Category Archives: $1.99

RingToneMaker Pro review

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RingToneMaker Pro review is a post from: Best Iphone Apps Review Website

Developer: Zentertain
Price: $1.99
Version Reviewed: 1.0
Device Reviewed On: iPhone 4

iPhone Integration Rating: 3.5 out of 5 stars
User Interface Rating: 3.5 out of 5 stars
Re-use Value Rating: 3.5 out of 5 stars

Overall Rating: 3.5 out of 5 stars

The clue is in the name when it comes to RingToneMaker Pro, it’s an app that creates ringtones for your iPhone. Load the app, choose a song and a 10-30 second segment of it, then at the touch of one button, it’s created. Then it’s a simple matter of connecting your iPhone to iTunes and a couple of clicks of cut and paste. Voila, one new ringtone. No more suffering that damn Marimba or Piano tune.

As you can see from the screenshots, there really isn’t much to look at with RingToneMaker Pro, it’s all very functional. Its unique selling point is in its ability to adjust the pitch and playback speed. This can make for some entertaining ringtones. You can make any song you like sound like Barry White is singing it, or you can make it sound like Alvin and the Chipmunks’ are strutting their stuff. Admittedly after fiddling around with the settings, I still ended up sticking with the original version of the song. But it’s nice to have the option and I’m sure others would be keen to have a silly sounding ringtone.

It’s all quite simple but works for the most part. There’s even a link to a handy video tutorial so that it’s obvious what you need to do via iTunes. The only real irritant is that you can’t easily preview the song. You can once it’s completed and saved of course but there’s no way of doing it on the fly. It would have been very useful if you could tell where you were in the song rather than simply having to guess the correct timings.

Other than that, RingToneMaker Pro does exactly what the name suggests. Sure you could do it yourself for free via the PC/Mac but using this method is much quicker and simpler. If you’re someone who likes switching ringtones regularly and fancy hearing your songs in an entirely different light then this is well worth a look.

[ RingToneMaker Pro review is a post from 148Apps ]


Drum Meister for iPad: You got what it takes?!?

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Drum Meister for iPad: You got what it takes?!? is a post from: Best Iphone Apps Review Website

Every once in a while there comes an app that tests a man’s fortitude. That pushes him to the limits of his own skill and masculinity. That tests whether that man is truly a master of his domain.

Drum Meister is not that app. But it is still pretty damn cool and a lot of fun.

This virtual drum pad works on the huge iPad display in a way that it never could on the iPhone. So click the video below, and find out how much of a Drum Meister I’m not.

You can buy it HERE



‘Karate Champ’ Sale, Update from Revolutionary Concepts

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‘Karate Champ’ Sale, Update from Revolutionary Concepts is a post from: Best Iphone Apps Review Website

Wayne Whatford over at Revolutionary Concepts dropped us a line to let us know that '80s arcade classic Karate Champ – both the iPhone [link] and iPad [link] versions — is on sale this weekend for $0.99, down from $1.99 and $2.99, respectively. This marks a great chance for iPad users who grabbed the iPhone version early on to checkout the version tailored for Apple's tablet, featuring split-screen, head-to-head, two-player action.

In other news from the studio, forum readers may have noted the thread recently started by Revolutionary Concepts, challenging readers to guess what the initials of an upcoming game stand for. Those initials are "U. o. T." and some of the suggestions readers have been making are … well … amusing. The studio indicates the game is being created with just two criterion:

  1. It should have ZERO Buttons or onscreen controls of any kind, making it immediately accessible to anyone.
  2. Deliver it to you guys in just 2 weeks from start to finish!

Free copies of the game go to users with the closest (or funniest) guesses, at launch.

Whatford also indicated that his studio's iPhone adaptation of the Data East laserdisc classic Road Blaster is progressing nicely. The only time this game has been seen outside of Japan is in the Sega CD port which not only suffered from the same horrid video compression of all Sega CD games, but also got renamed to Road Avenger. Revolutionary Concepts have completely remastered the game, and when it is finally released, it will play at 60FPS at full iPhone 4 or iPad resolutions. They've also completely redesigned the dashboard of the car, added in tilt controls, and made a whole list of other tweaks. The studio is hoping for an end-of-month release for Road Blaster, we're told.

Whatford tells us that various, unspecified titles will follow shortly behind Road Blaster. Stay tuned.

App Store Link: Karate Champ, $0.99
App Store Link: Karate Champ XL, $0.99 (iPad Only)


iTV Shows HD Review

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iTV Shows HD Review is a post from: Best Iphone Apps Review Website

Developer: iSnoop.fr
Price: $1.99
Version: 3.9.0

Design Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
Features Rating: 2.5 out of 5 stars
Integration Rating: 4 out of 5 stars

Overall Rating: 3.5 out of 5 stars

iTV Shows HD provides a simple, effective way to follow the TV shows that you are interested in. Its content is aggregated from both The TV Database and TVRage to ensure that even the less well known shows are catalogued. The design of iTV Shows is clean and well thought-out, with the screens differing depending on whether you hold your device in landscape or portrait mode. Much like the Notes application, a directory sidebar is constantly visible when viewing iTV Shows in landscape mode, but is only visible in portrait mode when a button is pressed.

Adding a TV show is a really simple process. Click the plus button, enter in the name of the show, tap it, and that’s it. Rather neatly, the search box doesn’t hide as soon as a show has been added – meaning it takes a fraction of the time to add multiple shows. The application did get a little confused, understandably, between differentiations between the ampere sign (&) and the word (and), but this is more a database limitation rather than iTV’s problem.

Once shows are added, the aforementioned directory sidebar comes into play, providing the user with the latest timing information with regards to the show. For example, the application is currently telling me that The Good Wife is restarting in 13 days, September 28, and that the episode number and name is S02E01 (season 2 episode 1) – Taking Control. For shows like In Plain Sight and Curb Your Enthusiasm, the times are marked as TBA, or To Be Announced. Finally, shows like Frasier and The West Wing are marked as Ended, signifying that these shows have no new episodes airing. I’ll leave my personal disappointments aside. Going into more detail, when you tap on a specific show the application offers a wealth of information regarding episode numbers and names, as well a description of the show and full episode history. Each episode history contains its own short synopsis paragraph, taken straight from The TV Database or TVRage.

One feature that I’d like to touch on is the ability to mark a show as ’seen’ – which places a red bookmark similar to that on iBooks by that particular episode. Instead of having a red bookmark for every show, only one bookmark is placed, thereby implying that all of the above shows have been watched. This makes sense when you think about it – episodes of TV shows are typically watched in chronological order.

The application was somewhat slow in aggregating content for a TV show, particularly in series with a higher number of seasons. In addition, the lack of broadcasting information – like when and where it’s on – forces a user to look elsewhere. Finally, a push notification wouldn’t go amiss to alert you that one of the shows you watch is about to start, particularly given the fact that this is a paid-for application.

Overall, I am impressed with iTV Shows HD. It feels like a native version of a website like epguides.com, and the ability to mark TV shows as watched is very cool. If future updates satisfy the above, it’ll be worth every penny.

[ iTV Shows HD Review is a post from 148Apps ]


Star Fighter X2 for iPad Review

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Star Fighter X2 for iPad Review is a post from: Best Iphone Apps Review Website

Developer: Manic Networks
Price: $1.99
Version Reviewed: 1.0.1
Device Reviewed On:iPad

Graphics / Sound Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
Game Controls Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
Gameplay Rating: 3 out of 5 stars

Overall Rating: 3.33 out of 5 stars

Multi-player single device games are a dime a dozen in the app store right now. Outside your board and card games, there isn’t a very diverse offering available for purchase. As a result, Star Fighter X2 stands out as a game that fills a much needed gap in the app store.

Star Fighter X2 is an arcade style game where two ships are pitted head to head on the iPad screen, each beginning on opposite sides of the screen. While engaging in epic battle, asteroids fly through the screen, creating a need to not only watch your opponent, but watch the environment as well. The game is over when one of the two ships has no remaining health. Touching the ship initiates an attack, and a joystick of sorts is used to move the ship from place to play. Random power-ups shoot through the level to assist in the encounter as well.

Star Fighter X2 doesn’t really offer any more depth than that. It’s a solid multiplayer game that is a lot of fun, but doesn’t have the staying power to be a memorable title. Fans of intense multi-player games may find a keeper here, but for me Star Fighter X2 is a game that I’ll enjoy for a couple days and be done with it.

Depending on what you’re looking for in a game, Star Fighter X2 may fill a need you’ve been desperately waiting to fill. At $1.99, it’s extremely well priced for what it offers, and is an easy investment for those looking for just this kind of experience. With no single player mode, and no story mode of any sorts, it’s uses are very specific though.

[ Star Fighter X2 for iPad Review is a post from 148Apps ]


Social for the iPad Review

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Social for the iPad Review is a post from: Best Iphone Apps Review Website

Developer: Christian Arild Strommen
Price: $1.99
Version Reviewed: 1.2.0
Device Reviewed On: iPad

iPad Integration Rating: 3.5 out of 5 stars
User Interface Rating: 3.9 out of 5 stars
Re-use Value Rating: 4.5 out of 5 stars

Overall Rating: 3.97 out of 5 stars

There is one great thing about Safari on the iPad for Facebook users – the main website actually works very well on the iPad, without much need for a separate app. Well, if you’re mostly just a lurker who only posts the occasional thing, Facebook via Safari works great. If you’re the type who needs to upload photos, hide or delete posts, or if you need more organization of the features in your Facebook user experience, Social for the iPad is here for you.

Social for the iPad is largely just a wrapper for the Facebook website in app form. All the information appears in similar layout to the website, the only main difference being a different font and some larger buttons. One of the issues remedied by the app is that the main website’s hover over buttons don’t work on iOS Safari devices, so these buttons are now persistent, meaning you can delete your own posts, or hide posts from your main news feed. Tired of seeing your sister constantly post about her Mafia zombies’ crops and can’t wait to get back to a computer to hide them? Fret no longer, good sir or madam.

Social for the iPad does a great job making the Facebook experience on the iPad more complete. It doesn’t alter the experience of using the web site, it only supplements it and gives you handy options to view your messages, notifications, and to make a group of your favorite people to quickly access. As well, when you add someone to your favorites, a prompt comes up with a button that confirms you’ve added them to your favorites, with a button that says “Yay!” to close the box. I appreciate little interface touches like this.

Social for the iPad being largely a wrapper has its problems – often times when you want to pull up something like a profile, a blank page will pop up, and you have to refresh. An issue with the main news feeds not appearing on devices on iOS 3.2.0 was fixed in a recent update, but pages not appearing properly still occurs. Also, this app largely only exists due to the deficiencies of not just Mobile Safari, but Facebook as well: they haven’t updated their web application for iPad compatibility, either. If at least one of these issues gets addressed, and I’m betting on the latter happening first, then Social for the iPad might struggle to have any reason to exist at all.

But until then, the Facebookers of the world need a way to properly use Facebook on their iPad and Social for the iPad goes a long way towards making that experience far more tolerable for the moment. While it needs some work on the technical backend, this is a good choice for iPad Facebook users who need to access a wider set of Facebook features.

[ Social for the iPad Review is a post from 148Apps ]


Aarde Web Browser Review

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Aarde Web Browser Review is a post from: Best Iphone Apps Review Website

Developer: NicheVision Labs
Price: $1.99
Version: 1.3

Design Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
Features Rating: 4.5 out of 5 stars
Integration Rating: 3 out of 5 stars

Overall Rating: 3.5 out of 5 stars

Aarde, developed by NicheVision Labs, is a third-party web browser built for the iPad – aiming to minimize the gap between desktop and mobile by offering a number of features not seen in Safari’s iPad browser. These features include: AdBlock, a tool to block advertisements from appearing on screen (which has the side effect of also loading pages faster); private browsing; tabbed browsing; customizable brightness like in the iBooks application; notepad; in-page search (coming to Safari in iOS 4.2); font resizing and the ability to view the source code of the website in hand. For a full list of features, see here or view the screenshots attached below.

Certainly, most of these features already exist on desktop clients. Yet Safari for iPad is lacking in all of the above, providing a focus solely on websites at hand, rather than customization and development. Indeed, with the newly launched Safari Extensions Gallery, one would like to hope that Apple are beginning to branch out into third-party offerings and that such features may soon be available for iPad. Until then, Aarde fills the gap between desktop and mobile browsing with its intuitive browser and selection of tools. On a similar note, the application features “Desktop Browser Rendering” – a tool that tricks websites into thinking that you are browsing the website from a desktop browser, thus avoiding low-bandwidth and low-feature mobile versions of websites.

Most of the features and settings are accessible through a one-tap master settings options, found to the left of the tabs. With such features in one place it makes it easy to find what you’re looking for, something that a number of other applications fall short on by offering numerous, complex settings pages.

Where the application advances in features, I do feel it fails in design. The heavy stroke and lack of iPad integration – in the sense that all buttons and designs are completely to different from what typical apps offer – makes it feel like it was built first and then ported over to iPad, giving it a less professional feel. However, I can see where the developers are coming from – many of these features do not exist elsewhere on Apple applications, thus requiring a new design. The application’s biggest drawback, which is a result of Apple’s platform rather than the developers of Aarde Web Browser, is its lack of primary choice. Whenever you click on links in other applications, if it doesn’t have a web browser built in, it will load Safari. So much of the iPad is integrated with Safari that it just isn’t practical to use two browsers to do one thing. For obvious reasons, it seems unlikely that Apple will ever offer the users to branch away from Safari. In addition, unlike Safari, Aarde has no web caching feature, meaning all tabs will have to reload manually upon startup.

Nonetheless, there are some compelling features in Aarde that make it a worthy adversary to Safari for iPad. If within the extended list of features you find just one or two that are of use to you, Aarde could very well be a worthwhile purchase. At $1.99, it certainly has its price right.

[ Aarde Web Browser Review is a post from 148Apps ]