iPhone Life magazine

Finally a real Flashlight app!

Before there was an app store, one of the first apps created for jailbroken iPhones was a Flashlight app by the excellent Erica Sadun.  It basically used the screen display as a light emitting device.  We have finally come full circle with the iPhone 4 which has an actual LED for use as a flash.  An enterprising developer, Michael D'Ulisse of More Blu Sky saw this as an opportunity to create a real flashlight app that projected light.

One problem.  Apple didn't like the idea of using the flash for a purpose other than they intended.  His app was rejected until he contacted Phil Schiller, the Apple exec who has intervened on behalf of developers in the past.  The app was approved, and there is a disclaimer that battery life can be impacted, perhaps as a conciliatory note.  Now, there are numerous flashlight app copycats, but I've been a fan of More Blu Sky's apps in the past (Ransom Letters, Pocket Labeler), so I decided to support the one that started it all.  Of course, turning on the light might seem like a simple app, but More Blu Sky's attention to detail pays off, with an interface that looks like a quality Mag Lite flashlight.  Some reviewers have pointed out the touching anywhere on the screen toggles the light, but I see that as a positive.  It makes it easy to use, in the dark, which is kind of the point!

Flashlight - For iPhone 4

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Todd Bernhard's picture

Todd Bernhard is founder of No Tie Software, an app developer specializing in Ringtones and Sound FX including AutoRingtone.

An iPhone is almost always attached to his hip, but over the years, Mr. Bernhard has owned an Apple Newton, a Motorola Marco, an HP 95LX, a Compaq iPaq, a Palm Treo, and a Nokia e62.

In addition to writing for iPhone Life, Mr. Bernhard has written for iPhone Life’s sister publications (PocketPC Magazine and The HP Palmtop Paper).

Old Comments

I hope it's not in bad taste

I hope it's not in bad taste to mention our app that works in a similar fashion. Although, I guess we're one of the "copycats."

It's called iFlash4, and we were proud of our app. We chose the single button path, and it seems to work out for simplicity.

Anyway, I hope it wasn't rude.

http://bit.ly/cnZQhW

-Paul

Fleshlight App

I am sure this is going to be one of the more popular apps. I have tried a couple of the flashlight apps before and they just didn't seem to be what I thought they were going to be.

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