking the phone the bunny and his rattle stop moving.

The Little White Bunny is fun to watch and he does a good job with his rattle. Instead of handing the iPhone over to a baby I think this app would be better for older children or parents who like rattles and don’t mind sitting and making the bunny move. I haven’t checked out any other rattle apps so I don’t have anything to compare to the Bunny Rattle’s price. It’s listed at $5.99 right now and that seems a bit high to me. But the neat thing about this app is the animation so maybe that’s why it’s priced up there.

Seller: Edward Povazan/Silver Bunny Books

Price when Reviewed: $5.99

Available at iTunes

This app is one book in a series, all about a Little White Bunny and his adventures. The story, “Happy Birthday Little White Bunny” is a simple one with colorful illustrations. Start the app up and the story will be read aloud to your child. Under options you can set the pages to turn automatically or allow your child to “turn the pages” .

What makes these stories neat is that you can record yourself reading them and then set the option so your child hears your voice when the app is going. To do this you’ll need to plug in your iPhone earphones – the ones that have a mic built in. Once you’ve plugged them in you can turn on the record option and speak into the mic. As of right now there’s no text to read for the story. This means you can use the pictures as a springboard and create your own unique version. I’ve been thinking that my kids would probably like to record their own stories. What child doesn’t enjoy recording themselves and then listening to their voice over and over? 

Five Little White Bunny stories have been released and according to the website (www.silverbunnybooks.com) there will be one released each month through the end of the year. The stories are all available for download at iTunes and each one costs $1.99.

Seller: Silver Bunny Books/Edward Povazan

Price when Reviewed: $1.99

Click here to see the Little White Bunny on iTunes:

This is an app that you are going to want to grab as soon as you can! Keep reading all the way to the end of my review for the feature that makes this app a slam dunk. (Saving the best for last I guess.)

When you first open up Grocery Gadget you’ll get the opportunity to watch demo videos that show you how to use it. If you choose not to watch them you can find them later on you tube. To be honest I only watched one and couldn’t stomach another.

But in spite of the videos this app is really onto something. With Grocery Gadget you can create as many Shopping Lists as you want. Use the plus sign on the “List” screen to name and add lists to your heart’s desire. Once your lists are set up you can go ahead and add items to them. To do this select the list you want and then touch the “Prepare” button at the top of the screen. Use the plus sign to add items. On this screen “ABC” shows you an alphabetical list of the items Grocery Gadget has put its master list. “Category” breaks the items down into categories. The “Add New” button lets you enter in your own item. I like to use the search feature. For me it’s the fastest way to find what I want. I type what I’m looking for into the search bar. As I’m typing Grocery Gadget pulls up items that are similar to what I’ve entered. If the item shows up here I can select it. If not, I finish typing and then touch the “Add New” button. Once you’ve added something here it’ll show up on the master list from now on. Go through the process of adding items until you’ve got everything you want on your list. You can adjust quantities as you go along. When your list is done and you’re ready to go to the store tap the “Shop” button at the top of the screen.

The “Shop” screen shows everything you’ve included on your chosen list. As you go along and put things in your basket touch the empty squares next to them on the app. A checkmark will appear showing that you’ve picked it up. If you touch the name of the item you can edit it, change the quantity you want, enter remarks, enter the price and change the category of where it’s found. You can also take a picture of the item and add it directly to the app. If you’re typing in prices as you shop you’ll notice a running total at the bottom of your screen – next to the words “In Cart”. This shows you how much you’ve spent so far. Also on the bottom of the screen are options for sorting the list. The “check” sorts your list by checked/unchecked items. “ABC” sorts your list alphabetically, “CAT” sorts them by categories and the button with the lines on it will sort your list in the original order you entered it. There is also a red undo button. If you tap that you can choose to clear all your checkboxes or set the quantities on your list back to zero. I set mine back to zero after I’m done shopping.

I really like being able to store multiple lists. I buy different things at different stores and this helps me keep them all straight. Once you’ve entered items on a list, they’ll remain there until you choose to delete them. When you select your list you’ll see the items you’ve added to it previously. Now you just adjust the quantity you want and it’ll show up (or not) when you go to the “Shop” screen. After you’ve shopped a few times and set prices for your items you’ll get a running total by “In List” at the bottom of your shopping screen. This shows you what your list is most likely going to cost you. You can set your local tax rate – do this under the general settings for your iPhone – and it’ll figure tax into your totals. For me getting this set up is going to require some shopping trips without my kids so I have the time to enter in prices. But once I’ve got it done it’ll be a great budgeting help.

Now for the feature that sets Grocery Gadget apart. On the bottom of your “Shopping Lists” screen you’ll see a button that says “Groups”. Tap it and you’ll can sign up for the web version of Grocery Gadget. The first time you tap “Groups” you’ll give your group a name and choose your password. You can sign up right from your iPhone. Now go to www.grocerygadgets.com and choose to sign in. Again, enter in your group name and password and you’ll see the lists you’ve put on your iPhone. From here you can create more lists and add items.This feature is a new update and I haven’t put it to a hard core shopping test yet but what I’ve added to the internet list shows up right away on my iPhone screen, as long as my phone is signed into the group. It doesn’t need to be connected with the USB cable, just sign into the group through the Grocery Gadget app. This internet feature is exciting for a couple of reasons. First, I can manage my lists on my computer, which has a bigger screen. Sounds silly but it’s a big deal to me.  Second, I can share lists with my husband. If I keep the grocery list up to date and he gets the urge to shop on his way home he can sign into the group and see what we need.

My experience so far has me thinking that Grocery Gadget’s got most of the shopping bases covered. I like Grocery Zen too, for different reasons (the main one being the ability to integrate recipes) but Grocery Gadget keeps my multiple lists separate and I can update it on the web. That alone makes it the grocery shopping app for me right now and well worth the $2.99 price.

Seller: Flixoft, Inc.

Price when Reviewed: $2.99

Click here to see Grocery Gadget at iTunes

This is a hilarious app but it’s not staying on my iPhone. This is not a statement against the app, iFu Kung Fu does exactly what it promises. However, my son has seen Kung Fu Panda many times and picked up a few moves. If he found this app on my iPhone it’d be broken in thirty seconds.

My husband tipped me off to iFu Kung Fu and actually demonstrated the app for me. Yes, this means he performed some mad Kung Fu skills in the kitchen. Again, in the right hands it’s a hilarious app. You open up the app then hold tight to your iPhone and unleash your inner Bruce Lee. Your iPhone will reward you with your very own Kung Fu sound effects, triggered by your punches and kicks.

If you grab this app then you must tap the “i” button and visit the disclaimer screen. It makes for entertaining reading….along the lines of “by using this application you agree that you will use this application and mobile device with good common sense.” I’d love to have my law school attending brother analyze the whole thing for me.

iFu Kung Fu is perfect for a chuckle but if you’ve got a little boy who can access your iPhone you’ll want to think twice before downloading it. Now a little boy trapped in a man’s body is another thing altogether…..

Seller: Oceanit Laboratories, Inc.

Price when Reviewed: Free

Click here to see the app at the iTunes store

A reader tipped me off to The Weather Channel app. She said that she likes it better then the built in iPhone weather app and after using it I’ve decided that I agree with her.

The Weather Channel app uses your iPhone’s current location and pulls up the weather for that area. You can also enter in different locations to get a peek at what’s going on there too. To do that tap the "Location" button and then use the plus sign.

On the "Current" screen you’ll see some basic weather information including the humidity, wind  speed, etc. My favorite part is that you get an actual temperature reading and a "feels like" temperature. This is a great feature when you’re trying to decide what the kids should wear to the bus stop.

Towards the bottom of the screen you can tap the "Hourly" button to see what the weather will be like for the day- broken down hour by hour. Tap "36 Hour" and you get a detailed description/forecast for the next day and a half. The "10 Day" button shows you the next (drumroll please) ten days of weather.

Down at the very bottom of the screen are even more buttons. "Explore Map" pulls up a radar map of your area. "Video" shows you a recorded Weather Channel forecast for your local area. "Severe" will display a list of any weather alerts for your location. The "More" button has some great information. I’d suggest you go there and then tap "Tips & Tricks". It’s got some great advice and there seem to be some nifty things you can do with the map feature.

This app has great depth to it and best of all, it’s free. Thank you Kathryn for the tip. The Weather Channel app is a keeper.

Seller: The Weather Channel

Price when Reviewed: Free

Click here to see the app on iTunes