I’ve been using Tweetbot for the iPhone ever since it arrived. I’ve been a huge fan of Tapbots apps since Weightbot hit the App Store back on Oct. 2008. I just really like the care given to the details of the UI and the overall look and feel.

So much functionality is compressed into a very small amount of screen space. The ingenious use of gestures and taps to accomplish many common twitter functions is really outstanding. For example, just swipe left on a tweet to see the conversation thread of that specific tweet. Double tapping a tweet will display more detail about that tweet. Tap and hold on a tweet to bring up options.

Today (February 8th, 2012), Tapbots release the much anticipated Tweetbot for iPad. I have to say, it’s everything I expected. The UI is gorgeous and smooth. Everything just flows across the screen. Switching between accounts is as easy as a single tap, so is changing Timelines. Portrait and Landscape views are pretty much the same where the text of the navigation sidebar goes away leaving just icons. Not perfect, but better than a pop-over that covers up data.

The new iPad version is not a Universal version added to the iPhone version. It’s a separate product, meaning that if you want the iPad version, you have to pay the $2.99 to get it. Pretty inexpensive considering what you get.

I have no problem at all paying that money to a company dedicated to quality applications. Keep up the great work Tapbots! I can’t wait to see what you come up with next!

Summary:

Name: Tweetbot / Tweetbot for iPad
Category: Social Networking
App Type: iPhone / iPad
Seller: Tapbots
Created: 4/11/2011 – 2/8/2012
Size: 9.8MB / 9.1MB
Price: $2.99 (for each version)

Top 3 Pros:

1. Really powerful UI and gestures.
2. Inline thumbnails of images in timeline
3. Easily switch between Twitter user accounts

Top 3 Cons:

1. Not a Universal app. You have to purchase the iPad version separately
2. (iPhone) Can’t rotate screen to landscape mode when viewing the timeline (Only for entering a tweet)
3. No notifications when someone sends you a tweet or direct message

Screenshot Gallery:

It looks amazing so far!

“Apple is looking for iPhone 5 testers! The first 1000 users that go to http://(spamers website).com and enter code 0214 will get to test & keep a new iPhone 5″

I really doubt that apple will be looking for “outside” testers for any of their products. Nice try spammer!

It would appear on the bottom of that list:
Bloggers: All of the above…

First game to talk about here is Pinball HD Collection. This isn’t the first version of this game that was released to the iOS App Store. It actually started out as individual pinball tables. The Deep, Wild West Pinball and Jungle Style Pinball. Then they combined the tables into Pinball HD. Then they created this app, Pinball HD Collection.

I absolutely love Pinball! OOO Gameprom does Pinball better than any other developer in both the iOS and Mac App Stores, period! I have tried just about all of them. My iTunes Apps section has 48 Pinball games, and there are more in the iOS App Store that I haven’t purchased/downloaded.

There are 9 tables available for purchase in Pinball HD Collection. One of the tables are free. Sorry, I don’t remember which one of the tables comes free. I think maybe Wild West. The other tables you can play for 60 seconds. All the tables sell for $0.99 except for the AC/DC table which sells for $2.99. OOO Gameprom partnered with Sony Music to get the AC/DC table.

The physics simulation in this game so realistic feeling, you really do feel like you are playing a real pinball machine. When the pinball slams into a feature like a steal post or wooden feature, a sound effect plays that really gives you the feeling of a real table. The only thing missing would be the iPad vibrating when this happens.

Each table has a very complex set of rules to get special features to occur or start multi-ball play. For example, in The Deep, you ring the bell in the upper left part of the table to start a mission. An arrow lights up somewhere on the table that you have to get the pinball to either go through or activate. Achieving this, you then ring the bell again to start another missing. After three completed missions, you get another ball on the table (multi-ball mode). This can happen several times. Each table has a playing guide to help you figure out how to achieve each goal.

There is even a Mac App Store version of the game!

There are other very good Pinball simulators in the iOS App Store, but Pinball HD Collection is the best simulation, hands down.

Summary:

Name: Pinball HD Collection
Category: Game
App Type: iPad Only
Seller: OOO Gameprom
Created: 12/15/2011
Size: 219.6MB
Price: Free ($0.99 In-App Purchase for most tables, one table is free)

Top 3 Pros:

1. Astoundingly amazing physics simulation
2. 9 Pinball tables with 2 more on the way
3. Each table is only $0.99

Top 3 Cons:

1. No iPhone version of Pinball HD Collection
2. No Mac version of Pinball HD Collection
3. AC/DC table not being $0.99 like the other tables

Screenshot Gallery:

The frame shown above was it. Funnier still was I didn’t get the joke right away. In fact, I didn’t even remember who the ad was for until I searched for the ads later.

Second place would have to go to Audi for totally making fun of Twilight…

None of the other ads really stood out in my mind.

I suppose the Jerry Sienfeld and Matthew Broderick ads were funny, but they would have stood out more if I hadn’t seen them before the game.

I actually use this application way more than Grocery IQ, for very different reasons. I have a very large collection of apps that I have picked up since Apple opened up the iOS App Store. I don’t remember when I first found AppShopper.com, I realized that the site was going to be a great way of keeping track of the apps I had downloaded and then the apps I was wanting to get in the future.

The AppShopper.com website allows you to keep track of all the apps you download/purchase. Most importantly, it watches the apps in both the iOS App Store and Mac App Store and it will let you know when an app you have on your watch list goes down in price. It also keeps track of each change to the app, price changes and updates. It lists all the other apps that the developer has produced.

The website allows you to setup email notifications so that when one of your apps gets updated or it’s price drops, you will get an email telling you. This is how I know when most of the apps I have purchased on sale when on sale.

AppShopper, the app, gives you an iOS app window into the website so that you can use the website easily from your iPhone, iPod touch and iPad. You have access to every function the website supports. You can search the site, add apps to your Wish List, or to the list of apps you have purchased/downloaded. You can have the app display a notification when an app goes on sale or is updated. If you find an app you want to purchase, you can tap a buy button and the app will send you to the iOS version of the App Store to the app you want to purchase.

If you have a large collection like myself, you don’t have to enter each app individually. There is a Macintosh application called AppShopper.com Importer that will collect a list of all the applications in iTunes and send them off to AppShopper to add to your collection. You can then go through all your apps and rate them from either the website or the app.

AppShopper.com is a great resource to help you keep track of your applications and AppShopper the app is a great tool to help as well.

Summary:

Name: AppShopper
Category: Utility
App Type: Universal App
Seller: AppShopper.com, LLC
Created: 09/07/2010
Size: 4.9MB
Price: Free ($0.99 In-App Purchase to remove iAd’s)

Top 3 Pros:

1. Keeps a list of all the apps you have purchased and apps you are waiting to go on sale
2. A desktop application that uploads your apps to the website
3. Displays ratings from Apple’s App Stores, TouchArcade.com and your ratings

Top 3 Cons:

1. Search doesn’t do a great job of searching the App Store
2. The app doesn’t support displaying Mac apps like the website does
3. App is not free

Screenshot Gallery:

I’m starting my mini-reviews of iOS/Mac applications with my most used iOS application; Grocery IQ. All links to the apps I review, will go to AppShopper.com instead of iTunes. I think that AppShopper.com is a way better way to see iOS/Mac apps in the iOS and Mac App Store’s.

I use Grocery IQ every week to create my shopping list then turn around and go to the store and buy all the items on that list. I’ve configured the app to make my visit to the grocery store as short as possible, and to be totally honest, it shaved about 15 minutes off my shopping experience! Truthfully!

I found this app not long after it was released about 3 years ago and haven’t used any other shopping list app again. Setting up the list can be a little daunting. I had a list I was using in a spreadsheet before this app. I had to add the items in my spreadsheet list into the website interface, assigning store aisle’s as I went. Once that process was done, I went to the store and took pictures of each aisle sign so that I could name the aisle’s in the app correctly. I then assigned each item to those aisles.

Once the data was in, I was able to adjust the aisle order for the store in the app so that when I am looking at my shopping list, it’s in the order the store’s aisles are in. This way, I go through the store from one side to the other only once and I’m ready to check out.

The app has the ability to share info with another device, so I linked my iPad to the app so that I can use the iPad to create my shopping list, then use the iPhone in the store to check items off the list. I just couldn’t see myself carrying around my iPad in the store. Someone could also add/remove items from the shopping lists via the website.

You can put as many stores as you shop. That way, when you are shopping, you can switch the shopping list from store to store and check items off each. It would be nice if you could assign an item to more than one list so that if an item can’t be found in one store, another store might have it.

Overall, I can’t do without this app. If it stopped working today, I would be hard pressed to find another app that would serve me as well.

Summary:

Name: Grocery IQ
Category: Lifestyle
App Type: Universal App
Seller: Free State Labs, LLC
Created: 09/08/2008
Size: 13.7MB
Price: Free ($0.99 In-App purchase to remove iAds)

Top 5 Pros:

1. Sortable grocery aisle per store
2. Scan barcodes to add items to list
3. Website where you can edit your lists
4. Multiple stores
5. Adding item prices will show total estimated cost of list

Top 5 Cons:

1. No search for lists
2. Can only share with one other device/user
3. Can be difficult to adjust item location if it changes in store
4. No way to import a large list of items into the app
5. No way to export your items

Screenshot Gallery:

Gamasutra just wrote up a post showing a very interesting graph about the Kindle Fire. The image below shows before the Kindle Fire came out on the left and after on the right.

It’s pretty astounding how much changed in just 2 months! Samsung had a huge lead in Android tablet application session in November. Then after the new year, they lost just under half of that to the Kindle Fire. Now the Kindle Fire actually has more Application Sessions than Galaxy Tab by .1%. Granted, that’s not much of a lead, but it’s still early days here.

Amazon’s price point for the Kindle Fire is pretty much making it the tablet to own this year. I can’t wait to see what this graph looks like in just a couple more months.

That’s a quote from Zynga founder and CEO Mark Pincus at a meeting!

“I don’t fucking want innovation,” the ex-employee recalls Pincus saying. “You’re not smarter than your competitor. Just copy what they do and do it until you get their numbers.”

An article written up at the San Francisco Weekly described what was going on with Zynga titled: “FarmVillains”. It’s a lengthy piece, but worth the read.

One paragraph mentioned that in 2009 alone Pincus’ filed lawsuits against seven former employees.

Zynga recently released in Canada’s iTunes App Store a new game called “Dream Heights”, which has an uncanny resemblance to NimbleBit’s “Tiny Tower” which was recently awarded by Apple as iPhone’s top game of 2011.

NimbleBit apparently found out about this and created this nice little info-graphic:

(You can click on the above image to get the full image.)

I really hope that NimbleBit can succeed in getting Zynga’s game removed from the App Store. It’s such a blatant rip-off of Tiny Tower that it might just as well be a spin-off of the game.

I personally have been playing Tiny Tower for about 7 months now since the game was released June 22 of last year. It’s a nice little 5 minute, get in, buy a floor if I can, deal with all the floors that need attention, shut it down. I rarely stay in and take little bitizens to their floors.

The only Zynga games I have at this point are ones that Zynga purchased the companies to. Words With Friends, Drop7 and Scramble With Friends. Currently, Scramble With Friends is #1 in both the Category and Overall Top App’s lists.

I suppose it would be OK if the original developers of Words With Friends wrote and are getting the money they deserve for writing Scramble With Friends. However, I fear that this is not the case…