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Free Israeli apps for iPhone & iPad

By Mark Mietkiewicz

Last month, we looked at some of the free Jewish-themed apps you can find in Apple’s App Store that can be downloaded and run on an iPhone, iPod Touch and the iPad. The store contains more than 150,000 applications (programs) written by third-party vendors.

These apps take advantage of the iPhone’s sophistication and portability to provide you with solutions to problems you probably didn’t even know you have.

Apple has said most iPhone apps should work on the iPad but developers will need to modify them if they want to make use of the bigger screen and more powerful processor (www.bit.ly/happ01).

While most apps cost anywhere from 99 cents to several dollars, many developers give away their work as a public service or to tempt you to buy a more sophisticated version. Not surprisingly, Israeli programmers have been hard at work creating Hebrew language apps for the iPhone. Many of these deliver the news, help teach you some basic Hebrew vocabulary and maybe even answer your prayers.

Most of these apps are in Hebrew only, but even if you’re not fluent in the language, try downloading a few. After all, they’re all free.

News

• Chadashot 2 (Hebrew) — This is an impressive app that provides short news summaries as well as comprehensive video reports right to your iPhone. Excellent execution (www.bit.ly/happ12).

• Hebrew news from Israel’s major dailies — Ynet/Yediot Aharanot (www.bit.ly/happ13), nrg/Maariv (www.bit.ly/happ14), Haaretz (www.bit.ly/happ15) and Globes (www.bit.ly/happ16). Unfortunately it seems that neither the Jerusalem Post nor Haaretz have released English iPhone apps yet.

• Datili (Hebrew) — News about Israel’s religious communities. This app was not displaying text properly when I tested it. Maybe you’ll have better luck (www.bit.ly/happ17)

• One.co.il (Hebrew) — Sports news. Some stories are accompanied by videos (www.bit.ly/happ32).

• Informa.T.V. (Hebrew) — What are Israelis watching right now? Here are the up-to-date Israeli television listings (www.bit.ly/happ18).

The economy

• Israel Money (Hebrew) — Israeli stock indices and currency info at a glance along with financial news (www.bit.ly/happ21).

• ShekelCalc — This standard calculator that has two extra buttons that will covert most major currencies to and from Israeli Shekalim (www.bit.ly/happ20).

Hebrew tutors and translators

• Mila-4-Phone — (English) Flash cards appear and are read aloud to you in Hebrew. Shake for random words. Very nice app thanks to Birthright Israel (www.bit.ly/happ22).

• Hebrew/English Translator — Type a word or phrase in English or Hebrew and get an instant translation care of Google’s translation service. The translation may not always be perfect but could certainly help in a pinch (www.bit.ly/happ23).

Games

• GeoMania (Hebrew) — Race against the clock to identify cities and points of interest on a globe (www.bit.ly/happ25).

• Psychobali Lite (Hebrew) — Vocabulary game geared toward Hebrew speakers. Choosing the right meaning for a Hebrew word isn’t so easy as the clock ticks down (www.bit.ly/happ24).

Israel reference and tourism

• ClickATable (Hebrew) — Information about more than 1,000 Israeli restaurants. Sort by region, cuisine and kashrut. When you find something tempting, reserve your table online (www.bit.ly/happ29).

• Chayot b’Yisrael (Hebrew) — Photos and text about animals, fish, reptiles and insects native to Israel (www.bit.ly/happ26).

• Dapei Zahav (Hebrew) — Let your fingers do the walking through the interactive listing of Israel’s Golden Pages (www.bit.ly/happ27).

• iTheory IL Lite (Hebrew) — Learn the Israeli rules of the road along with traffic sign information and even a primer on how cars work (www.bit.ly/happ28).

• Israel Weather (English) — Just what it promises, including forecasts, wave and wind info and a satellite shot of the region (www.bit.ly/happ30).

And finally, there’s @TheKotel (English) — Even when you can’t make it to Jerusalem to place a note in the Western Wall, you’re always as close as your handheld device. Tap a brief prayer onto your iPhone, click the "Amen" button and your message will be printed out and placed into a crevice of the Kotel (www.bit.ly/happ31).

Do you have a Jewish or Israeli app that you can’t do without? Do you want to spread the word? Tell me about it and I’ll mention the best in a future column.


Mark Mietkiewicz is a Toronto-based Web site producer who writes, lectures and teaches about the Jewish Internet. He can be contacted at highway@rogers.com.