It should come as no surprise that the App Store is chock full of apps that appeal to geeks. Who do you think is making them in the first place? But aside from the obvious must-haves, like Lightsaber or Angry Birds, separating the good from the bad is a daunting task. These five iPhone apps are a good place to start.
Rimshot & Crickets
This free app is simple. It’s a big red button. Press it, and one of four selected sounds play: rimshot (Bah-DUM-dum CHING), crickets (chirp chirp chirp), trombone (WAH-WAH-WAHHHHH) or golf clap. Why is this a geeky must-have? Geeks love bad jokes and puns. The next time one of your humorously challenged friends fails at being funny, you’ll be ready. The real challenge is being prepared to use it. It’s not nearly as clever if it takes you 30 seconds to pull your iPhone out of your pocket or purse, get the app up and push the button. But if your friends are anything like mine, you’ll have this one on sleep mode, ready to go at a moment’s notice.
Guidebook
Formerly known as Conventionist, Guidebook offers event organizers, trade shows and museums a handy platform to digitize their maps, guides and schedules for attendees. My favorite sci-fi con, Arisia(held in Boston every January) used it for the first time in 2011. I cannot tell you how nice it was to not have to carry around a guidebook all weekend. Once I downloaded the guides, everything I needed was right on my iPhone. I could set reminders for specific programming events, so I wouldn’t forget things I wanted to see, and there’s an embedded link to the event’s Twitter feed, if it has one. And it’s not limited to geek-friendly events. Pax Prime used this app for their most recent event, but the University of Southern California also used it for their Welcome Week festivities. If you go to a lot of events, this one is a no-brainer. And it’s free!
Dynamic Dice
There are a ton of free dice rollers, but you often get what you pay for. Mine cost $0.99, and it was well spent. Dynamic Dice provides the look and feel of real gaming dice. Just choose the dice you need (up to ten, from d4s to d20, including a percentile generator), give it a quick shake, and you’re off and going. With five customizable themes (who doesn’t want to roll their dice on a Dragon Skin table?) and over two dozen dice colors and textures, you can make this app as personal as your dice bag.
Horrible Remote
For only $0.99, you too can wield the power of Dr. Horrible! Well, maybe not, but this replica of the remote control featured in Dr. Horrible’s Sing-Along Blog is just fun to have. It doesn’t really do anything except play various sound effects, but like Lightsaber, true geeks know this one is a must-have.
AppAdvice
There are literally hundred of thousands of apps available from the App Store. With this app, wading through them is a lot easier. This app groups everything into categories, and ranks them by ratings, sales and popularity. How is this different from what the App store already does for free? Your $1.99 gets you more specific categories, like tower defense games, Twitter clients, and more. Finding the latest gotta-have-it app will never be easier.