iFidelity: iPhone App Reviews

Guides by Bravo: “Bravo-lebrities” inject a little more “real” into their reality TV lives by sharing with fans their go-to places to eat, drink and shop. Top Chef foodies divulge the locations of their favorite meals, Millionaire Matchmaker Patti Stanger points out top-notch places for first-date drinks, while The Real Housewives of New York suggest spots to drop major dough on diamonds. GBB offers an insider’s look into classic haunts and hidden gems in 34 globe-spanning cities, carefully curated by Bravo stars. Want to know where Alex McCord chows down? Look no further. —Cayte Grieve

Epicurious: With more than 25,000 recipes, Epicurious is a must-have for culinary masters on the go. Users are invited to browse recipes by dish type, ingredient, cuisine, dietary consideration and season or occasion, but the biggest perks are the simulated sommeliers and their suggested food and drink pairings. Save recipe favorites, or compile shopping lists from your kitchen picks. Keyword searches require specificity, so don’t skimp on the details—generic terms return thousands of results. And, above all, beware browsing on an empty stomach. —Eiseley Tauginas

Pandora Radio: How did we ever live before Pandora, which opens a limitless box, er, portal to music, both popular and obscure? The application allows users to stream songs from the Music Genome Project by entering the names of artists and their tracks. Pandora then formulates a station, which is, essentially, a never-ending playlist of similar jams. Options include the “thumbs up” or “thumbs down” selection, bookmarked songs and artists, iTunes purchases and instant email feedback. The only downside? When service bars drop, the party stops. —E.T.

Foursquare: Foursquare, from the creators of social texting service Dodgeball, not only lets users inform friends of their whereabouts in more than 20 cities—the application also rewards users for doing so. “Checking in” at a bar, restaurant or shop sends a “shout” to the user’s Foursquare friends (and Twitter followers), alerting everyone to their exact coordinates. Users rack up points for check-ins, earning various badges that signify coolness, and even the title of “mayor” of their most-visited joints. —Chris Mohney

Flight Control: There is a scene from Pushing Tin in which air traffic controllers Billy Bob Thornton and John Cusack battle for Angelina Jolie’s landing strip while trying to ground, during a thunderstorm, a sky filled with jetliners at JFK airport. Flight Control is the videogame version of that chaos. This addictive, multitasking diversion challenges users to strategically drag their finger across the screen in an effort to safely land planes and choppers onto their respective runways. While corralling Major Toms back onto the tarmac, users can listen to their own songs or the default ragtime tunes, which prove to be strangely soothing and dangerously habit-forming. —Will Kangas

KCRW: The platinum standard for what a radio station could and should be—publicly funded, high quality and expertly curated—Los Angeles’ KCRW has been in desperate need of its own radio iPhone application for some time now. Thankfully, it’s here: stream the station live or on-demand, and listen to programs that include Elvis Mitchell’s incredible film interview show, The Treatment, or the best live-session and programmed three hours of music in America, Morning Becomes Eclectic. Don’t miss this five-star feast for the ears. —Foster Kamer

ShakeIt: Simple and fun: with the iPhone camera, take a snapshot that fits into the frame of the iconic, now-defunct Polaroid. And, much like an actual Polaroid, shake the phone to “develop” the picture (even though that never actually did anything). The photos come out a little saturated, a little nostalgic and, for a camera-phone, surprisingly beautiful. —F.K.