Halloween is on the horizon; this means candy, pumpkins, costumes, candy, and smartphone apps. And more candy. There is a wide selection of apps for iPhone, BlackBerry, and Android platforms, and they range from time-killers for kids to helpful tools for parents. Let’s take a look at some of each.
If you have children who don’t like car rides or who behave abysmally at restaurants while waiting for their food, Carve It for iPhone is a great, and seasonal, solution. With Carve It, your child can “carve” his own pumpkin any time he wants. The almost-full screen pumpkin waits for your child to use his fingertips to carve a face. They can save it and share via email. This is 99 cents, and worth its weight in gold for waiting rooms. BlackBerry offers Jack-O-Lantern, a similar type of app that allows you to change the jack-o-lantern’s face. This is free.
Another free app for Android users is the Halloween Android Theme. Your home screen will be full of creepy zombies, ghosts, and vortexes of doom.
If you have an iPhone or Touch, get GhostCam. It is the best 99 cents you will ever spend, and you can freak your friends and family out. GhostCam overlays a faint, ghostly image over any picture on your device. You can snap a photo of a friend and then appear shocked. This works best if you’re watching a horror movie or with someone squeamish.
Now on to the helpful. iLumination is a free app for iPhone, Touch, and iPad that acts as a flashlight. It also includes ultralight, strobe light, and Morse code modes. If you would prefer that your child carry around a phone worth several hundred dollars instead of a $10 flashlight, this is the perfect app for you.
Trick-or-Tracker is Droid app that is free until November 2. When installed into both parent and child’s phones, it locates the child with a simple button touch. Parents can also get updates about their child’s location. This and the $4 Sex Offender Search app and 99 cent Sex Offender Tracker for iPhone are geared towards parents who fear the real monsters on Halloween.
There are some great apps available: stock up on yours before Halloween.