Whether you are itching to blast off and explore deep space or need to get your feet back on the ground and sort your finances, the iPhone Apps of the Month this November are guaranteed to please. Lets explore the best on offer in the iPhone store, from games to gadgets and Shakespeare to Star Defence!
X-Plane 9
Have you ever wondered what it would be like to fly a plane using only your iPhone? Well, with the X-Plane 9 you really can jet off in a choice of four different planes to explore both turbulent and blue clear skies, with stunning views of plains, oceans and mountains! Created by Laminar Research, this app promises accurate flight simulation in your pocket on both the iPhone and the iPod touch.
Grocery iQ
Writing a shopping list can be a real pain, with many of us forgetting to write down items when we don’t have a scrap of paper to hand and subsequently forgetting that all-important ingredient. With Grocery iQ, however, you will never have to write a list again. Simply use your iPhone to tap and quickly build an easy-to-read, comprehensive list to add or subtract from at your leisure. You can even arrange your list by the aisle to match your supermarket (no more running back and forth), check off items as you put them in your trolley and even store a list of favourites and keep track of what you’ve ordered before. You can even email your list to a friend out shopping so they can pick up the exact items you need!
iBird Explorer Backyard
If your back garden is full of feathered friends, but you have no idea of their species, then the iBird Explorer Backyard app can help. It’s the ultimate in user-friendly field guide and includes photographs, illustrations, behaviour and identification notes, range maps and even a huge range of bird songs! Never again will you be perplexed at what exactly is on your feeder.
Bloom
Bloom explores new and uncharted territory in the world of iPhone apps. Created by both the musician and software designer Peter Chilvers and the ambient pioneer Brian Eno, this application is part artwork, part composition and part instrument. Bloom allows you to create a whole range of unique and interesting melodies just by tapping the screen, accompanied by elaborate and intricate patterns to match the music. If you leave Bloom idle, it will create it’s own infinite selection of original and amazing compositions for you to enjoy, accompanied by soothing and often psychedelic visuals.
Pennies
Do you have trouble keeping track of money? Try using the Pennies application to keep a monthly budget and record all of your expenses in just two taps. The Pennies interface is simple and quick, so you can track all of your spending in just a few seconds and keep a record to see how well you doing.
Pianist
Whipping out a real piano and composing music on the go is impossible, but you can get pretty close with the Pianist application. With stunning 3D graphics including keys that depress as you touch them and the choice of viewing one or two octaves of the piano, or even instantly jumping from one end of the keyboard to another, you can be creating modern classics in no time. You can even record your masterpiece, overdubbing it as many times as you wish to get it just right, then play it back on demand.
Shazam
Have you ever sat in a pub or a club desperate to know what music is playing? Or walked around a shopping centre humming along to the latest track with no idea of who its by so you can buy it yourself? Shazam makes this frustration a thing of the past! Simply hold up your iPhone so it can “hear” the music and Shazam will identify the song, show you its album cover and even let you buy the song from the iTunes store directly.
Starmap
Many of us love gazing up at the stars, but sadly have no clue about where to find exact constellations and stars – or even how to identify the patterns we see on the sky. Starmap will help you do all this and more, acting like a pocket planetarium. There are over 350,000 visible stars mapped into Starmap, along with information on shooting star zones, galaxies, deep sky objects and more.
Star Defense
If you’d rather dream of blasting through space and getting up close with the planets, why not try the latest game from ngmoco, Star Defense. This challenging 3D action game is jammed pack with deep space action and you can even play against your friends using the Internet.
Shakespeare
Whether you are studying him for your exams or just a big fan of the Bard, Shakespeare on the iPhone is a must. This completely free app contains the full text of all of his forty plays, all of his sonnets and poems.
