Author Archive
There are lots of Apps that let you make calls from your iDevices. For example, with the Skype App you can make Skype-to-Skype calls for FREE and even call regular numbers (landline and cell) by using low cost Skype credits. However, this is the first time I've seen an App that lets you call any number in the US or Canada for FREE! Zip, zilch, completely free. The folks over at MagicJack that make the low cost accessory that lets you make very inexpensive calls all year long for a low flat price of $19.95-$29.95/year (depending on how many months/years you buy at once). The accessory requires you to use it with your computer and optionally a regular telephone. However, with the MagicJack App all you need is your iPad, iPod touch or iPhone and you can make all the calls you want for FREE. You of course will need either a WiFi or 3G connection to make/receive calls, but this means that it's not restricted to iPhones. You can just as easily make/receive calls using your WiFi enabled iPad or iPod touch.
How does it work?
Once you have the App installed and you setup/log in to your "optional" Free account you're ready to either direct dial any US/Canada number or dial any of your contacts. The call quality is surprisingly good. Making calls is easy! However, receiving calls is a little more challenging. In order to receive calls you do need the Free account and they will assign you a Free MagicJack phone number. This is where it's a little more challenging as your MagicJack number is not a standard phone number it's a number that looks like this: *0123456789* including the "*" on both ends. This is the number that identifies you on the MagicJack system and you can call another MagicJack user using their special number. If you want someone to call you from any other phone then they will need to first dial an access number like this one: 1-305-848-8255. Once they dial the access number they'll be prompted to enter the MagicJack number that you want to reach. I tested this by calling the access number/my MagicJack number from my iPhone and my iPad rang. Cool!
While the App works fine on iPad, it's not a universal App and therefore you'll see it in the standard iPhone size. Not sure if that's really a big deal since in most cases you're just using a keypad. However, I do have to give a it a slight ding for not being a universal App.
The Bottom Line
It's hard to go wrong with FREE! Not sure how long this will last, but it's definitely an App worth installing if you're on any kind of limited minute plan or you want to make calls from a non-iPhone iDevice. You could perhaps use MagicJack for your personal calls instead of your 'business iPhone line". Do us a favor though and use a headset to keep the call private 
You can get the MagicJack App for Free here from the 
While I do most of my shopping online there are times that I do need to pick things up in person. Anything to get me in and out of a crowded store is always appreciated. The Apple Store App has been good for purchased Apple and 3rd party products online, but now the App has been updated with features to make it more usable when you are visiting a brick and mortar Apple Store too. The first new option is "EasyPay" (self-checkout) and you can do this directly on your iDevice. All you need to do is enter the store, connect to the Apple Store WiFi and then most shelf items (accessories) can be purchased right from your device. You scan the barcode, sign-in with your Apple ID and pay for the item(s) using your saved credit card. This is great for those times when you want to run in, pick up something quick and get out. Note that Apple doesn't allow you to do this for the more expensive items such as iDevices and computers. For those high ticket items you will still need an Apple Store employee to ring you up.
The next update involves ordering items, but having them shipped to your store instead of your home/office address. I gave this a shot while traveling and had the item shipped to the Apple Store in the city that I was visiting. Once I got the email letting me know that my item was in, I headed over to pick it up. Once I got to the store and connected to the WiFi there I got a push notification letting me know that my item was ready and that Brandon would meet me near the front door to give me my item and I could leave. Very cool and convenient.
While these updates are nice to have the native iPad version of the Apple Store App is still missing in action.
You can get the Apple Store App for Free here from the
By now you've probably seen the movie Mission Impossible: Ghost Protocol or at least the trailer. In one of the scenes Tom Cruise seeming barely escapes death by a flying car that crashes to the ground right behind him. We all know that these effects are often done with green screen and CGI, but what if you could do these kind of effects right on your iPhone with a few taps of your finger. That's exactly what Action Movie FX allows you to do. You fire up the App, choose your effect, record your scene in the App and then choose where in your clip's timeline you want the effect to happen. Tap a button to process the video and you're done! The saved movie will be 720p resolution even on an iPhone 4s that can record in 1080p.
Here's one that I did last night while setting up for my event
I was blown away by the quality of the overlay considering that I had to do absolutely no keying on my own. What's even more amazing is that the App is FREE! Once you have your processed video you can save it to your Camera Roll, Send it via email or post it on Facebook right from the App. Of course once it's on your Camera Roll you can upload it to just about any other service or App such as YouTube. The App comes with three scenes, "Missile Attack", "Car Smash" and "Demolition Rock". There is an option to do an in-app purchase to buy more effects. However, to date I've not been able to get the store to load in the App. Once it does I'll gladly buy some more effects at $0.99 each.
UPDATE: The FX store finally loaded in the App and there are 4 more "2 Packs" of effects to choose from (8 total effects) at $0.99 per 2 pack.
You can get Action Movie FX for FREE here from the
I have a fairly large network at home of both wired and wireless devices. Some use DHCP and some have static IP addresses. Some have utilities that enable you to easily locate these devices, some don't. Luckily for me there's a great App called iNet Pro that let's me see my entire network at a glance. It shows me the various devices I have online and more importantly what IP address they are currently using. I can see many of these graphically because if the App knows what the device is it shows a nice icon for it. It can also show you some nice info about the iOS device you're running the App on such as the External IP Address and UUID. For devices such as Servers or computers that you may unknowingly opened ports on that could be hacked into, it will show you which ports are open on any particular device. The App even shows you what services are running too as well as useful information such as the MAC address, model number and model identifier. Great when you're trying to figure out if you have the latest generation AirPort Base Station or other gear. The App is fast, has a great UI, provides a wealth of useful information and is a must for anyone with more than a few devices on their network.
You can get iNet Pro for $5.99 here from the
The concept is simple and it's not a new one. There are a few different Apps on the App Store that let you turn your iDevice photos into printed post cards that can also be mailed to just about anyone. All you have to do is build the card in the App and the service takes care of the printing and mailing. Apple has entered this arena with custom greeting Cards. The Cards App is simple you start with a category and then once you pick the card you like from a given category you are three steps away from having a custom greeting card sent to a friend, colleague or family member. If the card you choose allows for a picture on the outside or inside you'll get to choose one of the pics on your iDevice. Then you can edit the text on the inside and lastly address the envelope before placing your order. Thankfully the App let's you pull address from your Contacts to speed up the process. These Letterpress cards run $2.99 and that's complete with envelope and postage.
Nice but it could be better
First off I'm a little surprised that this isn't a Universal App for iPhone, iPod touch and iPad. While it does work on all iOS devices it doesn't take advantage of the iPad's screen size. Portrait cards get no love in this App either. Everything is landscape. While landscape only cards aren't the end of the world, the designs are fairly basic too. Luckily some designs don't require a photo. While I love photos, not every card situation requires one. I'm also a bit surprised that Apple doesn't allow you to "sign" the card. After all you are on a touch device and a "handwritten" signature option would be a nice touch. Lastly, because the cards are mailed through the postal service as regular 1st Class Mail, you have no tracking info. Apple doesn't say where the cards are being mailed from, so you can't really guess about delivery times. Aside from these little things (I actually expected a little more from Apple), the App does work as advertised and it makes sending custom greeting cards pretty painless.
UPDATE – you do get a status Push Notification
I sent two cards out on two different days. The 1st one went out and got delivered yesterday and I had no idea about when it would be delivered. However, today low and behold I just got a push notification on my iPhone stating that the card arrived at the local post office and should be delivered today. Scratch that from my gripes 
You can get Cards for Free here from the
Yes, I'm one of those guys that can't walk past a crooked picture without straightening it. Luckily iHandy Level is a great App to check to make sure that things are in fact level. This Free App makes use of your iPhone or iPod touch's accelerometer to give use a visual live display of a classic bubble level. While it's pretty accurate, you'll want to increase your accuracy by calibrating it with something that is known to be level first. The calibration process only takes a few seconds and then you can go around and check the pictures or other items in your home or office to make sure that they are level. This App is part of a larger set of Carpenter Tools, but they broke this one out and now give it away for free. It seems to work well and I can't really find anything wrong with it. It even has a nice hold feature so that if you're trying to check the level of something that is perhaps to high to see your display.
You can get iHandy Level for Free here from the
While Apple does a pretty good job in allowing you to setup your Google GMail account on your iOS Device very easily, the one glaring omission is bringing your Google Contacts over. (granted there is a work around in that you can setup your Google account using the Exchange setup) I recently had two different friends that switched to the iPhone from either Android or Blackberry devices and their first question to me was, "How do I get my Google Contacts over?" In one case it was easy enough to do via a Blackberry to Google App and then syncing those contacts to their Address Book onto their Mac and then of course to their iPhone. However, in the other case my friend doesn't own a computer. Their iOS devices are their only computing devices. This is where the Contact Sync for Google GMail App came in and worked perfectly. In iOS you setup a GMail account natively in the OS, but when it comes to your contacts there is no built-in way to bring them over (still scratching my head on that one). Contact Sync for Google GMail is an App that you install on your iPhone, iPod touch or iPad and then simply sign in to your Google Account with it. This will bring your contacts over into the native Contacts app and make them accessible to iCloud as well.
Sync in either direction or both
The great thing about this App is that you can either use it as a one-time sync or you can use it as an ongoing way of keeping your iOS device contacts in sync with your Google Contacts. While I do have a computer and only use Google Contacts for Google Voice, I love the option of a ONEWAY sync from my Contact to Google. Mac OS X offers a native Address Book to Google "sync", but I've had it screw up one too many times to the point that I turned it off. Having a oneway option means that my iOS Contacts will always be the master set and only update Google when I choose to. After turning my friend on to this App I decided to try it myself. I was floored by how fast it did the sync of my 1400+ contacts. It did everything PERFECTLY. It brought over the groups, names, numbers, addresses, birthdays, and even the contact photos. I'm extremely happy with the performance.
There's nothing else to say! If you need to sync your iOS Contacts to Google or your Google Contacts to iOS or both, this is the Best App!
You can get Contact Sync for Google GMail for $2.99 here from the
Earlier today I review the SplashID Key Safe hardware based USB thumb drive for storing your passwords and other sensitive files (see the review here). It was during the review process that I quickly learned that they also have an iOS version of their App. Many of you may already be familiar with 1Password Pro as it has been one of my favorite Apps for a long time. SplashID Keysafe for iPhone is very similar in that it allows you to securely (via encryption) store your passwords, credit card numbers, bank accounts, web logins, software serial numbers and just about anything else that you want to keep under lock and key. With that being said there are some differences. The 1st difference is one that I really like. You can lock the App with a Password or Pin as you would expect, but you can also lock with a custom Pattern (see the image below). There are 9 pins and using your finger you draw a pattern connecting the dots. That's how you unlock the App going forward. It's much easier than having to key in a secure password containing letters, numbers and symbols. The app is also a bit more visually appealing offering nice icons for the various categories. However, the biggest difference is that it allows direct wireless syncing with the hardware key. This has it's advantages and disadvantages. The advantage is that your data is never sitting on someone's cloud that could be hacked. The downside is that it's on you to then make sure that your data is backed up.
Use it stand alone
Although the App syncs with the desktop versions and the Key Safe App, you don't have to have any other software or hardware to use this App. The App can work in a stand alone fashion and you can simply use it to store all your passwords safely. Once you have your web logins entered you can actually use the Apps in-app browser to bring up the site you want to access and the user name and password will be inserted if possible and if not will at least be display on the bar above the page in the app.
The Bottom Line
You should not be using the same "easy to remember" password on all of your sites. I know that having a single password makes life easy, but it also puts you at great risk that if someone figures out that password they can keep trying it on other sites to do more damage. The answer is different passwords on each site you log into and more importantly passwords that are strong containing letters, numbers and symbols. Since these more secure passwords are harder to remember an App like SplashID Safe comes in very handy!
You can get it here for $9.99 from the
As you know here at Best App Site we don't review just any old App. In order to make it here it has to be one of the BEST Apps on the App Store. We've seen and reviewed hundreds of great Apps in 2011, but now it's time to pick the BEST of the BEST! Erik Bernskiold, Jason Lykins and myself have narrowed down our favorites to provide this list of what we feel were the 100 BEST APPS of 2011!
BOOKS
Audible
I quite enjoy listening to the great audiobooks made by Audible and have been a subscriber for quite a while. Their app has a full audiobook store, allowing you to download new books without being at your computer. It also contains all your purchases and some fun stats of your listening habits.
Get it here from the
Bobo Explores Light
Awesome interactive App to teach kids about light, it's different sources, it's history and more!
Get it here from the
Princess Dress Up My Sticker Book
If your daughter loves the Disney princesses and also likes playing dress up, this is the App for her. Choose your Disney princess then dress and accessorize her!
Get it here from the
The Monster at the end of the book
One of my Twins' favorite Apps. This is a digital take on a classic kids book starring furry, lovable Grover from sesame street.
Get it here from the
BUSINESS
Adobe Connect Mobile
Does your company hold meetings online using Adobe Connect? If so you definitely want to get the iPad and iPhone app, allowing you to tune in to meetings from wherever you are without having to have your computer with you. Should you wish, you can also participate in the meeting right from the app.
Get it here from the
Analytics HD
If you're a website owner you want to be able to keep track of your site's statistics. Google Analytics is the most popular analytics solution right now and Analytics HD lets you check your stats on your iPad (with an iPhone version available separately).
Get it here from the
CardMunch
CardMunch allows you to take a picture of a business card and then upload it to a service that will convert it to text, proof read it and deliver it wirelessly back to the App. From there you can add it to your contacts. Amazing and it's FREE! No more typing, no more OCR errors.
Get it here from the
I've seen all kinds of Apps that will turn your iDevice into a remote of some kind. I've reviewed a few in the past. In this case Logitech aims to turn your iPad, iPhone or iPod touch into a Universal WiFi remote. The problem is that the iPhone doesn't have an IR port and most likely your TV, Receiver, Bluray player, etc. weren't designed to be controlled via WiFi. To get around this hardware limitation Logitech sells a small piece of hardware called the Harmony Link (see my review here). The Harmony Link is the bridge between your WiFi network and your IR controlled devices. Once you have the hardware setup then you can head over to the App Store to download their Free Harmony Link App.
Harmony Link for iOS has some great features
First off this is a Universal App taking advantage of iPad and iPhone/iPod touch screen sizes. As you might expect the experience on the iPad is visually more compelling simply because there's more screen real estate. However, having a Universal WiFi Remote in your pocket is pretty cool too. One problem this App solves is one that I've had with every other Universal remote that I've tried and that is the ability to rearrange the buttons to your taste. You can even eliminate ones you never use. For example, if your TV has a Picture in Picture feature, but you never use it and don't even have it setup, then why have that button on screen taking up space? Since this solution works via WiFi there is no reason to point your iDevice at your TV setup. This also means that you can turn stuff on before entering the room or turn stuff off that someone (we won't mention their name) left on.
The Harmony Link App on the iPad provides additional benefits like a visual guide. It's pretty cool to "see" what's on TV at any given moment and then with the tap of an onscreen button your watching that show. Also since the iPad screen is larger you get almost all the buttons for all the devices of an Activity on screen at once. For example, I can control my TiVo and TV at once. While this works great, I do wish that there was some DVR integration here. I'd like to tap a "Record/Schedule" button without having to go to my TiVo App. However, unlike the experience on the iPhone and iPod touch you can't easily change the button layouts.
The Bottom Line
While this isn't an App Only solution, it is probably the best one out there for control a variety of different IR based audio and video gear. I'd like to see some additional customization features and the ability to sync the current status of the Harmony Link between mobile devices. Otherwise, the Harmony Link works as advertised and let's you put away all those remotes you've got lying around.
You can get the Harmony Link device here.
You can get the Harmony Link App for Free from the
