Beautiful iPhone Apps

Goddess Tarot

willa.cline@gmail.com (Willa) — Thu, 07 Jan 2010 16:12:00 +0000

I have Kris Waldherr's "Goddess Tarot" cards, so I was excited when she came out with an iPhone app. The original app was great, but one thing I would have liked to have was a journal to keep track of notes and thoughts on readings. With a recent update, a journal has been added, so the app is, in my opinion, pretty much perfect. And also beautiful!

With the iPhone app, you can choose a one card reading, a 3-card "past-present-future" reading, the traditional Celtic Cross, or a "Goddess Circle" reading. You can also browse the cards and their meanings, browse information about the Goddesses, and view your past journal entries.

The card layouts are beautiful, and can be saved with a click on the "save" icon. When you click on "save," you are presented with the Journal screen with the date filled in, and can record a title and your thoughts about the reading.

In general, for readings I prefer more traditional tarot decks since I've memorized most of the meanings of the cards, so I was pleased to see that although the Goddess Tarot uses images and descriptions of various goddesses from history and folklore rather than standard images, each card description notes what the "Traditional card" is that corresponds to it. For instance, in the Goddess Tarot, Card XII is Sacrifice, represented by Kuan Yin. The traditional card is The Hanged Man.

I can't remember if this was included in the first version or not, but now you can either enable or disable reversed card positions depending on whether you use them or not.

This is really a beautiful, and beautifully done, app, and a must-have for any tarot enthusiast, or anyone who is interested in learning more about goddess lore.

iTunes link

There is a free "Lite" version that includes only a one-card reading, and no journal functionality (iTunes link).

There is also a Love Tarot app available (iTunes link), and a "Goddess Inspiration Oracle" app coming soon.

Christmas iPhone Apps

willa.cline@gmail.com (Willa) — Tue, 15 Dec 2009 20:57:00 +0000

I'm a sucker for all kinds of Christmas-themed items. I always buy Christmas print paper towels and paper napkins, and I love putting up Christmas dishtowels in the kitchen and Christmas soap in the bathrooms. So it isn't a surprise that I love Christmas iPhone apps.

I downloaded a lot of free apps that I ended up deleting; these are the best of the ones that I've found. Email me if you've found any other good ones.

SnowBalls

In this beautiful free arcade-style game, you lob snowballs at various targets that pop up in the landscape such as snowmen and candy canes. By Federico Musante.

iTunes link (Free)

Winter Snow Globe

Pretty simple. Shake your iphone and snow falls onto the snowman, just like a real snow globe. Music plays, too, with no way to turn it off, so if you don't want the music, be sure to mute your iPhone first. Developed by YetToBeNamed Enterprises.

iTunes link (Free)

Grinchmas

In the game Grinchmas, you get to choose whether you're an evil Grinch or a merry Grinch, which determines what kind of ammunition you have. If you choose Evil Grinch, you're throwing snowballs at the little houses, if you're the Merry Grinch, you're throwing gifts. Each time you make a hit, you get a point. From Oceanhouse Media, this game is currently on sale for $.99.

iTunes link ($.99)

Dr. Seuss Camera, the Grinch Edition

I wrote about Dr. Seuss Cam the other day. Basically, you choose from a variety of Dr. Seuss-inspired Christmas themes, then take a picture of someone, fitting their face inside the frame. Right now you can only take a photo, you can't use a photo from your library, but they are adding that in a future release. From Oceanhouse Media.

iTunes link ($2.99)

Elf Command

In Elf Command (free), the little robotic elves (they resemble Lego characters) are working on an assembly line. They have to grab the gifts, Christmas trees and candies that come rolling down the line and throw them into the proper boxes. Developed by RetroDreamer.

iTunes link (Free)

Elf Jumpers

In this free game, Santa's sleigh flies overhead and you are tasked with guiding the elves into the chimneys of the houses below by swiping to make the wind blow, and avoiding obstacles such as thunder clouds and birds. Developed by Playscreen.com.

iTunes link (Free)

Gaia Xmas

There is a "regular" version of Gaia also, this is the Christmas version. Various Christmas-themed "blocks" fall from the top of the screen to form groups. The larger the group, the more points you get. There is some strategy involved to build large blocks -- you can turn the phone so that the blocks fall in a certain way. One of the interesting things about Gaia is that there is no language involved at all, there are only universally-understood graphics, which is kind of cool. From Quicksand Interactive. Regular Gaia is $2.99 and there is a free lite version. The Christmas version is $1.99 at the app store.

iTunes link ($1.99)

Slacker Holiday Radio

This is the free Christmas version of Slacker Radio from Slacker.com. There are 11 different Christmas stations, including Country, Contemporary, R&B, etc.

iTunes link

Implode!

Implode is a game where you place dynamite and other various types of explosives, and see how well you can destroy a structure. This is the Christmas edition, and there are supposed to be some Christmas items to blow up, but I haven't reached that level yet, apparently. From IUGO Mobile Entertainment.

iTunes link ($.99)

iRelax Melodies - Christmas Edition

This $.99 app is the Christmas version of iRelax Melodies by ILBSoft. You choose from 22 Christmas sounds such as snow falling, children playing, fire crackling, etc., and create your own soundscapes, which you can save to play later. You can also shake the iPhone for a random selection.

iTunes link

Season's Greetings Cards

This $.99 app from Japanese developer Appliya, creates holiday cards from your photos, utilizing various holiday frames and resizable stamps.

iTunes link ($.99)

ChristmasRadio

Christmas Radio is a free app from Pepper.pk, with several all-Christmas stations to choose from.

iTunes link (Free)

Christmas Radio

This is another Christmas radio app, this one from BlueMedia Lab. As you can tell, I can't get enough of holiday music!

iTunes link (Free)

Christmas Lifecards

For $.99, Christmas Lifecards from Vivid Apps gives you a large variety of Christmas card templates to choose from. Once you've chosen one and added your own photo, you can further customize your card by adding text, and even applying effects such as grayscale and sepia, and filters such as sharpening, to the photo, then save and email the card to your friends. You can also save a card for editing later if you need to stop.

iTunes link

Christmas Snowman

Christmas Snowman, from , EnsenaSoft, is a game similar to hangman, but with a variety of snowmen. The words are all peripherally relevant to Christmas or winter; each time a wrong letter is selected, the snowman loses a body part.

iTunes link (Free)

The Christmas Tarot

This one isn't really an app, it's a web URL that I created a desktop icon for. I've looked for a Christmas tarot deck for a long time, and someone finally made one, although it's only the Major Arcana. The link goes to a site where you can purchase digital high resolution cards and a PDF guidebook, created by Corrine Kenner, a noted tarot reader and author.

Link ($2.09)

[cross-posted at willa.com, beautifuliphoneapps.com and propaganda3.wordpress.com]

Awesome Note

willa.cline@gmail.com (Willa) — Wed, 02 Dec 2009 23:00:00 +0000

Awesome Note is, truly, awesome. Well, as awesome as a note program can be, I guess. It's beautiful anyway. You can create folders, assign them titles, colors, and icons, and you can also create "quick memos" and file them later.

You can view the notes either in a list or as thumbnails, and you can search them:

There are several different themes that you can choose from for the notes, each note can have a different theme. I don't care for some of them, like the zebra-print, but some of them are really beautiful.

Note-taking isn't really an exciting activity, so it's nice to have a cool interface, and Awesome Note is the coolest that I've found. Awesome Note costs $3.99, and there's a free "lite" version that allows you to save only 7 notes. They indicate that the next version will allow photo attachments, hyperlinks, and passwords, which will make it even more awesome!

iTunes links:
Awesome Note ($3.99)
Awesome Note Lite (Free)

Home Screen, 12/01/09

willa.cline@gmail.com (Willa) — Tue, 01 Dec 2009 20:54:00 +0000

My iPhone homescreen contains the icons that I use the most; after the first screen, all of the rest of my icons (9 more pages) are arranged alphabetically. I keep refining the homescreen, switching icons when I find a better application than the one I was using. So it's constantly evolving, but I'm pretty happy with it now.

First row: Messages, Weather, Photos, Camera
Second row: App Store, Calculator, Bookmark, Audio Memos
Third row: Things, Splash Money, Splash ID, Splash Shopper
Fourth row: Safari, Mail, Evernote, Settings
Dock: Speed Dial 1, Phone, Night Clock, Calendar

Bookmark: This is a new acquisition. I resisted getting it for awhile because it was $2.99, which is kind of a lot for something that isn't totally necessary. What it does it hold your position in an audiobook, and allows you to set bookmarks. For some reason, iTunes doesn't seem to be able to remember where you stop in an audiobook. I listen to audiobooks in the car through the Griffin iTrip, which allows me to play iPhone audio through the car speakers. So for instance, I listen to a book on the way to work, and iTunes may or may not remember where I stopped when I get back into the car to go home. It's completely frustrating and makes a severe impact on the audiobook experience, which I enjoy except for that part.

With Bookmark, I open that app instead of iTunes, and it remembers where I stopped in the audio book, and starts back up immediately without having to search for my place. Totally worth $2.99.

iTunes store link ($2.99)

Audio Memos: This is a fairly new one also. I tried a lot of audio memo-type applications. They're all pretty similar, but I had specific needs. I wanted one that had a big "record" button that I could easily press when I'm in the car so that if I think of something I need to do while I'm driving, I can make a quick recording rather than either trying to remember it, or writing it down. I found some pretty good ones, but the thing I particularly liked about Audio Memos was that when you replay the recording, it plays through the speakers, and you can listen to it without having to have the phone up to your ear. I think it was free when I got it, but it's now $.99.

iTunes store link ($.99)

Things: I've also tried a lot of productivity apps. Things had turned out to be the best one for my purposes. It allows me to create "projects" and have to-do items within those projects. It sorts the items by due date and displays a badge number on the homescreen telling me how many items I have that are due today.

Things costs $9.99, so it's not cheap, and if you want to sync it with your desktop you'll need to buy a $40 desktop app, but it's a pretty powerful program and, I think, worth it. It's much easier to type out a bunch of tasks on the desktop app and then sync it to the iPhone over the air, and it's great to have my to-do list and project tasks both places.

iTunes store link ($9.99)

SplashMoney: I started using the SplashData applications when I had a Palm, and got used to them, so I was happy when they ported the apps over to the iPhone. They had a little bit of a rocky start, but the current versions seem pretty stable. SplashMoney is basically a checkbook application. I use it to keep track of my bank accounts, investment accounts, etc. It's password protected, and it syncs with a $19.95 desktop application.

iTunes store link ($4.99)

SplashID: SplashID is a password manager. There may be, and probably are, better ones out there, but I was used to the interface after having used it on Palm for a number of years, so I stuck with it. I use it to keep track of all the various website logins that I have, credit card numbers, all kinds of private info. It is, of course, password protected. It also syncs with a desktop app that costs $19.95.

iTunes store link ($9.99)

SplashShopper: SplashShopper is a list manager that you can use for lots of things, not just grocery lists. Grocery lists is what I use it for most often, though. It has a database of items--you can add new ones, of course--and you just check off the things you need, then when you get to the store you check them off as you put them in your cart. Pretty simple, but again, I was used to the interface and like it. You get a break on the SplashShopper desktop app, it's only $9.95.

iTunes store link ($4.99)

Evernote: Evernote is a free app that syncs with a desktop app that is also free. In the free version you can write text notes, record voice notes, add snapshots to notes, and save images, webpages, and PDFs. You can purchase an upgrade to a premium version for $4.99/month that gives you more file space and allows you to save more kinds of documents, but the free version is fine for me.

I use it to save PDFs of software manuals, operating manuals for household appliances, travel itineraries, and all kinds of notes and lists of things I want to remember. It syncs automatically with both the desktop app and an online version on the Evernote website, so no matter where you are, you can access your notes. I don't generally use it to take pictures of things, but you certainly could. They suggest wine labels, fabric swatches, serial numbers on software boxes, etc.

iTunes store link (Free)

Speed Dial #1: Speed Dial #1 only does one thing--it dials one phone number when you press the icon. I got it so that I could program it to call Bob so that all I have to do when I need to call him is press the button. Most of the apps that I have on my homescreen are there because I use them all the time, and because I need to have them be easy to identify and use. No matter what screen I'm on, the items in the dock are always visible.

iTunes store link (Free)

Night Clock: I wanted a clock app to put in the dock that was quick to open, showed the time in large, easy to read numerals, had an alarm function that utilizes iPod music, and turned into a flashlight when you tap the screen. A+ Alarm Night Clock does all of these things for $.99.

iTunes store link ($.99)

Gratitude Journal

willa.cline@gmail.com (Willa) — Sat, 08 Aug 2009 04:19:00 +0000

Gratitude Journal is the first application from Happy Tapper, a company started by designer Carla Kay White. White wrote a book, Inside Secrets to an iPhone App, about her experiences designing the app, and sells it on her website. In her bio, she writes:

"Wanting to share the power of gratitude and visioning with everyone, I created the iPhone apps, Gratitude Journal and Vision Board. If there’s one thing you learn from visiting my site, please know this. Give thanks and give back. Practice these two acts daily and you will find abundance, peace and purpose."

Especially in these tough economic times, it's easy to feel overwhelmed by the demands on our lives, and easy to feel that things aren't going to get better. It's important to stop and realize that no matter how bad things may be in certain parts of our lives, we can always think of something to be grateful for.

I've started gratitude journals in the past, but never kept them up for more than a day or two. This is different--I have the iPhone with me constantly, and I keep it charging on my nightstand while I sleep. The last thing I do at night before I turn out the light is pick up the iPhone and open up the Gratitude Journal. Sometimes it's easy to write 5 things that I'm grateful for, and sometimes it's a stretch to think of 5. They're usually not earthshaking things, but things like being able to sleep with the windows open, having a good dinner with a friend, or enjoying the dogs at work.

By prompting ourselves to remember the good things that happen to us, no matter how small, we open ourselves to the possibility of more joy in our lives, or at least that's the theory. I do find that I have more and more 5 star days, and that makes me happy.

Gratitude Journal has several background themes to choose from, each of which gives you a different "bullet" icon (in this case, a tiny cloud). You write down as many entries as you feel like (the general rule is to write at least five), rate your day from 1 to 5 stars, and, if you wish, choose a photograph from your photo library to represent your day. That's probably my favorite part!

I don't remember to write in my gratitude journal every night, but most nights I do, and I find it a very comforting and helpful ritual. It helps that the application is beautiful, and a joy to use.

Gratitude Journal [iTunes, $.99]

Hello World

willa.cline@gmail.com (Willa) — Sat, 08 Aug 2009 03:58:00 +0000

I read a lot of iPhone blogs, and discover a lot of beautiful apps that way. But nevertheless, I feel that a lot of beautiful apps either don't get the recognition they deserve, or don't get noticed at all. So my aim is to remedy that by highlighting some of the most beautiful apps in the Apple store. If anyone has apps that they would like me to take a look at, please feel free to send me an email.