Is this evidence of Apple’s controversial Killswitch in action?

Please note this now appears to be a bug which is being fixed.

A recent app that I, like many others, bought on the AppStore with real money appears to have suddenly stopped working. A simple application called Night Stand, which is now copied by other app developers in true AppStore style, designed to simply display the time and alarm while dimming the screen. Not exactly a controversial app to say the least and has been available for some time! Now it seems that you can load the app but it simply won’t run.

This app has also been tested on a colleagues phone with the same results. This is not as a result of any updates as it was seen to work recently and, stranger still, the app has been pulled from the AppStore itself. As of this moment I have not yet been able to find any reason for it’s disappearance, but am more concerned about the fact that any app can seemingly be pulled from your device without warning or reason.

I paid good money for that app, all be it 59 pence but it is mine, or is it?

Following on from our comparative review of ‘Mobile Allowance’ and ‘Mobile Minutes Tracker’ (see previous posts here and here) O2 have now released their ‘My O2′ app. According to their AppStore description it allows users to see their remaining minutes and texts and their tariff, bolt-ons and calling plan prices. Those with a Pay Monthly contract can view recent charges (e.g. premium texts and roaming charges) and view bill summaries and payment dates.

This is all very nice in theory. In practise, however, it is somewhat different…

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Pageonce’s Mobile Minutes Tracker has been updated to add/fix pretty much all of the features/bugs that let it down in our recent comparison with Mobile Allowance. The AppStore update text states the following have been added: warning for when your current usage is predicted to breach your allowance, automatic support for multiple contracts, automatic refresh when the ap loads, improved response time, current spending information now available and suport for long usernames and business accounts.

Most UK iPhone owners will be on O2 (yes, we know about jailbreaking and unlocking, but for most general users…) and there are two apps that have been around for some time that help you keep track your remaining monthly allowance. These only work for standard customers (i.e. not business accounts) with a monthly contract. The two apps in question are ‘Mobile Allowance‘ and ‘Mobile Minutes Tracker‘ and here at Wired4iPhone we have put the two apps up against each other for a good, old-fashioned face-off!

Considering that neither app adds anything new to your life that you cannot already gain by logging in to the O2 website it is only fair that both cost a very reasonable 59p. While they don’t add anything new, they do however put everything into a simple, easy to access app on your iPhone – which is always faster than going to the O2 website!

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I came across this app after reading a tweet from guitarist/drummer Ethan Luck. He had posted some rather cool looking, retro ‘polaroids’ on his blog that were created by the iPhone app, Polarize. I had a quick look in the AppStore and was more than pleasantly surprised to see that the app was free!

Basically, the app takes an existing photo (or it can create a new one from the iPhone’s camera) and plays with the colours, darkens the edges (an effect known as a vignette) and puts it in a shiny white ‘polaroid’ frame. You can even write on a caption (14 characters max) before saving it to your photo roll. There is also a FlickR group where your creations an be shared.

Read on to see some samples…

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Apple Remote

If you have an Apple TV or even some remote speakers connected to your iTunes application on your Mac, then you will know that it is quite tricky trying to control it to get the content you really want.

Apple have developed an iPhone application to overcome some of those limitations: Remote.

Apple TV remote

Apple Remote connects to either your Apple TV or iTunes using WiFi.  This then allows your iPhone to act as a remote controller for your device.

You can connect to a number of devices or iTunes Libraries, but only one is active at any one time.  To make the initial connection you need to authorise the iPhone on the Apple TV of iTunes library so you cant just find Apple TVs around you and start to control them…

Once connected you have pretty much full functionality for an iTunes library, being able to browse by playlist, artist or album.  You can also tap on the search to find the particular item you want.

Apple Remote more options

Tapping on the more icon presents the menu shown to the left.  This provides control of some of the lesser used features of the iTunes library.  From here you can gain access to your video collection, podcasts and TV shows.

In fact this just about mirrors the functionality that you can find in iTunes, and this is great for controlling the iTunes on your computer, but less so for the Apple TV.

In fact for the Apple TV the whole application is really back to front.  The controls for movies are hidden behind a couple of taps.  That is not to say that Remote is not useful, more that is it not as useful as it could be.

The Apple TV has many more functions than the iTunes Library on your computer, and none of these are catered for.  Remote cannot be used as a substitute for the little remote control provided with your Apple TV.  Even the very basic minimum of adding a dial control and text entry would make this a far better application.

Available from the Apple Appstore as a free application

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