It is easy to purchase apps for your iPhone. By that I mean most of them are $0.99 and it just does not register at the time that this is the 50th app I have bought for $0.99! If it is easy to purchase apps, it is painfully easy to download free apps. This post The next few posts are is going to feature apps that were on my iPhone at one time, but no longer hold that honor. So why are these apps considered surplus?
reMovem -- A bubble pop game that I paid $0.99 after playing the free version. Lots of fun, but i have popped enough bubbles.
Crosswords -- I started with the free version of this app, and upgraded for $9.99 thinking with more puzzles I would find one I could actually do...not so.
Nightstand -- This nifty $0.99 app turns your iPhone into bedside table clock. I just quit using it after awhile.
Skype -- Free. Never use it. (Now back on the iPhone...it just seems a guy should have Skype on his iPhone)
PanoLab Pro -- This app lets you create panoramic images with your iPhone camera for only $2.99. Never use it. (Also, back on the iPhone. You never know when I might want to take a panoramic shot.)
CropForFree -- Free app for cropping photos. I have another app that performs cropping now so I no longer use this app.
Pixel Perfect -- Allows you to apply effects to you photos i. e. sepia, black and white etc. I use another app for these filters now. This is a free app, but I did not care for its implementation.
SnapBox -- Another free photo effects app that I do not use.
Pandora -- Don't get me wrong, Pandora Radio is far out, but I just never use it on my iPhone. (Back on the iPhone. What if I decide to start using it?)
SkyVoyager -- I discussed this pretty thouroughly in the last post. I realized when I was getting the next batch of apps ready that there is no way I am going to be doing any astronomy in the near future so SkyVoyager is getting the boot. Although the app costs $14.99 I got it free on the aniversarry of the moon landing.
1Password -- This is the iPhone version of the popular desktop app. I downloaded it because it was free at the time (it may still be), but I just don't use it.
Stanza -- This is a popular free ebook reader. There is a free desktop app for wirelessly syncing as well, but I find that I just do not use it much. (You can never have too many ways to get text onto your iPhone so I put this one back...I'm pathetic.)
NPR News -- The "official" free NPR app. Lots of NPR content at your finger tips. I just do not have the stomach for listening to NPR's dribble tight now, but I go through phases so it may find its way back later.
Mars Hill -- Much like the NPR app only with much better content from Mark Driscoll at Mars Hill church in Seatle. This app is also free, but I do not listen to the content regularly enough to make it a permanent resident on my iPhone.
Google Earth -- If you do not know what Google Earth is, you are probably not reading this post. It is free, and I do not use it.
Beer Brands -- I downloaded this free app to see if it was worth recommending to a friend. It is fairly cool to be sure, but I do not care much for the taste of beer so away it goes.
Constitution -- Fairly self explanatory...and available on the Internet should I want to refresh my memory. The iPhone app is free of you really want an app dedicated to one document.
Ambiance -- I paid $0.99 for this little sleep aid. Unfortunately, the soothing sounds do nothing for me.
Dual Level -- This nifty free app uses the iPhone's accelerometers to measure the level of any surface. Guess how many times I used it?
Units -- This free app will convert just about anything into just about anything else...as will Google.
AroundMe -- this app uses your GPS location to search for businesses (restaraunts, gas stations, etc.) near your current location. It is a great idea, however, the results are not always acurate...especially in rural areas.
Barnes & Noble and Amazon both have free dedicated apps, somehow I just don't use either of these enough to bother having them installed on my iPhone.
Craigsphone -- a free interface for Craig's List...which I uses once...and was unable to find a buyer.
tChess Pro -- this is a very powerful chess app that cost me $7.99. I go through phases with chess and right now I am not playing much.
Tap Tap Revenge 2 -- This is the free version of a game that takes its playbook from similar console games. I downloaded it for the boys, bit have not seen much response.
Bejewled 2 -- A classic that I have been playing since my first PDA (a Palm M105 my Dad gave me for Christmas). I removed this game because my wife achieved a score so high I could never hope to beat it. I have probably spent $10.00 on various versions of this app including $2.99 for the iPhone version.
UNO -- This is my son's favorite card game so I shelled out the $4.99 and put it on my wife's iPod Touch for him.
Lemonade Stand -- A very nice implementation of the classic Apple II game. More than worth the $0.99 price tag. I sold enough lemonade to last a long while though so I dumped the app.
Phase 10 -- Fankly the only reason I removed this app is because there is no network play, and this is a game best played with people of the real variety. At $2.99 I will keep checking back to see if they add the feature.
WordSearch -- My son Caleb likes doing word searches, but he quickly tired of doing them on the iPhone. This is a nice, if feature bare, free app.
Adrenaline Pool Online -- I bought this game at the behest of my friend Anthony. He actually said the free version would work, but I wanted the added features of the $4.99 version. I enjoyed playing the game although I think the interface could use some work. I got tired of virtual pool and removed the app.
Mocha VNC Lite -- I bought the full version of this verry nice VNC client for controlling my Mac remotely when I am away from home. No need to have the free version and the full version.
iFlipr --A flashcard app I paid $4.99 for to help with learning Hebrew. I may put this on my wife's iPod Touch to help the kids with math this year.
PocketFlicks -- An app for managing your Netflix account. I bought the app for $1.99 to support the developer of "Now Playing", bit since that app does almost everything PocketFlicks does I ended up removing it.
RemotePad -- I think this app is supposed to turn your iPhone into a trackpad of sorts for you Mac. I downloaded it for free, and then realized I had no need for it.
Remote -- This is Apple's free app for remotely controlling iTunes. I just never seemed to used it.
POTUS (Presidents Of The United States) -- A free app that provides information on, uh, the presidents. I thought this would be good for the kids, but I do not like them touching my iPhone.
Cookbook -- A free electronic version of the Betty Crocker cook book. I downloaded thos primarilly for my wife.
SkyGazer -- I got this app free on the aniversarry of the moon landing. This is a powerful astonomy app topped only by its big brother SkyVoyager which I also got for free. No need to have both apps on the iPhone at the same time. Of course I will probably never use the other one either, but it feels good to have free software on your iPhone. SkyGazer and SkyVoyager are $2.99 and $14.99 respectively.
Planets -- a free astonomy app that I obviously do not need.
iDoodle2Lite -- This is a fairly self explainitory app. It was free, and I downloaded it with the kids (and my wife's iPod Touch) in mind. I was not overly impressed, and I do not think this one is on either of our devices.
TrippingFest -- It is hard to explain what this app does so I'll just let a picture do the talking. A very cool app. Free. I played with this for a long time, but it will live on the iPod Touch now for emergencies. (I lost the image when editing this post...oops.)
Sudoku and Pass The Pigs -- Two games my wife loves. These both live on her iPod Touch now. These games were $2.99 each, but they are well executed and like I said, my wife likes them.
Maze Finger -- I never could get into this game. You have to trace a maze before the time runs out. Free, but not for me.
Trace -- This game did not cost me anything, and is actually quite fun. The player must draw shapes to help the stick figure man make it across the screen. I just traced enough I suppose.
Mancala FS5 and Mancala Lite are both free Mancala games with the latter being the better of the two. I would rather play the physical game for some reason.
Moonlight Lite -- a very nice Mahjong game. There is a paid version available that I have been considering purchasing, but since I play the free version so much that I am removing it...
JirboSays -- A free matching game for the kids...but not on my iPhone.
Touch Four -- Another free connect four game. Just as boring as the real thing.
Air Hockey and FS5 Hockey -- Electronic air hockey. The latter (free) was fun enough for my oldest son that I paid $0.99 for the former. I do not know of this syltill lives on my wife's iPod Touch or not.
Tris -- A well done Tetris clone that was free and proved just as imposible for me to play as any Tetris game.
tChess Lite -- An extremely powerful chess game. I bought the full version so I no longer need the free version.
Tangram Pro -- I got this app for free, and it has hundreds of puzzles. After I played for a fee days it just became monotonous.
Cross Light and reMovem free were actually cool enough that I bought the paid versions of these games. Obviously I do not need the free version and the paid version on the iPhone at the same time. Cross Light is a crossword app and reMovem is a bubble pop game.
Sketchy and EtchASketch are the generic and name brand implementation of an electronic Etch A Sketch respectively. To be honest, I liked the simplicity of the generic version better and bought the "official" version for $1.99 on accident when my wife asked where the app had gone. Now she has one of these on her iPod Touch, but I got bored quickly... just like the real thing.
Minesweeper -- a really nice implementation of the classic game. I paid $0.99 for the app even though there was a free version available. I guess I got tired of blowing up and removed the app.
Paper Toss -- I got this app free, although I think there is a paid version. I "threw" a few paper wads in the trash and then threw the app there as well. Not badly done, just not my wad of paper.
Flick Fishing -- a really nice fishing game! I paid a very reasonable $0.99 for the app, and even though I caught more virtual fish than real fish this season, I just got tired of it.
Four Free -- a free implementation of connect four. Boring.
iHandgun and Lightsaber both make noise for free. That is all they do, but not on my iPhone.
TicTacFree -- Free tic tac toe for the kids...on my wife's iPod Touch.
Checkers -- see above.
Cradle --an electronic Newton's Cradle at Bo charge. Fun for an hour or so, but not as satisfying as the real thing.
Wild West -- A free pinball game. Not a good fit for the iPhone in my opinion.
Lemonade Tycoon -- another accidental download. I thought I was grabbing the Lemonade Stand app I had downloaded earlier. There is a paid version, but the one I downloaded was free. Lemonade Stand is a much better app in my opinion as it mimics the original version I played on an Apple II in gradeschool.
BClassicLite -- a really good free breakout clone. This one is on my wife's iPod Touch too. I'm not much good at breaking out.
SpeakEasy Voice Recorder -- this is a great app that allows the user to choose the audio quality of recordings and sync them with your computer (via free companion software available on the Zarboo Software website). I paid $1.99 for this app. Two days later OS 3.0 was released with a built-in voice memo app. While the built-in app lacks the ability to change the audio quality, it does sync directly with iTunes no setup required, and allows you to email your recordings. I don't do a lot of recording on the iPhone so SpeakEasy went away. (What was I thinking, this is so much better than the Apple app. It's back on...I'm starting to realize how obsessive compulsive I am.)Twitterific -- If I could just convince myself that what I have to say is important and profound enough that my blog and Facebook cannot contain it...or that anyone else's Tweets were interesting or profound enough for me to follow I could not ask for a better app than Twitterific. The app is free (unless you are such a Twit that you need more power, in which case you can purchase the $3.99 Premium version.) After several tries I just cannot find a good reason to use Twitter, so Twitterific flew away.
Lose It! -- a great weight loss app with tons of configuration and zero calories. It's free. Unfortunately, I am also free...of determination...so Lose It! got lost.
WorsPress -- a free app for posting to your Wordpress blog either hosted on your own server or on wordpress.com. I imported my blog to Posterous so I simply do not have a use for the app any longer.
Steps To Peace With God -- Obviously free, this is just a simple presentation of the Gospel provided by Billy Graham. I downloaded this app just to see how they presented the graphics on the iPhone. Not great I must admit. Also, if I do not know the Gospel by now, well...
Trapster -- The idea behind this free app is a sort of social radar detector. If you know of a speed trap you can report it. If you are approaching one, it informs you (using your iPhone's GPS). I downloaded this just to see how it was implemented. It did not pan out terribly well, and I do not drive fast enough for police to care so I deleted this one too.
WebMD -- The title really says it all. It sounded cool at first, but if I need this data I can get it...on the web at WebMD. I had to surgically remove this app. Fortunately it was free...just like health care will soon be...right?
Shopper -- This powerful $0.99 app helps you create shopping lists based on the layout of your stores and track your spending. It has tons of features, and I really bought it for my wife's iPod Touch so I do not really need it. To be honest I do not think she uses it either.
Visible Vote -- This app was free, but simply was not enough of what I wanted. I wanted to be able to see more of my legislators, and be able to contact them. I voted this app off my iPhone.
Simplify Music -- This is a downright awesome app. Install the server on your computer, the client on your iPhone, and now you can listen to your entire library via WiFi or EDGE/3G...except for Audible audio books and protected .aac files. If you do not do Audible and do not have a lot of protected files it is well worth the $3.99. (I got the app free during a promotion). (This app is back on, and I'll have more to say about that in an upcoming post.)
Fandango -- The "official" Fandango app works great and is free, but when I discovered that "Now Showing" (THE iPhone app for movie lovers) duplicated its features it went away.
Decible -- This app cost me $0.99 and measures the decibles of what ever is going on around you. I have no idea why I bought this app. It was cool to play with for a day.
MotionX GPS -- This is an extremely powerful app geared toward hikers, bikers, campers etc. It currently costs $2.99, but I would not be surprised if that price is temporary. I guess I just do not do as much biking as I used to.
Darkroom Premium -- This was one of the coolest apps I ever bought...until OS 3.0 broke it. The app compensated for shaking hands when you took a pocture with your iPhone. Unfortunately, the developers have been unable to get Apple to approve their 3.0 compliant version. I paid $0.99 for this app.
Dictionary.com -- Takes up space, and after all, I have an always on Internet conection. My wife does have a copy of this on her iPod Touch. Free.
Dictionary! -- See above.
Well, that does it. Almost six screens full of apps I have downloaded and no longer use. Lest you think I have been throwing away money, keep in mind that several of these apps are used on my wife's iPod Touch, and some of them will end up back on my iPhone when I get tired of the games I am playing now. Still, if one thing is for sure, be careful before you pay for that app because it adds up quick!
