Join Matt & Brie May 4th, 2010 as they discuss some of the latest applications in the App Store and answer questions about iPhone & iPad applications!

Just go here and listen in. Don’t forget, our toll-free number will also be open to take questions, just call 1-877-338-2524!

[...] 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.

A
Animato
AniWeather
AppsShopping
Archibald*

B
Brothers In Arms
Bugz

C
CameraBag

D
Dietician
Done

E
ePhoto
Edge

F
FingerPiano
FireTask
Fitness Day Journal
FuzzyShot 2.0

G
Generator*
GeoTones*
Glyph
Goal Tender
Guitar Rock Tour

H
Habit Check
Herbs & Spices
Hero of Sparta

I
iAstrology
Illuminations
I Love Fireworks
InvinciBall
iRosary*
iScratchNails
iSticky
iToy*

J

K

L
Lie Detector Update
LivingSocial
LowGIDiet, A

M
Meditate Now 2

N

O

P
Par 3 Golf 2
Peeps
PhotoBrush
Pocketpedia

Q
Quip

R
Railroad Puzzle*
ReaddleDocs
Rolando

S
Shelf Life
SimCity: Short Long
SmartTime: High Res. Low Res.
SportsBrush
SuperSniper
SushiTime

T
Tank Warrior
Tapestri*
Things
Todo
Toodledo
Touch Physics
True or Lie

U
Ultimate Todo

V
Vegan Yum Yum Mobile

W
Wallpaper Notes
Wanted
What’s New
Wifi Disk
Wine Cellar

X

Y

Z
Zenbe Lists

#’s
1st Response: Emergency Kit
3D Fireworks
5800+ Cocktail & Drink Recipes ]]> http://www.theiphoneappblog.com/video-index/feed/ 0 http://www.theiphoneappblog.com/2009-best-worst-icons-of-the-year/ http://www.theiphoneappblog.com/2009-best-worst-icons-of-the-year/#comments Fri, 29 May 2009 04:21:00 +0000 Matt Sawyers http://66.147.244.179/~theipho4/?p=91 Okay, so I have been working an article and I got to looking at a bunch of the icons (around 6,000). Now going through these icons, I didn’t know the name of the apps that these icons refer to, I was only able to recognize the ones that I’ve seen in the past.

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!