The iPhone Mom

Do you have kids in Spring sports? We currently have two in soccer and baseball season is set to start next week. Busy times! My kids are getting to the age where they’re beginning to care about how many goals they score and times they strike out at bat. I do my best to keep track but I’m usually distracted by Baby J and not always paying as much attention as I should be. Game Trac was designed for keeping track and remembering how your children are doing in their different sports.

You’ll begin by adding in your players. Right now you can only add in a player who is from your contact’s list. I’ve heard that this will be changing in an update and you’ll be able to type in the names of players that aren’t in your contacts. I think this will be a welcome change. Once you’ve added in your player you can select the sports they participate in. Each different sport has a page that’s unique to that sport. For example, the hockey screen would have spaces for your to enter in goals, attempts, assists and penalty minutes – along with other things too.  The soccer screen lets you track similar things plus yellow cards and red cards. Screens also come with a timer that you can use to track the time your child is playing.  Once you’ve entered in information you can view the player stats and see how things have been going overall.

I like how Game Trac’s game screens are customized for the different sports. It saves on set up time and you can begin tracking games right away. If your sport isn’t already on Game Trac’s list you can add that in too. Overall, the app is very thorough, detailed and does what it says.

Price when Reviewed: $4.99

Seller: KB Productions

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

The Winter Olympics snuck up on me. I’m not sure where I’ve been but all of the sudden they were on TV this past weekend.  It’s time for some speed skating, ice dancing and my husband’s favorite events – hockey and curling. So to get into the Olympic spirit (even if it’s a little late) here’s the scoop on two Olympic apps featured in the App Store.

NBC Olympics on AT&T – This app gives you real time updates on news, event results and medal counts. You can see the event schedules and rules of the different sports. If you live in the United States you can view Olympic video clips from NBC. There’s also a social media aspect to the app, use it to follow athletes, sports and nations on Facebook and Twitter.  Finally, you can turn on push notifications so you don’t miss out on anything. The app is free and if you’re serious about catching all you can of the Winter Games then this app will have you covered. It’s definitely worth a look.

NBC Olympics Cheer presented by Coca-Cola – This one features a variety of “cheering” sounds that you can play as you watch the Olympics from home. Some cheers that have been included are the airhorn, whistle, roar of the crowd and even the melodious cowbell. The app even lets you record three custom cheers of your own. You can also listen to sounds from several Olympic sports. Choose from figure skating, hockey, bobsled and more. Mixed into it all are some Coca-Cola sounds. Ice cubes, coke pouring into a glass, fizzing and “ahhh!”. This app is also free and we enjoyed it for a little bit. But then, honestly  the noises began annoying me. My house is full of kid noise all day long and I decided I didn’t need an airhorn thrown in the mix. Your house might be a different story!

It’s soccer season here at the iPhone Mom’s house. Is it soccer season at your house too? My kids play in a non-competitive league but we’re quickly approaching the age when everything becomes competitive (whether it should be or not). The developer of Soccer Card SKS sent his app to me and I thought it was a timely arrival. This app will help you keep track of the game stats for your favorite player. It has a virtual scorecard that you can customize with your child’s photo, name, number and position.  You can view the card on your iPhone and if you rotate your phone the card will “flip” and show you the stats that are traditionally found on the back of a player card.  It’s a slick feature.

I was impressed by the detail captured in this app. It’s a fun app for the younger soccer players and it’s a very useful app for those who want to seriously keep track of their stats. The app gives you the ability to track game dates, times, locations, final scores, minutes played in the game, goals, assists, fouls, ejections and much more. Serious soccer stuff. You’re also able to store multiple player cards, each with their own stat information. If you are a coach this would be a great app for keeping track of your team members’ stats, all in one location. Not only does it store tons of information, the process for entering in that information is easy and smooth. The $2.99 price seems a tad high for the casual player but I can see the more serious players being willing to pay the price and finding it worth the money.

I’ll admit that I was expecting Soccer Card SKS to just be a cutesy app all about a soccer picture.  I was excited to learn that there is much, much more to it. In iTunes it says that more sports card apps are on their way. If it’s ready by spring you can be assured that I’ll be grabbing the baseball one for my husband and son. 

Price when Reviewed: $2.99

Seller: Site K Studios, Inc.

The developer of the Go Go Go! F1 One racing app sent me a promo code for their app and when I first downloaded it I was expecting a racing game not an app about racing. I emailed Darren, from Gourmet Pixel – the folks behind the app, asking him if he really wanted me to review the app, as I know absolutely nothing about Formula One racing. He replied that it’d be great if I could do a review as there are probably moms who follow Formula One. Which, as I thought about it, is totally true. And even though the racing aspect to the app isn’t my thing, I can appreciate that this is a very well thought out, very well put together app. If you are a Formula One fan you’ll want the Go Go Go! – F1 app on your iPhone.

The app has a “News” button which shows you short summaries for all of the top Formula One news stories. Tap the story you’re interested in and you’ll get the full version. On this page you can also easily access driver standings and recent race results with the large buttons on the top of your screen.

The “Races” button will give you a list of the Formula One races. Tap the race you want to read more about and you’ll be taken to a slick looking screen with several buttons and icons. From here you can tap away to see an overview of the race, a map of the race course and other race information. There’s even a button for live updates. If you go there on race day you’ll receive live updates as the race progresses. From the main races page you can use the large buttons (top of the screen) to see driver or team standings.

The “Teams” button takes you to team information. You can view team profiles, photos, tech details and the history of the team.  The “Drivers” button will get you information about individual drivers including their stats and a personal overview. There are additional features that can be found under the “More” button, including videos, driver and team standings and a news archive.

I have to say that this app impressed me. It’s obvious that the developers behind it have a passion for Formula One racing and a great  sense of what the fans are interested in. The layout is easy to navigate and the graphics and buttons all fit with the overall feel of the app. Go Go Go!- F1 delivers what it promises and does so very smoothly.

Price when Reviewed: $6.99

Available at iTunes

Seller: Darren Lynch/Gourmet Pixel