Top 5 Apps (Mar 11 - 17, 2012)

This week's top 5 apps range from the fun to the educational to the efficient. They include an adventure book, a puzzle around traffic, an interactive atlas, a simple note taker, and, last but not least, an alternative e-mail client for your iOS device. As always our rankings are objective and based on aggregating professional review scores from around the web. So if you're looking for top apps and want a no-nonsense review of what was released last week, check out the rankings below.

1.		Welcome to Monster Isle in 3D	93
		$4.99
		Welcome to Monster Isle in 3D is an adventure book about seven castaways stranded on an uncharted island. Check out a quote from Digital Storytime: "Overall this is a well-crafted and fun story about an adventurous family. The storyline isn't especially scary, but may still be less ideal for bedtime simply because of the interactivity." (March 19, 2012)

2.		TrafficWonder HD	90
		$0.99
		TrafficWonder HD is a puzzle app where players user their fingers to guide colored vehicles to their respective destinations using as little fuel as possible. Check out a quote from 148apps: "Again, TrafficWonder HD’s biggest accomplishment is turning traffic management into a satisfying puzzle experience instead of just a boring job. It’s not the most exciting game but give it time and it can still become an engrossing little diversion." (March 20, 2012)

3.		NOTE'd	85
		$1.99
		NOTE'd helps users organize their notes and create voice memos. Check out a quote from 148Apps: "It’s all simple stuff yet wholly appropriate. There’s no filler here nor any unnecessary complications. Instead, NOTE’d provides a very attractive note taking interface that’s never fiddly to understand. The only flaw in this simple package is its lack of exportability." (March 16, 2012)

3.		Barefoot World Atlas	85
		$7.99
		Barefoot World Atlas is an interactive atlas, the app offers a 3D globe and facts and insights including live data for every country. Check out a quote from Pad Gadget: "Barefoot Books World Atlas deserves a place in any family’s digital library, as long as there is enough disk space on the iPad. This app isn’t just for geographiles — the app’s depth and breadth give it wide appeal." (March 21, 2012)

5.		Sparrow	80
		$2.99
		Sparrow is an iPhone mail client that allows your to organize multiple email accounts in addition to offering IMAP support. Check out a quote from Macworld: "I’m hopeful that either Apple will loosen its restrictions or Sparrow can come up with an Apple-sanctioned push email solution. Provided that all this gets sorted out, Sparrow for iOS is so good that it could easily replace my use of the built-in Mail app, and I certainly hope that we’ll see an iPad-optimized version of Sparrow in the not too distant future." (March 20, 2012)

For more of the Top 5 series, check out past Top 5 Apps and Top 5 Games posts.

Notes: Top 5 is based apps released the week prior, 3/11/12-3/17/12, to the current week to allow for reviews to come in. AppScores, prices, ranking, and availability are accurate as of 3/26/12.