Bendable Media

I suspect I’ll make iPhone app recommendations a reoccurring feature here. Hence, the dull — yet specific — headline. The next version might offer six or maybe eight app recommendations, but I think you’ll agree the clever use of a date in the headline will hold this series together.

App Store icon

The five iPhone apps reviewed:

IMDb, an app version of the popular IMdb.com movie database.

AroundMe, a location tool that, um, finds stuff around you.

Wilco, an app that streams the Chicago band’s entire catalog.

Police radio Chicago, a police scanner for your iPhone.

Sheep launcher free, a fun and addictive game. The boy’s favorite app.

The snapshot reviews:

IMDb: If you love movies, film trivia or just want to know who “that guy” is in a particular film, you’ll want IMDb (the Internet movie database) on your iPhone. It’s likely you’ve used IMDb on your PC at some point, but making it mobile is more useful. It’s easier to settle a bar bet, of course. But the best part of this app besides a treasure trove of Hollywood information (this producer attended my Bar Mitzvah), is that it includes movie times and driving directions (via connection to the iPhone’s map app) based on your location. For some reason, the IMDb app also includes a TV schedule to tell you what’s on the major networks. No cable listings, though, the only downer here. Free

AroundMe: This app, which uses the iPhone’s GPS magic, finds the stuff in your general vicinity that comes in handy. Where Yelp and Urbanspoon have more of an entertainment and eating focus, AroundMe finds the practical stuff we often need — ATMs, coffee shops, gas stations, hospitals, parking lots and even Apple retail stores. Plus, you can search for things. A search for “toilet handle” returned the local Home Depot — with driving directions — but a search for sledding hills only turned up a single result.  It needs some work, but AroundMe is handy for your neighborhood and road trips. Free

Wilco: This app is not for die-hard fans of the Chicago-based band, although they will be quite pleased. Rather, it’s a great app to discover the band or just listen to a favorite song. Indeed, the strength of this app is that you can stream every song from the Wilco catalog, so if you want to hear “Box Full Of Letters” from Wilco’s classic A.M. or the lovely “You And I” from 2009′s Wilco (the album), just tap the app. Simple to use, with little iPhone-like icons to display the band’s albums. The app mirror’s Wilco’s web site but you can’t listen to songs from Wilco (the album) on the site — but you can with the app. Free

Police radio Chicago: Here’s what I wrote about this app for the January issue of Chicago magazine: You could spend $200 at Radio Shack for a police scanner or drop $4.99 for this iPhone app. Sure, a proper scanner is in order if you’re addicted to cop chatter but if you’re just a crime voyeur, this will get the job done. The biggest drawback with Police Radio Chicago is that you have no control of what you can tune in. Rather, the app randomly picks up feeds from the city’s 13 police dispatch zones and the neighborhoods those cover, jumping from Galewood to Auburn Gresham at will. That can be frustrating as you can’t stay tuned to a particular zone to find out if a cop’s suspicion of “blood in the car” is true. On the other hand, listening as the app spins around Chicago’s problem spots is a fascinating, and sometimes depressing, time waster. $4.99

Sheep launcher free: This app currently has a Santa theme but I suspect it will return to flying sheep soon enough. No matter, launching sheep or Santa is equally entertaining. The object is to keep the subject floating and flying ever higher. It is mindless fun but sometimes that’s what you want in a game. Everyone who plays Sheep launcher loves the game, including the wife. A drawback: the free version is filled with ads. A 99-cent “plus” version is available and one assumes it is without ads. Free

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