Twitterrific updated to 2.1, adds many new features

The Iconfactory's Twitter for iPhone client app, Twitterrific [iTunes link] , has been updated to 2.1. The new version has added several new features that make it far more useful than before. A few highlights:

• New "Load More..." button at the bottom of the timeline to retrieve older tweets
• New "Following" and "Followers" lists in author view
• Support for recording, posting, and viewing videos (recording and posting require iPhone 3GS)
• Built-in browser now supports landscape orientation
• Image links are now displayed in a photo viewer
• Long uploads now show a percentage completed
• Added in-app email support

The update comes with bug fixes as well, including improved typing speed, plugged memory leaks, and many more.

Twitterrific is the only Twitter client app I've used for my iPhone so far. The free version may be ad-supported, but even before this update its smooth interface and impressive functionality were enough for Twitterrific to make it to my iPhone's first page of apps. So far the update seems to run far smoother, and the added features, particularly "Load More..." and the Following/Followers lists, ensure that this will most likely remain my Twitter app of choice.

I don't have a 3GS, so I wasn't able to test the video upload feature in Twitterrific 2.1. Our own Dave Caolo used it on his 3GS to upload a ten-second film, and he said it took less than thirty seconds to upload it over 3G.

Oddly enough, even though the app has a built-in internet browser, it's still only rated 4+. Other apps have run into approval hurdles from Apple's app store requiring them to be rated 17+ because the built-in browser "could be used to link to objectionable content." Perhaps we're seeing the end of this practice?

FinalPrice shopping app released

For those of you who still frequent brick and mortar stores, Jimmi Rehman has released the new FinalPrice 1.0 shopping app for the iPhone/iPod Touch at 99 cents. It requires 3.0 software to run.

This app is a useful one-trick-pony. If you find a sale, the idea is to have your iPhone figure out how much something will cost after the item is discounted and after adding your local tax.

The calculations are solid but I had some trouble with the interface. Tapping the info button didn't work well at first. I had to tap it a number of times using various amounts of pressure for it to be recognized. The other buttons are not as unresponsive, but it still takes a number of taps for any of them to be recognized.

The info screen tells you to enter the original price and then tap the check mark to the right. When you do, the full amount gets displayed on the top green window. Next, enter the sales tax and click the check box to the left. After a few tries, when the click was accepted, a picker with discount percentages in five percent increments is displayed and you can choose the discount percent. Lastly, click on the 'What's the Final Price' button and your calculated price is displayed in the top window.

This is a very useful app and for those who like to peruse shopping malls, which doesn't include me, I can see a good deal of value here. Along with the Amazon app, (previously reviewed) you'll be carrying a nice toolbox to check prices and find out if you are getting a deal or not.

I just wish the buttons were more responsive.

What apps do you take shopping? As an iPhone newbie I would like to know, and I'm sure so would many of our readers looking for another way to simplify their shopping trips.

Manage your iPhone's clipboard with Snippets

The cut, copy, and paste features (finally) included in version 3.0 of the iPhone OS greatly improve the productivity of the iDevices. However, there is room for improvement. Enter Erich Bratton with his clipboard manager app, Snippets, available now in the iTunes App Store [iTunes link].

Snippets offers a way to organize bits of text that can be accessed quickly to paste into emails, text messages, notes, and other places. The clips can be categorized into a number of pre-determined or user-created folders as well. To help get new users comfortable, the app comes with a variety of canned responses and other text pieces, some of which are hysterical.

The real power of Snippets lies in the ability to paste or create text in the app for later use. Think of it as boilerplates for your iPhone. If you find yourself writing similar things over and over, simply create an entry in Snippets. When you need to write that same text next time, visit the Snippets app first, view the desired text block (which automatically copies it to the clipboard), and then paste it into whatever app you'd like. It really couldn't be much simpler.

The canned responses included with Snippets are worth its price of $.99 alone, in this blogger's opinion. But even if you are wittier than I and appreciate original pieces of text, Snippets is a great app with a very easy-to-use interface that I plan to use again and again. In fact, I might just start using it to write some generic paragraphs that I can use in every review. What a time-saver!

WWDC Demo: Ow My Balls!

Yeah, so did you see Idiocracy? While I'm convinced it's merely a documentary sent to us from a future Mike Judge, warning us of the dangers of Brawndo and poor math education, one of the takeaway phrases from the movie has made its way into an iPhone app. Yes, Martha, you can say "balls" on the App Store. While tasteful slideshow apps like Minipops are rejected without so much as a "get bent," somehow Ow My Balls! became the first app on the store to use "balls" in this sense. Apple: always on the cutting edge.

Anyway, I wound up trying Ow My Balls! (iTunes link) on the plane back from San Francisco, and guess what? It really is strangely addictive. Not like Fieldrunners-grade addiction, mind you, but it's a low level thing that makes you play for a much longer time than you'd ever think you'd be playing. Is it worth $.99? Yeah, if you're into this sort of thing.

The game mechanic is simple: kick the guy off a ledge (in the aforementioned nether regions), tap him to "fart" and make him stay in the air longer. You have small goals like hitting every target and getting maximum rackage by hitting more stuff on the way down. That's really about it, but as I said, it's more fun than you'd imagine. My only problem: I can't find the very last object to run into. Ow, my finger!

iTunes Connect now lets developers see crash reports

Apple has offered developers a glimpse as crash reporting since the iPhone 2.0 firmware was released, however, it was a kludge to get users to email you the crash reports from their ~/Library/Logs/CrashReporter/MobileDevice directory. Apple has a solution that will make this a lot easier.

Enter iTunes Connect, where Apple recently added the ability for developers to view crash reports from users. iTunes connect is where developers can manage applications they have on the App Store, check their sales, and get promotional codes for their apps. When you log into iTunes Connect you will be presented with the following information regarding crash logs:

Crash logs for applications are now available. To view them, go the Manage Your Applications Module below, click to view the desired application's details, then click View Crash Report.

When you navigate to Manage Your Applications > your app details > View Crash Report, you will be presented with a few items that could help you debug apps. Namely, developers can view most frequent crashes, timeouts, and memory usage right from iTunes Connect. You can find out more about crash logs on the iPhone by going to Apple's Developer tech note.

Citrix Receiver [ iPhone ]

Citrix, the folks who provide a popular way to run applications on remote servers using a thin client, have announced the immediate availability of Citrix Receiver for iPhone (click opens iTunes). We saw the Citrix guys running around the show floor at Macworld Expo this year, surreptitiously demoing an early build of this app to anyone who walked within range.

Receiver is a free app that enables iPhone and iPod touch users to run any Windows application as a service on their device. Connecting to a Citrix XenApp environment, iPhone fans can securely work with apps from Oracle, SAP, McKesson, Cerner, and other vendors. The only information sent over the wireless connection consists of screen taps and gestures, keyboard input, and screen updates, so it is simple to keep data secure.

Receiver for iPhone uses Citrix HDX to deliver high-definition content to the device so that Flash and Silverlight content can be viewed as well. Flash on an iPhone -- now there's an idea!

In enterprises such as hospitals that depend heavily on Citrix already, Receiver is going to be "well received." This should help Apple's iPhone sales efforts in the enterprise market really take off.

Bento [ iPhone ]

FileMaker, Inc. provided one of the surprise announcements of the last couple of weeks with the introduction of Bento for iPhone and iPod touch. Designed a both a standalone database management application and companion app to the Mac version, Bento for iPhone is an inexpensive, well-designed, and usable app for collecting, searching, and displaying information.

TUAW has been able to put Bento for iPhone through its paces both as "just" an iPhone app, and as a synchronizable add-on to the desktop Bento. Check out my review of the app by clicking Read More.
TUAW readers who were listening to the TUAW Talkcast on Sunday, May 10th, are aware of the discussion that took place during the show. A few of us were describing apps that we've installed on our iPhone that we're not using, or are not likely to use. For example, several of us brought up the fact that we were initially enthused about Evernote as a common, cloud-centric location to keep all of our digital stuff. However, some of us find ourselves not using Evernote for one reason or another.

I commented that I felt the same way about Bento based on my use of version 1.0 of the desktop application. In the old days of System 7, I used FileMaker frequently, not only for large flat-file databases but for personal databases that weren't really covered by any of the included Mac apps of the day. With the advent of OS X, I stopped using those databases. When the desktop version of Bento arrived I thought it might be time to try another database app, and since it wasn't as complex as FileMaker, I figured I'd be using it constantly.

I was wrong. Instead of capturing my time spent on consulting gigs in Bento, I found myself using my time-honored system of capturing the start and end times for work on an iPhone or Post-It® note for future invoicing. When it came to the integration between Bento and Address Book, I found I didn't want to add extra information to my contacts. The same with the iCal integration -- I just didn't find it necessary to link Bento and those other apps. When Bento 2.0 came out and was a paid upgrade, I decided not to bump myself to the new version.

Along came Bento for iPhone, and the lure of integration between the iPhone and desktop versions of the application got me excited again. After working with the app in concert with the 2.0 desktop version for a week or so, I'm surprised to find myself starting to think of ways that I can use Bento to hopefully bring a bit of organization into my life. Will I actually use it? Time will tell, but I don't like to use overly complex apps and Bento is not a complex or difficult app to learn or use.

So enough of this rant, already! Let's get on with the review.

Bento for iPhone and iPod touch (click opens iTunes) is a US$4.99 companion to the popular personal database application from FileMaker, Inc. with the same name. The app weighs in at about 3.0 MB, which is surprisingly small considering that 26 pre-designed templates are included. Then again, the templates really don't consist of much in terms of graphics; they're simply lists of fields that have been predefined by Bento. There's a Cover Flow-like interface that you can flip through showing all of the templates and what they're used for.

Those templates are the same as those that are provided with the Mac edition of Bento. For a complete list, visit this page and click the "View templates" link about halfway down. In addition, there's a blank template for creating your own customized library on the iPhone.

In the business analysis classes I teach in my real job, I often talk about the value of keeping an updated issues list to track and resolve problems associated with IT projects. I was pleased to see that one of the templates included with Bento was for issue tracking. After tapping on the Create Library button, Bento created a library (database) with a sample record. All records are listed in a view that looks suspiciously like Contacts on the iPhone. The letters of the alphabet are listed down the right side of the iPhone screen, with a search field at the top. There are also icons at the top of the screen for setting sort options and display fields, as well as adding a new record.

You then begin to tap through the pre-assigned fields, entering information along the way. In this particular example, there are twelve fields including Status and Date Created. I usually have a Date Closed field in my issue databases, and I also like Project On Hold as a status. Fortunately, changing the fields in the Bento templates is a piece of cake.

Tapping on the Fields button at the top of a record takes you into a Modify Fields screen where you can add or edit fields. You can't change the type of an existing field; if you wish to do that, you need to delete the field, then add it back in as a separate type. To add a field to a library, you tap on the plus sign icon in the Modify Fields screen. A standard rolling picker appears, with fifteen different fields types including Media (a picture, movie or sound), Address (which includes all parts of a street address), URL, and IM Account to name a few. Tap the create button, and you're asked to enter a name for the new field. Tap the create button again, and either the field is added to your library, or you're asked to enter other attributes (like the choices available in a Choice field) for the field. If you want a certain field higher or lower in your record, you tap an area on the far right of each field name listing, then drag the field up or down.

That's all there is to taking one of the standard Bento templates and tweaking it to your personal preferences. I found this to be very easy to do, and much faster to perform than on some of the other personal iPhone databases on the market.

So what about syncing the library with my Mac? Tapping on the Sync button at the bottom of the Bento screen the first time provides you with a Help screen with instructions on how to set up syncing. As with several other iPhone apps with Mac or PC companions (Mark/Space's Missing Sync for iPhone and Fliq apps, for example), setting up the sync requires that Bento be running on both devices and that a four-digit code that is generated on the iPhone be entered into a special screen on the Mac. Pairing the devices in this way assures you that nobody else can accidentally sync their Bento information to your iPhone and vice-versa. You can, however, set up syncing with multiple Macs on the same WiFi network if you'd like and then set up only certain libraries to sync with specific Macs.

Where this feature could be powerful is in an office environment. Let's say that you need to have time billing information sent to an accountant, order information sent to an order processor and prospect contact information sent to a marketing rep. It would take no time at all to set up the Bento libraries on the individual computers in the office, then add the sync links so only the appropriate information is synced to a specific computer.

After pairing is completed, all you need to do to start syncing is tap that sync button again. I found the syncing process to be lightning-fast. It took no time at all to sync even fairly large (600+ record) libraries between my Mac and iPhone.

As with the first version of many iPhone apps, Bento has some minor bugs. When attempting to add a Project library to my iPhone, the app crashed. The next time, the same action worked perfectly. There are also some tasks that you may want to perform on the Mac version of Bento only. For example, the Project library has a field for linking to Team Members. On the Mac, the Team Members field links to the Address Book so you can pull up all contact information for a person through one simple click and drag. There's no similar ability on the iPhone version. Likewise, Bento for iPhone doesn't show tasks or events from iCal like the Mac version does, since the iPhone OS (at least in its current form) doesn't allow apps other than Calendar to access that information. And let's face it; data entry is a lot faster and more convenient with a real keyboard than it is with a virtual one. You should probably only enter data into Bento for iPhone when you're in the field, otherwise depending on the Mac's keyboard and mouse for speedily entering your records.

FileMaker provides a caveat that the iPhone product may not support large databases "due to mobile device memory limitations". More information about that and other limitations can be found in the Bento knowledgebase.

Can you use Bento for iPhone without the Mac version? Of course. But I honestly feel that the true power of Bento for iPhone is to use it as a mobile extension of the Mac version. I always thought Bento would be a great tool for doing a home inventory, but with Bento for iPhone I can finally realistically think about walking around my house, entering info into the iPhone and snapping pictures, and then sending the results into my Mac with the tap of a button. Had it not been for Bento for iPhone, I wouldn't even be considering using Bento on the Mac.

As a US$4.99 standalone personal database app for the iPhone, Bento stands alone as a professional and fast solution. It's even more outstanding when paired with the US$49 Mac version. How good is the iPhone version of Bento? I'd love to see it bundled with every iPhone sold. 'Nuff said.

DVR Remote 2 available, but you may want to wait

Stutsman Software has released version 2 of DVR Remote, an app we covered a while back that lets you use your iPhone or iPod touch as a remote control for your TiVo Series 3 via WiFi.

One user, however, is reporting an issue with a Now Playing list that never ends -- that is, its contents are repeated over and over again -- but Derek Stutsman, the developer, is working on it. On the product's page in iTunes (link opens iTunes), Stutsman suggests you may want to wait until he releases a fix before upgrading from 1.x.

New in this version is improved keyboard support, rewritten networking support to handle transfer interruptions, and a faster "Now Playing" list. Also included is support for skins. You can select from one of many attractive themes for your remote, or create one yourself. Pictured here is the "Starry Night" theme.

DVR Remote is available in the App Store for $2.99.

File Magic 2.0 [ iPhone ]

File Magic 2.0 (click opens iTunes) is the newest entry into this market from SplashData, an app development firm with years of history in the mobile space. As with the other apps of this type, File Magic provides a way to send files from a Mac or PC to an iPhone or iPod touch, then view those files on the handheld.

For those of you who are using Microsoft Office 2008 for Mac, you'll be happy to know that File Magic supports the XML-based .xlsx, .docx, and .pptx file formats for viewing, as well as a number of other document, sound, image, and video file formats. Like Quickoffice, File Magic does not support any of the iWork file formats.
One feature that I felt was a bit of a throwback is the use of a dedicated application on the desktop for transferring files back and forth. While the software, File Magic Desktop, is available for free for both Windows and Mac, you need to download and install the desktop software on any Mac or PC you're going to use File Magic with. Other apps now use Bonjour or web browsers as a way to transfer files without a dedicated desktop app. The last thing I want to have to do is remember to load software onto a computer in order to move data; I'd prefer to just use the tools that are already part of the operating system or default software.

File Magic 2.0 differentiates itself from many of the other file viewing / transfer apps in that it can send files to and receive files from other iPhones on the same Wi-Fi network that are also running File Magic. Those files, of course, can only be those that are actually stored by File Magic; you can't send photos, address cards, or other such iPhone-specific items to other users.

I'm not sure why, but File Magic 2.0 was slower in terms of performing file transfers than similar apps. For example, the large files and folders that I sent to my iPhone with Quickoffice moved very quickly. With File Magic, the same transfers were relatively slow, and several times I had the app actually lock up during a transfer, forcing me to restart the app and try the transfer again.

Depending on your personal preference, you may be thrilled or dismayed by the user interface on the iPhone. The app uses a large, bold-face font to label different folders for different types of files. Those who are app design purists will be appalled, while those who are tired of squinting at tiny type in iPhone apps might rejoice. For me, it's a mixed blessing because I think it's easier to read, but it isn't as nice looking as some of the other apps of this genre.

While using File Magic 2.0, I experienced several bugs. First, importing a PowerPoint file never worked properly for me. My test files are all about 100 slides in length and contain graphics, and when opened on the iPhone, I only saw three slides in each file with none of the graphics appearing. Second, if a file was large (13 MB for one Word document), an error message was displayed telling me that I shouldn't continue to try to open the document, and then File Magic crashed. For small files, File Magic 2.0 worked fine.

As for the pricing of File Magic, US$4.99 is about average for this type of app. Quickoffice Files (click opens iTunes) is less than half the price at US$1.99, Files (click opens iTunes) is more expensive at US$6.99. At the same price is the much more capable Air Sharing (click opens iTunes), which uses WebDAV and Bonjour on the PC or Mac instead of a proprietary desktop application, and which also has the ability to view those pesky iWork documents.

Personally, I think that file transfer and viewing functionality should be built into the iPhone. Most other smartphone platforms have done this for years, and it seems odd that it isn't already in the iPhone. Perhaps we'll see this as a surprise addition to iPhone 3.0? Who knows...

What's your favorite file transfer and viewing app on the iPhone? Leave your comments below, and be sure to check out the gallery for images of File Magic at work.

US Military Handbook [ iPhone ]

We know that a lot of TUAW readers are either active duty or retired US military personnel, so this iPhone app should be of special importance to our friends in (or out) of uniform.

The US Military Handbook (click opens iTunes) provides detailed information for all of the US Armed Forces, and is constantly updated at information changes. The app is currently on sale for US$9.99, and is worth every penny in terms of the volume of info that it contains in its nearly 24 MB of size. While you should visit the developer's website to see all of the details, here's a sampling of what you can expect:

• Income Matrixes, including active duty base pay, allowances, and sea duty
• Reference materials, including the Code of Conduct, Officer Oaths, Drill and Ceremony Q&A, and even the songs and lyrics for each branch of the services.
• Rank, insiginias, and titles for each branch
• All current ribbons and medals, in order, for each branch
• A list of over one thousand Veterans Administration facilities, including the phone number, address, and a picture of the facility when available (a network connection is required for images and maps to the facilities).

When I mentioned the constant updates earlier, I wasn't kidding -- the app has had 8 updates in the last 4 months. The US Military Handbook also displays the information in a choice of five different color schemes. If you know a current or retired serviceman/woman with an iPhone or iPod touch, let 'em know you appreciate their service to their country by giving them a copy as a gift for Memorial Day.

Calling all iPhones! Emergency scanner apps on the loose!

Sometimes it's uncanny how many similar iPhone apps appear at about the same time. Over the past week or so, we've heard about a number of new apps that "tune you into" streaming police, fire, and emergency medical service radio services. Apps like this can be useful to volunteer firefighters, off-duty policemen, news crews, scanner enthusiasts, and the occasional ambulance-chasing lawyer.

The first out of the box is Police Scanner 1.1 (US$2.99, click opens iTunes) from Juicy Development. This app now features over 1,100 streams from 7 different countries and a streamlined interface for getting to your favorite local emergency radio, The developers will add any compatible stream to their app within hours of being notified of that stream, so if there are no local radios listed now, there may be soon.

Next in the queue is Emergency Radio 1.1 (US$0.99, click opens iTunes) from Edge Rift. It's available in a free "Lite" version if you want to try it out on a handful of major cities, or you can spend a buck to get over 900 feeds from all over the US. I personally thought the code lists (see photo) are a nice touch.

If you prefer a little music with your police calls, Wunder Radio 1.6 (US$6.99, click opens iTunes) not only captures the same emergency radio streams from ScanAmerica.us as the other two apps, but is also the best (IMHO) iPhone app out there for listening to local radio stations. It also gives you NOAA weather information for US locations, not to mention railroad crew and dispatch calls.

Regardless of which scanner app you select, it's sure to give you hours of fun, and it's definitely worth listening in on why the cops visited your neighbor's house at 3 A.M.

Agile Messenger [ iPhone ] [ iPod touch ]

We'll have a head-to-head comparison of the just-released Agile Messenger [App Store link] versus Beejive in a few days, but why not test drive Agile Messenger yourself first? Four lucky winners will get to do just that, courtesy Agile and TUAW. Just tell us which chat protocol you prefer (AIM, Jabber, Yahoo, etc.) and we'll pick four winners at random. Sorry, we've got to limit the winners to the US, as promo codes don't work anywhere else.

• Open to legal US residents of the 50 United States and the District of Columbia who are 18 and older. (Sorry, we know our international readers want to participate, but promo codes don't transfer outside the US.)
• To enter leave a comment telling us your preferred IM protocol (AIM, Jabber, etc.).
• The comment must be left before April 3, 11:59PM Eastern Time.
• You may enter only once.
• Four winners will be selected in a random drawing.
• Prize: Promo code for free copy of Agile Messenger for iPhone (US$9.99).

Convertbot

Last October, we posted about another iPhone app -- Weightbot -- written by Mark Jardine and Paul Haddad at Tapbots. Now the company has shipped their second app, an iPhone conversion calculator called Convertbot (iTunes link).

Like Weightbot, Convertbot is a classy-looking and extremely functional iPhone app. Every detail of the user interface shows obvious thought, resulting in an app that is easy to use and look at. As with Weightbot, Convertbot also features sound effects that provide an extra level of fun.

What can you convert with Convertbot? Temperature, time, volume, work, angles, area, currency, length, mass, power, pressure and speed. How do you do it? There's a rotating selector wheel on the Convertbot screen to choose the type of conversion (temperature, for example), and a button to select the units (degrees Fahrenheit, for instance). To enter the known unit, you tap the converter display to bring up a keypad for tapping in numbers. As you tap in the numbers, Convertbot is busily converting the units.

If you're an aspiring developer and want to see a well-designed app, or if you're an iPhone or iPod touch owner who just likes cool apps, check out this US$0.99 app. There are tons of conversion apps in the App Store, but Convertbot is just too nice to pass up.

Daylite Touch

Marketcircle has made a name for themselves with their Daylite Productivity Suite, which is a powerful customer management, calendaring, and project management tool. On Tuesday, Marketcircle announced the availability of Daylite Touch, an iPhone / iPod touch companion to Daylite, in the App Store (click opens iTunes).

TUAW is currently working on a full review of the latest releases of Daylite, the new Daylite Server, and Daylite Touch, so this is just a cursory overview of the iPhone app. From what we've seen during the last few weeks of use, the app is a worthy companion to Daylite and offers much of the powerful capabilities of the desktop package in a handheld format.

Perhaps the most impressive tool in Daylite Touch is its ability to sync to a remote Daylite Server. Daylite Server is required if someone wishes to use both Daylite on the Mac and the iPhone, and it has just been shipped with the new Daylite 3.9. The sync capability includes a remote wipe function, important for organizations that have deployed groups of iPhones loaded with Daylite Touch and syncing to company-proprietary information.

Daylite Touch is free for download, but requires that a $49.99 annual license be installed on the server. While this may seem a bit expensive, it's an absolute bargain for any person or organization that wants the power of Daylite in their pocket or purse. Stay tuned for our upcoming full review of Daylite 3.9, Daylite Server, and Daylite Touch.

App Store facing competition from jailbreak app sales?

While we're pondering the consequences of RIM announcing that programs in the Blackberry "App World" must be at least $2.99US, there are alternatives to the iTunes App Store emerging from the jailbreak side of the iPhone world. The Wall Street Journal reports that Cydia is making the transition from package repository to a full app store. There are also plans for an adult-only app store and a new jailbreak service.

The big question at the moment is how will Apple take this? Apple filed a complaint with the US Copyright Office last month claiming that jailbreaking is illegal. They're not going to take firing a direct salvo at the App Store itself lightly. There is competition for the iTunes Music Store, but Apple could argue that the homegrown app stores infringe on its copyright by using modified versions of its software.

It's not a huge shock that App Store competition is popping up; the only surprise is that it took this long to happen. After all, developers are frustrated that excellent programs such as Podcaster are passed up in favor of the latest, greatest novelty app -- then to make matters worse, those same features turned up in an official iPhone update.

While there are a lot of really terrible apps out there that have no place on the App Store -- I won't even begin to tell you about one adult app pitched to TUAW, we do want to remain a mostly family-friendly site -- there are a lot of good software that get turned down because of Apple's stringent developer's agreement. These developers want an avenue to distribute their programs, and homegrown app stores are one answer.

New Tap Tap Revenge slammed with network issues

Tapulous unveiled the latest version of its megapopular iPhone music game franchise, Tap Tap Revenge 2 (link opens iTunes), a few days ago. While it has become the top free app in the App Store, the program is plagued with several issues due its massive popularity.

An update posted on the App Store yesterday lets users know that Tapulous is experiencing network problems that are leading to issues with music downloads and online play -- in addition to the app itself crashing. Tapulous has promised a resolution to the network issues as soon as possible, and there should be an update to Tap Tap Revenge 2 over the next few days.

Tap Tap Revenge 2 features more than 150 free tracks and three ways to play with friends -- Challenge mode, Two Player Split-Screen and Online Play. You can also progress through Career mode and share your results with that as well.

Tap Tap Revenge 2 improves on an already fantastic game, and retains the same free price as the original. However, you may want to wait a couple days for the network problems to be resolved in order to take full advantage of the update. You can check out Tapulous' blog to see the progress on these issues.

Tweetie 1.3 rejected for displaying "offensive language"

Update: Cooler heads appear to have prevailed, and Loren reports that Tweetie 1.3 has cleared the App Store bluenose barrier and should be showing up later tonight.

We saw this hit the fan early today, hot on the tail of the AMBER Alert post. Apparently the 1.3 update to Tweetie, a popular Twitter client for iPhone we've covered before, has been denied release in the App Store because the app could potentially show "offensive language."

As you may know, blatantly offensive apps (like really "adult" content) are verboten on Apple's store. Unfortunately, that rule was probably intended to keep X-rated content (maybe hard R as well) off the store, not inadvertently prevent an update to a popular Twitter client. In this case, the offensive material could pop up in Twitter trend searches -- never mind that you can find much worse using Google's search app or mobile Safari itself.

This latest episode plus the Amber Alert app's delay and many other examples continue to shine a light on what is clearly a broken approval process. As Engadget's Nilay Patel says, "It's time to drop the seemingly-random black-box approach... and actually work with innovative developers like Tweetie's Loren Brichter to push your platform forward in the face of newly-stiff competition."

That last point is important, because hardware companies are working hard to avoid an iPod-like market lead for the iPhone. Last night's demo of the Palm Pre had my eyebrows raised, to be sure. If Apple can't quit shooting the feet of some of the best developers out there, it'll be all too easy for them to switch to a platform that provides less restrictions, less doubt and less uncertainty.

iPhone app phones home to foil pirates

Like many iPhone developers, Ben Chatelain is frustrated to see cracked versions of his project, Full Screen Web Browser, showing up online. Following the usability suggestions of John Gruber, Ben has chosen to do something about it. The latest version of his app has detection capabilities for pirated instances, and reports the UUID of the device back to his server. After 10 days of running a cracked version, users are presented with a "trial over" dialog box and given the option to buy up to the legitimate version.

As antipiracy measures go, this is about as benign as you can get, and it's in good alignment with the stated 'we crack so we can try before buying' philosophy that the crack community espouses; the alternative approach from RipDev may block piracy altogether, but it also involves more work and more cost. There might be some legitimate purchasers who balk at any phone-home capabilitity that includes personally identifiable data, but Ben claims his implementation only pings back from cracked versions.

With the pingback code running, his preliminary stats show that about 10% of the users of his latest version are running unlicensed copies -- that's very low compared to some popular games, where whisper numbers estimate that more than half of all users never paid for the app. It's important to remember that pirated copies ≠ 'lost sales,' at least not at a 1:1 ratio, as most users of cracked copies would never have bought the app at retail. Ben's approach at least gives those users the opportunity to choose a legit copy over a cracked one.

Health Cubby for iPhone / iPod touch

App Cubby announced that a new iPhone app, Health Cubby (click opens iTunes) arrived in the App Store today. Health Cubby (US$4.99) is a personal fitness tracking app with a difference -- it adds a social networking element for working with friends and family members to keep motivated to exercise more and eat less.

The social features connect you with up to 7 other people, share your progress in achieving fitness goals, and even send motivational messages. To do that, you set up a private account with App Cubby for data syncing and sending messages.

Health Cubby has a great online user manual complete with screenshots. Instead of tracking meals with points or calories, the app has you enter a 1 to 5 rating. Rating a meal a 1 means you put the all-you-can-eat buffet out of business, while a 5 is a low-calorie, healthy meal. You also set goals for strength, cardio and...vices! While the first two involve exercise, the third item makes you set goals to reduce the number of times you indulge in a vice. My goal is to reduce my beer drinking to one a day (yeah, right...).

I've put Health Cubby on my iPhone right next to Weight Watchers Mobile. It'll be interesting to see which app I use most often. Check the gallery below for screenshots of Health Cubby in action.

A Lethal app for your iPhone

OK, the headline is a bit misleading. This app won't kill you; in fact, it's designed to inform you about dangerous situations in your vicinity.

Lethal (click opens iTunes) from Elany Arts takes a location from either the iPhone's built-in location services or a list of 300 cities or parks throughout the USA, then provides you with a "lethal index" number. This number ranges between 0 and 400, with 400 being an extremely dangerous location.

The ranking comes from a composite of four scores based on lethal wildlife, crime, disease, and disaster probabilities in each area. The About screen for Lethal notes that the app is designed for informational and entertainment purposes only, so you should use common sense to guide your use of Lethal.

When I let Lethal determine the index for my home, I was surprised to see that it was 207 out of 400, or "somewhat dangerous". The wildlife index was rather high based on black bears and mountain lions in the area. Yes, we do see them on rare occasions in the area, but I'd be much more concerned about a neighbor taking a potshot at me than getting chewed on by a mountain lion.

Still, Lethal is fun (many comments are obviously tongue-in-cheek) and educational. Whether it's worth the US$1.99 introductory price is up to you. Check out the gallery below for screenshots of Lethal in action.