The iPhone Mom

Last week I was given a heads up about new PBS Kids Photo Factory app. The app is free and it lets you jazz up your photos with favorite PBS Kids characters. I was impressed with how easy it was to use and some of the editing features that had been included. Here are some of the highlights.

*The app lets you use a photo from your camera roll or you can take a new one with the iPhone’s camera.

*The photo can be resized and rotated. You can also add a fancy frame.

*Our favorite part of the app was decorating our photo.  You’ll choose a PBS Kids show and be given “stickers” of characters from that show. Stickers can be resized, rotated and layered on each other.

*When your picture is complete you can save it, email it to a friend or share it on Twitter or Facebook.

There were also a few things I noticed that will hopefully be addressed in updates.

*Some shows have more stickers than others. For example, Sesame Street only features Grover and Elmo but Word Girl has main characters and the show’s villains.

*You’re able to switch shows while you are working on a photo but when you make the change the previous show’s stickers are removed. It would be nice if you could combine shows.

It won’t take long for preschoolers and older children to get the hang of the PBS Kids Photo Factory. The app has definitely been designed with the kiddos in mind. I’m anticipating finding plenty of photos featuring Captain Huggy Face on my camera roll.

Price when Reviewed: FREE

Seller: PBS Kids

Any app that has “a-ma-jig” in it’s name is worth a look, isn’t it? Slide-a-ma-jig is an app that gives you creatures and then lets you mix and match their parts. It currently features 30 different characters, each divided up into five body sections. (Hat section, head, mid-section, legs and feet.) Pick a character, touch on one of it’s sections and then swipe to the left or right to switch to a new body part. Each time you swipe you’ll hear a cartoony sound effect. Zoinks! The original Slide-a-ma-jig creatures are something else all on their own but things get pretty wild when you start combining their bits and pieces. You can make some disturbingly wacky combinations if you put your mind to it. And if you’re in more of a random mood you can also shake your iPhone to get a creature that the app creates out of various creature parts. There are also 20 different backgrounds that you can use to really mix things up. My thoughts on Slide-a-ma-jig?  I think it’s silly, icky totally irresistible. My kids agree.

Price when Reviewed: $.99

Seller: Lucky Radish Amusements

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

Maddition turns addition and multiplication practice into a game. Bubbles with numbers on them float around the iPhone’s screen. At the bottom of the screen are buttons showing the numbers 1-9.  You have to tap on two numbers that add up to one of the bubble numbers on the screen. When you get it right the bubble pops and you move on to another one. If you get it wrong the bubbles grow bigger and bigger until they pop. When you begin playing you’re only allowed to have three bubbles pop before the game is over but as you do well you’ll earn bonus bubbles. If you want to make the game tougher you can switch to multiplication mode. Then you’ll have to tap two numbers that multiply together to make the bubble numbers. You can adjust both the level of difficulty and the number of bubbles that appear on the screen.  Lastly, there is a practice mode to the game that you can turn on or off.

Maddition is a change of pace from regular flashcards. It would be nice to see a subtraction mode in future updates.

I’ve been given five promo codes for Maddition to give away. If you’ve got a child who could use some math practice leave me a comment. The first five comments win a code. (Promo codes will only work in the U.S. App Store)

Price when Reviewed: $.99

Seller: thrum

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

Here’s a simple game that requires you to have fast fingers and quick eyes. Not my strongest skills but I gave the game a try anyway. In descention you’ve got a row of boxes that falls from the top of the screen. On top of that is another row of boxes and another and another. They just keep coming. The boxes will be different colors or have different shapes or icons on them, depending on the level that you are playing. At the bottom of the screen is a row of matching boxes. You must tap the boxes in this bottom row in the order of the row that’s falling down. When you’ve eliminated that row you then move on to the next one. Points are scored and will be higher if you clear the boxes in the correct order. As you move up in levels the colors and icons on the boxes change and there are more boxes in each row. (You can also change up the icons in the game’s options.) The falling rows are supposed to speed up as you eliminate more and more but it seemed to me that they were slowing down and then I’d catch up. There were a few times when I had the rows completely cleared and then had to wait for more to fall. Also, I’m not sure at what point you finish a level. I made it up to line 50 and the game was still going strong. A time limit wouldn’t be a bad addition to the game.  Descention turned out to be easy for me, even at the higher levels, because of the time it took rows to fall. My experience with the game felt too easy for an adult but I think it would be just about right for an older elementary school aged child.

If you’d like to give descention a try leave me a comment. I’ve got five promo codes to give away and the first five comments will win them. (Promo codes will only work in the U.S. App Store)

Price when Reviewed: $.99

Seller: thrum

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

Kid’z Maze is a labyrinth style game that has been developed for young children. It’s not intended for adults although honestly, these mazes are more my speed than the adult versions. The app has labyrinths without any holes so there’s no way to lose the ball and have to start over.  To navigate the mazes you hold the iPhone in landscape mode and tilt it in the direction you’d like the ball to roll. Guide the ball through the maze, when you reach the end you can move on to a new one. The app features 100 different mazes.  As you navigate through the labyrinths your ball will run into balloons that have the numbers 1-10 on them. Pop a balloon and the number is said aloud. So as you travel through the maze you get some practice counting numbers.

Kid’z Maze features four different labyrinth sizes – Small, Medium, Large or Extra Large. As the size increases so does the difficulty. You also have the ability to change the color of your ball, the color of the maze’s background and the colors of the tiles.

I think Kid’z Maze is a great app for preschoolers (and probably younger children). It gives them the feel of a big kid game without the frustration that can come from trying to play one. The fact that it teaches numbers is an added bonus.

Price when Reviewed: $.99

Seller: Omer Vinik

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

Emily’s Girl Talk is a collection of games, some of which I played when I was (much) younger. It includes MASH, The Lemon Game, Cootie Catcher and Love. Back in the day I played them with paper and pencil but things have come a long way. Since my girls are the perfect age for this app I asked my 7 year old do the review. She gave me a great run down and what follows are her words. I put my comments in blue. Take it away Miss S!

Emily’s Girl Talk has four games that are girly. The first game is MASH. There are different categories that you have to fill out. (crushes, cars, cities, jobs, wedding dress colors and numbers) If you press the plus sign you can pick one of the words that are already there. If you tap on the line you can type in your own. (The app comes with a list of preset things you can choose from to fill in the categories. These are seen when you tap the plus sign. If you want to enter in your own tap on the line next to the plus and you’ll get the keyboard.) If you tap “Emily’s Pick” the app fills in the things for you. At the end you pick a number and it does something with that number and then makes a prediction. The prediction is of one thing from each category. It tells you who you’re going to marry and where you work and what car you have and your city and number of kids.

The Lemon Game – You type in girl names, boy names, body parts, cities and things you can do with a lemon. (Again, plus sign brings up preset list, tap on line to type.) Or click on “Emily Picks” and she picks things for you. Touch a lucky number. Like MASH it uses your number too but it takes your things to make a silly sentence. It’s kind of like Mad Libs. My sentence when I showed my mom was “Victoria will suck Kevin’s ear in Lima”. (I’m not so sure about that sentence!)

Cootie Catcher – Type in a question that you want a yes or no answer to. (There are no preset questions.) Then tap on a number on the cootie catcher, then on a color, another color and then you get an answer to your question. The answer is not always true. I like this version of Cootie Catcher. My girls can play it and now I don’t feel guilt because I threw away all the paper versions that were lying around the house. Plus there are no mean results.

Love – Enter your name and the name of your crush. I did my sister and Obi Wan Kenobi. It does some sort of calculation and comes up with your chance of love, like 23%, 38% or even 100%.

The Journal – The journal keeps track of everything (your results) for the games you’ve played.

Emily’s Sticker Album – When you finish a game it gives you a new sticker for that game.

Email Emily – You can email Emily by clicking on “Email Emily” on the front page.

Options – Has background music, sound effects, something called Twitter settings and a clear button for your journal.

Emily’s Girl Talk has been a big hit with my girls! I think it’s perfect for tween aged girls. I’ve been given two promo codes to give away, if you’d like one leave me a comment. The codes will only work in the US app store.

Price when Reviewed: $.99

Seller: Broken Thumbs Apps

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

Breaker, Breaker good buddy, here’s an app that’s got little boy written all over it. Truck Modz let’s you build your own truck and then take it for a ride down the highway. And guess what – there’s even a CB radio for your listening pleasure. The app begins with your truck a-riding down that lonesome road. Tap on the wrench in the top left corner to switch up your ride. Choose a new color for a paint job. Tap on the wheels to swap them out for some stylish new rims. Tap on the front of the truck to change the type of cab and then tap on the back to change that up too. You can mix up snow plows and dump trucks and go crazy.   When you’re done and back on the road you can tap on the CB radio icon on the bottom right of the screen. Each time you tap it you’ll hear a different trucking message.

The 3D graphics in Truck Modz are fun. You can shake your iPhone to see the truck from a different angle. The background is constantly moving and changing. You’ll drive by cows and cactus, pine trees and road signs. Your truck moves forward by default but if you swipe your finger to the right the truck will stop. Swipe to the right again and your truck will begin driving backwards. Like Mater! There are also sound effects and some driving music. And yes, one of those sound effects is the warning beeping that trucks make when they’re backing up. You wouldn’t want to hit anyone on that virtual road.

I thought this app was well put together and my son enjoyed it. I’ve got just a couple of suggestions that I think might make it a great 18 wheel hit. The first is to make the wrench and CB icons just a smidge bigger. When my son first tried to play he couldn’t figure out how to change the truck and when I first saw the wrench I thought it would take me to a settings menu. Maybe making it larger and more “cartoony” would help the kids know that’s where they need to tap. Right now when you change the colors for the truck it repaints the entire truck. It’d be fun to be able to paint the truck’s front and back separately. Finally, the included recordings are good but sometimes I found them a little hard to hear and understand. Something that would make this app a slam dunk at my house would be if the app provided a list of CB phrases and let you record yourself saying them.  My kids would think that was an absolute HOOT and I don’t think their the only ones who’d feel that way.

Lucky for you I’ve run through  my limited knowledge of what you say when you’re on the open road. Which means that I can’t think of a clever way to end this review other than “Over and Out”. Bet you’re relieved.

Price when Reviewed: $1.99

Seller: LotusLand Studios, Inc.

Super Search 60 puts a twist on the hidden object game. This game gives you 60 seconds to find as many hidden objects on the screen as you can. At the top of the screen is the name of what you’re looking for and how many you need. (Sneakers x2). At the bottom of the screen is your score and the amount of time that you’ve got left. Tap on the objects as you find them and they’ll disappear. Now the row that had the object will shift down and  a new object appears at the top of the row. This keeps the objects on screen constantly changing as you play. If you take too long to find an object it will start to wiggle at you until you get the hint. When your 60 seconds are up the game is over and you’ll see your final score.

Super Search 60 is connected to Facebook so you can play against your friends. But if you’d rather not play against anyone else then you can compete against the clock instead. I’ve got just a couple of minor suggestions for the app. When you begin you’re asked to connect to Facebook. If you cancel the Facebook connection then you’ll be able to play offline. This is the process each time you visit the main screen. It would be nice to have the choice to play offline before you’re asked to connect to Facebook. I think it would simplify the process. My last suggestion is for a score board that keeps track of scores when you play the game by yourself.

Super Search 60 (Unlimited) lets you play the game for as long as you like. Super Search 60 (Free) allows you twenty minutes of play against your friends each week. I’m not sure if offline play counts toward those twenty minutes. I enjoyed Super Search 60. I thought it was fast paced, fun and something that my older children and I can both enjoy.

**Please see Matthew’s comment below about a game update!**

Price: Super Search 60 (Unlimited) – $1.99

Super Search 60 – Free

Seller: KlickTock

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

Preschool Connect the Dots is a HUGE collection of connect the dot puzzles for your preschooler. The app has more than 200 puzzles to complete and features a ton of customization. This app is perfect for preschoolers and it’s easy to connect the dots. Tap on the beginning dot and then draw a line with your finger to the next one and so on. As you touch the dots the number or letter on it is said out loud. When the dots are all connected the outline turns into a picture. The graphics are very well done.

In the settings you can really make this app your own. You can decide if you want to see connect the dots with numbers, upper or lower case letters. You can also turn on or off the ability to draw your own line from dot to dot. There is an autoplay feature that will start a new puzzle right after you finish one. Turn this off and you’ll need to tap an arrow to advance through the puzzles. The puzzles are grouped into five categories. In the settings you can turn off the categories that you don’t want to see in puzzles. Finally the app features three hint modes. Easy mode will automatically show you the next dot that needs to be tapped. Normal mode doesn’t show the next dot until you’ve tapped the wrong dot. Hard mode shows no hints at all.

Preschool Connect the Dots is very polished and put together. This app will provide plenty of entertainment for preschoolers and peace for mom. 

Price when Reviewed: $.99

Seller: Darren Murtha Design

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

I found Playscape Matching to be an absolutely adorable matching game. The screen is covered with rows of clouds. Hiding behind the clouds are numbers, colors, shapes or letters. To play you tap on the different clouds, looking for matches. When you find a match a little bear named Ben will pop up and say “Yay!” or “Wow!” or something else encouraging. I don’t know why but the way he talks cracked us all up.

If you tap the small “i” in the bottom left of the screen you’re taken to the “Play Settings” screen. This is where you can choose the game’s difficulty level. The names of these levels made me smile. Here is what you choose from -  some clouds, cloudy or overcast. The names refer to the number of clouds you’ll be trying to match. Some clouds is the easiest level and overcast will fill your screen with them. Clever names and just like real weather. This play settings screen is where you choose what you want to match – colors, shapes, letters or numbers. You’re also able to choose the background that appears behind the clouds. Choose from sunny, rainbow, night or surprise. Lastly, you can see your high scores here too.

As I mentioned earlier I think Playscape Matching is adorable. It’s graphics are simple, colorful and appealing. Ben Bear provides just the right amount of humor and I really like having several choices of what to match. This is a great matching game for preschoolers!

Price when Reviewed: $.99

 Seller: Steven Romej

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