Xmas Crush - 2 Stars

What is it?

This game is like Bejewled with Christmas symbols, not too dissimilar to the Christmas Sweeper, but thankfully has volume control. 

The idea of the game is to swap pictures around to make a chain of three or more to score points and get special functions. 

This game is ok, but when you run out of moves it doesn't tell you, it just encourages you to use boosters, that are not that easy to understand. There are in app purchases t, but I didn't take advantage of these as my free ones didn't help me at all!

I played for a few levels but lost momentum. If you like Bejeweled and fancy a festive twist then check it out. 

Now for some ratings.....

Ease of use - 3 

This is easy to use as it is the same functionality as Bejeweled. The additional functions that you can trade tokens for are not that easy to understand and I ended up wasting mine and not winning the level.  
Price - 3

This is a free app, but it does have in app purchases. 

Adverts - 2

There are full screen adverts and some appeared during game play which I don't like. There are also banner adverts throughout the game which can be distracting. 

Keep, jury is out or delete - Delete 

I quickly lost momentum with this app and quickly ended up back on Disco Bees and Jelly Splash when I had a few minutes to spare.  Its a nice game for Christmas if you like Bejeweled, it just wasn't for me. 

Where to find it:

Apple: https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/christmas-crush-match-3-addictive/id757157553?mt=8

Xmas Songs - 2 Stars

What is it?

This app gives you access to a selection of Christmas songs for free! The app is basic in its design but gives you access to a collection of free songs for the Christmas period.  

You simply scroll down the list and select the one you want to listen to and it starts to play.  When you select the Play option you are taken to a controls screen that allows you to amend the volume, rewind, fast forward and pause with a novelty candy cane to show the position of the song and festive falling snow flakes.

The songs aren't always chart versions, but they do the trick to give a bit of festive cheer. Please note though that not all of the songs are popular and I had never heard of a lot of  them. There are also a few readings from books, listed as songs which was different, but this is supposed to be a song app so I wasn't impressed with this. 

Another thing, the write up on the app store says there are 10,000 free songs, I don't think so more 200 including the readings!

There is a search option but this is limited to scrolling through the list of songs rather than free text. There is also a download option, but my list was blank, and there are no instructions to tell me what this is or how to use it.

Sometimes it can take a few seconds for the song to load.  There are adds on the app, disguised as songs, but they are easy to spot as they have icons, whereas the songs don't. 

Now for some ratings.....

Ease of use - 3 

This is easy to use as it's selecting songs from a list. My slight frustration with this app is the songs are not all songs, and there is no way to identify this apart from listening to it. 
Price - 3

This is free but there is an option to upgrade. Based on the songs included in the free version I wouldn't upgrade. 

Adverts - 2

There are adverts hidden in the list of songs, but after you click on a couple they are easy to identify. There are also some plugs within the songs, so its worth checking them out before you play them at a Christmas party!

Keep, jury is out or delete - Jury is out

This is a good concept but the songs aren't to my taste and most I haven't heard of. I will see if there are any particular songs I like, but this won't be on my phone come January 2nd. I also don't like it is advertised at 10,000 songs when it is clear it is more 200. With that said it is free and easy to use and worth a look as everyones music taste varies. 

Where to find it:

Apple: https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/christmas-music-10-000-free/id474048409 

Android:  Couldn't find on Google Play.