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Even iPhone Apps Get in On Black Friday Fun

Matthew Tilmann — Tue, 24 Nov 2009 08:24:52 -0600

While Black Friday has normally been a day filled with designer jeans at low prices, HDTVs to be had, or the newest digital camera, this year some app developers have decided to join in on the fun as well.

Cult of Mac picked up that some developers have already dropped some prices. App Cubby, the creator of the popular Gas Cubby app is dropping the cost of their apps by 30 percent through the Thanksgiving holidays. Other developers have also joined in temporarily dropping prices including DOOM Resurrection and BeejiveIM.

So once you've caught a breather from getting up at 4 am on Friday, keep an eye on what app developers might have in store for you as well!

Despite Scrutiny, Apple's Schiller Defends The App Store Process

Matthew Tilmann — Mon, 23 Nov 2009 08:02:17 -0600

Apple has recently come under fire from developers in how it handles what applications can be sold on the App Store. Apple's Senior VP Phil Schiller shone some light on the process and explained why some apps get rejected in an interview with BusinessWeek.

App Store developers have become increasingly frustrated including Facebook developer Joe Hewitt who says that he is "philosophically opposed" to the notion of a company using "gatekeepers" to decide what can and can't be used on it's hardware.

Schiller compared the App Store to a regular brick and mortar retailer. "Whatever your favorite retailer is, of course they care about the quality of the products they offer," he says. "We review the applications to make sure they work as the customers expect them to work when they download them."

On the flip side, Schiller noted that about 10% of the App Store rejects are deemed inappropriate and sent back to the developer. "There have been applications submitted for approval that will steal personal data, or which are intended to help the user break the law, or which contain inappropriate content," Schiller says.

Some apps even fall into areas that Apple has not anticipated - such as helping people to cheat at gambling in casinos. "We had to go study state and international laws about what's legal and what isn't, and what legal exposure that creates for Apple or the customer," Schiller says. Many apps also bend trademark rules, which Schiller said that Apple has heard a lot about from other companies.

Schiller noted that Apple has even received inquiries from various government officials making sure content remains appropriate for children and that they remain protected. In the long run, most app developers do remain happy with Apple's process because more often than not it helps developers to find bugs that needing fixing anyway.

One Finger Discount Offering 20% Off Hundreds of Apps

Andrew Villa — Wed, 11 Nov 2009 13:49:01 -0600

Sites like MacHeist get independent developers to trade free copies of their software for publicity, but some developers aren't into the whole giving away work for free.

According to Download Squad, Red Sweater Software's Daniel Jalkut conjured up the idea to offer a 20% discount on apps, instead of simply giving them away. Many developers are joining in on the fun with the "One Finger Discount" promotion, which means you can choose from over 100 apps at 1/5 of the retail price.

100,000 Apps in App Store!

Liam Widman — Wed, 04 Nov 2009 17:35:03 -0600

Apple announced today that their iTunes App Store has surpassed the 100,000 apps mark, making it the largest application store in the world. iPhone and iPod touch customers in 77 different countries can go online and download from the amazing range of 100,000 apps within 20 different categories.

App Store users have downloaded over 2 billion apps making it the most popular application store as well. “The App Store has forever changed the mobile gaming industry and continues to improve,” said the Vice President of Worldwide Studios, EA mobile. “With a global reach of over 50 million iPhone and iPod touch users, the App Store has allowed us to develop high quality EA games that have been a huge success with customers.”

Apple recently updated the App Store with things like Genius for App Store Essentials selections, sub-category listings, and more valuable customer reviews. Plus, the new iTunes 9 is making it easier for users to organize and sync their apps and have them appear on your iPhone or iPod touch with the same layout. Additionally, the new in-app purchase feature allows people to buy the full version of an app, from within the free version.

iPhone Helper Apps for Insanely Specific Scenarios

Leslie Ayers — Mon, 28 Sep 2009 02:06:00 -0500

Every day, life presents any number of problems that need solving—from settling bets to knowing which fish are OK to eat to remembering where the soupspoon goes in a formal table setting. Your iPhone or iPod touch can act as a digital Swiss Army knife, offering up the right tool to get you through almost any dilemma. We review and rate a collection of handy helper apps and ass-saving accessories that are sure to boost your rep as the consummate boy scout, always prepared for anything.

For Anyone Who's Ever Asked, "How?"

Howcast.com's free iPhone app puts the site's eclectic collection of how-to videos in your pocket

Think of all the things you’ve always wanted to know how to do: fold origami, set a formal dinner table, pick a lock…or maybe have sex in a car? Amazingly enough, you can learn how to do all of these things—and many more—with Howcast’s free iPhone app. This excellent freebie puts an iPhone “wrapper” on the mind-blowing array of how-to video content available on Howcast.com.

Click here to read a full review of this app

Search for topics in the search bar or tap on Most Recent or Featured to see a list of how-to videos on Howcast.

Howcast How-To Videos
Howcast Media
www.howcast.com
Free

Six More Ways to Skin a Cat (Not Literally, OK?)

These apps offer more practical solutions to real-life problems

Heads, You Win; Tails, You Win

Need to settle a bet but don’t have a coin to toss? If you spend a buck on My CoinFlip, you’ll never be without a way to force your friends to choose between two options. The app features 11 different types of coins, including a variety of euro coins.

The Vatican euro offers a nice option for your Catholic friends.

My CoinFlip 1.2.3
Sandro Stricker
www.software.sandrostricker.de
$0.99

Wait, How Many Spider Rolls Did We Order?

Ordering sushi for large parties can be an exercise in chaos—especially after a few sake rounds. Sushi Boat! presents a list of common sushi offerings—nigiri, sashimi, and maki—so you can you pass your phone around to capture a digital account of your order. When everyone’s weighed in, tap My Order to see the tally, which can then be read to the server by whoever’s most coherent.

Handy translations ensure you won't order hamachi (yellowtail) when you want maguro (tuna).

Sushi Boat! 1.0
Impresario Digital
www.impresariodigital.com
$0.99

Automatic Name That Tune

Can’t put a name to the tune that’s playing over a public speaker system or at a party? Shazam can ID the song, artist, and album—then let you buy it directly from the iTunes Store. Just tap Tag Now and hold up your iPhone so it can “hear” the music.

Shazam effortlessly recognized Len's "Steal My Sunshine," after only hearing the first couple seconds of the song, which is a bunch of talking.

Shazam 1.5
Shazam Entertainment Ltd.
www.shazam.com
Free

Wash and Wear

LaundryPal is exactly what college kids whose moms coddled them and newly divorced bachelors need: It deciphers the often mystifying care symbols found on clothes labels, ensuring that you don’t machine-wash a hand-wash or dry-clean-only item. Even better, it includes a laundry how-to, as well as tips in each symbol section (Wash, Tumble Dry, Iron, and Bleach, Dry Clean, and Dry). If only it could fold your laundry too!

The Do Not Dry symbol is presumably interchangeable with the symbol for Do Not Tumble Dry. Otherwise there will be a lot of laundry noobs walking around wearing wet—albeit clean—clothes!

LaundryPal 1.2
Hip Fire
www.hipfire.com
$0.99

You Go Green, Girl!

We debated including this, worried that the manly men out there would balk at the app’s title. This iPhone version of Sophie Uliano’s best-seller Gorgeously Green provides you with the core info from the eco-conscious lifestyle guide. What tipped the scale in the app’s favor was ultrahandy lists and tips, such as which types of fish are OK to eat, how to decode the numbers on plastic bottles, which produce you should always buy organic, and more.

Which produce should you always buy organic? The GG Survival Guide's got your back.

Gorgeously Green Survival Guide 1.2
Optima Drama
www.gorgeouslygreen.com
$0.99

Unlike Mace, It Doesn't Require a Permit

Panic Alarm is a personal alarm that can’t immobilize an attacker the way mace or pepper spray can, but could very well be all you need to scare off a would-be perp. The app consists of a large Alarm button that appears on launch, which, when tapped (or if you shake your device), sets off a very loud alarm. You can also set the app to call an emergency contact after the alarm sounds for a certain period before it’s turned off.

In the settings, designate a contact to call if the alarm goes off for a specified period without being turned off.

Panic Alarm 1.0
Adduce Studios
www.adduce.se
$0.99

AppsFire: iPhone Users Spend $80 on Apps

Cory Bohon — Tue, 08 Sep 2009 19:55:15 -0500

AppsFire conducted a survey to determine how much iPhone/iPod touch owners spend on applications for their device and got interesting results.

The survey included 1,200 AppsFire users, of which there had been 15,000+ applications downloaded among them with roughly 65 applications installed on each of the devices.

Now for the money part: iPhone/iPod touch owners had purchased rough $80 worth of apps per device. The median price of the paid apps was $0.99, with the average price of paid apps was $1.56. If you consider the number of iPhone OS users, Apple is pocketing over $400 million if you want to take these stats to the bank. You can view the AppsFire presentation above.

AppsFire via TechCrunch

10 Awesome FREE Plug-ins for OS X

Arvind Srinivasan — Mon, 06 Jul 2009 19:02:00 -0500

Who says you need an application? Sometimes, all you need is a plug-in to make your regular apps run harder, better, faster, and stronger. However, plug-ins don't get the respect and recognition that full fledged apps do. And while there are applications to do most things, who needs an application when a simple plug-in can do everything behind the scenes?

We introduce the ten “Flugins” (free plug-ins) that will make you forget there were ever shortcomings in your favorite OS X apps.

QuickTime Plug-ins

>>Perian Tools

If QuickTime player was a bread bowl, and your video was soup (forgive us, we're hungry), Perian would be the forks, knives, and spoons all in one. You only need one file format to play the video, but it has so many extras that you will never be caught off guard. Perian includes playback support for MS-MPEG4 v1 & v2, DivX, 3ivx, H.264, Sorenson H.263, FLV/Sorenson Spark, FSV1, VP6, H263i, VP3, HuffYUV, FFVHuff, MPEG1 & MPEG2 Video, Fraps, Snow, NuppelVideo, Techsmith Screen Capture, DosBox Capture, all within QuickTime. Yeah, we didn’t know there was a "Fraps" file format either. Technically, you could just download VLC player, but QuickTime integrates much better with other OS X applications, and it's set to be the default media player, anyways.

Perian can be downloaded here.

>>Flip4Mac

Apparently (and surprisingly) there are still a lot of people using Windows Media Player for their everyday tasks. However, there is a glaring lack of support for the Windows media file formats (WMV and ASF) in OS X. To add insult to injury, even though there are third-party solutions that can open WMV files, like the excellent Miro Player, there is no way to play windows media files that are embedded on Web pages. Flip4Mac has a solution, and even though it only does one thing, it does it well. It extends WMV and ASF support throughout the OS X ecosystem, so your compatibility worries can go away. There is a free version that merely allows playback of Windows Media files, which is enough for us, but if you want to convert WMV to QuickTime, export to WMV, or export to HD WMV, you will have to shell out some cash.

Flip4Mac can be downloaded here.

Safari Plug-ins

>>Glims

The browser wars are in full swing. Internet Explorer, once the unquestioned king of the Internet hill, finds its market share declining, while Firefox gains momentum every week. And it's no surprise, given its combination of geek-friendly extensibility and basic user-oriented stability. That's not to say it's perfect; it's notorious for being RAM-intensive, a problem exacerbated by its imperfect port to OS X. However, without comparable features, such as saved tabs and keyword searches, using Apple's native Safari feels like using a Honda while a Lexus is parked in the driveway.

Glims, a plug-in for Safari, offers a good compromise. It adds features like full screen browsing, saved tabs on close, auto-complete in search, enhanced form auto-completion, and our personal favorite, mappable keyword search, which allows you to easily query any search engine from the address bar. While Glims’ feature set won’t appease hardcore Firefox users, it duplicates the functionality of some of Firefox’s most popular extensions.

Glims can be downloaded here. However, as of this writing (6/26/09) there is no Safari 4 compatible version. We assume one is in development, but until then, it can actually increase the probability that Safari crashes on launch, so we recommend you don't download it.

>>AdBlock

Firefox users know the power of Ad-Block, the veritable defense against your computer suddenly saying “You have won a free iPod nano.” However, if you are using Safari, the only built in defense is the pop-up blocker, which, while effective, does not prevent obnoxious banner ads. Enter Safari AdBlock, which presumably takes inspiration from the Firefox version of the same name. Unfortunately, Safari AdBlock still has fewer features than its Firefox counterpart. You can’t selectively block ads, and you can’t modify the block list, save for adding exceptions.

Safari AdBlock can be downloaded here.

NEXT: Quick Look Plug-ins

Quick Look Plug-ins

>>BetterZip

Even if you have been living in a cave for the past year, you probably know the sheer awesomeness of Quick Look, the OS X tool that allows you to preview the contents of files rapidly with a press of the spacebar. However, what Apple doesn’t advertise is the plethora of Quick Look plug-ins that allow you to preview many more file formats than the default installation. One of the best is BetterZip, a Quick Look plug-in that allows you to preview the contents of zipped folders. This is especially useful to check suspect compressed folders, because you don’t have to decompress them to see whats inside. It can also be useful if you are searching for a specific file and you don’t want to decompress and re-compress folders to find it.

BetterZip can be downloaded here.

>>Folder

Folder is like BetterZip, but allows you to preview the contents of regular folders. If you want to quickly check the organization of your file browser without having to go through Finder, this is the plug-in for you. There isn’t much more to say about it - it is built for one purpose, and does its task admirably.

Folder can be downloaded here.

>>Honorable Mention: ColorCode

If you work with a lot of code, regardless of language, you know how useful syntax highlighting is. You also know that opening up a full IDE is overkill if you just want to browse some code. ColorCode introduces syntax highlighting to Quick Look, offering support for 140+ languages (most languages that OS X recognizes as source code).

ColorCode can be downloaded here.

NEXT: Spotlight Plug-ins

Spotlight Plug-ins

>>ZipLight

If you love the idea of the BetterZip quick look plug-in (#5), but tend to find files with spotlight instead of finder, check out ZipLight, a Spotlight plug-in that lets you search within Zip files. Of course, when you eventually want to use the file, you will have to unzip the folder.

ZipLight can be downloaded here.

>>Google Importer

If you find yourself searching Google too often and would like quicker access to it, the Google Importer Spotlight plug-in will bring Google’s search engine to Spotlight. It works with regular queries, showing internet results alongside files and folders that Spotlight has indexed. Beware though, it has been known to crash if you try to search too many times in a short period - hopefully the developers will fix this bug in a future release.

Google Importer can be downloaded here.

System Wide Plug-ins

>>NTFS--3G

If you have a Boot Camp partition, you know one of the most annoying things to do is transfer files between partitions. Windows does not have read or write support for HFS Journaled, the OS X filesystem, and most external hard drives that are built for Mac are HFS Journaled. So, you generally have two options: USB sticks, or emailing files to yourself.

NTFS-3G gives you an easier solution. Using the MacFuse SDK, which was developed by a few Google employees, it allows you to mount and handle NTFS formatted drives as if they were native Mac ones. This means you can drag large files from your Mac drive to your Windows drive, and vice versa, just using Finder.

NTFS--3G can be downloaded here.

>>Growl

Growl is so widely used by different applications that you likely have it already installed, without even knowing it. However, it is so critical to the Mac experience that we felt we had to include it. Growl is a system wide notifier, of sorts, that allows different applications, like Adium, Transmission, and Dropbox, to alert you with system messages without bouncing the dock or playing an obnoxious sound. Instead, you see a bubble in a predetermined corner of your screen that disappears in a few seconds. Growl is highly configurable, and you can generally set how it is used from individual application preferences.

Growl can be downloaded here.

Have a favorite plug-in you want to share with the world? Drop the info in the comments section.

How to Make Your iPhone the Ultimate Music Festival Companion

Mike Spitalieri — Mon, 15 Jun 2009 21:01:38 -0500

Before you get in the van this summer for a hard day's rocking, you'll want to pack along the most indispensable tool since Fender invented a little six-string called the Stratocaster--your iPhone. We've already explained how to just survive with your mobile gear, now we'll show you exactly why God gave Rock an' Roll to you with an assortment of Apps, tricks and tips to crank it up to eleven.

No Way Home

Doesn't matter what you're into, rock, jazz, techno, or hip hop, spontaneously moshing in public will garner only strange looks and an arrest warrant. Better to first secure a public venue zoned for rocking using Local Concerts, an App that let's you browse hundreds of shows in your area using location data. Local Concerts will even redirect you to the appropriate ticket seller in Safari to fork over those dollars from a hard day's night. Not sure what you want to see? That's cool. You can browse indie or mainstream acts using your last.fm account, then browse an event calendar right on the iPhone with a dedicated App or at m.last.fm.

Digs

Right, so you've found a suitable show and purchased your tickets, now it's time to secure some digs. Google Maps can locate nearby hotels and hostels, but if you're on a roadie's budget (and have a low tolerance for squalor) you'll want to browse nearby accommodations by price and reviews at lonelyplanet.com or download one of their City Guide Apps. If you're really broke--still waiting for that debut album to hit big--you can truly live the rockstar life crashing with someone from CouchSurfing.org.

Setting The Stage

Getting to the site will be no sweat using this turn by turn GPS App. Upon arrival, though, it's crucial to mark your territory so that you're not drunkenly waving a car key clicker long into the night. To set your car's location in Google Maps with GPS data simply just flip up the page on the Maps UI and select Drop Pin. You can also share this location with friends via email.

Losing My ReligiPhone

Sure, losing your car would suck, but losing your iPhone would suck way worse. First, take a picture of yourself holding up an "If Lost please return to" message with your contact info then set it as your wallpaper. Even if you set a passcode anyone that finds it will be able to see the lost message by hitting the Home button. If you're a MobileMe user, iPhone OS 3.0 offers a Find My iPhone feature to locate the device should you lose it in the pit. No guarantees your iPhone won't end up in hock for a new set of speakers, though.

NEXT: Finding a network connection, your favorite band's app and the after party.

Spirit of Radiowaves

Before the show gets under way you'll want to test your data connection for posting tweets, statuses, posting snaps and otherwise boosting your indie cred on the internet. You can test your bandwidth and latency in Safari here, or with this Network Speed Test App. Be sure to test with both EDGE and 3G and set your connection accordingly. If 3G and EDGE prove too flaky you can leech some free Wi-Fi. WiFiFoFum displays a map with all the hotspots in range, while Spots provides a database of thousands of business Wifi hotspots across America.

Get This Party Started

Parking lots are good for two things: parking your car and tailgating. And tailgating requires tunes. If you've got a car kit (We prefer the Scosche Digital Tuneshift) you can either crank out music according to your favorite genius list, or you can invoke the Demons of Rock and Roll Past with Wolfgang's Vault, an App that streams thousands of classic concerts over a 3G or Wi-Fi connection completely for free.

It's a Social Thing, Baby

Concerts have always been social events, but Twitter, Facebook and MySpace have transformed them into hyper-social experiences. We've already showed you our picks for best iPhone Twitter App, and the standard MySpace and Facebook Apps still get the job done. Just be sure to configure your social networking accounts to accept updates over SMS in case the data network starts to chug. Better yet, Ping.fm will update all of your networks with a single text.

In addition to standard social sites, some bands distribute their own social networking Apps. NIN:access displays the NIN.com forums, location based chat for concert-goers, plus tour images and video. The Dave Matthews Band and Fall Out Boy All Access Apps also offer social networking and photo uploads, as well.

Some other bands with iPhone apps:

Sara Evans
Spinal Tap
Reba McEntire

Photo Shoot

In order to take those candid stage snaps you can use your new iPhone 3G S and Auto Focus features built into iPhone OS 3.0. If you want to more after effects like Cropping, Grayscale, Antique and Sepia, Photon is a great free App that fits the bill nicely. You can then upload your pics to your favorite image hosting service like Flickr. Klick is a great free App for uploading and browsing Flickr photos. Remember to geotag and #hashtag your photos so other people at the show can find them.

After Party

When the lights flood the stage for the last encore, and the final bars of a slow jam close out the night, you can raise your iPhone in the air with a virtual Zippo Lighter App to show your support. But the party's just starting after the last encore. Maybe, just maybe, you can snag a hot after-party tip off of Twitter, which many Rock Stars including Trent Reznor, Jane's Addiction Guitarist Dave Navarro, and John Mayer actively use. For a more complete list check here. You may not be invited to trash any hotel rooms, but you can listen in as Trent trash talks a dissatisfied fan.