iPhone Apps Reviews, News, and Alerts

Ping Pong is a classic game that everyone has to love, whether you’re good at it or not. When I saw World Cup Ping Pong for the iPhone (at just 99 cents!) I had to try it out, the screenshots looked really sweet and it had great reviews. I’m really glad I got it, and I was surprised to see that they had two player game play! I love showing people the two player game play of my air hockey, and now I have another game to woo them with! You’ve got to try this game for yourself, it’s a blast. There’s definitely some tricks to learn because I’m still not beating opponents, but I think I’m getting the hang of it.

Buy World Cup Ping Pong for 99 cents!

There are very few iPhone games that I go back and play more than a few times, and Flight Control is one of them. It is very addictive, and makes me want to try again and beat my high score. The game is amazingly simple, you draw a path for planes and helicopters to land at the airport, and make sure they don’t hit each other!

Make sure you turn the sound on, that really helps you keep track of planes getting close to each other! There are two runways to land on, and a heliport to land helicopters. An additional twist is that there are different size planes that fly at different speeds, so it can get tricky really fast!

Flight Control is one of those games that you have to have, it’s a blast. And hey, it’s only 99 cents!

Buy Flight Control now for 99 cents!

If you’ve ever been to Utah, one of the most beautiful parts is Southern Utah, also known as “Red Rock Country”. I can see Zion National Park if I just walk outside my front door, its truly amazing. Zion National Park is a not-to-miss travel stop in Utah, with stunning mountains and adventurous trails and climbing. Everyone leaves Zion National Park awe-inspired by its grandeur. And to make the most out of any trip to Zion National Park there is ZionQuest, a tour guide for the iPhone and iPod Touch (only $4.99), that not only makes your trip to Zion National Park easier and more enjoyable, but you can get a preview of all the phenomenal features of Zion National Park even without going!

Included with this app are videos that take you to various parts of the park and explain history and other fascinating facts about the park. My favorite are the photo galleries, like of the Narrows, that are just breathtaking. The Michael Fatali gallery when you first go into the park has some gorgeous photos that you can look at even within the app.

ZionQuest has all that you need, no matter what you are doing at Zion National Park. There is a trail guide, a trip planner with hours and fees, shuttle information, as well as more detailed information about the main landmarks at Zion National Park.

Even if you’re not headed to Zion National Park anytime soon, I’d grab this app just to view the beautiful photos and see what you are missing!

Buy ZionQuest for just $4.99!

Remember back to the days when you had one computer program on the computer at school, and it was “Oregon Trail”. Any chance we had to play that game we took it, it was a blast. Now, back to being a big kid! Fortunately Oregon Trail is now available on the iPhone!

Oregon Trail on the iPhone is better than ever with great graphics, fun adventures, and tons of fun games along the way! Hammer nails into a moving plank, catch fish (and boots!), shoot squirrels and rabbits (and more when you get practice!), navigate your wagon down the rapids with accelerometer controls, and tons more I haven’t even discovered yet.

I’m excited to let my 7 year-old play this classic game and have so much fun just like I remember. Well worth the $5.99 I just paid for it!

Buy Oregon Trail now for $5.99!

The iTunes AppStore just got a major facelift for Customer Ratings, now with version specific ratings and reviews. iTunes now gives you a specific rating from customers using the latest version, and then a combined average rating for all versions. Reviews can also be viewed by the current version, and all versions.

A second change is that the first 3 reviews are no longer the “Most Helpful” reviews, but appear to be more random.

A third change we noticed is that you can change your star rating without going into the “Write a review” screen. When doing so, it checks if you have the latest version or not, and if you don’t it tells you it is available and that your review will be for the older version.

Some neat changes that should be helpful for separating a badly launched app from a very much improved app, or to distinguish the latest version as one that should be avoided.

Also I will note, about 2 weeks ago Apple removed reviews from “customers” that had never purchased the app, making ratings more of a real measurement of the quality or usefulness of an app.

Update: Apple only shows current version ratings and reviews in the AppStore on the iPhone or iPod Touch, which is really a poor way to do it I think. My Analytics App has tons more reviews than its competitor but you wouldn’t know that by looking at the number of reviews when browsing from your device.

Links to our apps have been broken, we just now fixed it! Sorry about that!

We’ll be back to adding regular reviews of great apps, and maybe even some apps to avoid. Thanks!

To be in full disclosure, my team created Analytics App! But don’t let that keep you from reading on, this app is fantastic!

There are some apps that you use once or twice, or maybe just use it to show off the iPhone to a friend. Analytics App is a powerful tool for bloggers, small business owners, SEOs, Search Marketers, Affiliates, or anyone with a website. It takes being productive to a whole new level. The interface is clean and easy to use, with a fast response when I use it in 3G and Wi-Fi, and it makes my spare moments more productive because I can do some analysis of my site stats while I’m in line somewhere, or waiting for a meeting to start.

The other great advantage I’ve found from Analytics App is its easy to share data with clients. I’ve got a few friends that I help with their website, and now when I visit with them I can pop out my iPhone and show them what their site is doing, talk about keywords, popular pages, visitor types, and even run custom reports.

I’ve tried the other analytics apps available, there are two of them. They bite. One gives you like 5 points of data, the other just shows you a zoomed out PDF that makes looking at your stats impossible and unbearable.

Analytics App is “Home Screen Worthy”, you’ll use it that often and love it that much. Isn’t it time you spent some more time with your Analytics?

Download Analytics App for $5.99 or learn more at AnalyticsApp.com

GotApps.com is back and better than ever! Thanks for you patience while we had some server issues. Now we have new servers, and a new system admin!

Look for new reviews coming soon!

If you have kids and an iPhone, you’ve certainly had to hand over the iPhone to the youngsters or used it to keep them occupied. Henry & Hailey’s Preschool Pals is perfect for any preschooler (2 - 5 years old probably), and I know because I’ve used it on several occasions to keep my 2 year old, and even my now 5 year old occupied (and happy!). It’s a game that if they’re on the iPhone they will play it again and again (and I even have the light saber on my phone).

This iPhone game is simple but perfect for the little ones, they can swipe and change the body segments to make different, funny combinations, and when they get it all matching up and hit Play they get rewarded with some fun audio and visual effects. And for only 99 cents, you’ll be glad you had it at that next occasion where you’ll need it most!

The artwork is perfect for preschoolers, bright, colorful, and the people are in occupations or hobbies that even the young ones can identify with, like police, firefighters, ballerinas, football players, robots, and more!

Download Preschool Pals for only 99 cents!

I’m pretty picky when it comes to games, and most games I won’t play more than once or twice. In the last week I’ve found myself sneaking in a game of 2079 in spare moments because since downloading it and playing it just once, I love it. And for 99 cents, you can’t beat the price for a great game on your iPhone or iPod Touch.

2079 uses the tilt control of your device to move the ship and does continuous fire with direction controlled by your right thumb. Even with continuous fire, this game is challenging, especially when you suddenly get 20-30 “bad guys” coming at you. For these moments, shake your device to blast them all at once. Shoot the question mark blocks and uncover invincibility, additional lives, double or triple guns, barricade blocks, and more. 2079 keeps your high scores so you can always try to beat your previous high scores.

It’s too bad there are a bunch of poor customer reviews for the game, don’t let the rating sway you. I have to admit when I first looked at the game (before playing it), it looked pretty silly. But once I tried it, I love it, and I think you will too!

Download 2079 for just 99 cents!