iPhone Apps Review

What to Look for in an iPhone App

Thirty-plus years ago when personal computing was in its infancy, the science fiction movies and television shows featured technology that seemed too advanced to be believed. Remember watching Dr. McCoy wave his tricorder over an injury and miraculously healing it or Captain Kirk flipping open his communicator and uttering the legendary “Beam me up Scotty”? While we haven’t quite attained Bones’ miraculous healing ability, we do have much of the other technology available today in the form of iPhone apps.

When Apple announced the App Store on iTunes there was great excitement over the enormous potential it would offer both the developers of the apps and the end-users. As a result, when the store officially opened, the iPhone apps that were available ran the gamut in quality, price, and topic. It is understandable that choosing reliable apps that are easy to use and actually do what they say they do can be an overwhelming dilemma. It’s important to keep a few key requirements in mind as you choose apps for your iPhone or iPod touch. Here you will find articles and objective reviews of iPhone apps to help you sift through the enormous number of options available and choose those that best meet your needs.

Features
A quality app will have a full feature-set, whether it’s a game or a complex navigational GPS program. From customizable elements to using the iPhone’s built-in accelerometer and touch screen, to sounds and volume, the features of the application are the first sign of a developer’s commitment to his or her product.

Interface
While features are important, an easy-to-use interface is just as crucial. Many a developer has seen his or her hard work being all for naught because the interface of their programs are too confusing or difficult. The controls for an application should be easy to understand and simple to use without requiring a lot of additional direction. It really doesn’t matter how neat the idea behind the app is: if you struggle with the interface, you’re not going to use it.

Graphics
Graphics are the eye-candy of the mobile app. A visually appealing program increases its value as well as shows off the beautiful touchscreen of the iPhone. Style of the graphics is different than quality. If the app is advertised as a retro-style game, the graphics should represent a retro style throughout the program, but if an app is supposed to be an elegant Zen garden, the comic style of a retro game would be inappropriate. The images should be well thought out and professionally rendered throughout the app. Amateurish graphics will become annoying and quickly cause you to lose interest in the app.

Stability
All of the previously mentioned pieces are important and desirable in a quality app, but stability is the key to the whole operation. If the program continually locks up your iPhone or iPod touch and causes it to freeze or restart, it’s certain to be discarded rapidly. And if the app wasn’t free, the pain of its instability is compounded.

Program size:
The final app element to consider is program size. Since you can’t add additional memory to your iPhone, it’s important to manage the amount of memory an application requires. Generally, most of the apps are relatively small but there are a few that are sizeable and will gobble up your storage space quickly. If you decide that there is a large app you absolutely can’t live without, by all means download it, but be aware of the memory limitations this will impose upon your iPhone.

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Mobile » iPhone Apps
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Icon Title Score Read Review View Category Release Date Price Size Description
1 Heads Up! Heads Up!
by Warner Bros.
read review screen shots Word 05-09-13 $0.99
35.7 MB iOS Heads Up is a game that Ellen DeGeneres features on her show, and this app makes it easy for you to play the game with friends. There are different catego... read our full review
2 Jamn Jamn
by MiQ Limited
read review screen shots Music iPhone Apps 05-09-13 $3.99
248 MB iOS Jamn is a great app for causal and professional musicians eager to jam, learn, compose or be inspired. Jamn has an electronic circle of fifths, and gives y... read our full review
3 Action Movie FX Action Movie FX
by Bad Robot Interactive, LLC
read review screen shots Entertainment iPhone Apps 05-09-13 FREE
49.8 MB iOS Create movie-quality, heart-pumping action scenes with Action Movie FX. Film anything you want, from toy cars to your friends, then add an FX scene to crea... read our full review
4 ClickBerry Tagger ClickBerry Tagger
by Actio-Media Inc.
read review screen shots Photography iPhone Apps 05-08-13 FREE
15.6 MB iOS Make sure your friends and family see exactly the objects, people or moments you want them to see in the videos you upload to Facebook and Twitter with the... read our full review
5 Zombies, Run! Zombies, Run!
by Six to Start
read review screen shots Health and Fitness iPhone Apps 04-18-13 $3.99
240 MB iOS Running with hungry zombies in pursuit makes it easy to stay fit with Zombies, Run! 2. Combining fitness with action-packed stories and your own music trac... read our full review
6 GuitarTuna GuitarTuna
by Ovelin
read review screen shots Music iPhone Apps 04-08-13 FREE
23.7 MB iOS No matter where you are, GuitarTuna helps you keep your guitar in tune. This app is easy to use and has accurate audio processing, even in noisy environmen... read our full review
7 CoachGuitar CoachGuitar
by Boris Douarre
read review screen shots Music iPhone Apps 04-05-13 FREE
12.8 MB iOS Start your journey to becoming a guitar god with the CoachGuitar app. Learn to play your favorite songs with animated HD video tutorials and color-coded fi... read our full review
8 Back in Time Back in Time
by Landka
read review screen shots Education iPhone Apps 03-21-13 $4.99
795 MB iOS Experience a graphics-rich, celestially organized time-line of the history of EVERYTHING. Based on an analogy that the universe started 24 hours ago, you c... read our full review
9 The Flying Alphabetinis The Flying Alphabetinis
by Fingerprint Network
read review screen shots Word 03-12-13 FREE
28.6 MB iOS Looking for a game that will have your brain doing backflips like a trapeze artist? The Flying Alphabetinis is a fun, interactive word game for ages 6 and... read our full review
10 FOBO Tag FOBO Tag
by Balda Solutions Malaysia Sdn Bhd
read review screen shots Lifestyle iPhone Apps 03-12-13 FREE
5.6 MB iOS Do you lose your keys, your purse or other important belongings from time to time? The FOBO Tag iPhone app will help monitor your belongings and even loved... read our full review