iPhone Hill

Qik Video Camera for the iPhone, from Qik [$0.99 - iTunes Link] finally brings 15 frames per second video recording to the iPhone 3G. It also supports zoom, has some fun filters, and adds an easy system for sending your videos via e mail.

For the complete rundown, and pictures of Qik VideoCamera’s effects, stay with us after the break.

As mentioned above, Qik VideoCamera lets the iPhone 3G shoot video at 15 frames per second (FPS) but that’s only when using the default size. It’s basically a trade off. Qik gives you the option of having low video resolution (200×152) and high FPS or high video resolution (400×304) and lower FPS. I usually go for the low video resolution and higher FPS because if the frames are too few the video is too choppy to appreciate.

Qik video has some really fun special effect filters to play with. Like with video quality, however, when you start using a special effect filter the frame rate slows down. Here are some examples of how they look.

Black and White.

Black white and red, which makes any red object show in color and everything else in black and white. While interesting, aside from the novelty I don’t see many real life applications.

As requested here is some video taken using the black, white and red effect with a resolution of 200×152.

Color game, which inverses blue and red (I call it the Avatar effect!)

There are two mirror effects, both vertical and horizontal. These are good for making object suddenly disappear. It can be a lot of fun for the little ones to play with, if you would trust your little one with an iPhone.

Zoom is another nice feature, though I have found that for shooting anything very close it can cause blurring.

One of the other useful additions to this application is the audio and light enhancing controls. Since the iPhone has no external lighting source (plz 4.0!) the addition of brightness control can make those precious moments easier to see in low light settings. The audio boost helps increase the audio track but I usually don’t realize that something is going to be too soft until the event has already occurred.

Qik VideoCamera also allows you to email your videos easily, by choosing which video to email and typing in the email address. The program is also linked to your contacts so you dont have to worry if you have forgotten the address.

All in all, Qik VideoCamera is a very nice app and has a lot of useful and fun effects for saving your life’s special moments. It’s not the same resolution or frame rate as the iPhone 3GS’ built-in video recorder, but for iPhone 3G users who didn’t get that feature, it’s currently the next best thing.

Here is some video without any effects, taken with a resolution of 400×304.

This is a story by the iPhone Blog. This feed is sponsored by The iPhone Blog Store.

Quick Review: Qik VideoCamera Video Recording for iPhone 3G

(Ndrive Navigation for iPhone Forum Review by cjvitek. For more Forum Reviews, see the TiPb iPhone App Store Forum Review Index!)

NDrive USA [$32.99 - iTunes link] is a new GPS app which features turn by turn direction, entering the already crowded marketplace. NDrive prides itself on a simple interface, and when looking at the map, that is readily apparent. The map itself has little of the clutter that some of the other apps have – no different colors for different land types, no buildings popping in, no markers for POIs, etc. Just you, the map, and the route. Some people may prefer this approach, others may not. I will point out that in some locations, you do have 3D buildings appear – certainly not in Edinburg TX, however.

The primary menu of NDrive is also focused on simplicity – four buttons, one for mapping, one for settings, one to “find” something (address, POI, etc), and one for “My NDrive”. This is one of the best things about NDrive. The buttons are easy to hit, easy to use, a key feature in any GPS app.

My Ndrive lets you create and store itineraries, define your home location, and other user focused activities. Once you get into some of the detail menus, however, the simplicity seems to vanish. In the settings menu, you have a lot of options of the screen, requiring you to really focus on adjusting things (often with a small plus or minus button to adjust the settings). This detracts somewhat from the great menu buttons in the original screen.

Like many of the recent apps, NDrive loads the maps onto the phone so no data connection is required. The maps themselves are multitouch active, so the commands you have learned (such as pinch and zoom) still work. The keyboard when typing directions is their own, and it is not qwerty. This may not be a problem for some, but for people who are getting used to the iPhone keyboard, it may prove difficult to adjust.

While using the app, the routes it suggested in town were reasonable, and the ETA’s seemed pretty reasonable as well. It did recognize Terlingua, TX (my mystery small town) so the maps seems pretty accurate. It also had my home street, which (being new) some maps are missing. The turn by turn directions didn’t say the street names or anything, simply giving distance and the direction of the turn. While driving, there is a lot of information on the screen – ETA, miles till the turn, distance left, speed. I liked having my GPS app display this information, although I also like being able to adjust it on my own, something that is not possible in NDrive. The map did occasionally stutter a little bit, but this only happened a couple of times during use.

In my mind, however, the main benefit of NDrive is the price. Many of the major GPS apps (which are also downloadable maps, not pay per use/month) are around the $70 to $100 price range. At $32.99, this is by far one of the cheaper apps. Give the features that it does have for this price, it is almost a no brainer for people who have been holding off on some of the more expensive apps because of the price.

On a side note, I was very happy to see that included with the “calculate alternative” you can choose to avoid or block certain roads. This is a great feature, especially if you simply don’t like driving on a certain stretch of road, and I wish more apps utilized this.

Conclusion

All in all, while NDrive seemed to lack a lot of the bells and whistles that some of the other maps have (such as lane assist) the simple interface, cheap price, and inclusion of some key features (like speed limit warnings) really make it shine. Some drawbacks include the second layer of menu options (especially in settings) which don’t make it easy to make changes quickly, but the main menu is a thing of beauty for GPS apps. At $32.99, the price is great compared to others, and that is one of the primary reasons for the four star rating. If you are looking for a lot of bells and whistle, you may want to look elsewhere, but if you want a reliable, usable GPS turn by turn app without breaking the bank, look at NDrive. Four out of five stars.

Pros:

• Competitive price
• Great menu
• Simplicity in action

Cons:

• Settings menu is difficult
• Lacking some features found in more expensive apps

TiPb Review Rating

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Review: NDrive USA Navigation for iPhone

Pandemica [Currently Free - iTunes Link] is an innovative, intense, augmented reality first person shooter (FPS) game for the iPhone.

Developer XMG Studies uses the iPhone’s camera and compass along with motion detection to make an extremely interactive, one-of-a-kind gaming experience. Read on for more after the break…

Your mission in Pandemica, if you choose to accept it, is to find the enemy pathogens and eradicate them from the world. To do this, your iPhone is transformed into the SBI-22, a subspace Bio-Imager, which is able to see invisible, virulent pathogens and blast them to smithereens. Now you would think that finding and destroying lower life forms would not be that difficult, but these pathogens are like Metriods after a caffeine binge.

Get touched by one and they leave you infected with damaging goo. Now this isn’t your run-of-the-mill goo but deadly green goo that can only be dislodged by a quick shake of your iPhone.

Searching for these pathogens is where Pandemica shows ingenuity in using the iPhone’s capabilities. There’s no background in the game so, when you move your iPhone around in 360 degrees…

…The live camera view shows you your own surroundings as background. The iPhone compass (if you have an iPhone 3GS) allows the game to know which direction you are facing and so reacts accordingly. The game has an onscreen map which helps you locate the pathogens and will vibrate and then turn red when you are in imminent danger.

You can also play multiplayer through Bluetooth or Wi-Fi, though in order to fully enjoy this game you need to have an iPhone 3GS with OS 3.1 (for the compass and live camera view access).

This ingenious pathogen blasting game is a must try even for those who may not usually enjoy first person shooters, especially since it is currently being offered for free. Check it out and let us know what you think.

This is a story by the iPhone Blog. This feed is sponsored by The iPhone Blog Store.

Pandemica Augmented Reality Shooter for the iPhone

(Air Video for iPhone Forum Review by msbaylor. For more Forum Reviews, see the TiPb iPhone App Store Forum Review Index!)

I was quite surprised when I found Air Video for iPhone [$2.99 - iTunes link] was available in the App Store and was even more blown away with what is said it could do.

• Video Streaming: Watch videos from your computer, over the air via WiFi or 3G, on your iPhone or iPod touch. No need to sync with iTunes or transfer files.

• Live Conversion: Convert video from a non-iPhone friendly container like AVI or MKV, or codec like XviD or DivX while you’re watching. No need to convert-first, watch-later.

But would it live up to it?

Besides downloading the iPhone App, you’ll need to download the program for your computer (for PC & Mac OS X 10.4+). Neither app/program will work without the other. The iPhone app is basically a front end (UI) to the computer program.

The app has four main views – the server list, the file list, the file details view & and the queue view.

Installing the software and setup on my Vista computer was a breeze. The main thing here is to make sure you select what folders you want to have access to. Also there is an option to use “Internet access” which is an important option to have checked to really make this app scream! I even connected one of my NAS (Network Accessible Storage) drives to the app.

Switching back to the app, once you have everything on you Mac/PC setup, you will need to setup your iPhone app. Which, the two devices must be on the same Wifi network the first time for that the app can detect your PC/Mac

Again setting up the iPhone local and Internet connection are easy to setup. At one point I had an issue where I couldn’t get one of the servers to show up under local network & I had to enter my IP manually to get it to work.

The flow of the program is easy to navigate – you have your servers, then your file listings. You also have the option to set a password for your server to keep other out.

It seemed no matter what type of file I had, I was always able to see a screenshot next to the name whether it was converted or not.

In viewing details about the video, if it’s not in iPhone readable format, the app can either convert it for you (you can go about other things & come back to it later) or you can use the “LIVE conversion.”

When the videos convert, you’ll be left with a duplicate video file on your computer – the converted file, which is nonce to keep around other than being capable of streaming the video. Another thing you can do is add the video to iTunes and even to an optional playlist.

One of the things that really caught me by surprise was the extensive compression & ratio settings. You can even create multiple presets (ones for Edge & 3G connections) and set a default preset.

I never had an issue once I figured out the right conversion I wanted to use (the medium default preset worked out well for me to start with). I even made different conversion presets depending on what type of connection I thought I’d have.

Lastly, that other thing that caught me off guard was that the app has the ability to stream files remotely (via 3G/Edge) rather than just your local Wifi. Imagine instead of waiting tediously for a video to download from the Internet, you can leave your computer, check you iPhone, convert it and view it on-the-go!

Conclusion

Overall, this is absolutely an amazing concept & app, I surprised Apple/AT&T didn’t block this one. On a side note, I’d have to say – if you need a video converter & you “happen” to have an iPod touch or iPhone, for 3 bucks to have a well created video converter is a steal!

Pros:

• Great interface
• Live conversion of videos
• Add multiple servers
• Compression settings galore
• Select audio streams
• Create compression presets
• Conversions are very good

Cons:

• Remote server can be tricky to set up as Port forwarding doesn’t work on all networks
• Smaller, less resourceful computers, will not be able to run the software.

TiPb Review Rating

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App Review: Air Video for iPhone

(Labyrinth 2 for iPhone Forum Review by cjvitek. For more Forum Reviews, see the TiPb iPhone App Store Forum Review Index!)

Labyrinth was one of the first games that I saw to come out for the iPhone. I never downloaded it (beyond the free version) but when Labyrinth 2 [$4.99 - iTunes link] came out, I thought I would give it a try. And boy, am I glad I did.

Labyrinth 2 takes the classic Labyrinth and builds a complex game from a simple concept. For those unfamiliar with the original ORIGINAL labyrinth, it was a wooden board with a couple of dials on either side. These dials would tilt the board, and your goal was to move a marble from the start of the maze, or labyrinth, to the end. My father actually had the original! The original iPhone version was basically the same thing, except tilting the iPhone was how you moved the balls. This new version adds some new levels and twists on to that concept.

First off, in addition to the “classic” style, you now have various obstacles that can hinder your movement – lasers, doors, canons, pinball bumpers, and more. These all make the mazes much more difficult to maneuver. You also have some mazes that are now “metal” style rather than the classic wood – it’s okay, but I prefer the wooden style.

The new obstacles add a whole new level of game play – no longer is winning just a question of how subtle or precise you can be when tilting you iPhone. Different mazes now almost have a puzzle-like feel to them, as you try to figure out how to get from one end to the other (still with the subtle movement of tilting the iPhone).

In addition, there is now multiplayer via wifi or Bluetooth. In multiplayer, you are racing on the same levels to the hole, first one there wins. Unfortunately there is no online/internet multiplayer yet, but hopefully soon!

So you have finished the game, and want more? You can download user created levels, or create your own! Unfortunately the level creator is on a computer only (not on the iPhone itself? C’mon!). To create your own levels, you are given a unique username and password on the iPhone, then go to the website and get cracking. You can create individual levels, level packs, whatever you want. Have a great idea for a level when playing the game – go make it! Levels can be downloaded by anyone and then are rated by the general populace. My daughter has more fun creating levels (although she then insists I play them, and some of hers are literally impossible!). You can choose specific levels to download, or choose the most downloaded, search for a specific user ID, new levels, highest rated, etc.

The 3D graphics of the game are nice, but in an attempt to make the game appear 3D, they may have gone a little overboard. When you tilt the iPhone (and thus, the game) the maze walls shift a little bit as it you are no looking from a different angle. The shifting is not perfectly smooth on my iPhone (although it is close), so it looks computer generated rather than actually looking at a three dimensional wall. It’s a nice touch to add, but I am not sure if I think it helps the game at all.

Conclusion

All in all, this is a really fun game. For $4.99, this game is a must purchase. Between the potentially unlimited content, the ability to create your own levels, the multiplayer options, and the added features, this game has a huge bang for the buck! The few minor features that I didn’t like (the 3D rendering of the maze, the lack of an ability to create levels on the iPhone) don’t detract from the game to any great degree. Four and a half out of five stars.

Pros:

• Multiple game modes
• Create your own levels
• Download other levels
• Multiplayer!

Cons:

• Odd attempt at 3D make me dizzy
• Level editor is internet only

TiPb Review Rating

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App Review: Labyrinth 2 for iPhone

Today’s TiPb Top 5 will be directed towards our iPhone and iPod touch wielding readers who love to cook. Just like our other TiPb top 5 must-have posts, all of these applications are available in the App Store. For the full overview, follow us after the break!

Epicurious

Epicurious is a cooking app with over 25 000 recipies, a shopping list and ratings from others who have tried the meals. If you are going to pick just one cooking application, Epicurious would fit the bill. A vast array of recipes to choose from allows for a lot of versatility in the kitchen. It may not make you Gordon Ramsay, “You Donkey!”, but it will help you to impress your loved ones.

The full page advertisements are a bit distracting but the application is free.

Epicurious is available for free [iTunes link].

Allrecipes.com Dinner Spinner

Allrecipies.com Dinner Spinner is a cooking app with a bit of a twist spin (Sorry
couldn’t help myself). Boasting 1000’s of recipes Allrecipes.com allows you to pick your meal, ingredients and how long you want to spend cooking it (No “zero minutes” option, though — I checked!). The great thing about this app is that you also get to see the ratings and comments of others people who have tried the recipes. This lets you know about variations/suggestions for the meal. You can also turn on filters for vegetarian, gluten-free and other special diet restrictions.

A great overall cooking application

Allrecipies.com Dinner Spinner is available for free [iTunes link].

Jamie Oliver’s 20 Minute Meals

Jamie Oliver’s 20 minute meals gives the user a “personalized experience”. It’s is more costly than most cooking apps but it makes up for it with an sleek look intuitive feel. Jamie also gives you over an hour of videos on topics such as Knife skills, how to make the perfect steak, and how to properly use your cutting board. It’s just like having Jamie in the kitchen with you. Each step in the recipe comes with a picture. It also gives you an easy-to-use shopping list. All of the recipies are installed in the application so you don’t need to connect to the internet. The one negative to this application is the lack of recipes, with only a a bit over 50 included (though you can access more recipes via integration with Jamie’s website).

This application is especially great for those who enjoy Jamie Oliver’s cooking techniques.

Jamie Olivers 20 minute meals is available for 7.99 [iTunes link]

Look and Taste

Look and Taste is an application that gives you plenty for your money. Its clean interface allows you to seamlessly pick which recipes you want to cook. Many recipes also have video included on how to cook the meal (as opposed to other applications that only use video to show you some tips). There are also videos on various glossary terms, food items and chef tips.The recipes can be chosen by cooking time, difficulty, ingredients and main ingredient.

The application is jammed packed with information for cooks of all levels and is well worth the price tag..

Look and Taste is available for 4.99 [iTunes link].

iFood Assistant (by Kraft)

The application has a clean interface and easy to navigate controls. You choose your recipe by the kind of meal you want to prepare (either snack, breakfast, entrée etc), and then your main ingredient.
The use of product placements in the ingredients list is a bit disconcerting but they’re easily replaced by whatever brand you prefer. (The strange craving for Cheese Wiz that come with them, somewhat less so!)

Browse recipes, watch the cooking videos or try out the budget wise section, it also gives you tips on how to shop on a budget (US only).
You can organize the recipes by prep time, reviewer rating, total time or name. This makes finding a quick meal fast and efficient. The application has over 40 cooking videos, which give you tips, but the video quality is low. The recipes range in difficulty from beginner to advanced, so there’s a bit of everything. (Though it’s not quite up to the standard of the other apps in this list).

iFood Assistant is available for $0.99 [iTunes link].

Conclusion

There you have it, TiPb’s Top 5 Must-Have iPhone cooking games. Did we miss any of your favorites? Overlook any amazing food finds? Drop us a comment and let us know your list!

This is a story by the iPhone Blog. This feed is sponsored by The iPhone Blog Store.

TiPb Top 5 iPhone Cooking Apps!

(Grinchmas for iPhone Forum Review by cjvitek. For more Forum Reviews, see the TiPb iPhone App Store Forum Review Index!)

Grinchmas [$1.99 - iTunes link] is a Christmas themed game designed by Oceanhorse Media. In the game, you get to choose if you play “Merry Grinch” or “Mean Grinch”. With the mean Grinch, you goal is to throw snowballs at the houses which are playing too much music (and thus bothering you). With the merry Grinch, you through presents at the houses (of matching color) trying to spread Christmas joy.

The games themselves are suitable for all ages, and my daughter had some fun trying them out. However, they do take a little bit of skill – hitting the houses with either the snowballs or the presents depends on your aim as well as the speed at which you throw (swipe your finger). Faster swiping means throwing the item farther (at the distant houses). It takes a little bit of practice to get it down pat.

Unfortunately, that’s where the game ends. The merry Grinch game is based on how many packages you can throw in a certain time limit. The mean Grinch game is based on how many houses you can silence (how long you can last) before your patience wears out. As such, both games are similar to each other. It would be nice to see a couple of different KINDS of games between the two options. In addition, while there is a nice soundtrack (or rather, music and sound effects), there is nothing else enticing. I would have loved to see some cut scenes (maybe from the TV special), some spoken lines to the TV special, some sort of bonus features (maybe Max appears, maybe some houses are worth more, etc). As it is, playing the game a few times is fun, but the novelty wears off rather quickly. The simplicity of the games is both good (easy to pick up) and it’s downfall (gets boring relatively fast).

Conclusion

All in all, the game is nice holiday themed fun, and if you have kids they may enjoy playing the Grinch. For $1.99, the price isn’t too bad, but don’t expect something you will be able to play for a long time, or something that has a high replay level. The game might help you get in the Christmas mood, but if you are looking for a detailed, complex, or long lasting game you will probably end up with a mean Grinch face. Three and a half out of five stars.

Pros:

• Fun, Christmas themed games
• Suitable for all ages
• Requires some skill when aiming

Cons:

• Games get a little boring
• No “special levels” or bonus plays
• The two games are not fundamentally different

TiPb Review Rating

This is a story by the iPhone Blog. This feed is sponsored by The iPhone Blog Store.

App Review: Grinchmas for iPhone

Notifications App Review by msbaylor. For more App Reviews, see the TiPb iPhone App Store Forum Review Index!

Notifications [$2.99 - iTunes link] for iPhone does just what the name suggests — hooks into Apple’s push notification framework. I’ve never regularly used an RSS reader, because I would add a lot of feeds, then when I’d open it, I had all these things to read and that little number badge would be in the hundreds staring at me from my springboard. I happen to be one of those people that if there’s a number badge on an app, then it needs to be resolved immediately. So I deleted the app. Resolved, right?!? Not exactly what should be done…

Getting back to the app – The resolution to my issue was using the Notifications app. This allowed me to set up certain RSS feeds to be checked and Push notifications to be sent to me. Notifications doesn’t only do push for RSS, but Twitter, Gmail, and if you know how to code, then these are some bits of code that you can utilize on your website. So the app applies to both beginner & advanced iPhone users.

The app itself is quite simple. The main page consists of all the notifications you have received to date and the settings page, which allows you to check latency, to test sending push notifications to yourself and to show you which services you have enabled.

My main issue with this app was determining how to enter my feeds & Twitter searches so that it would send me the notifications. I ended up doing a Google search for the company and finding a login page (that I first registered for) and logged in to be able to edit my notifications.
I really don’t understand why they couldn’t add a button in the settings pane that opens up an IN-APP BROWSER! Mind you, the website is mobile formatted; however, the blanks you type into are not, so it is a bit catty-whompus.

Right now I have about some 30 feeds that Notifications checks for me and one Twitter search. While their website states that the notification come instantly, I noticed that it can take from instantly to 15 minutes before you receive notification. A nice little feature I noticed on the web was the ability to open up a pre-selected iPhone Twitter app when you received a Twitter notification.

Conclusion

Overall, the service is great. If you are looking for a solid RSS application with PUSH, then this is NOT the app for you. If you don’t care much about the app itself & its UI, then you should be just fine purchasing this app. The one main thing I’d really like to see improved is the app itself – to have the capability to marked notifications as read or unread & the ability to sort into categories would be an added bonus.

Pros:

-Unlimited notifications (as many RSS feeds as you want etc.)
-Notification response time is very reasonable.

Cons:

-App navigation is horrible
-Notifications appear in app all bunched up, no way to mark as read.
-Must edit setting in a browser.
-No RSS feed search

TiPb Review Rating

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App Review: Notifications for iPhone

(iXpenseit Forum Review by cjvitek. For more Forum Reviews, see the TiPb iPhone App Store Forum Review Index!)

iXpenseit [$4.99 - iTunes link] for iPhone and iPod touch is a budget tracking app that has recently appeared on the iPhone commercials. It allows a user to track monthly and daily spending, breaking items down into categories, as well as allowing the user to see overall spending.

You start the app by entering various budget amounts for different categories. The default allows for a $1,000 monthly budget for all spending. You can also break down the budget into different categories: $200 for food, $50 for entertainment, $100 for auto, etc. This allows you to track overall spending as well as spending within each of the categories. (Interestingly, they have a specific budget for iTunes!!)

Once you have the budget set, you then simply start by inputting an entry everytime you spend some money. Went to the movies? Put it $10 for entertainment. Paid a $50 water bill? Put it in for utilities. Simply tap the “new” button on the main screen to input a new expense. Chose the category (like auto), subcategory (like gasoline), the amount, date, how it was paid (cash, debit card, etc), and the vendor. You can even include a little note for yourself.

As you spend money, you can track it with the “report” option. You can get a report on overall spending, or within a specific category. You can see reports as a bar graph, pie chart, a written summary. You can even export the data if you like! On the main home screen there is a “battery meter” showing your overall budget – you can see how much you have left, how much you have been spending per day, and so forth.

You have the option of searching for an item as well. Can’t remember how much you last cable bill was? Search for it, and you can see if your bill has somehow drastically increased (gotta stop watching those pay-per-view UFC matches!!). Or you can just browse through the calendar for the date the payment was made.

Various settings allow for different levels of detail in the budget, using a passcode, editing the various categories and sub-categories, and even importing data from a CSV file (via a wifi connection from your computer). You even have icons for the different types of expenses, so you can look easily and identify the kind of expense.

Conclusion

All in all, iXpenseit is a full featured budget tracking program. In some ways, it is almost too full featured. It you simply want to track spending, this app may be overkill. But if you want a detailed breakdown of where you money goes each month, I think this is the app for you. At $4.99, (make sure to list it in the iTunes category!) the price is reasonable for the number of features that is included. Because of the breadth of features that are offered, I give this app four and a half out of five stars, but make sure to spend the time to learn how to use it to the fullest!

Pros

• Nice interface
• Easy way to track spending and budget

Cons

• None, except maybe too detailed.

TiPb Review Rating

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App Review: iXpenseit Expense Tracker for iPhone

(Settlers of Catan Forum Review by cjvitek. For more Forum Reviews, see the TiPb iPhone App Store Forum Review Index!)

Settlers of Catan [$4.99 - iTunes link] for the iPhone. The long awaited game has made it’s debut…so how does it stack up?

Well, first off, for Settlers fans (like myself) who have been eagerly awaiting the game, it’s great to finally see it. This style of game lends itself to the iPhone IMO, and I am very happy to see on the quintessential “nerd” games on the iPhone. But having said that, this game is not a home run. It’s better than nothing, but there are some areas where I find that game lacking.

For a quick review (for anyone who doesn’t know what Settlers of Catan is, is a strategy board game where you goal is to amass a certain amount of points by building cities, roads, trading with colleagues, and using the games resources to your advantage. The game combines both skill and luck, and can be quite engrossing. I have played the online version (Java Settlers of Catan Ladder) many times, so I am sort of using that as my basis for comparison.

The games graphics are very nice. The board has a nice visual appeal, all the features of the game (the cards, resources, even the robber!) are rendered very nicely. However, it almost seems to much emphasis is placed on the visual elements, and the game play itself (both in terms of the iPhone speed, as well as the ease of accessing controls) seems very slow to me. You can control settings to turn animation off (for example) but it doesn’t seem to impact the overall game speed.

When it is your turn, the game uses a hexagonal grid system for your player controls – but this means that you have to navigate a couple of menus to get to some more common controls and features (like building a road). These controls are not customizable, so you can’t put frequently used features in the front. I would like to see some sort of shortcut system or method of speeding up access to some controls.

The game AI is interesting. I am still figuring out if the AI strategies that are employed are good – but I guess that means that they aren’t horrendously bad! Each computer player has different strategies, so playing against different opponents will result in different kinds of games.

One of the key features of the game is trading. I am not sure what causes an opponent to accept or reject a trade, but I haven’t gotten any of my suggested trades accepted….ever. Maybe I am always asking for too much, but it seems as if when I am offering a lot, someone would accept a trade I am suggesting!

There is an indirect multiplayer mode – multiple people using the same iPhone. This is okay, if you have some friends sitting around and have the inclination to pass the iPhone around. There are no options for playing over bluetooth, wifi, or the internet – hopefully at least the latter will be added in some future update.

You do have the option of modifying some game settings, such as victory points needed to win. A variety of other options (which I have never heard of) can be set – things like friendly robber, resource bonus, stacked dice, etc. There also is a nice tutorial for people who don’t know how to play. I would love to see the ability to set up different kinds of maps, and i hope to see some of the expansion sets available as well!

Conclusion

All in all, it’s great to see Settler’s of Catan make its way to the iPhone. While the game comes off as very polished, there are some areas I could see some improvement – most notably in speed of game play and the ability of wifi or internet multiplayer. It still is fun, however, and will remain on my iPhone for the foreseeable future. At $4.99, it’s not as cheap as some games, but for people who have been waiting for a while, the price is probably not a concern.

Pros

• Well, it’s Settlers of Catan!
• Nice graphics
• Multiplayer by “hotseat”
• Can modify game settings

Cons

• Slow gameplay
• No wifi/bluetooth/internet play
• Tedious to get to some of the controls

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App Review: Settlers of Catan for iPhone