Plants vs. Zombies was planted on the iPhone App Store today, and we couldn't download it fast enough. The tower-defense-style gameplay, where you have to collect the power of the sun in order to place offensive and defensive plants on your lawn to fight off the incoming zombie hordes, was a blast on the PC and Mac, but it seems as if it had been designed for touch screens. We finally get to test that assertion. If you need to know more about the mechanics and gameplay of the title, feel free to read our original review of the PC version. On the iPhone, the graphics remain clear and easy to read and understand, and the ability to tap on the falling suns to collect them and tap where you'd like to plant your army works incredibly well and is very satisfying. This is a direct port of the original game with a few new features, so don't expect anything shockingly new, but this version of the game may be superior to the original due to the touchscreen. Andrew Stein, director of mobile platforms at PopCap Games, laid out what the game includes. "We've stayed true to the original computer version with the full-featured gameplay of Adventure mode, and have optimized this adaptation around a seamless touch interface," he said. "Plus, we've added great content, including the new Quick Play Arena which allows easy replay of any level after completing the Adventure mode, and more than a dozen achievements to reward successful completion of in-game challenges." Ars pinged PopCap to ask about an iPad-specific version of the game, but were given a solid "no comment." We've been playing all morning, and at $2.99 this is an absolute steal compared to the original's $20 price point. Today, we can literally say it's Read More
Fans of This American Life, a weekly Public Radio show hosted by Ira Glass, were thrilled to discover that a dedicated iPhone app had been released. Developed by Public Radio Exchange, the This American Life (TAL) app not only gives users unfettered on-demand access to the show's entire archives going back to 1995, but provides the content in a user-friendly and interactive format. Now, instead of buying those back episodes for 99¢ apiece on iTunes or getting stuck listening on the Web, you can grab those episodes anytime for a flat app cost of $2.99. We gave the TAL app a whirl—being the huge TAL fanboys and girls that we are—and found that it was definitely worth the money, despite a few of the typical annoyances that come with third-party apps. The most obvious appeal of the app is exactly what we just mentioned: you can access any episode, all the way back to 1995, for free at any time. That is, assuming you have some sort of wireless connection; you can stream the shows over 3G or WiFi all you want, but you can't download them for offline use (like, say, when you're about to board a plane or go underground in the subway) unless you buy the individual shows from iTunes. The upside is that the app gives you an easy way to do that, should you decide you loved the episode that much, but you don't have to. As long as you have wireless, you can stream the episode at no cost. That's likely to be the main reason anyone will use this app, but the extra features are just as good. For one, you can search episodes by contributor—say you're a fan of David Sedaris, and you know that he contributes regularly to TAL. Just bring up Read More
If you're a Chicago resident, you are undoubtedly aware that the Chicago Transit Authority (CTA) allows you to track the exact location of a number of bus lines through its CTA Bus Tracker website thanks to GPS. This, in turn, allows you to determine exactly where the closest bus is and when it will be arriving at your stop (since the busses are susceptible to traffic, they almost never arrive according to the predetermined schedule). But if you are already out of the house, the CTA Bus Tracker's website is, let's just say, less than ideal on a mobile device like the iPhone. Since the bus data is available for third parties to incorporate into their own apps, however, two iPhone apps have sprung up to try and make presentation prettier and easier to use. And since we are loyal Chicago residents, we figured what better way to compare these two apps than here at Ars? The two applications are Buster and CTA Tracker, neither of which are developed by the CTA itself and both of which are priced at $0.99. Both pull the same live data down from the CTA Bus Tracker's API over WiFi, 3G, or EDGE, so comparing the two is less about core functionality and more a matter of how your personal usage habits mesh with the different UIs. CTA Tracker is the incumbent when it comes to Chicago bus tracking apps. It has been around longer and has more positive reviews on iTunes. When you open the app for the first time, it prompts you to search through the various Chicago neighborhoods in order to eventually make your way to an intersection you want to check. Once you find a particular intersection, the app will display which bus (or busses, as the case may be) are Read More
Shivering Kittens is an iPhone game that you will absolutely need to download if you are a puzzle game type of person—especially if you want to truly understand how it works. We'll do our best to explain this addictive and challenging game here, but if you're anything like me, you probably won't fully understand it until you have played it a couple of times. That said, you'll probably be glad you did. There is both a "Lite" version, which is free, as well as a paid version, which costs $2.99. This review is about the paid version, though most of the comments also apply to the Lite version. Ignoring the kittens for a brief moment, the premise of the game looks like Tetris, but it's not. If anything, we might compare it more directly with Bejeweled or even Lumines on the PSP. There are falling blocks composed of different kinds of block pieces that need to be arranged in such a way that similar types of pieces are touching in order to eliminate them and keep yourself safe from the line at the top of the screen. Here's where the kittens come in. The three types of block pieces are (mostly?) unfrozen kittens, frozen kittens, and just plain ice blocks. Place five unfrozen kittens next to each other in any arrangement (so long as they are forming an unbroken line or block) in order to "rescue" them. This is actually the easiest part of the game, and if this was the only goal, it wouldn't be nearly as enthralling. The secondary goal in Shivering Kittens is to form complete horizontal rows of frozen blocks—this includes frozen kittens and ice blocks. When a full horizontal row is formed, frozen kittens break out of their ice blocks and become unfrozen kittens that can Read More
Social news community Reddit is a melting pot of current events, endless memes, and obsession with the irreverent—and now it has officially come to the iPhone. Promising virtually all of the site's functionality for the iPhone and iPod touch, we had to dive in to see just how far the Reddit hole goes. Reddit's official iPhone app, iReddit (iTunes link), is not to be confused with previous entrants like "open source reddit" (iTunes link) and Satellite (iTunes link). While iReddit's $1.99 price may turn off some discerning users (who still felt the need to buy a phone that costs at least $200), a free, ad-supported version is on its way. iReddit offers access to all subreddits (basically "categories," for the uninitiated) and lets users vote, comment, share, and save links on their accounts for reading later. Upon first run, the site's legendarily quirky culture and streamlined experience are both immediately apparent, as one of the four default subreddits available in iReddit's toolbar is "WTF," but you are neither forced to sign up nor log in. Stories simply queue up for your knowledge and amusement, and iReddit only gets (mostly) better from there. One of iReddit's most interesting features is its unobtrusive UI. Tapping a headline takes you not to a comment page—which would require yet another tap to get to the story, as other similar apps often require—but directly to the story, photo, or whatever you actually wanted to view. While you view said content, a slimmed-down toolbar at the bottom offers buttons for voting and pulling up a page of the most recent comments, but the content is what takes precedence in iReddit—not the discussion. Even when the desire to comment arises, though, the discussion page's UI is pleasantly minimal. A basic comment box sits at the top of the Read More
Sometimes you run into an application so bizzare that, despite it being not particularly well made, you just end up playing with it in an uncontrollable fascination. iPopetz's Monkey (iTunes link) is one such application. Yesterday, I had a chance to sit down and put Monkey to the test. The idea is this: Monkey provides an interactive avatar that lip syncs to your voice. You control the emotions and actions of the monkey and the application records your session. You can then share that session with friends via a central website. The app costs two bucks and you can upload your clips to the shared site without limit. So how does Monkey hold up in the real world of usable iPhone apps? Well, as already hinted, not so well. The lip sync is just awful. Even when tested on two different iPhones, the monkey just doesn't keep up or really sync to your voice. I would speak for a second or two and, the monkey would look at me as if I were a moron (at least some of its programming is accurate), and then its jaw would gape slightly, after I'd already stopped speaking. The positioning and emotive controls were pretty good. It's easy to adapt the face angle (just tilt the phone), camera position (tap on the screen), or select one of the on-screen emoticons and action bananas. Messing with your monkey is actually fun and bizarrely fascinating. I'd love to see the monkey respond to music instead of just voice, but then again, I love those dancing daisies you see at airport shops, so there's no accounting for taste. Monkey lets you record and share your animations by clicking a record button. Click record, go through a basic session, and click again to stop. The app then offers Read More
Now that Apple is allowing third-party browsers into the App Store, Safari alternatives are cropping up almost as quickly as fart apps, sans the lack of utility. While most of these browsers seem to be stricken with an anorexic case of the "me toos," Full Screen Web Browser (iTunes link) by SOPODS.com offers some compelling features over the iPhone's incumbent. To get the headlining feature of Full Screen Web Browser (FSWB) out of the way, it offers a truly, erm, full screen Web browser. Starting up FSWB reveals a slim address bar at the top and a spartan, translucent toolbar at the bottom as the default Google homepage loads. That's right: I said default homepage. You can change your homepage in the Settings app (loss of 10 points for following Apple's Human Interface Misguide here), and this page loads each time you start FSWB. You hear that, Apple? Someone created an iPhone browser and actually remembered that homepages exist. Astounding! Seconds later, both the address bar and toolbar disappear, allowing FSWB to utilize every last pixel of the iPhone's 480x320 display for showing off the Web. SOPODS.com claims that FSWB has 25 percent more viewing area than Safari in portrait mode, and a whopping 40 percent more in landscape mode. Indeed, this extra space can be liberating when surfing many sites, and one of the iPhone's catchy gimmicks is harnessed when calling up FSWB's navigation tools: the shake. Thanks to the accelerometer, you simply shake the phone to display the address bar and toolbar, though a few pros and cons of FSWB's approach come into play. First, aside from the forward and back buttons on the toolbar, there is no history or bookmarks features. FSWB may be a prime candidate for porn mode secure browsing on the go, but you will Read More
For a free ad-supported game, Duck Shoot delivers an amusing little treat that may occupy a few spare minutes of your time, but is unlikely to become a long-term passion. Based on the standard carnival game, you must shoot down little tin ducks while avoiding hitting "babies" with your shots. The ducks move around your screen, changing style, color, and difficulty, adding a light tinge of challenge to gameplay. To aim, simply tilt your phone to move the rifle sights around the screen. When you've set your target, tap the screen (just once! a second tap will always miss) to shoot. Blue ducks are worth an extra point. You have 45 seconds to hit as many ducks as you can. The time counts down at the top of the screen, so you always know how long you have left. It took me a few turns to get the feel of the game, but it's not hard to start to relax and enjoy playing. Aiming with the accelerometer and shooting with taps isn't the most natural interface, but it adds a little skill to playing. The ad support definitely draws attention to itself, as the ad will occasionally animate. However, for the most part, Duck Shoot makes a good tradeoff between price and ad support. At this time, there is no pay upgrade path for this software, but you can buy a more complex outdoor duck shooting game from the same makers for just $0.99. The graphics and the help screens are slick and well designed, and it feels like a lot more care went into them than into the run-of-the-mill free App Store game. However, Duck Shoot is unlikely to stay on one's home screen for the long run. There's just not enough gameplay to learn from and return to, although Read More
Food delivery aficionados who live in Chicago, San Francisco, Boston, or New York are likely aware of GrubHub, an online service that offers a centralized location to find restaurants that deliver to you from all over the city. Through GrubHub, you can even order online from many restaurants and filter for those that are delivering now, different kinds of cuisine, and so on. At least here in Chicago, GrubHub has a pretty strong following, so when the company announced today that its GrubHub iPhone app had landed in the App Store, we were elated. In order to understand the need for an iPhone app that lets you order food, you must first understand the demographic that would want to have food delivered in the first place: the lazy. If I can place an order for some curry without dragging myself to a computer, or even if I'm on the train heading home and would like dinner to be on the way as I arrive, that's exactly what I want to do. So, with incredible eagerness, we tried out the GrubHub iPhone app in hope that it answered all of our prayers—and it sort of did, but with a few shortfalls. Predictably, the GrubHub app starts out by asking you if you want to search by location, which it automatically detects, or by address. Much of the time, those two things are going to be the same, though if you fall into the train scenario I just described, then it's conceivable that you could be ordering for delivery to somewhere you are not currently at. Once you search by either of those criteria, you are shown a list of restaurants that will deliver to you. This is a comprehensive list that is not filtered by... pretty much anything, including whether or not Read More
To say that a lot of software has passed through my iPhone's home screen is an understatement. Between apps that I bought and apps I've been asked to try out, my iPhone has been subject to more software than I ever expected. With the year drawing to a close, I decided to take a look at my iPhone home screen and mention some titles that have displayed sticking power. Here is my list of the top 8 apps that stayed on my iPhone and show no sign of going away any time soon. They are in no particular order. Link: iTunes LinkPublisher: FreeversePrice: $0.99 (Update: Now $1.99)Platform: iPhone and iPod touch I must be honest.When I first heard of Flick Fishing, I thought it was the stupidest idea for an iPhone game that I had yet encountered, right up there with most golfing games. (My dad is a devoted golfer. Hating it is in my blood. I have no excuses.) Here's how it works: you flick your phone and this sends out a fishing line with bait. You then sit there and wait for a fish to nibble on your line. When a fish does bite, you reel him in. And then repeat. Over and over again. Almost two months later, my children and I are still playing this game. It's freaking addictive. There are competitions. There are hidden treasures. There are named fish. And, at the end of the day, there's the sheer delight of hooking a big one and fighting that fish into submission, taking great care not to break the line or let the fish escape. There's something very calming about sitting out on the boat and letting yourself be on "fish time." The fish comes when it feels like it (and yes, I know, it's just a Read More
