Cinnamon Hollow Reviews

Brand New! Murphy USA App review. #murphyusa #smrterdriver

February 27, 2012 By Crystal 1 Comment

For the better part of the last month, I have been testing out a brand new version of the Murphy USA app, available in both the Android Market and Apple iTines Market.

The Murphy USA app offers several great features with improvements being added regularly. Some improvements include a whole new design and color combo which is very attractive, in my opinion. I love the red and blue and think it makes it very easy on the eyes and east to navigate. All the features are in a vertical line. So you’re not having to hunt for what you want to do with the app. With it, you can compare gas prices of nearby stations, no matter where you are. You can also pay directly from your phone using Murphy USA handy Murpay service, track your miles per gallon and cost per gallon and store your favorite gas stations for quick looks at their current prices.

Using the GPS feature on my phone, it quickly found several nearby gas stations. The first couple of times I used it, the app found several local gas stations right off the bat. The last time I used it, though it only found one nearby station. So that was a little disheartening but I’m wondering if maybe my GPS wasn’t just acting up that day? Along with the one station it found then, it also found a few in neighboring counties which was actually pretty helpful because not only could I tell what our local Murphy USA gas station price was, I was also able to check the stations in the next county over. That was helpful because I was headed in that direction anyway, the next nearest station was only a few miles past mine and the gas was a few cents cheaper. So I waited to fill up there and saved money in the process! AWESOME!

I also love that if I’m in a hurry, I can use the Murpay service and pay directly from my phone. I can decide before I ever leave the house how much I want to pay, get in, pump my gas and be done with it. As a mother with kids in tow, this is extremely handy.

The photo above shows that you can Enroll in Offers but I am not seeing that on my version of the app so I haven’t been ab;e to utilize that feature yet but I think it will be very helpful. Who doesn’t love to save money and receive special offers? I know I do.

Overall, it’s a really handy app to have and I can’t wait to see future improvements and hopefully, continue to participate in the testing!

Follow along on Twitter using the hashtags: #murphyusa and #smrterdriver

Disclosure: I participated in paid testing of the Murphy USA app as a member of Smarter Driver Community. All opinions are my own.

Astroslugs for #iPad. Slimy but fun!

October 14, 2011 By Crystal 3 Comments

I have been reviewing one of the cutest iPad game apps. It is called Astroslugs.

Astroslugs is a puzzle game for iOs devices. You use your finger to trace out the tasks. It starts out fairly easy but the farther you get, the harder it gets. You may have to complete 1 square, 3 diagonals, etc. all in one puzzle. I made it to the last task and had to clear the board and start over several times!

Those slimy little slugs get trickier and trickier but you can earn energy and Game Center achievements as you go along. The game is addictive. I couldn’t stop playing it. The kids kept asking for their turn but I didn’t want to give up! hahaha. It is really fun and actually quite calming. The background music, if you choose to listen to it, is calming and solving the puzzles is a great way to unwind. I played it when we got back from vacation. For some reason, I’m always wound up when we get home from a trip and Astroslugs helped me to relax and rest. It was great!

Check out my quick little video below and the full release trailer from Astroslugs below that.

Here is the release trailer from Astroslugs:

Astroslugs is available on the App Store from here: (Apple iPad®) $3.99 – http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/astroslugs-hd/id442411315?mt=8

Disclosure: I received this review as a member of the Game Review Network, no compensation was received. All opinions are my own.

Filed Under: iPhone/iPad App Reviews Tagged With: astroslugs, astroslugs review, ipad, ipad app review, ipad game review, technology

Post-it PopNotes iPad/iPhone App Review.

September 2, 2011 By Crystal Leave a Comment

I ♥ Apps! They come in all shapes and colors and you can find one for pretty much any need imaginable. I especially ♥ organizational apps. I also ♥ Post-It Notes. Those sticky little reminders that I can place all over my house for the entire family to be reminded of important tasks. Imagine my excitement when I found out two of my greatest organization tools have joined together! I heard angels singing and harps playing. {{{AHHHHHH!}}}}} Joy!

Post-It has created the Post-it PopNotes App, currently for iPad and iPhone but coming soon for Android and Windows phones. This cool app lets you create virtual Post-It notes and either keep them all for yourself OR share them with your friends or locals. Locals? Yup! You can set your notes so that only you can see them. You can set your notes so that your PopNotes friends can see them. And you can set your notes so that anyone local, who has the app, can view them/ This would be a FANTASTIC way to advertise a yard sale or other public event. You can set a reminder and also an expiration. If you have an event in one month, you can set the app to remind you and then expire itself afterwards so you can set it and forget it. You can also track reviews and recommendations left by other users within 500 yards of your location with the interactive map. So cool!

: Set who can view your PopNote

Here are some screenshots of the PopNotes App in actions. View the thumbnails below and then read the notes for each photo below that:

There is a navigation menu along the bottom where you can “write” with you finger or stylus, type your text, choose one of three font sizes and lastly, choose the color of your note.
There are 3 sizes of fonts but I’ve noticed you can only enter up to eight lines of text with any of the sizes. You can, however, “write” in the additional space with your finger or stylus.
View each single note with a listing of them all along the left side.
View all of your notes as if they were on a pin board.
In the 4th photo you can see I was able to create an invitation for my PopNotes friends to see, a shopping list, text, a note with text and a doodle, and just writing with my stylus.

View your friends notes on the local map

You can create PopNotes in 9 different colors including:

3M Yellow
Neon Green
Aqua Marine
Neon Orange
Canary
Electric Blue
Poppy
Fuschia
Concord

Likes:

I love how easy this app is and have found it very useful. I like being able to set reminders and expiration dates.
I also like being able to see all my notes at once or sort through them on the left side of the screen.
I love the colors and that I could color code my notes if I chose to use them that way.
I LOVE that you can type and write/draw on them. This make it so user-friendly, being able to customize them.

Dislikes: I can’t really call these dislikes, just additions I would love to see added.

It seems to be limited in the amount of corrections you can make on the writing portion. If I drew a doodle and then decide to correct all but the first part, I couldn’t. It only let me “undo” 3 or 4 times. I also don’t see a way to edit a note once you have published it.
I would like to be able to go back and edit details that might change without having to create a whole new note.
The last thing I would like to see changed is setting the location. I can only set it to a local location. I’d love to be able to create a note for, say, an upcoming vacation in another state. It would be neat to set that city as the location along with a date and time of your arrival. If you are meeting friends there, then you could all share the note.
I’d like to be able to change the font size on different portions of each note, not just the entire note. And different fonts would be cool too!

Overall, I am really loving this app and even with the additions I’d like to see, it is still super handy and makes creating notes a breeze! The very best part…. it’s completely FREE! I can’t wait for the Android version to come out so I can put it on my phone as well. I hope you can sync between the two versions!!!

Post-it® PopNotes – 3M Company is available at the iTunes store.

Price: FREE

Disclosure: Although this app is free, I was asked to write a review. No monetary compensation was received, although I do usually charge a small fee for sponsored posts. I enjoy sharing free iOs/Android apps with my family and friends. All opinions are strictly my own.

Filed Under: Free iPad/iPhone Apps, iPhone/iPad App Reviews, Tech/Gadgets Tagged With: apple store, free ipad 2 apps, free ipad apps, imovie app, iOS, iOS apps, ipad 2 apps, ipad apps, ipadapps, iphone apps, itunes, paypal app, popnotes, popnotes app, post-it notes, post-it notes app, talkatone app, technology

Let’s Cook iOS App by Chef Fabio Viviani & Bertolli Olive Oil Review.

August 31, 2011 By Crystal Leave a Comment

I love to cook, but let’s face it, we can all use some help in the kitchen from time to time. I love scouring cook books and recipe sites for new ideas. But something new that has come my way are apps! I have an Android phone and an iPad 2 so I’m experiencing the best of both worlds, lately, when it comes to the fab apps out there.

One, in particular, is the ‘Let’s Cook’ iOS App by Chef Fabio Viviani. Inside the iPhone/iPad app, Chef Viviani has an assortment of cooking videos featuring Bertolli Olive Oil, that you can watch directly on the app.

The recipes are categorized by things like Appetizers, Poultry, Desserts, Pasta & Pizza, Vegetarian etc. In this section, you can find complete step-by-step recipes. In the top, there is a navigation menu that lets you add the recipe to your recipe box, share it, view a map of the app or return to the home page to access more recipes or videos. There are also facts about Bertolli Olive Oil.

I can’t wait to go through and try all the ones that appeal to my family. It is a great app with some really yummy recipes. And Chef Viviani isn’t bad to look at or listen to, which makes it even more enjoyable!

‘Let’s Cook’ iOS App by Chef Fabio Viviani is available in the iTunes store.

Retail: $0.99

Click HERE to purchase this great cooking app!

Disclosure: I wrote this review while participating in a Blog Friendly PR campaign on behalf of Bertolli Olive Oil and the ‘Let’s Cook’ iOS App by Chef Fabio Viviani. Samples were provided so I could provide my honest opinion.

Filed Under: iPhone/iPad App Reviews, Tech/Gadgets Tagged With: Bertolli Olive Oil, Chef Fabio Viviani, cooking, cooking app, iOs app, ipad, ipad app, ipad2, Let's Cook iOS App, recipe app, Recipes, Review, technology

Baby Monkey (Going Backwards On A Pig) – the iPhone/iPad game!

August 11, 2011 By Crystal 1 Comment

Have you seen the Baby Monkey (Going Backwards On A Pig) YouTube video? It is a super cute video, that has gone viral, of a little baby monkey literally riding backwards on a pig. (video embedded below) Well, now there is also a Baby Monkey (Going Backwards on a Pig) iOS Game!

When Kihon Games‘ Creative Director, Dan Kopycienski, saw his daughters obsessively watching the video, the idea for the game struck him. The game is available on iPhone, iPod and iPad. I had the very fun opportunity to review the iPad app with my family.

The game is so cute and really fun but actually a little hard! The little monkey sits backwards on the pig who begins to run automatically. As the pig is running, you have to jump your monkey to reach bananas in the air. You also have to jump the monkey to avoid obstacles and jump the pig over ditches. You also meet animals and creatures along the way. To jump them, you simply tap your screen. Sounds easy enough but the game moves pretty fast so it takes some practice. This is a great game to help teach your children (and you) better eye-hand coordination because you really have to watch and move quickly. I pretty much stink at this game. Seriously. I just can’t seem to get that little pig/monkey combo very far. I always fall off. My 4 year old? Yeah, she did better than me and made it much further on her first try! So I don’t think it is a super hard game, I think I’m just not super coordinated. hahaha. Either way, I sure am having fun trying!

My 4 year old, 7 year old and even my 11 year old are all having a blast making the monkey jump and trying to gather all the bananas without falling off the pig.

Using a two-button system that is easy for all ages, “Baby Monkey” offers a variety of features, including:

- Dynamically created areas that ensure each play session is unique
- Tons of entertaining obstacles including: Nom Nom Hamsters, Toxic Waste, and even a Space Unicorn
- Original Music by Parry Gripp!
- Challenge your friends with the Game Center Leaderboard!
- Earn Achievements for collecting bananas, points, and reaching new areas
- Speed and difficulty increases with time to take this fast-paced survival game to a thrilling new level
- In-game tutorial makes it easy and entertaining for all ages
- iCade Support!
- Easy to play, hard to master, addicting as Swedish Fish

The Baby Monkey (Going Backwards On A Pig) Game App is available in the iTunes App store. ($0.99)
Created by: Kihon Games

Here is the YouTube video that struck the idea for this darling game:

We had so much fun playing this game. The kids want to play it over and over. And I do too so I can see if I can make it past the first level!!!

Disclosure: A complimentary app code was received for review purposes. No monetary compensation was received. All opinions are my own and/or that of family members facilitating this review. Read our full disclosure policy here.