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The Moron Test has captivated untold numbers of iPhone users and their friends, and it’s pretty clear why: the quiz app has been precisely polished to anger and agitate through clever manipulation rather than exceedingly tough questions or cheap tactics. Each set of simple questions and reflex tests -- like cracking eggs in order of size or quickly discerning the difference between “sun” and “son” -- is timed and designed to raise your ire, but that’s the fun of it. Even more fun? Watching your friends try to top your best time.
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More than 30 years after its debut, Star Wars fandom continues unabated, and hardcore fans and casual observers alike can get in on the fun on iPhone with the official Star Wars Lightsaber Duel app. Lightsaber Duel replicates the look and sounds of more than a dozen different lightsabers from the long-running series, and triggers audio effects when you wave the phone around. You can also set your phone-waving antics to music (either from the films or your library), or link up with a friend over Wi-Fi for virtual duels!
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You’re a monster! Or rather, you can be, thanks to the amusing iMut8r app, which lets you modify facial photos with a wide variety of visual effects based on zombies, mutants, and other mythical beings. Unlike other facial disfiguration apps that automate the process, you’re fully in control here and able to add lesions, massive ears, facial hair, and damaged skin with just a tap of the touch screen. You can even mutate multiple people in a single photograph, taking beloved memories and ruining them with monstrous features.
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You don’t have to commission an artist to get a black-and-white sketch of yourself -- simply load a photo into Sketch Me! and watch the graphic filters transform your full-color photo into something seemingly created with pencils and paper. Sketch Me! includes six different monochromatic effects, each of which can be modified for intensity, and you can even create a split-screen image that includes half of the original photo. Sure, it’s not the same as getting an actual drawing done, but it’s a heck of a lot cheaper!
Eye Illusions targets the same market as the popular Magic Eye books from the 1990s, offering up a variety of ocular illusions that create the sensation of moving images and other unexpected effects the longer you stare at them. However, Eye Illusions goes beyond simply static images, also including trippy video clips that challenge you to determine which way items are spinning, or stare at an on-screen effect before seeing it replicated elsewhere when you look away. An HD version is also available for iPad.
There’s something truly calming about staring into a pond and simply observing nature in motion, but when you’re away from the real thing, Pocket Pond for iPad offers a suitable substitute. Pocket Pond is nothing more than a virtual recreation of a well-populated pond, with numerous types of fish swimming in and out of view. You have the ability to add even more fish and lily pads to the scene, and a mere touch of the screen will send the water -- and nearby fish -- shimmering away from the impact.
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Smule’s Magic Piano app for iPad was one of the first to catch our eye, as it perfectly uses the large touchscreen to amuse and enthrall with multiple keyboard orientations and a large book of songs to tap along with. Magic Piano transforms the familiar instrument with an optional spiral-like design, as well as the ability to play along with classic piano anthems by simply tapping falling notes on a black screen. It’s one of the more entertaining diversions available on iPad, and a hit with all ages.
carlandrews
January 25, 2011 at 3:49pm
This is a great feature for Mac Life. If you want an App that will really AMUSE and AMAZE your friends look at the App named "No Freakin' Way"
This is one of the most amazing things you can do with your iPhone or iPod Touch. Written by a professional comedy magician.
Someone thinks of "Any Card" in the deck. Your iPhone scans their finger and runs through the deck finding the card they were thinking of.
No voice activation, they do not have to name a card out loud. They could write down a card on paper or pull out any card from a real deck of cards with everything in their hands, and it really can be ANY card.
