Analytics App Finally Brings Google Analytics to the iPhone

by Sebastien on February 5th, 2009

I have about 20 different websites and part of my daily routine is to check out my Google Analytics account to have a look at the stats. Thanks to Michael Jensen and his new Analytics App, I can now do this on the go, directly from my iPhone.

There’s already a couple Google Analytics apps in the App Store but they’re not nearly as good as Analytics App [iTunes Link]. So what makes Analytics App so much better? Well, to be honest, it’s as comprehensive as you can get and it really is a “pocket version” of your full Google Analytics account.

When launching the app for the first time, Analytics App asks for your Google Analytics username and password. Once done, it loads all the websites you have analytics access to. If you have different profiles, it will load all of them with each website conveniently listed. Just tap the website for which you want to see the stats and you will be presented with 29 reports as well as unlimited custom reports, if you set them up. Wow!

I could go on and on about what Analytics App can do but as I said before, it does everything you can do from your Google Analytics account on your computer’s browser. To be honest with you, I think I find the app actually easier than the web version!

One thing I didn’t really like though is the fact that I cannot get the stats for yesterday. As much as I tried to change the dates and everything, I just wasn’t able to get my analytics report for the previous day, which is usually what I’m looking for. I assume it’s a missing feature that will most likely be added in future updates.

Analytics App is a must-have for any website/blog owner! You can download it from the App Store for $5.99 and at this price, I still think it’s a steal. Now I’m just hoping that Michael Jensen will also develop an application for Google Adsense and Adwords. Michael, if you hear me…

 
 

Tweetie – The Best Twitter App?

by dannyswrld on February 4th, 2009

The App Store has thousands of apps, including more than a handful of Twitter apps. So you might be wondering: “what is the best?” Well, one app that calls itself the best Twitter app is Tweetie. So the question is: is Tweetie really the best Twitter app?

Interface

The interface is nice and feels good. But, there’s always a but. It takes a bit getting used to. Especially for users like me who used TwitterFon. You need to learn things like the “swipe” and other stuff. But it is relatively easy to master after a bit of use.

Look

Tweetie definitely looks much better than any other Twitter app I have seen.

Humor

Tweetie is the only app I have seen with a sense of humor. It has a “Popularity Enhancer” feature. It is a joke really, but what it does is it gives you a flashlight and when you do the “swipe” it replaces the normal click sound with a fart sound. Quite funny and a joke on the App Store.

Smoothness

Tweetie is definetly more smooth than other free apps, and it does not crash or eat up all your RAM.

Other Features

- An option for you to set the image compression for a smaller or normal size. You choose how much compression.

- Multiple Account management

- Instapaper integration

- Links to StockTwits

- Optional landscape keyboard

- Themes

- Follow and un-follow people

- Block/unblock users

- Navigate reply chains

- Inline web browser

- Inline TwitPic image viewer

Missing Features

One feature I liked from TwitterFon is that when you were typing a new tweet, there was a @ button which showed all the people you are following. This is very handy. The developers of Tweetie told me they will add this in future updates.

Overall

I’m going to be honest. If you are constantly tweeting, or use Twitter everyday I recommend Tweetie. It’s smoothness and easy to use interface has won me over. I highly recommend this.

In my opinion, Tweetie is definitely worth $2.99 for those of you who use Twitter everyday or often. But for those who rarely ever use Twitter, I think you are better of with a free Twitter app.

 

Up There is a Surprising Game

by dannyswrld on January 30th, 2009

OK, so the title sound weird huh? Well that’s how I feel, really. I first heard of Up There on Twitter. I kept on saying what’s the point?! Everyone kept saying it was a great game. Then the developer contacted me on Twitter. He told me he was going to send me a code just for my opinion (don’t bomb him asking, guys). Boy was I surprised! The game is a beautiful game indeed just as everyone said. It features beautifully done artwork throughout the whole app.

Above is just a taste. The point of the game is to get the balloon “up there” as up as you can though the barriers that might block you, which is pretty hard. But this has become one of my favorite games. It features an online score board so that you can compete with people. The game is really fun. There aren’t really many ways I can describe this well.

The app is normally $1.99 but is on sale for $0.99.

P.S: Just a little comment. One of the developers, Jeff, has agreed to sing us a song once the app reaches the top twenty. So, I’m looking forward to that Jeff ;)

 

Paper Pilot – A Show Off App!

by dannyswrld on January 30th, 2009

OK so I bet you are wondering what’s so great about “Paper Pilot” due to the title right? Well I’ll get right to the point. Although Paper Pilot is not a gigantic game that will keep you entertained forever and that you will get addicted to, it is a showoff.

This app uses the powerful Unity Game Engine and it shows off what the iPhone graphics can be. Paper Pilot has received criticism since it uses demos that come with the Unity Game Engine when you get it, but rest assure: Clever Coding (the dev of Paper Pilot) asked Unity for permission and they have allowed it.

The gameplay is pretty simple: you fly a paper airplane using the accelerometer, collecting paper clips and trying to do so in the shortest time possible to get ranks.

Here is a video of the gameplay (not by me):


Although the game is not yet a “wow” it is a very fun game showing off the iPhone’s ability. The devs have planned for a future update:

- Weapons, like spitball guns and pencil missiles
- Enemies, like the stapler and tape dispenser
- Dogfighting other paper airplanes

The app is normally priced at $2.99 but is on sale for a “limited time” at $1.99. In my opinion Paper Pilot is a fun game to have. It’s not anything you will be addicted to but is definitely fun and well made. You might want to get it at the sale price.

 

A Quick Look At WordsWorth

by dannyswrld on January 23rd, 2009

99Games Online Private Limited has released a word finding game called WordsWorth [iTunes Link]. This is a fun Scrabble-like game in which you need to find words with the letters given. You connect the letters and create a “chain” of letters to form a word.

The game has well done artwork. You can shake your device if you are stuck and need help, but of course this comes with a penalty. There are also “time tiles” which can blow up your library.  The current version of WordsWorth features:

  • 4×4, 5×5, 6×6, and 7×7 grids
  • Scramble count per level
  • Set minimum word length
  • TWL, SOWPODS and ENABLE word lists
  • Wall of WoW to display high scores
  • Green, Gold and Wild Card reward tiles
  • Buzzwords for bonus
  • 20 levels with different rankings
  • Customize the timer speed for a game

The game is available in the App Store for $1.99. This game is great for just $2. Anyone who enjoys word games and Scrabble should take a look at this. And for those of you who are still not convinced, there is a free lite version of WordsWorth available.

 

PocketRocket ShowDown: The Ultimate iPhone 3D Racing Game

by Cody Lee on January 20th, 2009

Now, I keep trying to put this review off until after Need For Speed is released, but as much as this game keeps getting pushed back, it seems I’ve got a better chance of seeing a black man become president than I do of getting to speed past NFS cops on my iPhone anytime soon.  And now that I’ve made that comment, I want you set your facial expressions to ‘awesome’, and get ready for this super fast, super awesome, super ultimate, iPhone 3D racing review. Join me, long time iPhone modder/blogger, as I weave in and out of traffic and human skulls on my quest to find the ultimate 3D racer. After all, everyone has to have at least one good racer on their iPhone, right?

Now I must make a few things clear before we get started. I decided on the four games chosen for this review based on popularity at the App Store, realistic 3D style and graphics, multiple racing modes, and then probably just personal preference. I am aware that there are more racing games for the iPhone, and feel free to chime in on the comments section about your personal favorites, but for all intents and purposes of this article, these are the games I chose.

RAGING THUNDER

We have a quick game on our hands. So quick that you can launch the game and be racing within 9 seconds (I timed it!) It seems like Polarbit had the best intentions of this game, but a lot of aspects seemed to fall short. Let me tell you the things I like about it before I tell you the things I don’t.

I like that it has a multiplayer mode, but it seems like I’m never close enough to someone else with an iPhone and this game, wanting to play multiplayer, to try it out. I also like that it lets you save player profiles. The quickness is also very important to me. I can’t stand when, say, your waiting at the dentist office to be called. You wanna kill some time with a little iPhone gaming. You launch a game, and after 3 splash screens, a demo video, and a handful of settings, you might get to race around the first corner before you hear your name called out. This is definately not the case here, as the quick play mode picks your car and track, and starts almost instantly.

Now for the things I didn’t quite enjoy. The auto accelerator (so you don’t have to do anything to make the car go) is a neat idea, and really gives the game an arcade feel, and adds to the overall “pick-up-and-play-ability” of this game, but I’m just not a fan. I like that its an option, as I’m definitely more of a speed up, slow down type of person, especially around corners. And finally, the steering seemed a bit too sensitive, which made for a very jerky driving experience when mixed in with the auto accelerator. It seemed as though a small tilt in either direction resulted in immediate detours off the track. The graphics, I can’t say yay or nay about. Of course they’re stunning for a cell phone game, but didn’t seem as sharp as the other racers in the review. Raging Thunder [iTunes Link] is overall a descent game, and could be a great game with some fine tuning. If you can get a handle on the racing controls, it is definitely worth your $2.99.

ShowDown Rank – 4th

Gameplay: 2
Visuals: 2
User interface: 3
Price: $2.99

FASTLANE STREET RACING

The first thing you’ll notice is that it loads in seconds. No cool 3D rendered videos, no clicking through several developer splash screens, just straight to the game and the main menu. The user interface in FastLane [iTunes Link] is extremely simple and easy to use.

Menu hopping has never been such a breeze as you switch from either easy or hard, pick what type of race you’d like to run, and then pick your car. You can choose from arcade, challenge, and time trial races. The absence of multiplayer and career modes are noticeable, but not devestating, as you’ll be plenty busy racing and completing challenges, trying to unlock more beautiful tracks and cars. Which brings us to the next element of the game, the graphics. Everything from the landscapes, to the shine of the cars you catch during replays, look great, and will easily impress your friends who are now embarrased of their 2D versions of Bejewled on their Blackberrys.

Finally, and most importantly, the gameplay. You can make a game look good, but if playing it makes you want to throw your iPhone in the Potomac, theres probably something wrong. Controls in FastLane, are handled by a gas pedal by your right thumb, and a brake by your left (landscape style), and of course the accelerometer deals with the twist in turns. This method actually works very well, as the pedals are large enough where I never miss them, and the accelerometer is sensitive enough where small tilts in either direction are enough to turn your vehicle. With no big name licenses for the cars and the absence of a full career mode, don’t expect this to rival Forza. But for those of you looking for an easy to use 3D racer that you can pick up and play anywhere, this might just be your cup of tea.

ShowDown Rank – 3rd

Gameplay: 3
Visuals: 3
User interface: 4
Price: $3.99

FERRARI GT: EVOLUTION

If you’ve played Asphalt 4: Elite Racing, then you’ve play Ferrari GT Evolution [iTunes Link], well sort of. Since both are made by Gameloft, both are very much alike. Ferrari GT Evolution is kind of like a Ferrari edition of Asphalt 4, and includes a lot of features and fixes that gameloft missed with Elite Racing.

You’ll notice a gorgeous 3D rendered video again at startup. You’ll see similar load times and then a very similar main menu. You still have career, mulitplayer, and quick race options. You also have an ‘options’ option which contains way more options than it’s twin brother Asphalt. Auto accelerator can be turned off and steering sensitivity can be adjusted which makes for a much more realistic and pleasant driving experience. You are limited to Ferrari brand only cars, but there is a whopping 32 of them and they are all gorgeous. I haven’t yet seen the ability to upgrade car parts, or customize any further than the color, but I may be missing something.

For me, it’s mostly about the game play anyway, that kinda stuff gets tedious after a while. Game play is great! With the welcome edition of sensitivity control and auto accelerator off, the steering wheel by the left thumb and gas and brake by the right thumb work surprisingly well. Mix that in with a color coded path your car should follow that is green when your on track and turns red when you’ve veered to far away from it make for a very realistic racing experience. The graphics are just as gorgeous as our #1 pick and at times might look even better. The menu system seems to have been tightened up since Asphalt, as things do seem quicker and smoother, but it may be because there are not as many features in this game.

With longer load times, and tons of options to tweak, if you are looking for a quick pick up game, this may not be the one for you. But if you are going for ultimate mobile racing experience, this one, also, will not dissapoint. At $5.99, you may have a hard time deciding which Gameloft game to go with, and even though Asphalt is taking home the trophy, I might recommend you try this one if your torn, it just seems a little more refined.

ShowDown Rank – 2nd

Gameplay: 4
Visuals: 4
User interface: 4
Price: $5.99

ASPHALT 4: ELITE RACING

If girls were impressed by how sweet games looked on your iPhone, you’d probably want to show them Asphalt 4: Elite Racing [iTunes Link]. This thing screams adrenaline, as launching the application opens a gorgeously rendered 3D video of a Buggatti Veyron, a Ferrari Enzo, and several other cars racing through New York, and you realize this ain’t no ordinary racing game (bad grammar intended for effect).

After a bit of loading time (that’s right, loading time), a menu fit for a console game opens up. You can scroll through an insane amount of high end, brand name cars (licensed!) including Ferrari, Buggatti, Nissan, BMW, etc, even motorcycles! Next, check out which city you want to race in, New York, Paris, L.A., the world is your playground. Tweak your car if you’ve earned some money racing, by switching up wheels, changing paint jobs, upgrading engine parts, almost everything on the car is customizable. Play in or host a mulitplayer game, or start a career on the racing circuit, and see if you can earn enough money to buy an Aston Martin or a Ferrari Enzo.

Sounds like a lot to take in, hopefully its got a good, easy to use interface. Well, the menus are great looking but at times feel sluggish and disorganized, definately needs a good lesson from the FastLane folks. The in-game graphics look great, and animations are nice and smooth (loading times weren’t for nothin’). You have 3 choices when it comes to gameplay. You can use the accelerometer to tilt left and right, you can use a small steering wheel, operated by your thumb, or you can touch left or right of the car when you want it to turn. The accelerometer choice would be nice, but I found myself tilting it so far over it’d go into portrait mode out of landscape mode, and that was rather frustrating. I’ll be honest, I didn’t give the touch steering method much of a chance, it just felt wrong. The steering wheel was cool, but was very sensitive, and I could not find an option to tweak that.

Overall, I wasn’t fond of their controls, but like all racing games, it takes a while to get used to, and before long I was constantly coming in top 3. This game is definitely the mammoth of the 4 and almost the winner by default. It just offers too much content, even at $5.99, it’s a steal. If you are looking for the ultimate racer, I’d have to say this will not disappoint.

ShowDown Rank – 1st

Gameplay: 5
Visuals: 5
User iface: 4
Price: $5.99

That’s my story and I’m sticking to it. Hope I didn’t blow your minds too much with that crazy review. Let me know about your ifs, ands, and buts in the comments.

 

EDGE: Interactive Puzzle Game

by dannyswrld on January 17th, 2009

Well I have been wanting for a game like this for a while. MobiGame has released their award-winning app EDGE [iTunes Link] for the iPhone and iPod Touch. I was one of the people that though this would not end up well on the iPhone when they saw the trailer.

But boy was I wrong! This game feels natural to the iDevices and you will get used to the controls almost immediately. Be warned; although the game offers a optional accelerometer control; this is not recommended. Touch controls work perfectly and are precise. The game features 26 levels. The game has a moving environment (as seen in the video) which makes the game experience richer. This is a puzzle game; but not the usual kind of game where you just guide the block to the goal. This game has a variety of game plays in which you must ride on moving blocks; hang on to them (called edge time) and more. And if that is not enough; this picture of you riding a robot made of blocks should win you over:

The dev told me that the next update (version 1.1) is coming, it will add :

- new levels
- virtual keypad (optional)
- accelerometer calibration
- new tunes
- global ranking

This app is currently $5.99 [iTunes Link] and definetly worth it. Highly recommended.

 

Textropolis App Review

by dannyswrld on January 16th, 2009

Ian Marsh brought us the loved app Scoops [iTunes Link] and now he brings us yet another great application: Textropolis [iTunes Link].

The app is a word game in which you travel around the world though different cities making up words from the letters given (in this case the city’s name). The more words you find; the bigger your population gets and the more cities you unlock.

This app has become one of my favorite apps very quickly. It has a high replay value and never gets old. Whether you like word games like Scrabble or not, this game will win you over. The app contains 30 cities; which you need to fully complete to get 5 stars. Each star is 10% of the total words in THAT city. You can get a hint by shaking your iDevice; but be warned: each hint costs you 1,000 people from your population (score)!

This app is very addictive. It is on sale for $0.99 until January 20th. The developer has submitted an update to Apple pending approval which will contain:

- Improved word definitions
- Softened jackhammer sound
- Holding backspace now clears word
- Slowed hint plane

I think at a dollar this is a steal and definitely worth buying. Can’t wait for version 1.0.!

 

Fuzzyshot – Photo Uploading & Sharing

by Clay on December 14th, 2008

I admit it – I’m an iPhone photo-holic.  I’m addicted to taking photos with my iPhone.   And the site I use to upload to from my iPhone is Flickr.  However, Flickr does not have a full-featured iPhone app and many apps that can upload to Flickr are very basic.

That’s where Fuzzyshot Photo Blog [iTunes link] comes in.  Although users of Fuzzyshot will definitely benefit, new users can easily create an account right on your iPhone.  And the app can do just about anything the web version does.  You simply snap your photo, set your post title and comment, select public or private and whether you want your photo geotagged or not.  You can also easily e-mail your photo straight from the app.

Browsing other people’s Fuzzyshot pictures is also easy in the app.  The most recent pictures are featured in your feed (so if you don’t want your family’s pictures spread across the internet, you should select private) and you can also check out the most viewed and most discussed pictures in the last 24 hours.  You also get a unique web address as well as an RSS feed for your photos.

I had never heard of Fuzzyshot before reviewing this app, but it appears that it has a well-established photo blogging community.  If you want EASY photo uploading take a look at Fuzzyshot.  It’s free to download and free to sign up.

 

DOOM! A Great iPhone Port or hilarious pun?

by Cody Lee on December 7th, 2008

Many of us remember back to the days of Yore. When first person shooter games like Wolf 3D and Doom were taking the PC market by storm. These games completely changed the video game market and have been reproduced on nearly every gaming platform there is. It’s funny to think how Doom in particular was so revolutionary for its time, and continues to be that way to this day as it makes its way onto the iPhone via always groundbreaking Cydia. Now, groundbreaking usually means stability issues, which those who have read previous articles of mine know how much I despise, but I decided to give it a run.

After a quick splash screen, I’m thrust in the middle of a dark, alien crowded room. Simple, but different on screen controls, make for easy maneuvering. At first it seems as though the game has you in continuous forward motion, then you’ll notice if you tilt your phone towards you, it uses the iPhone’s accelerometer to stop or move backwards. After trying to laugh off an awkwardly dumb moment, I decided it was time to kick some monster butt. Negative. It took several minutes to locate my first monster. The motion sensing seems off, and that tends to make for a frustrating time (maybe it’s something you have to get used to). Combine that with an already boring and hard-to-distinguish-objects, 2D graphics, and it makes for an overall negative experience. Now ZodTTD did get a few things right. The game was actually extremely stable for an iPhone port, didn’t crash on me once. And the control system is one of the better ones I’ve seen, with large left and right arrows placed perfectly for your thumbs.

Maybe it would be better if there was a different way you could move forwards and backwards. Maybe the actual playing screen needs to be larger with smoother graphics. Maybe old school ports like this just aren’t my cup of tea. I’m sure many of our readers love this game. ZodTTD is definitely one of the most respected guys in the community, and I’m sure that Doom will continue to evolve. Is this game going to be deleted from my springboard due to low level of playability? Yes. Does that mean it’s doomed? No. I will continue to watch for future updates and hopefully some things will have been revamped.

Update: I always try and make sure to cover all the bases when posting opinions on software people work really hard on. Upon submitting this article, I stumbled across a ‘mouse sensitivity’ setting in the ‘Options’ category of my Doom menu, I know, who woulda thunk it. This did improve some of my movement issues, however be cautious when tweaking your settings, as this caused my once crash-free app to well, crash. Bottom line, it still did not change my opinion of the game, but as I stated before these old school ports really aren’t my bag.

 
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