Many users stubbornly refuse to spend even a buck on an app even those who routinely dropped $3 for ringtones on their old dumbphones as if a sacred principle were at stake. (Sorry, folks, ringtones are just primitive apps, which means you vastly overpaid for them.)
For these people, and for the many others who would love to load their phones with fun stuff but cannot afford it, apps make great gifts.
In a moment, I ll run down some ideas, but before we get to that, a procedural tip: The equivalent of an iTunes gift card which can buy apps as well as songs does not exist for Android or BlackBerry users. The closest thing is a gift certificate to an online app store like , which covers these two smartphone operating systems, among others.
does not allow companies to sell iTunes gift cards that are designated for specific apps. But, the iTunes App Store lets shoppers Gift This App, wrapping the present in a not-so-lovely e-mail or a printed notification that includes the app s icon and a redemption code. (Next to the Buy App button is a downward-facing arrow. Click and hold that arrow, and you will find the Gift This App link.)
It is not as fun as a bright and shiny iTunes card, but it s not terrible, especially if you choose the apps wisely.
To that end, here are some ideas for friends with iPhones, iPads or Touches. App prices for iPhones and iPod Touches below are the same.
For the sports fan, Sportacular Pro ($2) offers reminders and results for every major sport, without ads. Golfshot: Golf GPS ($30) is a nicely designed and generally accurate finder of golf ranges for the iPhone.
If Major League Baseball offered a way to give its app for next year as a gift, it might well have been among the hottest items of the holiday giving season. Unfortunately, it doesn t.
There is a workaround, of sorts. The at Bat 2010 app is free, since the season is over. If you can live with some uncertainty, print that app s page and include a promise to buy your friend the 2011 version, which should fall in the same price range ($15) as last season s app.
Standard in the 2010 version were in-game audio and video highlights, among many other features. An extra $100 or so will buy access to MLB.TV, which streams live game video to the app. (Again, tread carefully with your promise, since this was last year s price.)
Almost all casual gamers already have Fruit Ninja ($1 for iPhone, $5 for ), Angry Birds ($1 for iPhone, $5 for iPad) and Osmos ($3 for iPhone, $5 for iPad). A more recent winner is Pictureka ($2 for iPhone), which is quickly scaling Apple s best-seller list (for good reason).
Willing to splurge? Try Real Racing ($5 on iPhone, $10 on iPad), which recently added online multiplayer options, Madden NFL 11 ($5 on iPhone, $13 on iPad), or NOVA Near Orbit Vanguard Alliance ($5 on iPhone, $7 on iPad), a great, futuristic first-person shooter. Chaos Rings ($13 for iPhone, $16 for iPad) and Infinity Blade ($6 across the Apple spectrum) are fantasy-warrior epics.
For the science-minded, The Elements ($10 for iPhone, $14 for iPad) offers stunning graphics and entertaining yes, entertaining chemistry tutorials. Star Walk ($3 for iPhone, $5 for iPad) will awaken your inner astronomer. Weather watchers will like Weather Channel Max ($4 for iPhone).
For music lovers, start with SoundHound ($5 for all Apple devices), which identifies songs it hears (or you hum). Next, choose between Pandora (which I use on my iPad) or Slacker (my preference for an iPhone). Both are free, but you can improve the gift with a subscription to the upgraded services, which feature no advertising and unlimited song skipping. For Pandora, the annual subscription is $36; for Slacker, it is $48.
Fitness-minded iPhone users will appreciate + GPS ($2), which tracks and aids your running workouts. For yogis, All-in ($2) includes 200 poses and tutorials. Aspiring hard-bodies will like iFitness ($2 on iPhone, $5 on iPad), which helps users with a broad list of fitness goals.
Cooks might enjoy one of the popular celebrity recipe guides, like Cooks ($5 on iPhone and iPad), Cook With Me ($5 on iPhone, $8 on iPad), or How to Cook Everything from Mark Bittman of The New York Times ($5 for iPhone). Weber s On the Grill ($5 for iPhone and iPad) is another solid choice.
For more serious cooks, a shoot-the-moon alternative is Cook s Illustrated. The app is free and includes 50 of the publication s best recipes, but for a $35 annual gift membership to , the app opens the magazine s entire trove of recipes.
Aesthetes need Art Authority ($8 for iPhone, $10 for iPad), which is perhaps best described as a mobile art-history course, including high-resolution images of more than 50,000 works. Musicians, meanwhile, need NanoStudio ($15), a powerful but intuitive recording app.
What about books? There must surely be a way to give an iPhone or iPad user a copy of the new best seller, to read with the free , Kindle or Kobo apps, right?
Wrong. Apple has no way to do this, at least not yet.
The best alternative in the meantime is Shakespeare Pro ($10), which includes every known word written by the Bard and memorable quotes from his works, among many other features.
By the time your friend is finished with that, Apple will have hopefully figured out how to give an e-book away maybe even in time for the next holiday season.
Quick Calls
InstantMeeting ($3 for Android and BlackBerry) scans a user s calendar for conference calls and, at the appointed time, dials the number (including meeting codes). Download at . … Vocoo, a new and free app for Android and iPhone, lets you record your voice over any song you own. Dial down the vocal level and insert yours. After the 10th song, each tune is a dollar. … Smule, the maker of Ocarina and I Am T-Pain, has a new app, Magic Fiddle ($3), that turns an iPad into a violin.
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