Since it was launched in July 2008, the iTunes App Store has become an industry leader for downloading apps (applications or programs) — in this case for use on the iPhone, iPod Touch and now the iPad.
The store currently has more than 150,000 applications written by third-party vendors that have accounted for over three billion downloads.
Not surprisingly, if you do a bit of searching you can find plenty of Jewish and Israeli content in Apple’s app store. And although it is called a “store,” some developers are happy to create free apps just because they’re proud of their work and want to share.
Here is a small sample of the many free Jewish apps available. At the end of each description, I use a “bit.ly” Web address to shorten what are often extremely long web addresses. Just type the “bit.ly” address into your browser (not the search box) and hit enter to go to the proper site:
iSiddur provides many variations of the morning, afternoon and evening services. bit.ly/happ03
iPray delivers all 150 Psalms in a clear, Hebrew-only interface. bit.ly/happ04
iMasoret gives you much of the above along with some novel twists such as lyrics for popular holiday songs and even direct links to holidays videos from YouTube. Most of the prayers are in Hebrew, although there is some English translation. I just wish the interface were a bit more consistent. bit.ly/happ05
Don’t let Dovid Zikind’s iPhone page deceive you. It looks quite plain but there is a wealth of material there. There is a free, downloadable Chumash with Rashi (with English translation), several holiday guides and for a fee, the complete Mishnah and Gemara. While there are many texts geared toward the Chabad community, there are free siddurs that cater to Ashkenazi Jews, as well. bit.ly/happ02
iZman calculates prayer times used by Jews worldwide. As the product info page explains, users can select their location from a predetermined list, or use their iPhone’s GPS to automatically give them prayer times based on their geographic location. bit.ly/happ10
If you are looking for apps that are slicker and more sophisticated, there are plenty of Jewish apps that range in price from 99 cents to $30 or more. The best two places to browse are JewishiPhone
Community.org and the Jewish iPhone feed on Twitter. bit.ly/happ06
One of the leaders in commercial, Jewish-themed iPhone software is RustyBrink. I give the company credit because it provides a number of free apps, too. Shabbat Shalom is a great app; check candlelighting and Havdallah times for the week in any location in the world. iPhone Shofar let’s you hear tekiah, shvarim, teruah or tekiah g’dolah. Menorah for iPhone helps you remember if it’s from left-to-right or right-to-left, and does a lot more, too. bit.ly/happ07
Not surprisingly, Jewish food-related apps are quite common. Let’s say you’ve enjoyed your meal and you want to wait the prescribed amount of time between meat and dairy. Just start your ParveOMeter. The countdown clock will tell you when you can indulge. bit.ly/happ08
KosherFish presents a very, very long list of kosher fish. With this app in hand, never again will you have to walk away from your local fishmonger wondering whether you can feast on jewfish, Mozambique mouthbrooder or even porkfish while keeping kosher. bit.ly/happ09.