App of the Week (January 2, 2011): PipClock
This week’s App of the Week is one whose primary function is showing the current time and temperature.
Of course, that’s a gross understatement as the PipClock app by PXL Artificer takes the typical “clock and weather” app and immerses it in an elaborate post-apocalyptic motif derived from the Fallout video game series.
PipClock is modeled after the (fictional) PIP-Boy 2000 multi-purpose survival device from the Fallout games. In the nuke-riddled Fallout world, the PIP-Boy is a handheld electronic computer that monitors a player’s health, maps the surrounding environment, and displays other crucial in-game info. With the PipClock app, one can similarly access information about their current location, albeit without the need to survive an actual nuclear apocalypse.
Despite having a minimal familiarity with the Fallout series, we were able to thoroughly appreciate this app. The PXL team extensively detailed PipClock‘s interface to convey a doomsday aesthetic through your iPhone. The app can pinpoint your whereabouts via your device’s GPS (“Ruins of Palo Alto; California Wastelands”) to give you location-specific forecasts and other information — all without breaking character:
Radioactive clouds covering 68% of the skies with calm air. High fallout humidity with 0.3 inches of toxic rain expected. Moderately cold atmosphere, mild danger of frostbite. Poisonous fog at 35.7%, use gas mask.
Besides talking about the weather in brilliant post-apocalyptic terms, PipClock also displays moon phases, sunrise/sunset times (“in the [fallout shelter] you can’t see the sun, so check the day/night statistics!”), and a built-in “nuclear-powered” emergency light to help you see in the dark. Some extra features — purely for aesthetics — include a mock Geiger counter, an analog compass, and even an inadvertent “device meltdown” caused by shaking your iPhone, which destabilizes PipClock‘s nuclear-powered core.
The best part? PXL is always working on new features for PipClock, making it a great app to keep handy on your iPhone for the near and distant future… That is, if you survive that long! 
RSS feed
Thank you so much Ansca! I’m so honored
Being a huge fan of the Fallout series, I’ve always wanted to have something like that on my iPhone.
When I decided to actually make it, my first choice was (since I’m a Flash developer) to use Flash and export to iPhone app. But when I tried it on my iPhone I was very disappointed, it was so incredibly slow!
So I looked for alternatives… for few weeks I tried learning XCode but, from a Flash developer perspective, the learning curve was so steep and I gave up.
That’s when I learned about Corona SDK, I download the demo and just played with it for a few days.. Well, in just a couple of days I built the basic functions and realized that LUA/Corona SDK was so easy and pleasant to use, and the performance were great, that I decided to buy it.
So, thanks a lot Ansca, keep up the good work!
[...] many of our users, App of the Week honoree Ruben Frosali is a gaming nut — and we mean that in a good way! His love for gaming [...]
[...] picking our App of the Week, we are attracted to apps and games with eye-catching artwork or an extensively immersive environment. To us, a good-looking app usually means a much more enjoyable and accessible experience that [...]