Top Five Apps

TOP APP IN RESTAURANT-FINDER SPACE:  LOCAL EATS ($.99)

A “TOP FIVE APPS” selection, this app is based on the national book series “Where the Locals Eat,” (www.localeats.com) and it really rocks the restaurant-finder space. It offers up the “best 100 restaurants” (which doesn’t necessarily mean the fanciest/most expensive) in the largest U.S. cities as reported by local foodies, uses the GPS feature to show you which places are nearby/give driving or walking directions, lets you see restaurants and descriptions near a particular address, and can group listings by alphabet, category, winning ranking, and even local neighborhoods. And better than the other restaurant/food apps out there, this one DOES NOT include chain restaurants (you don’t usually need a GPS or restaurant recs if you’re only looking for McDonald’s now, do you?). It took us only a few taps to find exactly what we wanted in the DC area – and at $1, this app more than pays for itself with one great meal at a new favorite restaurant you would never find on your own.

 TOP APP IN SPORTS-SPACE:  SPORTS TAP (Free)

 

Real-time updates for any sport makes this a favorite app! A very easy layout to understand: The homepage shows you all the sports categories you can imagine, along with a number for the quantity of games/events taking place in that category. Select the sport you are interested in, and watch individual game updates or score
updates for all games simultaneously. To go back, scroll to the bottom of the page for a toolbar — our only complaint is that this can be tricky to find. Even if you’re not the world’s biggest sports fan, it’s useful if you want to stay “in the know” and have any current game’s status at your fingertips. Oh, and also helpful: It’s free. 

BEST APP IN THE MUSIC SPACE: PANDORA (Free)

For those of you already familiar with Pandora radio, you may not be surprised by this application at all; however, those of you who haven’t, prepare to be blown away. Pandora radio allows users to create their own personal radio stations based on their unique likes/dislikes.  Simply type in an artist you like, and Pandora will play similar artists in which you can give thumbs up or thumbs down. The more you use it, the more accurate the song choices are.  For fans of rare music that have a hard time finding a “fit” on the regular am/fm dial, Pandora solves that problem nicely. Oh, uh, and free? Simply amazing.

 BEST APP IN THE GAMES SPACE: BRAIN CHALLENGE ($9.99)

 Another iPhone memory drainer, this game application is not only addictive, but educational too! Testing users in five different categories (Visual, Memory, Logic, Math, and Focus), this application is sure to keep any user stimulated. Track your progress, unlock new levels, and improve your scores. This game is perfect for the trivia-minded, competitive type. A+ for Type A’s.

 BEST APP IN THE ENTERTAINMENT SPACE: BOX OFFICE (Free)

Well, that’s what we get for reviewing the apps as we find them. Box Office does what Movies.app doesn’t — it provides reviews in the form of Rotten Tomato numbers and gives you a full list of movie showtimes for theaters within a mileage radius that you establish (via zip or the built-in GPS on your iPhone). Fandango (of annoying paperbag commercials fame) handles the ticketing here, but it’s a mild annoyance to trade for seeing reviews. (Though we still pine for the broadness of the Yahoo movies format in this space.) Update 8/1/08: Movies.app re-released with a second version, adding Rotten Tomatoes ratings and removing a few annoying glitches. This is a tight race to watch for best entertainment app related to movies.