Check out the latest and greatest in apps for your iPhone with our monthly app roundup.
WiFi2HiFi
Stream your computer’s audio to your iOS device.It’s no longer just a geek’s dream to have their music library stream wirelessly across the house. There’s a multitude of ways to do it, but they often require purchasing some extra hardware. Now, if you’re lucky enough to have an old iPhone or iPod touch sitting in a drawer, even if it has a cracked screen, music bliss is but $4.49 away.
Simply install the client on your PC or Mac, and set it as a sound output device. It will then beam the beats from any source on your PC – e.g. internet radio, YouTube, Foobar, Zsnes etc. – over Wi-Fi to your iOS device.
The audio is delivered to your handset as a stereo MP3, and the quality seems fine. Note, however, that there is a three second gap introduced to the audio on the device, so you won’t want your iOS device and your PC audio near each other, lest you prefer your beats a little more schizophrenic than most.
Pro tip: because the app supports multi-tasking, you can combine the app with a PC remote control app (like Mobile Mouse Pro) to select the songs that are playing on your PC from the device itself, giving you an all-in-one mega audio device.
$4.49 > Clever & Son AG > Link Mobile Mouse Pro
A great addition to WiFi2HiFi, as it allows direct control of many music and video apps. It also has a PC file browser, so you can queue up the perfect next track. If you use it with a home theatre PC, you can also open pictures and videos, and then control those apps directly.
If it doesn’t support an app out-of-the-box, you can extend functionality via scripts, or just use it in keyboard + touchpad mode. It can also sync your PC’s clipboard with your device’s.
$1.99 > RPA Tech, Inc > Link Contre Jour
It seems that these days you can’t release a puzzler unless it looks the part. Style is as important as the puzzles themselves, and thankfully, Contre Jour does well on both counts here.
With beautiful, if stark, graphics (thus the name), and entertaining puzzles, it’s sort of Loco Roco meets Cut The Rope, in that you control the environment, not the main character, and you’re often dangling from things. Other obstacles across the 60 levels include tendrils, air geysers and pulleys. Good fun.
$2.99 > Chillingo > Link Noteshelf
Noteshelf is the best looking note-taking app I’ve seen. It aims to emulate the freedom of a physical notebook, including different covers, layouts and pens, but combines it with the advantages of digital, such as emailing or password protecting notebooks.
You can group your notebooks together, create custom templates (or download ready-made ones) and sync your notebooks to Dropbox and Evernote as pdfs or images. A little expensive, but worth it for journal-aholics hoping to move into the digital age.
$5.49 > Rama Krishna > Link 