Told you that we were feeling frisky. Here are some random codes. We're not going to tell you what they are, but if you get to them first, you will find out.
6N6XPXX9TE69 HX4R7YW664Y6
PAT6AHPFTHMW KXNXTJPH6HEJ
We don't want one person to redeem all of the codes, so a give away this simple won't happen too often.
Make sure you follow our twitter account as many of the give aways will be undertaken via twitter.
The team at MyAppSource have not posted too many reviews as of late, as much as we regret it, it is necessary. We aplogize to both the developers of the applications we are required to review and the fans of MyAppSource (we know you're out there. . . somewhere). Unfortunately, MyAppSource may not be posting many (if any) reviews for no less than a week from today.
We are taking this short break, to review the management of the site and our twitter account and are looking for ways to improve. You can say that this break is a time for the MyAppSource team to reflect on what we've accomplished and see where improvements in both efficiency and quality can be made.
Here is a taste of the apps we will be reviewing for your scrutinous pleasure when we return:
If we're feeling frisky (and that's higly likely), we will be giving away promotional codes for apps we have reviewed and even some apps in the previous list (see previous list).
If you have any ideas regarding how MyAppSource can improve, don't hesitate to tell us via the comments section, our email or our twitter account.
Chronicles of Inotia: Legend of Feanor (US$0.99), is a superbly designed application, with an almost limitless amount of game play capabilities. I will be calling this app 'Inotia' from here on out, because, the full name is quite a mouthful and typing it several times will be rather annoying. This app is similar, in many ways to Zenonia. Zenonia is a great app, and Inotia is as well.
Inotia is a fairytale based story in which your character, Feanor, must bludgeon his way through thousands of enemies and many difficult missions, known as 'Quests'. For each enemy you eliminate you gain EXP points, these points accumulate, and when you have a certain amount Feanor moves up another level. The quests range from collecting a certain object (eg: Magic Dust) to saving Elven Queens. The quests are often quite challenging and time consuming. These quests, on completion, make you feel quite proud of your achievements due to their difficulty.
Aesthetically, Inotia is very good. The design and map layout is simple to navigate and is similar to popular games of the past, therefore, users already have a base level of similarity which eliminates some game play confusion. Feanor, your character is well crafted and detailed. The other characters regardless of their overall importance in the completion of the game are similarly well designed. Almost every aspect of Feanor is customisable, though this does not often show on the character's game play image. All weapons, armour and clothing can be modified to the heart's content, this adds a personal connection between you and your custom version of Feanor.
The only drawback of the app is that it is quite difficult to pick up the jist of the game. The maps may be easily navigatable, but there is very little instruction on what you must do and how you must do this. This lack of a tutorial makes the intial part of the app an incoherant mix of quests and enemies. Once, you have learnt the ropes (by yourself) confusion is no longer an issue. Another member of the MyAppSource team had absolutely no idea as to how to correctly use the app, so a tutorial or instruction use as necessary in the beginning stages, would be very useful.
Inotia is very intricate and filled with testing challengies and an increasingly difficult standard of enemy. These intricacies are evident in the entertaining quests, which can keep you glued to the app for hours on end. The increasing difficulties of enemies help keep you on your toes because you never know if your next battle will be your last. Add a tutorial and the app would be excellent. But for now, Inotia will have to wait on the very good level. For less than a dollar this app is great value, so buy it! . . . Don't worry, I'll wait.
Car Mania (US$0.99), is an application that has really grown on me since I first picked it up. Car Maniais another superb application from the developers at Origin8. Car Mania takes a simple premise and shakes it up into a challenging and exciting multi-leveled traffic dodging experience. Ironically, it seems as though applications with simple objectives (rather than complex storylines) are often much more addictive and enjoyable than their convoluted counterparts, and Car Mania is no exception.
When I first used this application, I thought it was a nice time-killer, but nothing special. However, another member of the MyAppSource team was adamant thats Car Mania is a classic, so, I gave it another chance. Car Mania made the absolute most out of this opportunity. In fact, I had to (reluctantly) put Car Mania down and begrudgingly dedicate myself to writing this review.
The features which altered my initial view of the game are the Time Trial and Road Rage modes. On the first play I did not pay any attention to these modes (BIG mistake! No. 1). These modes help to diversify the application from a one-mode wonder (I'm claiming that term), into a surprisingly challenging (and sometimes frustratingly so) traffic maze. Time Trial mode is as you would expect, complete certain goals within a certain time period. The goals are to direct each vehicle into it colour matched garage. Road Rage mode, takes the initial premise of the app and flips it upside down (literally!). I wont tell you anymore about the Road Rage mode, you'll have to buy it the app to find out, but, it is definitely worth the investment.
Another feature which I did not look into during my initial use of Car Mania (BIG mistake! No. 2)was the extra (and extra difficult) maps. These maps are completely different from the intial map, both in aesthetics and the obstacles that are present. Two of the obstacles that these extra levels include are a volcano and a train, which passes directly through the centre of the level (and blows up your vehicles). The maps also help diversify the game play and create yet another challenging aspect in the game.
When I first played Car Mania, I though that it would be a three star app, at best (BIG mistake! No. 3). Now, I'm tossing up whether it should be rated four or five stars (Dammit! No half stars). Let's weigh up the pros and cons.
Pros:
Entertaining
Challenging
Action packed
Several different and enjoyable modes
Crazy maps
Cons:
Basic Premise
I thought it would be a four star app, but the Pros have defeated the Cons (by a considerable margin). The Pros won by so much that it can only mean one thing, and that one thing is:
SimplyTweet (US$4.99) is a beautiful creation straight from the ingenious developers that are MotionObj. This app not just another iPhone Twitter client. This app is a well thought out masterpiece of Twitter perfection. SimplyTweet is not a simple iPhone app. It is simple to use, but, 'under the hood' this app is an intricate piece of coding.
The main screen is presented in tab form, with five tabs at the bottom of the screen for friends, mentions, direct messages and more! These can be customised to suit your needs. For example, being the Twitterer that I am, I absolutely love being able to see what is currently trending. This is a feature that is not possible in many of the other Twitter clients available for iPhone. Twitter timeline updates are presented in a column under the "friends" tab, and you are automatically placed at the last tweet you have viewed, to catch up on anything you may have missed. New tweets are also marked with a blue dot (like that found next to unwatched movies in iTunes). Tapping a tweet shows it in a larger form, with options like retweeting, replying, posting a link to the tweet, emailing a link, and tracking the conversation that the tweet is part of (if available).
SimplyTweet has five various themes that can be applied to suit your style. (Personally, I don't like the pink template - black is more my style.) SimplyTweet also incorporates a much-needed feature that is lacking in many other Twitter clients, Push Notifications. Of course, push notifications are only sent for mentions and direct messages. A smart move by MotionObj, I must say. (Seriously, imagine getting notified for each individual tweet in your timeline. Not a pretty sight.)
SimplyTweet garners a handy 'new tweet' button at the top right of the screen, to make it easy to blast out a new update. A character count, and a handy hash symbol shortcut are also present. You can also insert your current location, based on your iPhone's GPS signal, or typing in landscape mode if you wish. There is also support for URL shorteners, text shortening, and photo and video uploading. And just in case you want to don't want to tweet just yet, you can save it for later as a draft.
While viewing a user's profile, you can see their picture (full screen!), check their following/followers count, as well as their update totals and favourite tweets. Perhaps most useful of all, SimplyTweet allows you to follow people straight from the app. Speaking about doing things straight from the app, any links you find in your timeline can be opened directly within the app, so you can come back without hassle.
For people with multiple Twitter accounts (myself included), you can easily switch accounts by hitting the username at the top of the screen, provided they have been set up correctly, which is a breeze. If you have a HootSuite Account, you can import your Twitter profiles directly from that, although I don't have one, so this feature remained untested.
All in all, SimplyTweet is your dream Twitter client for iPhone, and with a new update being rolled out the day of this review, my favourite Twitter client just keeps getting better. Without further ado, I proudly present SimplyTweet with the holy grail of ratings. Well done, MotionObj.
Quickoffice Mobile Suite (US$9.99) is perhaps one of the most useful apps around. As suggested by it's name, Quickoffice Mobile Suite is a mobile version of what we have all come to know as Word and Excel. Essentially, this app combines both a word processor and a spreadsheet program. Of course you can purchase both of these apps seperately, but it is much greater value for your hard earned to have a single, easy to use suite. An added bonus of Quickoffice Mobile Suite is that you can easily transfer your desktop files to your iPhone (or iPod Touch), quite similarly to Air Sharing.
The word processor works simply by selecting a word document (among other formats), which opens in an iPhone-esque fashion. You can then edit the text of the document as desired, and place additional formatting including text colour and decoration, as well as alignment and list styling. You can also search through the open document for whatever you need. Quickword, as it is known, also allows for landscape typing, while makes the keyboard more accessible for optimal typing speed. In fact, once you are used to the iPhone keypad, typing is a breeze.
However, Quickword is only one piece of the pack. Quicksheet, the spreadsheet component of the suite allows *quick* and carefree viewing, editing, and creating of Excel files. From our tests, we have realised that graphs and charts are not currently supported. Despite this, Quicksheet is a dependable spreadsheet app on-the-go, complete with the many different functions that you experienced Excel users see daily.
Quickoffice Files lets you transfer your documents between your computer and your iPhone, and also allows you to email them (straight from your iPhone) as you see fit.
Quickword, Quicksheet and Quickoffice files can be purchased standalone US$8.99 each, but the good folks at Quickoffice have conveniently bundled these three apps (and more) into a fairly priced bundle, which is certainly cheaper to buy than any two of the apps on their own. There is really only one downfall in Quickoffice, and that is the inability to print your documents. Despite this, Quickoffice Mobile Suite is as good as it gets in the mobile document creation industry (it's a fairly small industry), and as long as Quickoffice keeps releasing updates, it will stay ahead of the pack.
Note: you might like to know that I began drafting this review on the bus, using none other than Quickoffice.
SixPack App (US$0.99), is the perfect exercise buddy. From the labs of Pocket Cocktails Inc., this application is excellent for anyone who is participating in a weight training program. The developers claim that "SixPack App is your ultimate portable fitness guide." That is true. Pocket Cocktails also state that SixPack App contains "over 50,000 words of descriptive exercise text and 400+ Pictures". I don't know the exact numbers, but according to my estimations, that is also true.
SixPack App contains a plethora of exercises for each of the following categories: chest, shoulders, back, legs, arms, abs, yoga poses and stretches. Each exercise contains several clear and easily understandable images of how the exercise must be undertaken. The app also gives a clear-cut step-by-step guide on the exercise in question. The pictures and steps give the user a full understanding of what the exercise entails and exactly how to perform it.
For each individual exercise, SixPack App, also provides tips on the intricacies that are involved in the exercise and the exact muscles which the exercise will work. The tips give helpful hints on small issues that may arise during the process of completing the exercise. For example, the tips section tells the user what to do if the left and right muscles are not equally strong and how to correctly align and protect the users spine. The app highlights the exact muscles needed and shows the user this on easy-to-distinguish pictures.
SixPack App also gives instructions on workouts that can be undertaken. The workout categories are; circuit, beginner and push/pull, to name a few. Although the workout section does not provide the user with examples of exercises that could be used, it does provide the kowledge of how often to complete a workout and what muscles to target to increase workout efficiency.
SixPack App delivers on all levels. All the things you could ever want or need are included, and this means that you are never left scratching your head about any exercises. The thorough instructions and clear pictures make sure that every exercise is fully broken down into its basic components and then explained. so as to increase the ease of understanding. It's cheap, it's very effective and when someone takes your iPhone or iPod Touch and sees it they'll automatically think you work out (even if you don't). SixPack App is definitely worth the purchase for anyone who is currently participating in a weight training program.
Alive 4-ever (US$0.99), is a Meridian Digital Entertainment Limited application. This app is another combatant in the very popular RPG genre, and it more than holds its own. I am no expert in RPG games (even though, I should be), but, I do know what the differences in between a high level and lower level RPG application are. In saying that I'm not an expert does mean I don't know what I am talking about, just that I am not fully immersed in the RPG world. So, if you bought that, the reviewing will now commence:
Alive 4-ever is based on a central character who must "dispose of" an almost infinite onslaught of enemies. In this instance, your enemies are zombies (and sometimes wolves [which I don't understand]). Every one of the 30 available single and multiplayer (via bluetooth) missions has a different objective which must be achieved in order to progress to the next mission. The missions range from eradicating a certain number of a certain type of zombie (there's more than one!), to rescuing a pre-determined number of civilians, to finding vaccines for the disease which created the zombies.
This app has much more to it than shooting a bunch of back-from-the-dead mutants. For instance, you receive financial compensation for risking your life against the ruthless zombie batallion (aka, you get money for completing missions). You can use these financial benefits to purchase more desirable weapons to use against the zombie nemesis. When you complete missions you also are gifted with Ability Points (abbreviated to AB in parts of the app). These wonderful little points can be used to increase your character's abilities. The upgradable abilities include; health points (HP), ammunition levels and curing efficiency. Equipment can also be obtained, these items can also increase the character's abilities. For example, a helmet will increase your character's HP by 100 points. These features aren't even the best part.
The best part arrives when a mulitplayer game is set up. Another member of the MyAppSource team (who shall forever remain nameless) and I set up one hell of multiplayer game. Multiplayer games can be set up through the bluetooth connection between compatible devices. This mode has missions and challenges that must be completed in order to advance on to the next mission, much like the single player mode.
When Alive 4-ever is played with a group of friends (or enemies) it becomes an even more enjoyable experience. This option alone would make this app worth the miniscule price-tag. When the mulitplayer mode is combined with all the other features (missions, challenges, range of characters to choose from and financial compensation), this app approaches legendary territory. The only thing that holds this app back from the coveted MyAppSource Five Star Rating, is that the map is the same for every mission (at least to where I am up to). This app is action packed, challenging and most importantly entertaining. You cannot afford not to buy it!
Air Sharing (US$4.99) is just what all you file management enthusiasts have been waiting for. Avatron have devised the perfect solution to (what presumably is) everyone's worries. Air Sharing is essentially a document viewer. PDF, txt, doc, docx, xls, xlsx, pages, rtf... You name it, Air Sharing can read it. Of course, the benefit of Air Sharing is exactly how easy it makes it to transfer documents to and from your iPhone. To demonstrate just how easy this is, we have kindly prepared a few easy steps for you to read.
Connect your iPhone (or iPod Touch) to a wireless network.
With Air Sharing running, open the URL given to you by Air Sharing in your browser.
Truthfully there doesn't need to be a third step, as by this time, you can already see all the files on your device, and upload more as desired.
The Air Sharing web interface presents you with a simple file directory, with an upload bar below it. Of course, if security of your documents has you worried, you can assign optional password protection to the web interface, just to make sure that no average Joe on your local network can get a copy of last months business report, or the wedding invitations you've been working on. Furthermore, you can password lock the app itself, so that if average Joe manages to a hold of your beloved iPhone, there will be no reason to worry (at least about your documents).
MyAppSource Rating: Four Stars! (Air Sharing)
Maybe this just isn't enough for you. Luckily, the good folks at Avatron have what you need. Air Sharing Pro (US$9.99) provides the same zippy speeds and ease of use that Air Sharing packs, as well as a plethora of premium features (and I must add, a way better looking icon). Pro features include viewing encrypted PDF files, file operations (copy, paste, rename, move), access to WebDAV Disks (and iDisk), emailing documents, direct transfer between two iPhones, zip/unzip and printing via print sharing (Mac and Linux only). I must add that the print feature alone makes the Pro version of Air Sharing a worthwhile investment.
Overall, Air Sharing provides a superb file storage, viewing, and sharing experience, and while Air Sharing Pro takes it one step further, both apps add invaluable features to your already feature packed iPhone. If your the type who is continually looking for more ways to use your device, or perhaps you need a function like that which Air Sharing provides, we recommend that you buy this app right now! You wont regret it.
MyAppSource Rating: Five Stars! (Air Sharing Pro)
Thanks to Avatron, we have a few copies of Air Sharing to give away. You can redeem the following codes in the right sidebar of the iTunes Store for US accounts (or at the bottom of the main window if you're browsing on your iPhone).
