We now know just how desperately people want what they can’t have. Flappy Bird, a game that gained astronomic popularity over the last month, was removed from the Android and iOS app stores. But its spirit will live on through the absurd success of Fly Birdie – Flappy Bird Flyer, which is now the number one game on iTunes as of this writing.
Because I’m too curious for my own good, I played Fly Birdie – Flappy Bird Flyer. I’ll give you a short review: It’s exactly like Flappy Bird, except it looks like it was designed by a 3rd grader. (And not a talented 3rd grader.) But the gameplay is strangely comparable to Flappy Bird. It’s got a bird and you tap the screen as it flies forward to avoid Super Mario Bros.-style pipes that get in your way. Hit a pipe and your bird dies … just like in Flappy Bird.
But wait, there’s more! There are eight other games riding the Flappy Bird train into the Top 40 on the iPhone Games charts.
This has to be one of the worst games to ever hit the top spot on iTunes. See above for a “full” review, but seriously, how did this get to be the top game on the Free iPhone Apps chart?
The #2 most popular game on the Free iPhone Apps chart is Ironpants, which still has a pixel-ey retro look, but replaces pipes for boxes and a flappy bird for a super hero wearing underwear.
The #2 game on the Paid iPhone Apps chart is now Red Bouncing Ball Spikes, which is another game like Flappy Bird that pits you as a rolling ball that you tap to make bounce over spikes and pits.
The #5 game on the Free iPhone Apps chart is Flappy Bee, which has far worse physics than Flappy Bird and doesn’t punish you much for hitting things. It looks terrible, but better than some.
This is one of two ranking games by the creator of Flappy Bird, Dong Nguyen. Tap the screen to keep your soccer ball bouncing. Like Flappy Bird, it’s also frustratingly challenging.
This is not a Flappy Birds ripoff, but it’s riding the tide nicely. It’s more about skiing correctly than flapping. Check it out if you really need a bird fix. Glad to see it rising in the iPhone Free Apps chart.
Also by the creator of Flappy Bird, this game still has black bars on the top and bottom if you use it on an iPhone 5 or higher phone. You have to tap on ninjas to help them dodge chinese stars.
This game has you hold on the screen to rise up instead of tap, and the physics are worse than Flappy Bee. There is no flapping at all, actually, which is good because planes aren’t known to flap.
Believe it or not, Fluffy vs. Flappy Birds is the best ripoff. You hold the screen to fly up, but it has halfway decent visuals, and a shred of personality – enough to nab it the #34 spot.
Rest assured, there are many many more copies of Flappy Bird charting highly on iTunes. The real question is, why did Flappy Bird go so viral in the first place? It’s not a new or imaginative take on the auto-scrolling avoid-the-wall-genre. Maybe people just love flying birds. Maybe Angry Birds should get flappier?
Oh, and if you really need Flappy Bird and can’t settle for less, there are Flappy Bird iPhones going for $100,000 on eBay.
A virtual private network (VPN) encrypts your internet traffic and routes it through a server run by the VPN provider. Websites see the VPN server’s IP address instead of yours, and you can get around geo-blocks, censorship, and ISP throttling. The best VPN services are paid, but there are still a handful of free options that do the job well.
Most free VPNs come with a hidden cost, because running servers isn’t cheap and a company that doesn’t charge you has to make its money somewhere else. Many do so by logging your browsing activity and selling it to advertisers, while others flood you with ads and track you across apps.
There's nothing quite like curling up with a good book on a cold evening. As much as I love the feel of a physical book, books take up a lot of space, and carrying more than one on a trip quickly becomes a chore. That's where e-readers come in, and the Amazon Kindle remains one of the best options.
Amazon just refreshed its Kindle lineup with thinner, lighter designs, a new flush-front display, and colors that wrap from front to back. Add the Kindle Scribe and the Kindle Scribe Colorsoft to the mix, and you have more choices than ever before.
A good Android app should earn its place on your phone. It might make an everyday task easier, handle something the built-in software can't, or let you change an experience that never quite worked for you.
These 20 apps cover everything from quick notes and password management to automation and local file sharing. Some are free, others charge for advanced features, and a few take some effort to figure out. The point isn't to install them all. It's to find the ones that make your phone work better for you.