Some months ago I found myself in a long distance relationship. The longer it continues, the more I realize that much of it wouldn’t be going so well without a few handy little apps that I have on my trusty iPod Touch, lovingly named “Boober”. These may be obvious to some but they are all my favorites and, without them, communication wouldn’t be as easy as it is.

Skype (Free)
The most obvious of everything in the world. I rarely (hardly ever) use the video aspect of Skype but the voice calling has been so, so important to have.

I have my own Skype number ($12.05 for 3 months) so clients and friends can call me from any phone and I also have unlimited outgoing calls to any phone number ($2.95/month). My S.O. and I have a daily routine in which I will call and “drive” them to work every day. We will also run errands together, grocery shop, and have movie nights across the distances.

IM+ Pro ($9.99)
There are about… ohhh, 10 MILLION messaging apps out there and I have probably tried every single one. Having one which allows for Google Talk was important since that is what my S.O. uses at work and home. I found that IM+ is the less bulky of them all, will load without crashing, and has a built-in browser for when links are shared so that Safari doesn’t have to load up and stall things. 

IM+ is compatible with every popular messenger you can think of and also has Facebook chatting which gives it a plus. It can also be “made pretty” with custom wallpapers. We all know how important that is! No one wants to look at ugliness!

If you don’t want to shell out the $9.99 for the Pro version, fret not! There’s also a free version and if you don’t mind ads, it’ll do ya just fine.

Textfree Voice + Voicemail (Free)
Believe it or not, there are some people in the world (me) that do not have a cell phone. Personally, I find that I don’t need one (I’m home most of the time) and it would just be a huge waste of money. Plus, why spend hundreds of dollars a year when there are apps that can help you turn any little iPod Touch into a iPhone of sorts?

Textfree does exactly what it says it does and all you have to do is tolerate a little ad at the bottom your screen. You’re also able to receive (not make) voice calls to your Textfree number, but I have found that the quality is less than awesome. That’s what Skype is for, people.

Textfree has the “pretty” factor down and allows for custom wallpapers. You can even assign different wallpapers for different friends, which is perfect for those who might accidentally text something embarrassing to their mom. Having a visual cue helps to eliminate that from happening! The downside? It loads a little slow for me and there have been a handful of occasions when the server has been down and unable to send off my texts. 

Messages (Free with iOS 5+)
My preferred method of texting is by way of the built-in Message app provided by Apple. The downside is that you can only text those who also have the app or an iPhone. The Messages app comes bundled with iOS 5+ and, sadly, older iPod generations cannot receive the update. There MIGHT be an app on Cydia (for you other jailbreakers) that will do the same thing but I, personally, have not seen one bouncing around. 

What I love the most about the Messages app is that sharing photos of daily nothing’s has become so much easier. In the past, we had to do loops of sending emails or have a messenger circus on IM+ because some of my things were not compatible with their’s. All of that is eliminated with just one, simple, little, built-in app. 

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Obviously, there are loads and loads of games that you can play with your boyfriend or girlfriend but there are far, far too many to get into here. Here’s a quick list of some of our favorites:

Words With Friends (Free)
Scramble With Friends (Free)
Turntable (Free)
Pocket Frogs (Free)
Monsters Ate My Condo ($0.99)
Draw Something ($0.99)

Of course, apps won’t be helpful if your relationship is crap to begin with. The most important thing to remember when you’re in a long distance relationship is to simply love and trust one another… and have fun!! Life without fun is just a bore.

Ever want to get rid of that ugly blue on the Official Facebook App? Do you want to turn it pink? Or purple? Or maybe just a prettier shade of blue? You can. But…

There are two versions for download in the App Store. One free and the other costing $.99. Honestly, I can’t tell what the difference is between the two. Perhaps one has ads and the other doesn’t? Mine does not have ads but that isn’t really the point here.

Although you can make it pretty, that is the only rad aspect of this app for me. It’s delightful to look at but for some reason I just can’t seem to stick with it for very long. Believe me, I try! Prettiness is important to me! Still, I just can’t get used to it. The reviews are fantastic from others. People love this one! I wish I did. Really!

In an effort to make this review a bit more substantial, I deleted the Official Facebook App (free) from my iPod and relied only on Facely for a few weeks. Previously, I found that if I had both installed, I would instinctively return to the Official because Facely would irritate me so much. So, off it went and here’s what happened…

Facely is pretty. It will please the eyes. It can be fully color customized however you want. The photos look beautiful on it. Comments are organized. Notifications are right at the top.

And… it’s annoying. I constantly have a Message count for things I’ve already read a million years ago and there are few things more annoying than a silly nonsense number alerting me of nothing. It crashes on me constantly. Load a photo, crash. Click to comment, crash. Pull down to reload, crash. Look up a profile, reply to a message, check notifications… crash, crash, crash. Facebook became more irritating to check instead of something fun. So much so, that I simply stopped checking via Facely and only looked at it from my desktop computer.

Perhaps one day they’ll totally get it together so that I’ll want to use it. It really, really is pretty! But, it needs some work. It needs to stop dying with every movement, have a better alert system and to kill unnecessary number badges.

It’s back to the ugly blue Official for me.

I haven’t been feeling extraordinarily well lately so there haven’t been many new downloads or much game playing. So instead of reviewing a pink little game, I am going to show you the video that inspired this place and is the reason I want to make things easier for parents and those with Spinal Muscular Atrophy (SMA) themselves. Some background first:

I follow a man named Rob Sheridan on Twitter who is the visual mastermind behind my favorite band, Nine Inch Nails. He’s a fairly awesome human being and will link to many interesting things that geeks, music lovers and photographers would enjoy. Some time ago, he posted an article. It was shortly after I had finally (after 16 years) met the singer of Nine Inch Nails, Trent Reznor. I’m sure Rob has no idea the strange loop he created by simply posting an interesting geek article.

Girl with SMA meets Trent Reznor and is hugged by him —> Girl with SMA follows Trent’s Creative Director on Twitter —> Girl with SMA challenges and kicks the Creative Director’s ass at Canabalt —> Creative Director posts a story about SMA —> Girl with SMA cries, realizes the obvious, thanks Creative Director and now you are reading the result.

Pay no attention to the language in the beginning. The video is in English.

You can read the full NYTimes article here.

Owen Cain is not the only one using this technology. All you have to do is search “iPad SMA” on YouTube and you’ll come across lots of inspiring, sweet videos with tiny fingers (and toes) doing their very best to make magic happen.

I am one of those kids, all grown up. I know exactly how they struggle. I know exactly what can be frustrating. I know what will be easy and what will be impossible in a way other people couldn’t because I live it with them.

Owen (and Nora, Sophia, Lucy, Mary and countless others) are why this exists. I believe that iPads (and the cheaper iPod Touches) should be in the hands of everyone with some type of disability. It not only helps those with physical issues but is also an awesome and easy way for those with little communication to finally be heard. How can we make that happen? I’m still trying to figure that one out. Your help and ideas are more than welcome.

For more information on Spinal Muscular Atrophy, please visit: fsma.org

I downloaded Zombie Pizza ($0.99) one Halloween season and found myself super frustrated with it after just a few levels. I’d touch and drag as quickly as possible but would lose in no time because the dragging wouldn’t seem to work for me. So, it went into my folder of games I never play and has collected dust ever since.

Candy Rush ($0.99) is Zombie Pizza’s twin sister. It kept my attention a bit longer than Zombie Pizza but I have recently found that it’s been weeks since I’ve played it and have little desire to continue what I started.

The nature of a time management game is fairly repetitive but I’ve found Candy Rush to be boring and, frankly, annoying at times. The same dragging issues are experienced that exist in Zombie Pizza. I find that cracking the jars opened doesn’t always work or flow properly. A time management game should just feel right and this doesn’t feel right. Something is “off” about it but I’m unable to figure out just what the problem is.

The upside is that it has candy. I’m a sucker for a game that has candy in it and won’t hesitate at all in giving it a try. But I’m sorry. This one just is not for me and will be going into the folder of games I never play. So, save your money! There are tons of other worthwhile candy games.

Candy Train (free!) reminds me of some kind of retro-y game I would have played as a little kid, except not. The premise is simple. Connect the tracks, collect candies and sections of your train, go through the tunnel to level up. It sounds easy, doesn’t it? It isn’t!!

I’ve been trying to master this game for a few days now and, though I don’t totally suck at it, I can’t even get passed level 3. That doesn’t stop me from playing though. Oh no. In fact, the challenge of something so seemingly easy is what makes me want to play it constantly. And I do! It’s become a sickness.

Allow me to very quickly point out that the game is challenging but it’s also cute. We all know I love a cute game filled with sweets and girliness. However, I don’t think that the cuteness will, in any way, stop a boy from playing this. In fact, a teenaged boy saw me playing it one day and remarked at how fun it looks.

The controls are simple one finger tapping friendly in order to change the direction of the tracks. You must be a quick thinker and able to plan ahead. The train moves faster and gets longer as you go along so you must quickly build accordingly.

Candy Train is an all ages friendly game but I don’t recommend it for anyone under 6 or 7 simply because it can be challenging for little ones. Too much of a challenge may force the younger crowd to give up and never want to play again. No one wants that to happen.

So yeah. Cute, fun, challenging yet simple. That’s how it goes.

There are about… oh… 300 apps or so for Twitter in the App Store. Everyone will have a preference and SWEAR by their app of choice and try to convert you into start using their’s. I’m not going to do that. Not really, anyway. What I am going to do is the following: Tell you which app I prefer and why. If you use it, fantastic. If not, that’s just fine too. I don’t get a commission from anyone here.

I’ll begin by saying that I think I’ve tried almost every single Twitter app out there. Whenever a new one pops up I’ll download it, try it and return to my preferred one in about three seconds.

My preferred app? Twittelator Pro ($4.99).

Why? Well… *deep breath*
There are a lot of pros and little cons about this app.

Pros:

• It has the old re-tweet function and it’s flawless. Nearly all apps have that function now and that’s fine and dandy. However, not all apps have everything else that I love about Twittelator.
  
  
• Facebook Status integration. Life is about 2 minutes easier when all you have to do is touch that little “F” to post to Facebook while sending your tweet. Tweetdeck (free) also combines Facebook, complete with a status feed but again, Tweetdeck lacks other things I like about Twittelator.
  
  
• Scrolling UP! This is huuuuuuge for me. I follow a ton of people and can go a while without checking my feed. I DO NOT like starting at the top and working my way backwards through conversations when reading through 457 new posts. It’s confusing and annoying. I don’t like missing stuff! Twittelator starts you where you last left off in reading and you scroll your way UP through your feed.
  
  The Official Twitter App (free) has this function, kind of. It skips pieces and you have to click them in. I imagine they did this for speed but it annoys me. Tweetdeck starts you at the top and you have to work your way backwards in time. There’s also a limit to how far back you can go. Annoying.
  
  
• Custom Colors!! Really. I love this bit of it. I’m a designer and “matcher” by nature. I like everything to be pretty and to go together nicely. Twittelator allows you to fully pretty up your feed any ol’ way you want. If you want that crap in neon green, you can have neon green! But I don’t recommend it. You’ll go blind.
  
  There are a few (over 6 thousand) theme colors to choose from or you can make your own. This includes even choosing a font of your choice. Helvetica (or Comic Sans) fans rejoice!

• There are a load of other pros which include the use of Twitlonger, quick loading, in-app browser, photo previews, blah blah blah.

The cons are few and are mostly nit-picking.

Cons:

• I wish it had multiple account posting like Tweetdeck’s. Though you CAN have multiple accounts, I’d love to be able to post to a few at once in one little send.
  
  
• A Facebook Status stream like Tweetdeck’s would also be nice but isn’t needed. I mean, I do have a Facebook app.
  
  
• The “loading egg” is ugly. I just don’t like it.
  
  
• The icon is hideous. Lucky for me, I’m jailbroken and have all custom icons (which I use in all posts on this site). So I never have to see the ugly egg icon unless I’m doing an iOS update.
  
  
• The Twittelator icon that pops up on Facebook under my posted status is the same hideous one used for the app itself. I really hate that blue egg. Get rid of the blue egg! Or, make it a cute blue egg. Really.
  
  
• Though you can customize the look of your feed, the status/menu bars will remain black. That can cause non-pretty meshing that only slightly annoys my matchiness gene.
  
  

Other than that, there isn’t much to complain about. For me, Twittelator Pro is the perfect Twitter app. Tweetdeck comes close, if it only scrolled the right way and had no limit. But it doesn’t. So it’s out.

Take what you will from all of my rambling. I’m in a ramble mood today. Basically, if you want it all, you won’t get it for free.

Please Note: The icon above is (of course) not the default Twittelator icon. It’s one I made myself using a Tenuis template. The 3D glasses on the blue bird are a nod to my love of Doctor Who. It’s the actual icon I have on my actual iPod which I use every moment of the day.

Cookie Dozer. The yummier sister of Coin Dozer who has a cousin named Coin Push Frenzy. The Dozer-y apps are quite popular and I love Cookie Dozer to pieces. Thing is, I couldn’t begin to tell you why I love it and why it’s so popular. I even consulted with a teenaged boy who enjoys it and he didn’t have an answer either.

What I can tell you about the game is the following: It isn’t exciting. It’s repetitive. Falling treats are the only real thrill. It’s mind numbing. The graphics aren’t particularly amazing. I play it nightly just before falling asleep and I wish like crazy I could tell you why!! 

The simple, no skills needed at all, game play is pretty much perfect for the youngest of kids. Touch, cookie falls, cookie gets pushed, cookie falls into slot. The game thrives on being patient with it’s player and rewards you with more cookies if you’re slow. The leveling aspect will make little ones (and me!) feel like they’ve accomplished something. Yay!

The one downfall of the game is that it’s a little crashy for me. I’m on a jailbroken iPod Touch, 4th Gen running iOS 4.3.1. The game will crash out on me if I have music playing at the same time and I will sometimes have to reboot in order to get it going again. I’ve checked the reviews and hardly anyone else seems to have this problem so it could just be me. I mean, I do have over 400 apps installed sooo… yeah.

In case you didn’t notice, the best thing about this app is that it’s totally FREE! Ignore the pay version because it’s a waste. So go download it, play it and please, for the love of all things pink and fuzzy, tell me why Cookie Dozer is fun because I have no idea!

Ohh, how I love musical games! Really. I have every Tap Tap game from artists I don’t even like just because I enjoy the challenge of having perfect timing. Maestro Green Groove, however, cannot be compared to any Tap Tap games. Maestro combines side scrolling wonderfulness with music and a smiling pink bird. All things I love!

The object is fairly simple: Swipe your finger at the right time to play notes and make Maestro jump. Play as perfectly as possible and reach the goal line at the end.

Here’s a video from TouchArcade to give you an idea of what it looks like to play:

It looks a little clumsier than it really is to play. It all feels natural to me but it is quite challenging. You must be perfect. Your timing has to be great or evil red notes will come and laugh at you.

This probably is not a game for those with super poor reflexes but is absolutely wonderful for older kids and adults working on their hand/eye/hearing coordination. It has easy one finger controls and is more challenging (movement-wise) than Robot Unicorn Attack, Tiny Wings or Canabalt.

Beyond being easy for everyone to play, Maestro is just a fun game! It has enough of a challenge to keep you interested. It’s plenty cute enough for girls. And, I think boys are sure to grab it from their girlfriends because DUH, they can do SO much better. But they won’t and they’ll lose and girlfriends across the world will laugh!

Everybody loves Robot Unicorn Attack so I’m not even going to attempt trying to tell you how fun and addicting this silly little game can be. However! I can give a little insight as to what it’s like to play if you have some hand issues, like I do.

The typical default controls for the game are a left/right touch meant for two thumbs. One to jump and the other to dash. I am absolutely a one-finger game player and, though I can do it, I find the default controls to be a little confusing and unnatural feeling for a single finger. Fret not, Unicorn Attackers! There is a solution that isn’t overly obvious.

If you pause the game (or wait until you inevitably die) you’ll see a little settings button in which you can switch the controls to “Gestures”. The Gesture controls make it so much easier! All you do is touch to jump (tap twice for double jump) and swipe your finger to dash. For me, this feels so much more natural and eases the silliness of tapping two sides of the screen back and forth with one pointer finger.

Now you can kick the ass of that teenager who thinks they’re hot stuff with their 55000 score! Or… you can try to. It isn’t easy.