The iPhone Mom

I haven’t tried this one out yet but it’s free through tomorrow (4/1/10). Decorating Easter eggs is my least favorite holiday tradition because it always ends in a dye spill.  Dress Eggy lets you decorate eggs without the mess in your kitchen. Maybe I should quit boiling my eggs now….

Price when Reviewed: FREE through 4/1/10

Seller: Emantras, Inc.

In the past I’ve reviewed a few apps that I hope to never have to use, the ones that are designed for use in an emergency situation. Silent Bodyguard is one of those apps. It works as a “silent panic button” and will send out your location via text message and email if you activate the alarm. You select the emergency contacts that you want notified and then it’s just a matter of tapping a “whistle” button to turn on the alarm. A text message and email will be sent every 60 seconds to your emergency contact. It gives your name and your GPS location so you can be located if you’re in a situation where you need help and can’t talk on the phone.

It was interesting to read that you will only be allowed to activate the alarm five times in one month. After that you’ll be limited to two times. This is meant to prevent misuse of the app and could also keep you from a “Boy Who Cried Wolf” situation.

Silent Bodyguard will also work on an iPod Touch as long as you’re in an area with WiFi coverage. When we upgrade our phones and convert our 3G to a Touch for our kids this app will be on it. It’s a great source of  peace of mind for yourself and your children. You’ll know that if you (or they) ever find yourself in a situation where you need to quietly let someone know where you’re at you’ve got an emergency plan.

One last note, tonight I attempted to test out the app and send a message to my husband. BUT, he was unable to get it until later because his phone had run out of batteries. Since we’re probably not the only ones to practically drain our phone’s batteries each day it might be nice to have the ability to send text messages to two different numbers. I know that would run up the text messaging charges but in an emergency it would be worth it. You’d just have to make sure that your kids understood exactly  when they should activate the alarm and when they should not.

Price when Reviewed: $3.99

Seller: Fun at Work

Disclosure: I received a free copy of this app for review purposes.

The Boy Giant has been on my iPhone for a little while and my son has been asking (and asking) if I’ve read it yet.  I just hadn’t had a chance but when I finally sat down with the app I realized why he’d been so persistent. This story is cute and the illustrations make it downright irresistible. This is the story of Hujo, a BIG little boy. Hugo’s has a problem, he keeps growing and growing and growing. This causes him all sorts of trouble but don’t worry – the story has a happy ending. I found the illustrations to be charming. Hujo has a shape that’s a bit like a great big lima bean and  you can’ help but root for him as his shirt creeps up higher and higher as he grows bigger and bigger. The story’s illustrations have a slight animation to them. It’s a subtle effect (not in your face, loud and everywhere) and it adds to the story. I also enjoyed the sound effects and music, they fit the story’s mood perfectly.

You have two choices when reading The Boy Giant – listen to a narration or read the story to yourself. If you shut the app down mid-story your last page will be bookmarked and you can return to it when you want to read again. Under the settings you can adjust the sensitivity of page turning, making it easier or harder to “turn” the screens of the book. Sound effects can be turned on and off and you can adjust the volume of the narration.  The only thing that I think was missing was to have a way to return to the main menu without exiting the app and starting over again. Other than that I found this to be an absolutely adorable app.

*A free version of The Boy Giant is also available. It contains the first half of the story.

Price when Reviewed: $.99

Seller: Wotsamaflip

Disclosure: I received a free copy of this app for review purposes.

If you’re ready to turn your iPhone into a mooing, beeping, trumpeting piece of noise then you’re ready for this app. Sound Touch features four categories, each with twelve different sounds. For those keeping track that’s 48 wonderful sounds.  Each sound is represented by a picture on a button. Tap the button to hear the sound and see a real life picture of the thing that makes it. The categories are animals, wild animals, transportation and musical instruments.

Sound Touch is simple and fun. Sure to capture your toddlers interest and drive you crazy with the noise.  But I’ll take being driven crazy in exchange for a few minutes of toddler distraction when needed. Plus, the app features an accordion and I think it’s wonderful that oft forgotten instrument got some iPhone app love.

Price when Reviewed: $.99

Seller: Sound Touch

Disclosure: I received a free copy of this app for review purposes.

Pounce is a fun solitaire type game. You can play by yourself, race against virtual players or play against real people using a Bluetooth connection . You’re trying to be the first one to get rid of all your cards, including those in your “pounce” pile. The app has a nice tutorial that walks you through how to play and it won’t take you long to learn. Pounce gives you a ton of options. You can change the game’s background and the backs of the cards you are playing against. When you compete against a virtual player you’re allowed to select the speed they play at. This makes the game doable for kids too. You’re allowed to decide whether you have to finish out your hand or score to a certain number of points to win. You can even set whether you are a left handed or right handed player.

Once I got the hang of Pounce I had a really hard time putting it away. It’s a great time filler that can become a great time eater because it’s tough to put down. Fun game!

Price when Reviewed: $1.99

Seller: Double Apps, Inc.

Disclosure: I received a free copy of this app for review purposes.

Alien Equation is a math app that really works your brain. Once I figured out how to play it I actually enjoyed it (math, me??) but it took me a little bit to realize what I was supposed to do. I like this app but if I’ve got one suggestion it’s to include some instructions on the main menu. I ended up going to the website, watching a video and then light bulb went on.

The app gives you a grid of numbers and operators (that’s the fancy way of saying the addition, subtraction, multiplication, division and equals signs.) You need to arrange these tiles into equations and when you do they disappear and you earn points. When you’ve earned enough points you’ll move on to the next round. In order to make your equations you’ll need to move the numbers and operators around the grid. To do this you swipe along the rows and columns until you’ve got things lined up. Once you’ve got the hang of it you’ll see that you can rearrange things to get them right where you want them. This is definitely a game for elementary schoolers and older. I’d suggest that it’s best for those who know their math facts fairly well.

Alien Equation allows you to have different player profiles and it remembers where everyone was in their games. There is a practice mode where you can work with only addition or subtraction, etc. The app also gives you the ability to access your iPod and turn on your own music. I liked that feature. The graphics and game play are very smooth and the game moves quickly (once you’ve got the hang of things).

This app had a learning curve for me but I have a feeling if I’d given it to my kids first they would have figured out how to play much faster than I did. Isn’t that the way things go? But in spite of myself I think this is a great game for math practice and your kids won’t even realize they’re doing more than just playing a game.

Price when Reviewed: $.99

Seller: Funner Labs

Disclosure: I received a free copy of this app for review purposes.

Build a Baby Bragbook now has company in the App Store, Scott Singer has just released Build a Birthday Bragbook. The concept is the same, you create a personalized story about your child only this time it’s about their birthday not their birth day. You can customize your text, add in your own photos and record your own narration. It all means more chances for my kids to look at themselves on my phone!

Price when Reviewed: $.99 (limited time sale price)

Seller: Scott Singer

Disclosure: I received a free copy of this app for review purposes.

I was all set to ignore the iPad until it had gone through a few versions and the inevitable tweaking that Apple is sure to do. Then I began getting emails from developers mentioning how they were working on iPad apps and by the way would I be interested in promo codes. I made an offhand remark to my husband about one of these emails and he confessed that he was planning on secretly ordering an iPad. My first reaction was “Don’t!” but then I took another look at it online and (even though I still hate the name) I’ve been swayed.  So yes, I’m going to be one of those people who took the bait and has an iPad delivered to their door on Saturday.  I’ll let you know what I think of it next week!

Oh Crumps! tells the of  poor Farmer Felandro who is trying to get a good night’s sleep in spite of his animals.  The story follows a repetitive pattern as it progresses but pay attention! As Farmer Felandro becomes tired his lists of chores starts to get silly. Watch the illustrations grow silly too. The text for Oh Crumps! is long and kept separate from the illustrations. The illustrations are very professional and look great on the screen by themselves. Some of the illustrations allow you to tap the screen and hear sounds. Oh Crumps! is a longer story and better for older children. Younger ones might miss the humor of the story and lose interest with the longer text.

Price when Reviewed: $3.99

Round is a Mooncake is a book about the shapes found in a little girls neighborhood. The story tells of circles, squares and rectangles that she sees in her everyday life. The story shows many things that are unique to the Asian culture. At the end there is a dictionary that explains what some of them are. Round is a Mooncake flows well and is easy to listen to, I like the rhymes that have been used in the storytelling. This story was illustrated by the Newberry Honor winner Grace Lin and feels more like a picture book than an iPhone app.

Price when Reviewed: $2.99

Seller: PicPocket Books

Disclosure: I received a free copy of this app for review purposes.

News Addict is a slick looking app that gives you access to fourty-one websites for news sites, magazines, network channels and major newspapers.  The app is designed to look like a newsstand with the icons for the different websites spread across it.  Tap on the website you’d like to read and the it will open within the app. From here you can navigate your way around the site. There is a feature called “tilt scrolling” that allows you to tilt your iPhone to scroll down/up the screen. At times I really liked this feature but at other times it drove me a little crazy. There were times when the websites took a minute to load up in the app but I like the way News Addict gives me access to so much in one place.

Price when Reviewed: $.99 (special introductory pricing)

Seller: TapMode

Disclosure: I received a free copy of this app for review purposes.