The iPhone Mom

Once in awhile I’m sent an app that just makes me giggle and wonder at how developers come up with (and then execute) these wonderful apps. iSock is one of those apps. How do I describe it? In a nutshell, it turns your iPhone into a sock puppet that moves when you move and talks when you talk. You get to choose from four different sock puppets and adjust the sensitivity of your iPhone’s microphone. Once you’ve done that the puppet on the screen will move as your phone moves. When you talk the mic picks up the noise and the puppet opens and closes it’s mouth. Pure silly appy fun.

Price when Reviewed: $.99

Seller: Guppies in the Dark

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

This app is purely for silly fun. The Book of Answers App works in a similar way to a Magic 8 Ball. You ask it a question and then it gives you an answer. With the Book of Answers you’ll thumb through the “pages” of the book and it will open to the page with the answer to your question. My question tonight was “Will I survive the first week of summer vacation?”. My answer was “Follow the advice of experts.” Perhaps those are the experts who recommend year round school. If you want to share your question and answer with your Facebook friends the app allows you to post them directly to your Facebook status. As I said, silly fun.

I also have a promo code for Love’s Book of Answers which operates the same way but focuses more on matters of the heart. If you’re interested in some silly love themed fun leave me a comment and I’ll pick a random winner on Tuesday.

Price when Reviewed: $.99

Seller: salty snack studios

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

I will admit that I’m a parent who’s been known to resort to trickery and stretching of the truth at times when dealing with my kids. Sometimes it’s a necessary evil. Well I found an app that’s for parents like me – Am I Done? This one made me smile because it’s an idea I’d never have thought of but an app that every parent could probably use at some time or another. Here’s how it works.  You tell your kids to clean their room and when they say they are done you use the app as a “detector” to check their work. The app’s main screen has icons that you push to indicate what you’re “detecting” for but they’re just for show and to fool your kids into thinking this is a serious app. Next you’ll see a screen that looks like a radar screen. There are two secret buttons that won’t show up, one at the bottom right and the other just above it. After you’ve made a big show of waving the iPhone around the bedroom you’ll tap one of the secret buttons. The button on the bottom right is the “Ok” button. When you tap this a penguin appears with a big sign that says “Cool!”. If you tap the other button a sad raccoon shows up with a “Try Again” sign and you can ask your child to clean a little bit more. No need to explain yourself other than to say the detector says the work isn’t done.

Am I Done? has icons representing hand washing, tooth brushing, showering, bathing, cleaning up and applying sunscreen. All things we ask our kids to do that they probably skimp on much of the time. But as I mentioned above, the icons could stand for anything you’d like them to. Just tap one, pull up the radar screen, scan away and let Am I Done? tell your child whether they’re finished or not. Instead of nagging and pleading and threatening you can let the app do the dirty work for you. Let that sad little raccoon motivate them to brush those teeth just a little bit longer.

Price when Reviewed: $.99

Seller: TourBuddy Systems

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

As a child I liked playing with our Lite Brite  but I would usually run out of patience before I finished my picture. Too many pegs. Today my kids like playing with the Lite Brite but I still have a problem with those pegs- they are a pain to pick up out of the carpet. Now that we’ve got a baby  who wants to taste everything the Lite Brite and it’s pegs have been shelved for awhile. The solution to Lite Brite withdrawal came in the form of the iBrite app. For $1.99 you can turn your iPad into a peg free Lite Brite.

iBrite begins with a blank black screen and all you need to do to start creating a picture is swipe your finger across the screen. Colored “peg like” dots show up where your finger has been. If you tap on the small colored circle on the bottom right of the screen a color palette tool appears. You can adjust the palette and create an incredible number of colors. When you’ve found the perfect color you can drag it to the side of the color bar and save it. There are spaces for eight different colors and saving them makes it easy to switch back and forth between colors while you’re working on your picture. It’s a great feature that takes the app up a notch.

My kids and I found iBrite to be a fun and modern update on a classic toy. I love that there’s no clean-up and no mad dash to find missing pegs before the baby does.

Price when Reviewed: $1.99

See the app in the App Store here

Seller: aCleverTwist.com

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

KiddyLight is a silly and charming little app for children who have issues with the dark. I suppose it would also be good for adults with similar fears. The app turns your iPhone or iPod Touch into a flashlight. Ordinary enough but then you swipe the screen and the screen changes which then changes the flashlight. Your choices include colors, a light bulb, stars and more. I’d like to see a few more images added to a future update. The images aren’t projected onto the wall but they are illuminated and give you something to look at so you can refrain from searching for monsters under your bed. A cute little app for entertainment. Oh! I almost forgot! There’s a strobe light feature too. Enjoy!

Price when Reviewed: $.99

Seller: Isabelle Simon-Gilbert

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

Lorax Garden lets you help the Lorax replant Truffula tree forests. You work on one forest at a time, growing flowers and trees until the desolation is replaced with colorful plants. Each forest has a different challenge – how many trees and flowers you need to grow. Flowers are easiest to grow and as you take care of them you earn care hearts. The care hearts can be used on the trees and will help them grow faster. As you progress through the app you unlock different types of Truffula seeds. This lets you customize how they look.  When you have completed a forest you can email a picture of it out to your friends.

It took me a bit of playing around to get the hang of this app. You grow the plants in a nursery and I didn’t realize there are different pots for different things. Some pots grow trees and some flowers. When you tap on the pots you’ll see the seeds that can be grown there. Once I figured that out I got on a roll. Plant a tree seed and then plant some flowers to earn care hearts. Use the hearts on the tree and then go back to the flowers. Trees and flowers need water and there are also weeds to be pulled.

The graphics and sound effects in Lorax Garden are very Seussical and well done. My seven year old daughter picked it up,  got the hang of it without any trouble and has been planting trees and flowers most of the afternoon. It’s not a fast paced app but she’s  been playing with it for  most of the afternoon so I’d say it’s a hit.

Price when Reviewed: $2.99

Seller: Oceanhouse Media

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

I have the Cooking Dash app on my iPhone and it’s one of my 10 year old’s favorites. I enjoy it as well but I have to watch when I play it because I get sucked in and distracted. PlayFirst recently released a new twist on the game called Diner Dash Grilling Green and it’s exclusively for the iPad. The premise is the same as in Cooking Dash. You’re trying to help Flo run her restaurant and keep the customers happy. You earn points depending on how well you’ve done. In this version there’s an emphasis on “Going Green” so Flo is looking to make eco-friendly improvements to her restaurants.

Playing the game on the iPad is a different experience than it is on the iPhone. Since the screen is larger it’s easier to see how the customer’s moods are doing. I also found it easier to tap and maneuver my way around the restaurant. This version lets you use multiple fingers to tap different things on the screen but I almost found that harder to do! I kept forgetting where I was heading, I need some practice. The app has a brand new feature called the “Touch Cooker 3000”. This allows you to help Grandma cook by making certain finger motions on the screen. You can help chop, stir and more. When you help out the food does cook a lot faster which makes your customers happier. Another feature I liked is the ability to play a two player game. You can have a friend join in and help you with the cooking so you can focus on the customers.

I’m still in the beginning levels of this game and I have yet to make an “expert” score. Like I said earlier, it’s a different experience playing on the iPad and I’ve not done very well so far. One of the things my daughter loves about Cooking Dash is being able to purchase upgrades for her restaurants. So far I haven’t seen that feature in Diner Dash GG but I’m hoping it will come farther along in the game because it’s a hit in our house. Also, I’m hoping that future updates and some additional restaurants and levels.

If you’re looking for a fun iPad game that’s better for older kids (and their moms) I think this one is worth the $4.99 price. It’s a fun app that runs great and looks fantastic on the iPad!Even though my scores don’t show it, I’ve found it horribly addicting and have spent a good amount of time playing it. If I could just master the multiple fingers at once concept I’d be golden. As it stands right now I think I’m going to ask 10 year old Miss E. to team up with me and we’ll try to beat the game as a two player team.

Price when Reviewed: $4.99

See the app here in iTunes

Seller: PlayFirst Inc

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

We love Fisher Price at our house and the Little People have been a part of my life for almost ten years now. They’ve been in storage for the past few years but I’m sure we’ll be pulling them out soon for Baby J. Since we’re big Fisher Price fans I was excited to hear that they’ve entered the world of iPhone apps. I was able to test out all three apps – Chatter Phone, Little People Farm and See & Say. My favorite turned out to be the Chatter Phone.

Chatter Phone – The classic Chatter Phone is displayed on the screen. Tap the numbers on the dial, hear them read aloud and watch them spin around. If you tap on the telephone receiver it will ring. This was cute but I really like what happens when you tap the Fisher Price logo in the middle of the phone – it changes what’s on the phone dial. Instead of numbers you now have the letters A, B, C, D, E, F, G, A and a musical instrument. Tap on the letters and hear that musical note played by the instrument. You can tap on the instrument to change what you hear. Your choices are piano, recorder or violin. If you tap the Fisher Price logo again the dial will change to show people’s faces on the buttons. Each person has an occupation and when you touch their button you’ll call and “talk” to them.  This app is a great twist on a classic toy.

Price when Reviewed: $.99

Little People Farm – This app takes you on a trip to the Little People’s Farm. There are things to tap on the screen and some games to play. In the barn the Little People are hiding in the haystacks and you need to find them. There’s also a game where you match turtle shells and a place where the Little People sing and dance for you.

Price when Reviewed: $1.99

See & Say – Your iPhone screen becomes a See & Say with six different animals. Tap the arrow and watch it spin around to one of the animals. Now you’ll see an animated cartoon of the animal followed by live action video where you’ll learn an animal fact. If you shake your iPhone the six animals are replaced by a new set. I liked how real animals are incorporated into the app and the cartoon ones are pretty cute themselves.

Price when Reviewed: $1.99

I’m finding irony in my review tonight. Dinner time at our house is fun. Tongue in cheek fun most days. Four kids, ranging in age from 10 to 9 months makes for a busy dinner table. Add to that the fact that I have a second grader and a five year old son and the conversation is questionable at times. The second grader is in a phase where gross out humor is hilarious. Her little brother is the age to fully appreciate big sister’s jokes. The combination can be a little much at times and last Sunday I ended up lecturing the family on having more “class”. It was one of those times where the words come out of your mouth and you’re thinking to yourself, who are you kidding? So the family got the lecture and now tonight I find myself reviewing Wacky Chatter, an app that finds humor in the words booger, underwear, snot and poop. The irony? The mother who asks for class absolutely loves this app.

Wacky Chatter is such a unique app I hope I explain it well and do it justice! Here goes. The app features twenty cartoony characters, each with their own unique voice. (A side note – ten of the voices are done by one of the app’s creators who is also a voice over actor.) On the main screen you have three wheels showing all the characters. Now above that you have three more wheels. One with a pronoun, one with a verb and the last one with a noun. Now for the fun. Spin the word wheels to mix up your pronouns, verbs and nouns. The nouns are all pretty darn silly (worms, bellybuttons, slugs, and several words fit for the bathroom) and you’re going to come up with some outrageous sentences. When you’ve created your sentence spin the character wheels until you’ve selected three, one from each wheel. Now tap the word “Chatter” on the screen and hear the sentence read aloud by those characters. It’s going to sound different depending on who you’ve chosen and you can experiment by spinning the character wheels again.  If you’re craving some random silliness you can either tap the word “Wacky” or shake your iPhone/iPod Touch. The wheels will spin on their own and the app is going to make a sentence and choose characters for you. Be prepared!

Two last details. There is a button titled “Who Says”. Tap this and you’ll see character biographies. These provide details about nicknames, age, occupation, favorite food, etc. Lastly, if you create a really terrific sentence you can email it out. The email sends an mp3 file so your friend will hear the sentence read aloud by the characters.

I love the way Wacky Chatter embraces it’s outrageousness and turns it into education. Sentence structure! Pronouns, verbs & nouns that are crazy and fun! Without a doubt this app is sure to appeal to kids.

**To all you fellow moms I feel it’s only fair to disclose the potty words found in this app. I wouldn’t want you to download it and find yourself caught unaware when your child turns the volume up and plays this one in the grocery store checkout.  So without further ado…boogers, pooh, underwear, farts and snot are all Wacky Chatter nouns. Enjoy!

Price when Reviewed: $.99

Seller: Sands of Time Ventures

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

Faces iMake is not a typical drawing app. This one lets you make faces by taking objects and turning them into a collage. The app has 20 face shapes that you can use as a starting point. Then you can choose a category of objects and start adding things to your face. Some of the categories include food, toys, buttons and school objects. Once you’ve dragged an object onto the screen you can easily move it around on the face. You can rotate it or move it behind another object to create a layered look. But you can’t resize the object and that’s one thing I wish you could do.  You can also change the background color for your collage. You have the ability to save your faces into a work gallery and you can add the photo to an iPhone contact.

I love the concept of Faces iMake and it’s got a terrific variety of objects to use in the collages. This is an app that really encourages creativity.

*There were a few times the app crashed on me. If I shut down my phone and then restarted it the app worked fine.

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

Seller: iMagine machine LLC

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