CheckWord 1.0

Available In: App Store

Price: Free

CheckWord is a simple application that allows you to check whether or not words are good or bad in games like Scrabble. I love the developer’s description, “Quicker than using a dictionary, easier than using a computer.” See, now that is why we love our iPhones! When you open the application, you will come to the main screen. Here you can enter the word you would like to check. The application auto capitalizes every letter…which is fine, it will work either way. Once you have entered the word select Search. It will then display whether the word is good (can be used in Scrabble) or bad (it cannot be used in Scrabble). The first word I tried was iPhone…it was Bad! Then I tried Apple and it was Good so that made it ok. If you select the i icon in the upper right corner, you will get a few options. The first option is to use the TWL word list or the SOWPODS word list. The TWL “is a Tournament Word List, used in North America, Thailand and Isreal. It contains 178,691 words from AA to ZZZ.” The AOWPODS is “the international word list used in English speaking countries that don’t use TWL. It contains 267,751 words from AA to ZZZS.”

You can also choose to turn on/off Use Acceptable. If you turn Use Acceptable on, it will change it so that the words you search for are labeled as Acceptable and Unacceptable instead of Good and Bad. The lists seem to work correctly, they do not allow for abbreviations or certain names. Though…when I entered Sam, it was Bad in the TWL list but good in the SOWPODS list. So I might stick to the SOWPODS list just because it allows more words! This application is great for those of you who like to play Scrabble the correct way…I tend to let things slide!

Also, the developer has said that he will be improving the application in the next few days adding a word generator and including the ability to check multiple words at once (in accordance with Scrabble tournament rules). So, keep an eye out for that!