App Attack #2

Having just returned from holiday I am all a glow, not with a tan unfortunately but rather with the greyish saggy hue of someone who has spent endless hours throughout the night feeding their addiction of game-playing on their iPhone.

My name is Helen, and I am an addict. There, I said it. I am 100% totally, utterly, head-over-heels addicted to Angry Birds app on the iPhone. Fortunately, this blossoming addiction has prompted me to write part 2 of the App Attack series, appropriately starting the list with …can you guess?…

1. ANGRY BIRDS!
I can’t begin to tell you how addictive this game is. On my holiday I’m sure I managed to convince my friends that there was something desperately wrong with me as I would constantly say I was just popping for a ‘lie down’ whilst disappearing off into my room to get a quick, dirty fix of my latest addiction, Angry Birds. The flight home saw me all-consumed in the game to the extent that I almost bit the hostess on the arm when told to turn off my phone for take off and landing. Basically the premise is some nasty pigs have stolen the eggs of a variety group of birds (all with different ‘skills’) and then hidden themselves within (increasingly impenetrable) fortresses. Your task is to catapult the birds at the fortresses in order to kill the pigs. Yes, it really is that simple, but, oh my, it’s SO addictive. I almost, for the greater good, want to warn you off, but you must, you REALLY must give it a go.

2. iQuarium
For those out there who, like me, can’t actually be trusted with a living animal/fish/plant to take care of, there’s now a (relatively guilt-free) way of owning a goldfish without the all the mess of having to sift its lifeless body out of it’s bowl and flush it down the loo when you’ve failed to feed/clean it for 2 weeks (or bury it in a pizza box as we ceremoniously did in our house one year. Poor wee Del-Boy, RIP). Like a modern, more sophisticated looking Tamagotchi , once you’ve downloaded the app you then log on once a day to play with, and feed, your pet fish. The more times you remember to look after your fish, the more points you collect and then the more accessories for your fish-tank you can purchase (in exchange for points, not cash). Be careful though as a couple of days of neglect (as I’ve already discovered) will leave your fish listless and grumpy, and it will eventually die if not cared for. Gulp.

3. Tweetdeck
Without doubt, in my mind, the clear winner in the competition for iPhone based Twitter applications. Tweetdeck on the iPhone is now the very first and very last thing I do in my day. The ability to have the columns in the Tweetdeck app is what puts it in clear lead of the competition, as with the desktop based software you can easily perform searches, filter out your mentions, direct messages and people you follow into a more manageable format. The slide and scroll function on the iPhone makes it even easier to navingate. Simplicity and functionality at its best, but I’m sure you all know that already.

4. RjDj
I must admit I haven’t actually played with this one properly yet. My colleague, Sam G, swears that it’s the best app out there but I have yet to spend the necessary time getting to know it (I keep having to tend to my flatlining goldfish). The principle is based on gathering the sounds around you and turning them into ambient music that is then fed to your earholes via your headphones. If you are a fan of this then please do leave a comment and share any great recordings you’ve made.

5. Talking Carl
Sublime and unapologetically simple, Talking Carl is just an absolute must-have on your iPhone. Upon discovering this app I immediately downloaded it with the intention of amusing my young nieces and nephews with it on our next meeting, however, since then I have spent a good portion of time playing with it on the sofa, rolling around in fits of childish giggles. Talking Carl is a speech altering software. It doesn’t have multi-platforms, it doesn’t particularly do anything clever, but it is incredibly cute and incredibly funny. If you have children (or, like me, a base-line humour) then you have to get this app.