The iPhone Mom

I’ve always enjoyed Skinny Cow ice cream treats. They’re a great way to indulge without blowing a day’s worth of calories on one dessert. My problem comes when I don’t stop at just one Skinny Cow treat. I often find myself having several because hey, they don’t have that many calories so if I have three I’m still coming out ahead of where I’d be if I only had one bowl of Ben & Jerry’s. But who am I kidding? I don’t think I’ve ever eaten Ben & Jerry’s out of a bowl, my spoon goes straight into the carton. I’m a poster child for self-sabatoge when it comes to dieting. But back to Skinny Cow. They have recently released an app called Spread the Love. In the app you play as the Skinny Cow dog. He is tied to a balloon but must find a way to deliver treats to all his friends. By tilting the iPhone and tapping on the screen you can help him make his deliveries. It’s a simple game.

If you register an account through the app you’ll be able to post your game scores and earn coupons for Skinny Cow products. Spread the Love also showcases several Skinny Cow treats. I have never seen the Caramel Truffle Bar in my grocery store but the thought of it is now stuck in my head and I’m definitely going to have to do some searching.

The app does a nice job getting the Skinny Cow name out in front of people but the game isn’t varied or challenging enough to keep me coming back. I can see myself getting on to earn a few coupons but I won’t be playing just for fun. Still, it’s a free app and if it provides coupons it’s worth a look.

Price when Reviewed: Free

See the app in iTunes

Seller: Dreyer’s Grand Ice Cream, Inc.

Anyone out there traveling this summer? We’ll be visiting family but there are no big road trips on our agenda. We’ve learned in the past that for us traveling with a baby is exhausting. When you add in our three other children a vacation starts to feel like less of a vacation. So we’re planning something big and fun for next year. Not sure exactly what it will be but at least we’re thinking about it. That’s progress for us! When we do eventually hit the road it’s possible I’ll put the Best Western To Go app to use on our trip. I was impressed by this free app and the folks at Best Western have done a nice job with it. It allows you to look up nearby Best Western hotels, view pictures, check availability and book a room from within the app. You can also access your Best Western rewards account and look at existing reservations. My favorite part of the app is it’s ability to save information about different locations while you travel. You can map these locations, add in photos and notes. Different locations can be grouped together as a “trip” and the trip can then be shared with others. This is a nice way to map out places you want to visit again. Best Western To Go packs great features into their free app. If you’re traveling this summer it’s definitely worth a look.

Price when Reviewed: Free

See the app in iTunes

Seller: Best Wester International

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play finder works as a locator for nearby parks and playgrounds. The app takes your current location and shows you nearby “playspaces” on a map. Tap on one of these locations and you’ll see the address and a rating if it’s been given one. You can also search for playspaces using your zipcode.  This will pull up a list of nearby spots and their addresses. I really like this concept and play finder works smoothly and quickly pulls up results. But I have an issue with those results. The only play spots that show up for me are schools and commercial play areas (soccer complex, local arcade center, etc.) I did see a few city parks but they were the ones that are located right next to a school.  I was shown high schools and middle schools which will have tracks and grass to run on but no playgrounds. Plus, I don’t think our elementary schools would be too happy if I showed up in the middle of the day with my kids to play on their play equipment. So the concept is good but I think the results need to be broadened. Also, it appears that the map limits the results to a certain mile radius. I’m not sure what that radius is and I can’t find any way to change it but I live on the outskirts of town and I can’t see play areas downtown unless I enter that zipcode into the search section.

There is more to play finder than just the locating of playspaces.  The app has an entire section on “Play Tips”. Here you can see a list of different activities and games to play outdoors. There are ideas from bug hunting to hacky sacks to a game of statues. Tap on the activity/game name and you’ll be given instructions on how to play and what to do. In this section you can also shake your iPhone to see a random activity/game suggestion. Finally there is a gallery for “Play Pics”. Here you can take pictures and see them in a gallery within the play finder app. You can share these pictures from the app on Facebook or through email.

I really like the idea behind play finder and it’s the start of something great but I think a few tweaks need to be made to the results. City parks need to be included and the user needs to be able to set their search radius. The look of the app is nice and it’s very easy to use. With a few adjustments this app can be a great resource for local parks and for finding a spot to play while you are traveling out of town.

Now that I’ve finished my review let me tell you this. play finder is free and for every download General Mills will donate $1.00 to the organization Kaboom. Kaboom is a non-profit organization that works with communities  to build playgrounds. Learn more here and here.

Price when Reviewed: FREE

Seller: General Mills, Inc

Gnome Rush is a simple game that might appeal to preschoolers and early elementary school aged kiddos. In this app you are a farmer who is trying to harvest his apple crop as the apples keep dropping off the trees. When you tilt the iPhone from side to side the farmer moves across the screen. The idea is to position him underneath the falling apples so they land in his basket. Each time you catch an apple you earn a point. But beware! Gnomes are also falling out of the tree and when one of those lands in your basket you will lose points. Gnomes cost you many more points than caught apples will earn you. The game  is played in “day” intervals and at the end of each day the points you have won are tallied and scored. Then the “day” begins again and it’s time to catch more apples and avoid those pesky gnomes all over again. After playing for seven “days” the game is over.

Gnome Rush runs smoothly but it didn’t seem to strike a chord with my kids. The game is well put together but just didn’t hold enough excitement for my crew.

Price when Reviewed: FREE

Seller: Dmitri Iarandine

I have a love/hate relationship with the Family Fun magazine. On the one hand I love getting each issue and reading about all of the fun and colorful ideas they feature each month. There have been some ideas that I’ve taken from fellow readers  and they’ve been a big success at our house. But on the other hand…being brought face to face with so much pure Mom awesomeness has the tendency to leave me feeling pretty inadequate. I’d like to be the clever and fun mom they showcase but because of time restraints, budget issues, children’s ages (and maybe even behavior!) and just lack of patience on my part there’s no way I can compete. Don’t get me wrong, I don’t even really want to compete. I know I’m doing the best I can and I have different strengths, but that doesn’t mean I don’t occasionally want to be the mom who pulls off the perfect piratey party or family vacation.  Like I said, love/hate but so far my enjoyment of the magazine outweighs my mom insecurities.

One feature of the magazine that I always have success with is the crafts. There have been many times when I’ve turned to the Family Fun website to find a simple and doable craft and I usually find what I’m looking for. They provide simple instructions and crafts that are actually manageable with kids. Shortly after I got my iPad I saw this fantastic app, Craft Finder on iPad: Great Crafts from Disney FamilyFun, in the iPad App Store. I was intrigued and not let down.

Here are the app’s highlights -

*The craft directions are simple and easy to follow. Everything you need to know is on the screen. You might need to scroll up and down but you won’t need to click through several pages like you do on the Family Fun website.

*The craft instructions give you a description, an age range and the total time needed to complete the craft. All key things I look at when deciding to tackle a craft.

*Each craft shows a button that says “Add List”. If you tap this then the supplies needed to make the craft show up in a shopping list. You can shop directly from this list or email it to yourself.

*You have the ability to select “Save Craft” and add the craft to your craft box. This puts it on a list that you can access to save yourself from having to browse through oodles of crafts again. A note – when you choose “Add List” the supplies go to the shopping list and the craft is saved to the craft box.

*You can look through the apps in the “Featured” section. These are rotated and changed. At the bottom of this list you can follow a link to go directly to the crafts section on the Family Fun website.

*Another way to find crafts in the app is through a search with the “Craft Finder”. The Craft Finder uses three sliding bars, line those up where you’d like them and then tap “Show Matching Crafts” to get your results. The bars refer to the following. Age: Any Age, Toddler, Pre-School, School Age or Tween. Time: choose from Any Time, 30 Minutes, 1 Hour, 1+ Hours, 2 Hours and 2+ Hours. Occasion: You can choose from the major holidays plus seasons.

I really, really like this iPad app but there are a couple of things I’d like to see improved on.

*Add in “Birthday” to the occasions that you can choose from in the Craft Finder.

*The slider bars are a neat feature but I’d also like to be able to type in a keyword and then search for a craft based on that.

*Create a way to email the craft instructions to myself in case I need to print them out.

*Frequent updates to the crafts. This might already be happening, I’m not sure, but I think it’s key to keeping the app fresh.

*Add in a birthday cake/cupcake section or create a similar app that just focuses on those ideas. Family Fun is the go-to source for kid friendly cakes that moms can actually make. I’d love to have that resource on my iPad.

Overall – wow! There is a lot to love about the Craft Finder from Family Fun. I love being able to browse through the crafts without having to pull out my laptop. The navigation to the app is very easy and intuitive to navigate through. I know my girls (10 & 7) have already mastered it because I found a nice list of crafts in my craft box that I certainly didn’t add.

P.S. – I’ve not experienced any crashing of the app like what’s been described in the App Store reviews.

P.P.S. – The app is also available for the iPhone.

Price when Reviewed: FREE

See the App in iTunes Here.

Seller: Disney

I really, really like Moodagent! It takes the music on your iPod and syncs it with the special profiles they have online. Each song gets a profile that’s been created using technical magic. They’re based on things like beat, style, vocals, instruments, and more.  Now comes the fun part. The app features four sliding bars, they stand for sensual, tender, joy, aggressive and tender. You adjust the bars (depending on your mood) and Moodagent creates a playlist based on how you’re feeling. I was impressed at how quickly the playlists are generated. It’s fast. If you get a playlist that doesn’t seem quite right adjust the sliders a little more and the playlist will change. You can also select a song from your iPod library and the app will create a playlist based on that song’s profile. You’re able to easily save your playlists for later and you can also search for songs within your library.

I currently have 128 tracks on my iPod and Moodagent found a profile for most of them. There is also a “Moodagent Profiler” that works from your desktop and allows you to create profiles for tracks that Moodagent doesn’t classify. I haven’t tried this out yet. I almost forgot, your music will continue to play even when you exit the app.

Moodagent is free and I’ll be honest, I couldn’t believe that at first because this is one slick app. I love how quickly it generates the playlists and it’s much easier (and more fun) than going through library and creating one on your own. You have got to grab this one right away.

Price when Reviewed: FREE

Seller: Syntonetic

Light the App allows you to post dedications and “light candles” for those you know who have been affected by leukemia, lymphoma or myeloma. You can add your “lights” by entering in their name, state of residence and a dedication. The app lets you view only your lights or all the lights/dedications that have been done through the app. There is also a search feature. The app also allows you to make a donation to The Leukemia and Lymphoma Society.

Price when Reviewed: FREE

Seller: GlobalMagic

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

This app, 55 Free Baby Samples, features a list of companies that you can contact regarding free baby product samples and coupons. The developers have included the contact information that you’ll need and the app also lets you add in offers that you’ve heard of. Your job is to browse through the list and then tap on the contact button for the offer you’re interested in. The app will then call the number directly.  (The app does provide a few website addresses but they appeared to be for more general baby websites. The majority of the contacts were phone numbers.) The list had a quite a few offers for formula samples, diaper rash ointment, baby food and even coupons for Orajel. Blessed Orajel! Overall, it looks like there’s some good stuff out there.  Unfortunately, I tried out the app in the evening when companies were closed so I wasn’t able to actually request anything.

This is a free app and it’s nice to have the contact information for all of the companies that are currently offering samples.I’m not one to spend hours on the phone requesting coupons but if I see an offer for something that I use all the time I will pick up the phone. Personally, I won’t be using 55 Free Baby Samples every day but it is something I’ll check out every once in awhile.

55 Free Baby Samples will also link you to the website babytobee.com for more free offers.

Price when Reviewed: FREE

Seller: Total Ecommerce LLC

Noteworthy Places is an app that I could really use. When you are out and about and you discover a place that you’d like to remember you use this app to mark it down. The app notes the location’s address and it’s place on a map. You can add in comments, a phone number, a rating, or even a voice memo to the location’s information. You can also snap a picture and add that too. Now you have the location noted down and it shows up on your personalized list. Once you’ve added in entries the list can be searched, viewed by categories and sorted by name, distance, rating and date. Find the location, tap on it and all the information you entered is right there.

Noteworthy Places doesn’t come with any preloaded applications and I think that’s fantastic! Instead of having to wade through locations that other’s think are important I keep the list limited to what I know I need. It’s my own personal list that I’ve created. I also think this app would be a great one to take on vacation. As you’re out and about exploring you could keep track of your favorite spots. Then if you ever happened back that way you’d know exactly where to go.

Noteworthy Places is currently free for a limited time. I’d suggest grabbing it and giving it a try.

Price when Reviewed: FREE (limited time)

Seller: Oblik Systems