10 iPhone Apps for Sports Freaks

Lisa Hoover — Wed, 18 Feb 2009 19:00:45 +0000

Back in the day, you used to have to count the hours until your favorite sports team took the field or court, and there was precious little to do in between games. Fortunately, now there are a metric ton of apps in the App Store that help you while away the hours until tipoff or first pitch. Here are my top 10 favorite.

Baseball (free)

If you follow baseball, then you know half the fun of the game is talking about player stats. When a player steps up to the plate, guesses on what they are about to do are largely based on what they did during their last at bat, last game, and last season. Keep statistics on each player right at your fingertips with Baseball. Stats go back as far as 1871 so the next time you’re having a friendly argument about whether Evan Longoria is the next George Brett, you’ll have hard, cold data to back you up.

NFL Live (99 cents)

Predictably, there are around eleven billion football apps in the App Store. I’ve probably tried most of them, but my top pick for this category is NFL Live. It corrals all the news from ESPN, Yahoo! Sports, and Fox Sports in one place and even features offline browsing. NFL Live tracks scores in real-time and also allows you to email links right from the App.

Soccer Now (free)

Though soccer fans are constantly overshadowed by the NFL (the other football) in the U.S., that’s not the case in the App Store. There are loads of great options for soccer enthusiasts to choose from, but my favorite is Soccer Now. It tracks scores and news from both Major League Soccer (MLS) and the English Premier League. Use it to access schedules, check team rosters, and even interact online with other soccer fans.

Fanball.com Fantasy News and Updates (free)

Hardcore sports fans spend a day or so grieving over the end of the season, then immediately start planning their fantasy teams for the following year. Fanball.com has released an app that gives in-depth player news for NFL, MLB, NHL, and the NBA. It’s updated every single day of the year to provide fantasy team owners with the latest on injuries, trades, and cuts. This app also includes a section called “Our View” where Fanball.com staff gives opinions on how news affects fantasy players.

Races! Plus (99 cents)

Whether you’re into NASCAR, Indy, Formula One, or even your local auto racing teams, you’ll find the information you need with Races! Plus. This app lists events by type, venue, day of the week, or general geographic location. Use Races! Plus to mark the events or locations you’re partial to as favorites, get news for all the major auto races, and even publish information about your local event so fans can find you.

EZ Gps Golf Lite (free)

It would be easy to create an app designed exclusively to report golf scores and standings, but EZ Gps Golf Lite gets my vote for best golf app because of its ingenuity. After you’ve clobbered the ball across the green and then walked (or driven your cart) to it, this app uses your iPhone’s integrated GPS to figure out what the distance of your last drive was and how far it is to the next green. Some golf courses are pre-loaded or you can create your own right at the developers’ Web site.

Pro Hockey Insider (99 cents)

This app for hockey fans stands out from the others because is has video highlights from past games (shouldn’t that be a standard feature in all pro sport apps?). Pro Hockey Insider also gives you access to news from around the league, player stats, schedules, and team standings.

Pro Basketball Scores (free)

This handy app tracks scores, news, and player stats for all the teams in the NBA. It’s a rather basic app, but it has a cool native chat feature that lets you talk with other fans during games. Plus, you can designate teams as favorites so you can access their scores with one click.

iTeam ($1.99)

If you’re on a local sports team or coach little league, you know it’s tough to track contact info and important data on the players. Use iTeam to keep everything organized in one place, including game schedules, results, and history. iTeam will even automatically email team members important game information. This app supports baseball, hockey, and football teams of course, but it even helps you manage cricket, lacrosse, and rugby teams as well.

The Score (free)

If you’re a mulitfaceted fan who keeps track of lots of sports, you must get The Score. This free app tracks scores in near real-time for everything from football and baseball (pro and college), to soccer and golf. The Score also offers news headlines sorted by league, player stats, and even betting odds in case you’re into making friendly wagers.

This list only scratches the surface of all that are available in the App Store. What are your favorites? Let me know in the comments.

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Aqua Hoops: Digital Water-Bubble Basketball

Jenny Kortina — Thu, 25 Sep 2008 22:57:29 +0000

Finding an iPhone game that I really enjoy is a tough task. I like games that fit some basic criteria: they must be easy to play with intuitive controls (pick up and play), they need some type of scoring system so I can compare scores with friends or set personal records, and each “round” can be no longer than a few minutes. So far, the best games that I have found and that fit my criteria are: PapiJump, Brain Tuner, Dactyl, and the freshly launched Aqua Hoops.

Aqua hoops is an electronic version of one of my favorite childhood toys: the water tank basketball game where you push the buttons to shoot air at the basketballs to make them go into the hoops. Features of the electronic version include:

Real underwater feel
Tilt sensitive physics
Simulated air bubbles
7 tiny little plastic* basketballs
3 plastic hoops (not real plastic)
Multiple gameplay modes: Free play, One minute drill, Three minute drill
Keeps track of your best score for each mode

I really like Aqua Hoops for several reasons, the main one being that it nails the gameplay. I feel like I am five again, holding the water tank toy and shooting air at the balls to propel them towards the goals. Along with the realism, Aqua Hoops delivers a perfect pick and play aspect: the first time I tried it I knew exactly what to do, without reading instructions or having a friend explain it. My favorite mode is the one minute drill in which you try to score as many points as you can in a one minute time frame. I also love the fact that Aqua Hoops doesn’t hijack your phone’s sound so you can still listen to your iPod while playing (a feature that should be an option in all applications).

As much as a I love the game, I do have one gripe: the high scores aren’t defaulted to zero, but are instead set ridiculously high. I like setting my own high score, and trying to beat it each time. Other than that one complaint, which could easily be fixed with an update, I love Aqua Hoops and I am looking forward to more games from the developer.

Aqua Hoops is available in the App store now for $0.99.