Top 5 iPhone and iPad Apps Of The Week (7/12/12)

We are back this week with five apps for our weekly top iPhone and iPad apps - all these apps have an AppScore above or at an 85. Leading off our top five is Bizzy Bear Builds a House an award winning interactive story app for young children. Next we have MonkeyGram where you can create and send animated cartoon postcards. Then we have two apps tied with an 87 AppScore, Launch Center Pro which creates quick shortcuts to specific features buried deep within apps and Bento 4 for iPad a personal database app. Closing out our top 5 is The Witch With No Name HD another interactive ebook for kids where they can experience the curious adventure of a witch who lost her name. See what this week's app have to offer below and let us know what you think of them in the comments. We want to hear from you!

As always our iPhone and iPad app rankings are based on aggregating professional review scores from around the web.

1.		Bizzy Bear Builds a House	93
		$3.99: iPhone, iPad and iPod Touch (Universal App)
		This is the second Bizzy Bear story app, based on the popular board book series. The Bizzy Bear Builds a House app features illustrations, animation and original music, lively child narration and lots of interactive surprises. Read the story and get involved: pile up earth using the digger, lift and lower the crane, operate the bulldozer, haul over a stack of bricks and mix cement and children can play inside each scene, follow directions and complete all the jobs. Check out a quote from PadGadget: "Bizzy Bear Builds a House is a great addition to any pre-schooler’s iOS library. It will appeal not only to construction sites’ youngest fans, but to their parents as well. To quote the app, “A building site is a very noisy place,” but Bizzy Bear Builds a House will give you and your child a few moments of much-needed quiet." (June 27, 2012)

2.		MonkeyGram	90
		FREE: iPhone and iPod Touch
		In MonkeyGram, you can create and send animated cartoon postcards to your friends by text message, email, Facebook, and Twitter. Pick a background (or photo), add a few characters, and press the Record button. MonkeyGram will record your voice as you move your Zombies, Spies, Superheroes, and Cheerleaders around onscreen with your fingertips and turn your message into an animated cartoon video. You can even customize your characters with your friends’ Facebook photos. Check out a quote from Appolicious: "If you have children in your life that you’d love to share a silly, fun activity with, MonkeyGram is an ideal way to go. It’s by no means a serious app, and that’s probably the best thing about it." (July 5, 2012)

T3.		Launch Center Pro	87
		$2.99: iPhone and iPod Touch
		Launch Center Pro creates quick shortcuts to specific features on your phone. With this app you can create shortcut for the following as examples: call your mom, message a friend, email your boss, search Twitter using Tweetbot, search Yelp for nearby coffee shops, fire up Instagram’s camera, jump right to your favorite website or use the iPhone as a flashlight. Check out a quote from 148Apps: "Overall, Launch Center Pro is ideal for users who like to save time and works perfectly sitting in the iPhone’s dock. Once you use it, you’ll never be able to stop. It’s packed with a lot of features, and its intuitive and sharp interface both make it attractive to all iOS users." (June 22, 2012)

T3.		Bento 4 for iPad - Personal Database	87
		$4.99: iPad
		Bento 4 for iPad allows you to organize contacts, track projects, plan events, and manage lists. The app is a redesigned, new version of the personal database app for iPad. Check out a quote from Mac|Life: "The bottom line. Bento 4 hits the sweet spot between ease of use and flexibility, letting you organize just about anything with a tap." (June 19, 2012)

5.		The Witch With No Name HD	85
		$4.99: iPhone, iPad and iPod Touch (Universal App)
		In this 3D tale, your children will experience the curious adventure of a witch who lost her name. This morning the witch received a helpful package : the latest “U-see-all” crystal ball. With the reader's active participation and thanks to her domesticated bat advices, she'll go on a quest to get her name back. Your child will be able to read and play around at the same time. Check out a quote from The iPhone App Review: "And at the end of the day, we can hardly knock The Witch With No Name for its value! The app costs only a fraction the cost of a full-blown children’s book. As such, it’s an incredible steal for the education-oriented parent looking for a new app to keep their children engaged with on the iPhone or iPad. Solid work, and The Witch With No Name easily earns our recommendation!" (June 30, 2012)

For more of the Top 5 series, check out past Top 5 Apps and Top 5 Games posts. Also, check out our other series Favorite iPhone and iPad Apps and Games, Best Free iPhone and iPad Apps and Games, Best iPhone and iPad Apps and Games for Kids, The AppScore 100 and iPhone and iPad App Giveaways.

Notes: Top 5 is based on apps released two weeks prior, 6/17/12-6/23/12, to the current week to allow for reviews to come in. AppScores, prices, ranking, and availability are accurate as of 7/12/12. To make the list an AppScore of 75 or above is needed and the primary app category cannot be "Games".