Getting in on the act...

It's very predictable for me to start a new post by exclaiming how long it's been since my last post. Avoiding that common pitfall (whilst simultaneously referencing it), let's move on to something that has been preoccupying my time and that's my lovely new iPhone, yay!

I sent out a twitter update a while back of a sudden urge to have an iPhone. Fortunately, Apple have announced an updated iPhone at the WWDC in June for the last couple of years, so I didn't have long to wait.

Long story short, I now have an awesome iPhone 3Gs which I stoked to have. One great thing about the iPhone is the breadth of the app store where you can install applications (or "apps") onto the device. The problem arises when trying to find the quality in the mountain of offerings already available - often there are several apps that do . To that end, I'm going to get in on the act of app recommendation as that method has developed as a way to counteract the difficulty of finding the needles in the haystack. I'm not claiming to be a definitive source (at least, not yet!)

Recently I've taken up the challenge of learning to drive (which is going well thank you) and as I had left it too long since last passing my theory test, I now had to do it all again. This meant hitting the books, learning my highway code and of course checking out practice questions. I was using a book to go through the questions, covering up the answers with my hand. The two apps below are effectively electronic versions of the practice question books and they're both free! yay!

The Theory Test - Free Edition [FREE!] (Link to App Store)

A simple little app, that offers a fair number of the questions which you may encounter during the theory test itself. This overcomes the potential for myself to cheat by not covering up the answer on the book, or glancing a look as I turn the page. It is possible to browse through the topics or take a mock test - the interface is very clean and simple, there's not a lot of need to do anymore. There is also a pro version available which offers access to over 970 questions for a price of £1.79 at time of writing - a considerable amount more than this free version. After trying a few mock tests, I did find a lot of the questions repeating.

MyLicence Lite - UK Driving Theory Coach [FREE!] (Link to App Store)

This app is very similar to The Theory Test above, allowing to browse the question bank and of course sit a mock test, complete with timer. This app also has a pro version (currently priced £4.99) which gives access to many more questions. When taking the mock tests this app records your previous efforts in terms of incorrect answers so it's pretty cool to see how I've progressed - a plus over the app above. The look of this app is very similar and uses a darker palette, but to be honest it's pretty much the same.

I believe if you were looking for a theory test solution on the iphone, then go for the paid versions to give a much larger range of questions. Myself, I was using these two in conjunction with a practice question book and it seemed to work out ok - I got 50/50 on my theory test a few weeks back (but then again those kinds of tests have never been a problem for me). Perhaps not the most exciting couple of Apps to recommend, but being free it's really easy to give them a try.

I've tried out a few games so I think I'll take a look at some of the instant, "must-have" games. I also still need to make a decision if I'm going to turn these into their own themed posts, and throw the latest up on the right, there's probably no harm...