The iPhone Mom

HolidayToe is Tic-Tac-Toe with a twist. Instead of the traditional X and O you play with icons from a holiday. To begin you choose your holiday from a list that includes Christmas, Thanksgiving, Halloween, the Fourth of July, Easter and Valentine’s Day. Now you’ll play your Tic-Tac-Toe game with pictures from that holiday as your markers. You can either play against the iPhone or another player and the app will keep record of the stats for the games. HolidayToe is simple Tic-Tac-Toe but I like the way it incorporates more than one holiday so it can be played throughout the year.  Personally I think I play better when I’m being represented by a heart shaped box of chocolates.

Price when Reviewed: $.99

Seller: Imagine Software

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

Oceanhouse Media has been busy! First they came out with Grinchmas and Dr. Seuss Camera – The Grinch Edition.  Then just last week they released How the Grinch Stole Christmas as an e-book app. Awesome!How the Grinch Stole Christmas is one of my favorite holiday tales. The other is The Best Christmas Pageant Ever, in case you were wondering. The Grinch e-book is completely true to the original story and they haven’t messed with the illustrations, they look exactly like they do in the book.  Classic Dr. Seuss.  You have the option of listening to the book being read aloud or reading it to yourself. You can always change your mind about this mid-story. The app will ask you if you want to start over or continue from where you left off. As you’re reading you can tap on a picture to hear specific words. There are also sound effects that go along with the story. Not to worry, they fit in perfectly and don’t take away from the narration at all. But if you prefer to turn them off you’ve got that option.

This is a fantastic version of How the Grinch Stole Christmas. We are loving all the Grinchiness on my iPhone right now. Thank you Oceanhouse Media…I’m hoping this is the beginning of much more Seuss to come for my iPhone!

Price when Reviewed: $3.99

Seller: Oceanhouse Media, Inc.

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

A few more Christmas apps that have come my way.

Toddler Puzzle Christmas – This one is for definitely for toddlers, not for older kids. The app displays a Christmas picture with a missing half and they’ll need to tap on the correct match. One picture is displayed at a time and there are lots of encouraging bravos and hoorays.

Price when Reviewed: $.99/ Seller: Technolio, Inc.

SantaMessage2U – My mom saw this app featured on her local news. It allows you to record a personalized message from Santa for your kids. The iTunes description says it has voice re-modulation, background noise (busy little elves) and the ability to make your voice sound like an elf. I haven’t tried it out but the concept is clever.

Price when Reviewed: $1.99/Seller: Alissa Owen

Xmas Frames – Lets you frame photos in Christmas scenes.  You can also use pre-made scenes instead of your own photos. Text can be added and the final photos can be emailed, saved or posted to Facebook. I haven’t tried this one but I’ve got a promo code for the first person to leave a comment with their favorite Christmas song.

Price when Reviewed: $.99/Seller: ImageChef Incorporated

Lately, I’ve received a few Christmas Apps lately for review. Here they are, along with some brief thoughts.

*Grinchmas – This app is an officially licensed Dr. Seuss product. Grinchmas lets you be THE Grinch. If you are in a mean mood you can throw snowballs down at Who houses. If you are a merry Grinch you’ll get to deliver presents. It’s all done by the swipe of a finger. A fun little app to relieve frustrations after hitting the mall.

Price when Reviewed: $1.99/Seller: Oceanhouse Media, Inc.

Dr. Seuss Camera: The Grinch Edition – Lately I’ve been feeling more like the Grinch than Mrs. Clause. This clever little app can actually make me look like part. You choose from twenty Grinch themed cards and then take a picture of yourself, or someone else, and add it to the card. You can add in stickers and borders before saving the card or emailing it out. You can see what you’d look like as Cindy-Lou Who or even the green guy himself. My one complaint about the app was not being able to use photos already in my camera library. Now they’ve got an update coming soon to add on that feature which makes this a perfectly silly and perfectly fun Christmas app for your phone. I think I may send out all my Christmas cards using Grinch cards this year. It’d be appropriate! This is another officially licensed Dr. Seuss product (2/13/10) Update is working – you can now use photos from your Camera Roll or Photo Library.

Price when Reviewed: $2.99/Seller: Oceanhouse Media, Inc.

*Christmas Matching for Kids – A simple Christmas themed matching game. It features three different levels of difficulty, a timer to see how long your game takes and the ability to score (or lose) points. Cute.

Price when Reviewed: $.99/Seller: Alexandre Minard

*Santa’s Village – Wander around Santa’s Village and explore the different sights. Tap on one of the different areas in the village (snowman, ice rink, workshop, etc.) and you can play a different Christmas themed game. The graphics are cute, the music is a nice blend of Christmas songs and the games are even a bit educational.

Price when Reviewed: Free for limited time/Seller: Ensena Soft

*Match & Learn – Holiday Edition- Another holiday themed app but with tons of options. Five levels of difficulty and six different themes for the matching games. Two of those levels are holiday pictures but the rest involve the ABCs and 123s. As you make matches the cards are removed to reveal a hidden picture. You’ll want to try and make a guess about the picture before it’s completely unveiled.

Price when Reviewed: $.99 (there is a free version available)/ Seller: Sookie Solutions, LLC

* Christmas List - Last year I searched through a few apps, looking for a holiday shopping list one that would work for me. I couldn’t find one I really liked but now I’ve got one. The Christmas List is an excellent way to keep track of your Christmas shopping. It’s well designed and developed and (best of all) easy to use. You won’t need to spend hours reading over the help menu before you are able to use the app. The Christmas List lets you create groups and people for your list. (People can be stored in groups.) You add on a gift by tapping the present icon and then filling out the forms. Fill in the name of the gift, what type of a need it is (maybe, definitely wants or must have), what store it can be found in, the price and any notes. The Christmas List has a built in list of stores but if you can’t find yours then add it in and the app will remember it as an option next time. The app will display all the gifts you’ve entered, just the purchased ones or the ones you need to purchase. It can sort your gift list by person or the stores they are found in. It also keeps track of how much money you’ve spent and what you still need to do. A great feature is the ability to attach a photo to an item on The Christmas List. My shopping is thankfully almost done but I’ll keep this one for next year, it’s my favorite gift shopping app so far and I hope there is a birthday gift version soon!

Price when Reviewed: $1.99-I just got word there is a “Lite” version of The Christmas List now available/Seller: Limbua.com