Yesterday saw the release of the newest Apple firmware. 1.1.4. Like many of us, this is one of those "hold your breath" moments where you have to carefully take stock of what you have, what you stand to lose and what you might gain. The 1.1.3 upgrade "balance sheet" was definitely in Apple’s favor. Give up my apps and gain all sorts of jiggly icon and faux-GPS goodness.
Within days, however, I was over the jiggling and longed for the custom 3rd party apps that make this phone as close to the "Mac in my pocket" I envisioned. It appears this time around that the 1.1.4 firmware includes "bug fixes", but it would seem on of those bugs not "fixed" is jailbroken iPhones. For my part, I’m going to wait a few days for the dust to settle.
Back to my title. I’ve installed, and then subsequently uninstalled, nearly everything that comes across Installer.app. Ever firmware flash is when I vote for those apps I continue to keep.
I like games. Not arcade style games, because I was never very good at those save for my Atari 2600. I like puzzle games. My favorites include:
iAppADay’s Mixup; an astonishingly simple yet addictive jumble game with a pretty large dictionary.
Chris Miles’iCrossword, a very usable crossword game that supports standard .puz files freely available around the Net. Note: you’ll need to use SSH to get these on your phone, I haven’t encountered an Installer.app bundle.
Also from Chris is the time-wastingiSolitaire is very good adaption of the classic klondike solitaire from my old Windows days. Chris also has a slot machine game that’s good for a spin, but don’t think the casino slots are that loose.
For gamblers you can try your hand at iBlackJack is very good adaption of the popular 21 card game. The payouts seem generous to me so don’t think you’ll master this and head to Vegas.
Finally, the NES Nintendo emulator is great for showing off your phone to friends, but the gameplay is a little tricky with the virtual controller. I only keep it so I can amuse myself with the Super Mario Brothers theme.
All of these are entertaining and engrossing, but not so engaging that you have to set aside your afternoon or miss your next meeting. These developers have done a great job of showcasing the iPhone as a gaming platform, and I’m curious to see where this trend goes with the SDK coming up on March 6.
Do you have a favorite? Post it on the comments.
Cheers and happy gaming!
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