My favorite iPad/iPhone Apps of 2010

Over the last few days I have been trying to draft a clever post involving the typical end of the year "Top 10..." but I couldn't come up with anything...so I am finally writing the post I have been wanting to write for months. And now since I am the proud owner of an iPad (that hasn't left my side since I opened it Christmas morning) I figured I would share with you my favorite applications for both the iPad and the iPhone.

Drumroll please....Mama J's Top 11 iPad/iPhone apps of 2010 are...

Fuzzle's Holiday Version

11. Fuzzle/Fling: Ok so I ruined this list already by combining two games, Fuzzle and Fling, in one list, but since they are made by the same people I figured I would combine them into one. These crazy addicting puzzle games are tons of fun and don't use a ton of brain power so they are perfect for playing before bed, or while waiting in the drive through land at Starbucks, or while in the bathroom doing your business. And you can play them with one hand, so there is that too.

10. Weight Watchers: So I haven't gotten much use out of this app as I have been eating everything in site as of late, but upon my return to Boston tomorrow I will be back on points, so I will be using this all day. It is a crazy convenient way to track your points on the go, calculate points, and look up recipes if you are at the grocery store

Scrabble on iPad

9. Scrabble: Not much to say about this one, as you all know what it is. Even better on the iPad.

8. IMDB: This is one of my go-to apps. I am always trying to figure out "who's that guy from that movie..." so this is a popular one on my phone. It has a cool layout on the iPad...and it is free...so get it, you will use it.

7. Friendly (Facebook): I don't know if this is the official iPad Facebook app, but this is the one I downloaded for my iPad. It is very user-friendly and the set-up is really nice. I like it much more than the Facebook app I have on my iPhone. Much easier to navigate all around Facebook - which I do too often for any normal person.

6. Shutterfly for iPhone: Unfortunately they don't have an HD version of this for the iPad (yet) but if you use Shutterfly to share your photos, this is a great app to have. I use this to transfer my favorite photos from my albums already on Shutterfly to my iPad/Phone. You can also upload directly from your phone to the albums. Hopefully soon they will allow you to edit your Shared Sites on your phone, but not just yet.

5. Interactive Alphabet Flash Cards: This was a new application I downloaded on the iPad for Marlo, and it is crazy cool. It took her a little bit to warm up to it, but now she loves it. You go through every letter of the alphabet and it sounds it out, and along side the letter there is an interactive graphic. For example, Z is for Zipper, allows you to pull the zipper up and down and B is for Beach allows you to build a sand castle, and make the sun set...it is really neat.

4. Angry Birds: Voted the best gaming application of the year, this addictive, hysterical, charming, intelligent game deserves all the praise it gets. I am sure you already have it, but if you don't get it, play it, love it, kill those ugly pigs.

3. Baby Music: Marlo has music in her soul. Anytime she hears music she shakes her bum and claps her hands, and if she is the one making it, all the better. This application allows her to either play the piano, bongo drum, xylophone, or strum the harp. She loves sitting on my lap and smacking my iPad screen and watching the little graphics bounce around in time with her drumming...every kid will.

Plane Madness!!

2. Flight Control: This game is the reason my father purchased an iPad when it first came out, and I hate him and love him for introducing me to it. Hate him, because I have wasted more time playing this game (first on his iPad, then in a smaller version on my iPhone and now on my iPad), but love him for showing it to me because it is the best game ever. It is simply a game where you have to guide plains to land safely on their corresponding color coded landing strips...sounds simple, but it is anything but. I thought I was so super cool when I landed 120 planes in one game, only to find out the high score was something like 24,349. That person must have more free time than I do...but most people do!

1. Kindle for iPhone/iPad: When Amazon first introduced the Kindle I thought it would be something along the lines of Laser Discs. I said I would never choose to read a book on an electronic reader over holding a book in my hand. Then I read the first Twilight book, and wanted instant gratification and to start the second immediately, so I succumbed and downloaded the app on my iPhone...and I haven't looked back yet. And on the iPad, with the large screen, it is just like reading a paper book. I have read so much more this last few years because of this application. It makes going on vacation so much easier because gone are the days of packing multiple heavy books. Now I just  download them straight to the palm of my hand. In the past 10 days I read all three Hunger Games (highly recommend!) books on my iPad and didn't need to go anywhere to get them, or worry about finishing them in time to return them to the library. You pay anywhere from $4 to $9 for newer more recent books (most classics are free and older books are around $2-$3), but I think it is worth every penny. You can even get kids books on there, so if you are in a pinch and your kid loves to read you can entertain them with a tap of the finger.