This week’s roundup of iPhone and iPad applications is full of slime, from the kind you sneeze to the kind that gets you when you’re Ghostbustin’. And you know what they say: Bustin’ makes us feel good.
Children love iOS devices, both for good and ill, so might as well use your powers for good. Endless Alphabet, a free offering for iPhone and iPad, offers games and animations to help your child spell out dozens of new words.
If on the other hand you want to use your iOS powers literally for ill, Gesundheit! for iPhone will probably tickle your child’s funny bone: It’s a game featuring monsters, flying pigs, and lots and lots of snot.
On the other other hand, if you prefer your slimy entertainment old-school, then go back in time with the Ghostbusters game for iPad and iPhone. (It’s apparently based more on the old cartoon than the classic movie, but it’s all good.) Warning for parents: In-app purchases for game powers run from $5 all the way up to $50.
We were already fans of this free newsreading app for iPhone and iPad, but this week’s update is welcome, freshening up the overall design and making it easier to move quickly between the different news sources available in the app. It’s still no Flipboard, but it’s the best of a second tier of newsreading apps.
This free Weight Watchers-style dieting app also goes old-school, with the latest update letting users choose to revert to an older, “classic” style of logging their calories. A new “My Day” view also gives users a better look at their progress.
The free MyScript Calculator app for iPhone and iPad feels like something out of the Harry Potter universe: Just write down the mathematical problem that’s stumping you on your iOS screen, and the answer will magically appear. It works both for basic math and some higher forms, like trigonometry.
Writer’s block? Stuck on a project? The $2 app for iPhone and iPad helps you get unstuck by playing games, asking questions, and otherwise trying to help you find your way around the mental obstacle that’s keeping you from finishing your paper at 3 a.m.
Yeah, we’re nerd-rock fans. The free They Might Be Giants iPhone app indulges our fandom with a free song from the group every day, with the five most recent songs available on the app at all times. Build a little birdhouse in your soul.
We’ve already told you about the arrival of the Vine video app for Twitter … Photo Editor by Aviary now offers printing at Walgreens stores … and Amazon Instant Video now plays videos on your iPhone and iPod touch.
Author: Joel Mathis
Joel Mathis is a regular contributor to Macworld and TechHive. He lives in Philadelphia with his wife and young son.