With it being my most used app, I’ve taken quite a bit of time trying out different add-ons to make the most of iTunes. Below is a listing of 10 apps that I’ve used and feel comfortable saying they’re worth the price you pay for them.

CoverSutra

CoverSutra (previous coverage) is one of my favorite add-ons. It is packed with little features that aren’t immediately apparent when you first start using the app.

A few features include music search, a mini-player, Last.fm integration, keyboard shortcuts, and album cover display.

The $22 price tag seems a tad much, but I’d suggest giving the free trial a run and then deciding for yourself if you can live without it.

Moody

I tend to listen to music based heavily on my current mood, or the mood I’d like to be in. Moody (previous coverage) makes that a piece of cake.

Moody lets you tag your music based on color. The app has a spectrum of 16 different colors to classify your moods. From there, you can pick a combination of colors to create a dynamic playlist based on your mood.

What is even better about this is the fact that it is completely free.

Tangerine

In the same vein as Moody, Tangerine (previous coverage) creates playlists based on the BPM of your songs. So say you wanted to create a playlist for a workout (something more intense with a higher BPM), Tangerine can whip up a playlist for you right on the spot.

Tangerine will set you back $24.95 after the 15-day free trial.

Awaken

I find the sound of a regular alarm clock to be one of the most abrasive and painfully horrible ways to start my day. Awaken helps change that by turning your mac in to an alarm clock.

By tying in to your iTunes library, you can now wake up to something soothing like Sunrise instead of that horrendous, ear-piercing buzzer.

Awaken is well worth the $12.95 (with free updates for life). Give the 14 day free trail a run for the next few mornings and see how you like the change.

Simplify Media

One of the really nice things about living in the dorm rooms back in college was that I had access to the iTunes libraries of hundreds of other iTunes users…effectively expanding my listening options exponentially.

Now that I live in suburbia with no one else on my network except for my wife, I’ve lost that easy access to other music.

Fortunately, Simplify Media (previous coverage) has created a really cool add-on that basically gives you that access back.

All you do is add the username of other Simplify users (who have approved your adding them), and you’ll then be given access to stream their iTunes library just as if it was on your own local network.

Simplify Media is free in every way possible.

Synergy

Synergy is a “classic” iTunes add-on. It has been around for over 5 years and is probably one of the most widely used apps for iTunes.

The latest major release (3.5) was a complete rewrite for Leopard.

Synergy basically adds 3 small buttons to your menubar to give you immediate access to controlling iTunes. It is an affordable $8 and includes a free trial. Be sure to check out the tour.

The Filter

The Filter (previous coverage) is another playlist-creation add-on that almost seems magical.

Simply select a few songs that you are interested in, click on The Filter and an entire playlist is created with other songs you’d probably want to listen to at that point.

The Filter uses “advanced recommendation technology” to create these unique playlists by tying in to The Filter community of other users.

The Filter is free to download and use.

DiscoBrick

I don’t use the iTunes visualizer that much, but sometimes it’s just fun to check out what what your music visually creates.

DiscoBrick takes that one step further and creates some seriously amazing visual effects based on the beat of the music.

DiscoBrick is $10.95 for a single, personal license and up to $55 for a public-use license if you want to use DiscoBrick at parties or other events.

TuneBar

TuneBar picks up where Synergy leaves off. On the surface it’s just a simple iTunes controller. Past that…it’s still an iTunes controller. Ultimately TuneBar is more customizable than Synergy and lets your create your own themes by editing simple HTML.

Is it worth the $4 extra over Synergy? Maybe not. Just depends on how much you’d like to customize your player.

iWow

The iTunes equalizer is quite capable for the majority of iTunes users.

But if the sound controls are quite what you’re looking for, or if you’re looking to make those small headphone or desktop speakers sound better, I’d suggest you check out iWOW.

iWOW is an audio “enhancer”…which basically means it uses different settings and effects to make the audio larger, fuller, and more crisp than what iTunes can do.

iWOW is currently on sale for $19.99 here.

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Whether you’re on your lunch break at work (or not) or if you are just bored one night and can’t sleep…this list should help you cure your boredom.

I’ve compiled 12 apps that do a fantastic job of killing time in just about every way you’d want to. This list includes everything from games to design modifications to monotonous tasks to widgets and more. So get reading and have fun!

CandyBar

URL: http://www.panic.com/candybar/
Amuse yourself for hours on end searching down cool icons to replace your boring default system icons.

CandyBar is the app that lets you easily switch out icons with practically no hassle. This method of time-killing will set you back $12.95.

Garage Band

URL: http://www.apple.com/ilife/garageband/
Apple’s very own GarageBand comes on most new Macs…so there’s a pretty good chance you have it already.

Whether you’re musical or not, it’s a lot of fun to put together loops and then share them folks.)

Photo Booth

URL: http://www.apple.com/imac/isight.html
On man…the fun that can be had with this little gem.

In the past two years or so since Apple began including built-in iSights with their iMac and Macbook(Pro) lines, they quietly began including a little application called Photo Booth that lets you take pictures from your built-in camera or iSight.

The key to good times here are the different effects tabs that let you take absurdly stupid pictures of yourself (like the one of me above). :)

Frenzic

URL: http://frenzic.com
Frenzic is a high-paced puzzle game that “takes minutes to learn and months to master,” according to The Iconfactory, the makers of the game.

The best way to describe it might be Tetris on steroids that just drank a bottle of Incredible Hulk juice.

What’s really great about this game is that it ties in to their high score system so you can see how you rank compared to all Frenzic players.

Price for this starts at $14.95. There is a free trial that is definitely worth your time…especially if you’re trying to kill it.

Moody

URL: http://www.crayonroom.com/moody.php
Covered before, Moody is a way to tag your tunes based on mood.

How does this help you waste your time? Well, you have to tag a large number of your tunes before it really creates a good mix of music. But trust me, it’s worth it…especially when it is completely free!

Last.fm

URL: http://www.last.fm
Sure it’s cool to see lots of stats like who you listened to the most in the past week, but what I really love about Last.fm is how you can find lots of really cool new tunes.

Last.fm creates personalized radio stations based on your listening habits and I’ve found it to be a great way to find new artists I haven’t heard of.

Finding new music is one of my favorite ways to kill time.

Twitterific

URL: http://iconfactory.com/software/twitterrific
I’m not really a Twitter fan, but it is certainly a fantastic way to waste time. In fact, with Twitter you would actually be twittering about how your twittering to waste time.

Twitterific allows you to conveniently twitter from the comfort of your operating system.

Sudoku Fun Widget

URL: http://www.apple.com/downloads/dashboard/games/sudokufunwidget.html
From the widget page, Sudoku Fun Widget is a “widget that lets you play this addictive, Japanese number-place logic puzzle on the Dashboard.”

There are plenty of people who can’t function without their daily dose of Sudoku, so if that’s your bag…you should check out this handy little widget.

Second Life

URL: http://secondlife.com
Second Life is the popular virtual reality world. Create your own character and walk around doing…pretty much anything you can imagine.

Reactive

URL: http://www.revaro.net/index.html?Reactive/index.html
What else could you possibly want to do with your time than be a 2-legged chameleon armed with 9 weapons and having a bad day?

Reactive is a 20+ level game that includes features such as network play, multi-player gaming, and fluid simulation.

It’s free to download and play but you’ll need to fork over $12 if you want access to all 20+ levels.

FunBooth

URL: http://thefunbooth.com
FunBooth is the close cousin of Photo Booth. Instead of altering the actual photos, FunBooth lets you attach all sorts of props from wigs to glasses to mustaches and more.

After disguising yourself in FunBooth, send your photos to friends and family to show them that you don’t do anything productive!

Flappie

URL: http://www.tastyapps.com
Flappie is basically a virtual pet for your Dashboard. Flappie needs food, play, and sleep. If you give him everything he needs, he’ll continue to grow and become something magnificent. If you don’t…he dies.

One thing that makes Flappie unique over your average virtual pet game is that it is affected by your local weather. So hopefully you life in a Flappie-friendly environment.

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Moody lets you tag your iTunes music based on color with “upper red” being for sad-intense music and “lower green” being for happy-calm music. There’s no right or wrong way to tag a tune, so it’s an extremely personal app that customizes itself to your taste/needs.

Tagging your tunes

Tagging your music can be a bit of a daunting task at first (especially if you’ve got a huge collection), but it’s well worth it. It’s a fairly simple process of simply listening to your music and clicking on the corresponding “mood color” that you feel the song is. After clicking the color block, the next un-tagged song plays letting you move quickly through your collection.

Listing to your mood

After you’ve tagged a substantial number of songs (you certainly don’t have to do your entire collection to make this work), all you have to do is go to the “Listen” tab and then select the color blocks that fit the mood your in. You can select as many or as few as you’d like. Moody will then start playing the songs tagged with that color and you’ll have a dynamic playlist created for your the exact mood your in right at that moment.

How does it work?

Moody works closely with iTunes by creating a series of playlists for each color block. When you select the mood colors you’d like to listen to, it creates a temporary playlist with the songs from those colors and plays them.

What’s really cool about the core of how all of this works, is that the mood color is attached to each song file…meaning you can take your songs out of iTunes and they’ll still have their “mood” attached, letting you create your own mood playlists in other apps/platforms (such as your iPod or to Windows Media Player on Windows).

Currently the Moody tagging app only works on Mac but a Windows version is coming.

Oh, and I almost forgot…it’s free. Go check it out.

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