Green iPhone Apps Reviewed. Part 2: Paid Apps

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If you missed Green iPhone Apps Reviewed Part 1: Free Apps, you can see it here. After my first batch of reviews on the free green iPhone apps, I have gotten some great suggestions on green apps. If you have any you you would like to see reviewed, you can comment here, head over to my website www.danielhohler.com, or twitter me @danielhohler. I am not a hard man to find. I have already gotten a whole new batch that people would like to hear about, so it looks like by popular demand there will be green iPhone apps part 3, so stay tuned here on planetsave.com.

iPhone apps are sweeping the nation. For those of us who own iPhones, we know just how useful a good app can be. The problem is that there are so many apps floating around, finding a really good app is like finding the proverbial needle in the haystack. However, don’t fret. I am here to pick up all of those straws of hay and tell you if indeed they are hay, or maybe just maybe, a needle. Or with less metaphor, I’ll try them and tell you if they are any good.

Part 2: Paid Apps

GreenSpot by Martian Technology

Price: $1.99 (There is a free add supported version)

iTunes Rating: 1/5

The Skinny: Daily place for news, views, and podcasts on Sustainability Living.

My Review: GreenSpot is a news aggregator, but unlike mission zero, this doesn’t search the bloggisphere. It searches for green news on mainstream news sources like AP, NY Times, and USA Today. It also aggregates green podcasts, which is a nice feature if you like podcasts. I don’t know why the iTunes rating is so low, I assume earlier versions were buggy, or maybe it’s because there is a free version as well. Since there is a free version, I don’t think this one is worth the $1.99, unless you just really hate advertisements.

My Rating: 2.5/5

iGreen by LucidOne Communications

Price: $0.99

iTunes Rating: 3/5

The Skinny: Keep up to date with all the latest green tech.

My Review: Go Green is basically just an RSS reader pre-installed with green tech blogs. It has a nice layout and is simple to use, but if you know how to use an RSS reader (of which there are many free ones on the iPhone) this one won’t do much for you. Only buy this one if you have no idea what I just said, or are just far too lazy to type in your own RSS feeds. It is only a buck.

My Rating: 2.5/5

Park Explorer by Sam Vanderhyden

Price: $0.99

iTunes Rating: 2/5

The Skinny: Enables you to explore parks and green spaces around you.

My Review: Good idea, good layout, good functions… bad park listings. This app has a lot of potential, it allows you to find parks in your area, tells you where the park is, the available activities at the park, when the park is open, and the park website. All of which I like a lot. However, when I checked my area only 1 major park came up. There are at least 10 parks of various sizes that are closer to me than the one it came up with. Still, if you are in an unfamiliar area and are hard up to go exploring. Give it a try. It’s only a buck. I hope the database get’s updated soon, then I can give it a higher rating.

My Rating: 3/5

Geocaching by Groundspeak inc.

iTunes Rating: 4.5/5

Price: $9.99

The Skinny: Geocaching is a global treasure hunting game where participants locate hidden containers, called geocaches, and share their experience online.

My Review: I’m usually pretty thrifty with my cash, hey I’m a student, but this is the very first app I actually paid money for. The verdict: I heart geocaching. If you follow me on twitter (shameless plug: www.twitter.com/danielhohler)  you will see my geocaches pop up on occasion. You don’t have to have this app, and I am sure there are old geocaching veterans out there saying: “damn kids and their iPhone apps, in my day we geocached with a paper map and a compass,” but this app makes the experience so much easier. You can find caches around you, navigate to them, see the geocache log books, and get hints to the location. Some of you might wonder why this is green, and my answer is, I have just hiked through parks, up montains, and through rivers I would have never have experienced without geocaching. The fun of the game is great motivation to go out, see the world, and adventure. My only nitpick is I wish the app used the built in compass from the iPhone 3GS, still a minor complaint that can be circumvented by using the option to view on google maps.

My Rating: 4.75/5

Remember. Stay tuned on planetsave.com for more iPhone app reviews.

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