[...] what some consumers might not know is that many companies pay reviewers for their write-ups [...]

And this is true even in the iPhone app world. We have heard from developers that some site actually charge for a review, some upwards of $150 for a “professional review.” In my opinion that’s just awful.

In the past we have not done this (yes, some of the reviews here, emerged from a promo code.) And I am not sure why I haven’t thought of doing it. However, we want our readers to understand that even though we received applications for free, we still use the some of the same standards for when we purchase apps, asking ourselves “Is this app really worth it?” as well as being harsher in giving stars to the rank to compensate for any bias. Personally we can only purchase so many apps per month, so the promo code usage, is helpful to us in providing reviews for readers.

You might notice that there are not any ads on this website (except in the iPhone version, but I can’t help that at the moment;) this is because I am not here to make money from app reviews nor readers, I simply created this blog so that others like me – wanting to know in-depth information about apps & how they function (like analyzing the pixelzation of graphics in the background) could get the information that other sites do not provide. We only review applications that we can relate to, we have even turned down requests to review an application. Why? Because I simply didn’t have the knowledge to evaluate it (a law study guide app).

So in all disclosure, we will have two identifiers at the top of our app reviews – First, if we have received the app via a promo code, “via promo code” will display. If we requested a promo code, “requested promo code” will display and finally, if we have purchased the app, there will be no reference. If an app is “purchased” for free thought the App Store, there will also not be any reference either These references will begin immediately and will also be incorporated into older posts over the next month or so. Also for app reviews that evolved from beta testing an app, the apps must come from the developers & cannot be purchased through the iTunes App Store, therefore; this will also be noted in first setence of the review when the word “Beta” is mentioned.

If you have any question or would like to make a feature suggestion, please leave us a comment.

Link to article.

I figure is can’t be hard to create a decent app icon and for some that make multiple apps, it’s nice to change up the icon; otherwise it gets thrown into my worst icon bin. So without further ado, here are the Worst Icon Runner ups:

(Click on Image to Enlarge)

I had several things I took into consideration upon awarding icons the Worst Icon awards:

1. Text on Icon – even worse, unreadable text
2. Generic graphics exe. dollar signs, hearts, etc.
3. Clip art as the icon image
   
4. one color
5. dark image
6. too small graphic to see
7. bad resolution of image within icon
8. bad placement of graphic (a ball sitting in the corner with a bunch of black around it)

So the third place goes to the less than good resolution icon:

Second place goes to this icon & whatever it says…:

And finally FIRST PLACE for Worst iPhone App icon goes to erm… this one… whatever it is:

So Congrats to those app icons. Your prize: an opinion telling you to make you icon better…

Okay so on a better note, lets switch over to the BEST icons of the year. So while doing the opposite of the things I listed above would make the icon creators get their app icon into the “good bin” the items I’ve listed below really help get the icon a “Best” icon award.

1. 3D graphics (use of the Z-axis)
2. Multiple colors used
3. No text or clearly defined text
4. iPhone themed colors, but not copy cat icons
5. Anything with a flame on it (personal favorite…ok this really doesn’t count…)
6. 3D logo of a company, etc.

Here are the runner ups:

(Click on image to enlarge)

Coming in at third place, is:

Convertbot
For is unique concept and creative take on the app. It also represents the app itself uniqely.

Second place, is:

Birdhouse
For is creative & 3D perspective on using Twitter’s bird icon and the z-axis for depth.

And finally the FIRST PLACE WINNER OF THE BEST IPHONE APP ICON goes to….:

Readdledocs
For clearly defining the app as well as using closely themed colors from the standard iPhone apps.
(Yes, I am making an exception to text in the icon – it’s readable)

Congrats to those icons that won the TiPAb BEST APP ICON AWARD, you receive praise by myself…and I’ve purchased the top 3.

If I have not mentioned some of the app names that these icons refer to feel free to tell me in the comments. Also what are some app icon (app names) that you hat or like? Any apps you’ve purchased just because the icon looked cool? or the other way around? Sound off in the comments!

You can view applications by release date/new (paid or free); price changes; Updated apps, or you can view apps by category (via new-free, new-paid, price change, or Update)

*Note: I feel that I need to say this as I noticed numerous low ranking in the AppStore. Many people might find this application much like AppSniper, while it’s not my goal in this review to compare the applications, I do feel that each app has it’s pros and cons and that one app might fit some, while the other might fit another audience.

The application may take anywhere between 5-10 seconds to load depending on your connection. Te app will automatically open on the “What’s New” Tab. If you select the option to pick between paid or free in any of the tabs you might see red images with question marks appear. These mean that the image is still loading or there was an error in loading the thumbnail.

I really enjoyed the layout of the list of application. In he default view, it lists the app badge icon, the title, its category and price.
Under the price changes tab, you don’t have the category in the list view, but you do have the price change – exe. $3.99 -> $4.99 . You also have an image that can easily be identifiable by the the color correlating to the price change – red = price increase & green = price decrease. You also have the percentage of change.
Under the Update tab, the listing view looks much like the “What’s New” Tab
The “Categories” tab lists all the different categories, upon tapping on the category, you’ll have the list for that category and 4 sorting option (listed above).

Layout in viewing an Application’s details:
Tapping on an app in the list view will display the details for the application. It was take anywhere from 5 seconds to 10 seconds to load the details depending on your data connection. This layout is what really make this application differ from AppSniper.

You have details, and screenshots. The details page is basically split up into 3 parts – part one is the header which includes the thumbnail, the title, the category, price, developer, release date, size, and version, and compatibility. The second part has the details. Now the details section is a bit odd to me as it is like it’s own screen within a screen, in which it has it’s own scroll bar.

Part 3 are in-line thumbnails which is a nice addition. I don’t like having to hit another button just to wait for the screen shots to load (such as in AppSniper,) I personally like AppShopping more so than any other application due to the information it has in-line.

Issues:
When tapping on the category, the category does not always highlight and therefore, it is hard to discern whether on not the category is loading. Also after the category list loads and you tap on another filter, the thumbnails do not load. However there seems to be a work around (but there really shouldn’t be) if you scroll through the list, the images suddenly seem to load. Another thing I noticed was that in the app details view, the description is a bit odd to view and can be hard to navigate past the description. I’d like to have all the text in-line with everything else, not just in it’s own little “box.”

Overall:
I like where this application is going and I really prefer it over AppSniper as I don’t do much snipping but mainly to see what’s new in the AppStore. I would like the see a Watch List/Favorites List of something of the like. I think this application has several filters and lists to satisfy any new-app-craving (or older apps too) person.

Pros:
-Numerous lists and filters to choose from
-In-line picture viewing

Cons:
-No search function
-No wish list (favorites)
-Details scroll area is awkward
-Hard to scroll past details
-Details text is a little small

Join the forum discussion on this post - (1) Posts