App Review: Ping! by Gary Fung

Touted as the Blackberry Messenger for iPhone, Ping! promises to deliver instant messages to all of your friends using the app on either iPhone or iPod Touch. We’ve been using Ping! now for a little while and found it to be similar to textfree unlimited, which we use extensively here at AppChatter.com. However, these apps are not the same and do serve slightly different niches.

Unlike Ping!, Textfree Unlimited allows you to actually send a text message (SMS) to any phone number. Ping! requires that anyone you send a message to also has the Ping! app installed - there’s no sending messages to phone numbers here. However, similarly to Textfree, you do setup a Ping! “ID” that you then share with all of your other Ping! using friends. They use the ID that you registered to send you messages, as many as they like.

Ping! supports push notifications and runs on both iPhone and iPod Touch. In our time of using it the app was mostly reliable in sending and receiving messages. What I mean by that is, not all messages that we sent were subsequently received by the other device. Sending to an iPhone seemed to be more reliable than sending to an iPod.

The interface of Ping! is superb! In fact, I prefer the interface to that of Textfree or some of the other texting apps that we’ve used here. It’s simple, and unlike Textfree I don’t confuse it with the actual iPhone texting app (yes, I’ve done that a few times actually).

I’m rather luke-warm on Ping! I’m not sure if the app is worthy of a full AppChatter recommendation or if we shout shun it altogether! As a simple messaging app I believe it could work really well, providing it gets more reliable. The price is right at $0.99 and the interface works well. So for now I’ll leave it in your hands, if you’re looking for a texting app for friends then it’s probably worth a try. If you’re looking to send real SMS then this app is not for you (doesn’t support it).

App Review: Animation Creator by Red Software LLC

Animation Creator by Red Software LLC is a nifty app that allows you to draw and create your own animations - frame by frame. I first downloaded Animation Creator a couple of days ago and started into my first animation, these are my findings while using this app.

So, like everyone else, I too am intrigued by creating my own animations. There’s a lot of programs out there, for either your desktop or even your iPhone, to help in fulfilling this desire. However, Animation Creator caught our attention.

Animation Creator has a pretty large swath of tools that you can use to create your own animation. However, the application is not without its issues and gripes: for starters, the app does not include any template animations. Once you launch the app there is nothing to help get you started, you must start fresh with no frames. For an animation app this was a little annoying, I would have expected there be several pre-existing animations that we could tinker with before starting our own. The other gripe I had is that pulling up the tools menu is too difficult: you must first tap the screen with three (3) fingers, then touch the tools button. Since tools are one of the things you pull up the most it is a bit cumbersome. Finally, by no fault of the app, I found it often too difficult to paint on the screen with my fingers. I don’t have large fingers at all, but being even remotely precise is simply not possible.

As I mentioned, the app has a lot of tools for creating your own animations. Using these tools you can create some fun animations, just don’t expect anything that is TV worthy. For the price of 99 cents, you can’t go wrong in trying, especially if you at all like animations or creating your own. However, be warned though, that animations take significant time to create - especially one frame at a time. Animation Creator has a good start so hopefully we’ll keep seeing the improvements and enhancements come (templates, please!).

What we liked: Large selection of tools, intuitive animation creation.
What we didn’t like: No templates to get you started, too many actions to get to the tools, time consuming to get even a basic animation.

Here’s it’s list of features (from their app listing):

• A beautiful, easy to use interface
• Full screen editing, no annoying tools in the way
• Paint brush
• Eraser
• Frame positioning
• Frame rotation
• Line
• Rectangle
• Line width selection
• Circle
• Color selection palettes
• Color selection sliders, including transparencies
• Shadowing, your creations pop off the screen
• Shake to undo
• Zooming and panning
• Background from photo library
• Background from camera
• Add, delete and copy frames, easily
• Quick menu system, touch and hold one finger
• On the fly frame rate adjustment
• ‘Onion Skinning’, see an overlay of previous frame
• Up to 24fps on iPhone 3GS and new iPod Touch, up to 12fps on iPhone 2G/3G.
• Rotate frame with Positioner tool
• Improved Move tool performance
• Renamed ‘Move’ tool to ‘Positioner’ tool
• Save brush size on exit
• Increased zoom level
• Double tap with two fingers to quick zoom
• More frames per second with new iPod Touch

App Review: Net Scan (Ports and Networks Scanner) by Pavel Ahafonau

I’m a fan of port scanners as much as the next geek, so when I saw Net Scan (Ports and Networks Scanner) in the iTunes App Store this week I had to give it a try. Network or port scanners are typically used by network admins, system admins and security professionals. They are typically used in larger environments as a means to discover what services are running and hence, what possible vulnerabilities would be exploitable.

Net Scan is a simple to use network scanner that allows this same type of discovery to occur by anyone, on their own or home network. Knowing just what is running on your network and what services are being hosted can be enlightening, especially if you have multiple hosts (computers/devices) on your network.

First, let me just quote the developer on features, since he can say it better than I can:

- Scan any IP address or network range
- Country of origin detection of the network owner
- Network range and AS number lookup
- MAC address and hardware vendor lookup
- Wake on LAN for hosts with MAC addresses
- WHOIS hostnames, IP addresses, ASNs
- Group results into multiple histories
- Predefined services for your convenience
- Possibility to add custom services
- Checks ICMP, TCP and UDP
- Faster asynchronous network I/O
- Works with Wi-Fi, 3G, EDGE and GPRS
- Eye-pleasing interface design

Displays host information (when available):

- Hostname
- IP address
- IP network range
- Autonomous system (AS) number
- Reverse hostname (PTR DNS record)
- Bonjour hostname
- Country of the network owner
- Services host runs (TCP and UDP open ports)
- Firewall detection results
- Ping test results
- MAC address and vendor

I have run Net Scan on a couple of networks so far and what I can tell you is that it works, and works well. It is highly configurable, allowing you to scan an individual host or an IP range. You can also configure it to scan known ports (interesting services), Unix services or a port range. There’s also a switch to turn on “scan pingable (hosts) only,” however I’d suggest turning that off since any respectable admin has icmp disabled on either their hosts or firewalls.

When I ran Net Scan on my local network if found pretty much everything I had attached to the network. These items included my iPhone 3GS, Macbook, Compaq notebook, Dell desktop, HP notebook, mythtv (htpc), hdhomerun and an airport express. On each of those, it did discover the services when I figured were running (and in a couple of cases services I had forgotten about).

I already mentioned that Net Scan works well. What can I say? it’s a network scanner that works! So if you’re looking for on the go network scanning from your mobile device then look no further. Just know, that you will need to have WiFi access to the network in order for the app to function.

App Review: Mail Notifier by Enflick Inc.

Here at AppChatter we’ve been on a quest lately to find the best way to get notified when you receive email. We’ve even resorted to forwarding our email to a Yahoo! email account, since the iPhone/Touch supports push for Yahoo! out of the box. We were also delighted when Google announced last week that they now natively support push GMail via Exchange.  However, if you have more than one GMail account then even the Exchange solution wont help you for more than the first one (only one Exchange account can be setup on your device at a time).  Needless to say that with everything we’ve tried so far, nothing is perfect.

Mail Notifier by Enflick Inc is trying to overcome all of these limitations.  We announced Mail Notifier a few weeks back and and then waited to get an app code from the developer and for the past couple of days have been using the service.

The one thing that Mail Notifier offers above all of the other solutions thus far, is the ability to have push notifications for more than just GMail.  In fact, Mail Notifier will bring push notifications for your AOL, GMail and Windows Live (Hotmail) email accounts.  What’s even better than that is if you have more than a single GMail account (or any of the others) you can configure the app to push notifications for all of them.

As I mentioned earlier, we’ve been using Mail Notifier for a few days now and unlike anything else we’ve tried thus far this app actually works and works well.  We’ve consistently been notified on all incoming emails on multiple accounts using Mail Notifier.  Setup is as simple as entering your credentials to one or more of the three email types and away you go.

The one drawback, if there is one, is the rather steep price.  At $4.99 Mail Notifier is one of the more expensive options we’ve tested so far.  However, that price comes with many advantages over any other option: It actually works, you can push more than one GMail account (or AOL or Hotmail), it’s a single cost that you’ll easily get your value from if you depend on email notifications.

If you’re like us and have been looking for a way to get push notifications from all of your various email account types then we urge you to take a look at Mail Notifier by Enflick Inc.  After 4 days of use, we’re impressed and happy with this service.

Update: The latest update to Mail Notifier (v.2) brings some great enhancements.  The enhancements are:

- Option for a silence period (No getting woken at 2am when that spam email comes in!)
- Selectable ringtones for each account
- Support for custom IMAP accounts
- Option to launch web mail from notification
- Option to hide email contents in notification for privacy

We’ve been using Mail Notifier now for several weeks (since we first got the app code) and must say that it has continued to perform as expected.  Notifications arrive quicker than GMail push or any other push notification app we’ve tried.  This is a truly set and forget type of service.  The reliability and speed of notifications has prompted me to remove all onboard (native) iPhone notifications for mail and I now rely solely on Mail Notifier.

App Review: FluxTunes by Quokka Studios Pty Ltd

As cell phone and iPod use in the car becomes more and more prevalent, there is heightened concern over distracted drivers causing accidents.  What can you do, though?  I want to listen to your iPod, but you don’t want to divide your attention between the road and the screen on your iPod.  Quokka Studios has come out with an app called FluxTunes to help with this very problem.  Before I tell you about this app, I must urge you to read the Safety tab in the app.  It serves as a great reminder that safety and paying attention to the road are first and foremost, and that the laws of the road should always be observed.

FluxTunes allows you to quickly and easily control the music on your iPod or iPhone without having to look at the screen or search for buttons.  There are a few simple finger strokes that can be used to control the music.  There following commands are just examples of what you can do.

• A single tap on the screen will pause or play the music
• A swipe of a single finger right or left moves you to the next or previous track.
• Moving one finger up or down on the screen adjusts the volume.

The settings for the app can be adjusted in the Settings App on your device.  It allows you to change things like the time that the app waits before dimming the screen, whether or not to include podcasts in your playlists, or how you would like the music shuffled.

The only problem that I encountered with the app is that the app was not a responsive as I would have liked.  It didn’t always respond to the motion of my finger on the screen.  Overall, FluxTunes is a great idea and can fill a need for iPod and iPhone users.  Whether you are out jogging or driving a car, it is often hard or even dangerous to try to look at your iPod to adjust the music.

Developer’s Website: http://www.quokkastudios.com/

App Review: MonsterKill by Origin8

With Halloween approaching at the end of October, we are bound to see more apps with ghouls, ghosts, and mummies.  MonsterKill, the newest game by Origin8, is a great new app in this genre.  MonsterKill is not a traditional tower defense game like the earlier Sentinel games also by Origin8, but it does borrow some elements from them.  Your job is to defend your gates against the waves of attacking monsters.  Don’t let them break them down. or the game is over.

There are three modes of game play.   Each one presents a different challenge.  In normal mode you have to last 20 rounds against the monsters.  You start with one spell to defend your gates.  Other spells are unlocked as you progress.  In endless mode, you must last as long as you can.  There are unlimited rounds of attacking monsters.  See how long you can last.  In onslaught mode, you have no gates to defend yourself.  You are given 20 tokens to buy upgrades.  Then, you have to defend yourself against 101 monsters.  See if you can get them all.

In order to cast spells on the monsters, you have to have magic available in your magic meter at the top of the screen.  Use the magic that is there wisely.  It is easy to run out.  At the end of each level, you are given the chance to buy upgrades using the money and tokens that you have earned.  Money is used to repair or upgrade your gates.  It is wise to save your money when you can.  Once it is spent, you cannot get it back.  Tokens are used to upgrade spells and the speed that your magic replenishes.  Unlike your money, you can get your tokens back if you change your mind and use them for something else.

Overall, MonsterKill is a great game that is fun and has great graphics.  However, I did run into one frustration in trying to cast the lightning spell.  To cast it, you have to draw a lightning bolt on the screen.  Although, the game provides a tutorial on each spell, showing you how to cast it, I could never seem to get it right.  After much practice, though, I finally got the hang of it and was able to enjoy the game.  Despite that flaw, I still highly recommend the game.

Developer’s Website: http://www.origin8.com/

App Review: Convert by TapTapTap

One of the most common types of apps in the App Store are calculators.  So when I decided to review Convert by TapTapTap I wasn’t sure it would be worth my time or not.  The app, at time of review, was on sale for $0.99 and so at that price most people that need a convert calculator will just buy one of the many already there.  Why shop around, right?  Wrong.

Convert by TapTapTap does bring one thing to the table that most other apps like it do not: Excellent User Interface.  Don’t let the scroll wheels fool you (we know how much iPhone users love the scroll wheel UI elements of the phone - not!).  Well, TapTapTap has significantly improved upon the existing scroll wheel of the basic iPhone UI element.  With additional animations and a unique magnify look of the selected values makes using the scroll wheels on Convert kinda fun and cool! (check out the design evolution video below).

The number pad of Convert is done with a more traditional calculator look, much like you’d find with the built-in calculator of the iPhone or iPod Touch.  If you’re wondering, the star key in the bottom left is to reset the calculator.

One thing we didn’t like: even though the app does convert currencies it does not convert very many of them.  So you’ll want to make sure that the currency you’d likely be using is supported before buying.  All of the major currencies are there but we have seen complaints of others that indicated that the app was missing a currency.  In looking at the currency list, it is rather short.

Convert by TapTapTap is a refreshing new UI on an old favorite of an app.  If you’re looking for a simple, easy to use converting calculator then take a look at Convert.  However, if you need to convert a lot of currencies then I’d look elsewhere.

App Review: Where To? - GPS Points of Interest by FutureTap

Ever been out and wondered what was around you? Ever looked for an easy selection of nearby Mexican restaurants? Need to find a park or post office close by? Well, Where To? GPS Points of Interest by FutureTap answers these questions in a nice and elegant way. I’ve been using Where To? now for a few days and found the app to be well polished, full of data and very easy to use.

When you start the app you are presented with a dial of symbols. Each symbol is for a different type of POI (point of interest) that may be near you. Touch it and you are given a list to help narrow the search results. So, for example, if you touch ‘restaurants’ on the dial, the next screen will give you a list of different types of restaurants (eg: Mexican, Italian, etc). Once you select the type then you are taken to a Google map that plots everything that matches the criteria that is around you.

In our area, Salt Lake City to Provo, UT, we found that the app worked pretty well. Everything we searched for was plotted on the map and as we cross referenced that with what we knew to be out there it had all the results (and then some) of what we were expecting. However, it seems as though the app is picking up too many results. When I searched under Attractions > Zoos the app also listed the morning radio station “Z-Morning Zoo on ZHT 94.9FM.”  This was pretty common, to get results that didn’t quite match the intended search.  It would appear as though the app is searching for anything with “zoo” in the title.  This behavior was present for nearly every search that we did.

We also ran the same searches within the Maps application, since afterall, the Google Maps app can pinpoint points of interest around you as well. The two results were very similar except the Google Maps app would not give the “extra” results, just what one would expect. This lead us to conclude that Where To? doesn’t offer much over the already included Maps app other than a nicer, easier to use user interface.

The price as tested was $0.99.  However, according to the listing that is on sale from $2.99.  So my recommendation is that if you’re used to using the Maps app than stick with it but if you like nice user interfaces then at $0.99 you can’t go wrong.  However, we don’t feel the app is worth it’s regular $2.99 price tag since you already have this functionality on your device.

Tips

1. The app by default uses your current location and plots POI’s around you.  If you want to find POI’s in a different location: search for a POI around you > go to the maps > then use the search icon at the top.  Enter your new location (Say, Boston, MA). The map will now show you POI’s around Boston.  To go back home, touch the GPS location button.
2. You may want to experiment between the Maps application and Where To? to find which one has the results that you trust the most, and then use that app going forward.
3. Holding your finger on the dial will allow you to read what each symbol means.

Developer’s Website: http://www.futuretap.com/home/whereto-en/

App Review: Sonar Ruler by Laan Labs

I recently saw a video (below) on Sonar Ruler by Laan labs and decided I’d buy it and give it a try.  Since I’m a handy, do-it-myself type of guy there’s always a need for a tape measure, right?  Well, at least, there’s always a need to have a sonar tape measure always in your pocket (installed on your phone).  That’s precisely what Sonar Ruler is, it uses sound waves to measure the distance from the phone to a wall.  Sonar Ruler is a new take on the many capabilities of the iPhone.

Using the Sonar Ruler is a bit finicky.  You have to aim it at a wall, or a large object to work and you have to hold your phone just right, otherwise it wont work.  Since I had seen the demo video before I had the app I already knew what you needed to do to get the distance reading.  Holding the phone level, then using your other hand hold it at an angle from the speaker-edge of the phone (see the video).  I’m not sure why this is necessary, but it is.

Accuracy was pretty decent.  However, I definitely wouldn’t be cutting lumber with the measurements coming out of the app.  For general purpose distances the app seems to work quite well.  Simple Accuracy tests showed at one distance to be about 4″ off and on another to be about 8″ off.  However, close enough for general measurements.  I can see real estate agents using this for quick and easy measurements of say a bedroom or something to prospective buyers.

So long as you’re not looking for accuracy then this app is kinda fun.  At $0.99 it will allow you to show off your iPhone on a whole new level to your friends.  Potential customers looking for a really accurate sonar ruler (measuring tape) should just buy the real deal at your local hardware store, but for the rest of us Sonar Ruler works just fine.

Developer’s Website: http://labs.laan.com/

App Review: IM+ All-In-One Messenger by Shape Services

IM+ All-In-One Messenger by Shape Services is likely the best IM client for the iPhone that’s in the app store.  First launched back in November, IM+ has lead the pack with features and integration into pretty much every IM protocol out there including Twitter and Skype.  Bringing all these services into a single app, with push notifications is awesome.  The latest update also added Twitter DM messages into the mix as well.

I’ve been using IM+ for a while now and while it is the most expensive messaging app that I could find, there’s a pretty good reason for it.  IM+, along with integration to all of the popular protocols, is a very polished and complete app. The following features are included:

FEATURES:
- The widest support of IM networks including Twitter and Skype chat
- Apple Push notifications for all supported networks. Stay online even when IM+ is closed
- Twitter: View friends’ timeline, favorites, direct messages and replies
- Send voice messages as MP3 files - yes, playable back on any Mac, PC or mobile
- Send photos
- Send video on iPhone 3G S
- Send Geo-location
- Use custom status messages including Geo-status
- Use cool wallpapers from your Photo library or from IM+ in your chat windows
- Full emoticons support
- Avatar support
- Embedded browser
- Multi-lingual support. Chat in any language supported by your iPhone/iPod Touch
- Landscape mode convenient typing

The only drawback that I can find or think or with IM+ is the steep price.  Shape Services have been experimenting with pricing (we’ve seen the app between $0.99 and $9.99) over the months.  The current price is $9.99 so it is possible to wait and get it cheaper.  However, if you’re looking to the ultimate in iPhone chat clients then this is it. No matter what you pay for it, if you use IM a lot then you will get your money’s worth out of this app.

Developer’s Website: http://www.shapeservices.com/

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