Poladroid is a fun little app that converts your images into Polaroid-style photos, complete with post-processing. It adds a great (and editable) vignette, and changes the colors of your photos. My favorite part is that you actually have to wait for the images to develop, and you can watch them slowly appear over time. The interface is simple–just drag and drop a photo, then wait. It’s not exactly the most useful application out there, but it’s a lot of fun to mess around with.

Rating: 4.5/5. Finish localizing the menus, and it’ll be perfect.

Developer site:
Poladroid.net

Offshoots is a fun little visual app that grows trees on your Mac. It comes in screensaver and app form–the app runs as your Desktop background. Essentially one vector “branch” appears on screen, and a bunch of offshoots from it appear (as well as leaves), making it a full tree. You can even set Offshoots to grow toward your mouse, and set all of its colors, sizes, and alpha levels yourself.

Rating: 4.5/5. A little slow at times, but still very cool.

Developer site:
Projects.DigitalWaters.net/Index..php?Q=Offshoots

Due to the hideous icon of WeatherVane, the app I posted yesterday, I felt compelled to post an app today with a nice, clean icon. After some scavenging, I found an excellent note-taking app called SketchBox. SketchBox is like OS X’s Stickies app, only infinitely better. Each note you make is stored in an iPhoto-esque environment with
your notes in a grid view. But, what makes the notes special is that they can store text, drawings, pictures, and even custom timers. All of these functions make for a great app with an attractive price: $0.

Rating: 5/5. Great app, amazing interface, and especially stunning icon. Perfect across the board.

Developer site:
OMZ-Software.de/SketchBox_Index.html

P.S. The gigantic 512X512 icon is available here. Seriously, look. You won’t be disappointed. It’s so crisp!:
http://FreeMacAppaDay.com/Images/SketchBox.png

OSXplanet is a fun project that displays a current view of the world from space–right on your desktop. It can display live data of clouds, volcanoes, storms, earthquakes, and many other natural occurrences. It also renders other planets as seen from other planets, which is awesome. It uses almost no CPU power and has a well-integrated UI. What more could you want?

Rating: 5/5. Functions perfectly, and looks amazing.

Developer site:

Pop Rock is an interesting concept/hack that was created for one sole purpose: to make opening applications more fun. Pop Rock replaces the normal bouncing Dock icon animation with something a lot cooler: the app you opened is on a stage playing a riff on a guitar (whose icon was cleverly stolen from Garageband), and the other apps that are open are on the floor, cheering. the more apps you have open, the louder the cheering is. It’s really a sight to behold, and makes opening apps a lot more fun. Give it a try!

Rating: 5/5. Totally useless but endlessly entertaining.

Developer site:
CodeSorcery.net/2007/11/27/Ironcoded

Klondike Forever is a great Solitaire game for Mac that’s been around for a long time.  The developer also made Solitaire Forever, which is essentially Klondike Forever with more game types available.  It runs very smoothly and has slick sound effects, as well as an adjustable window size.  It even has an iPhone screen size setting (although it doesn’t run on the iPhone).  Overall this game is very nice, and has few bells and whistles to distract you.  It’s actually very visually appealing, as well, with its fluid movement and impressive graphics.  Klondike Solitaire is a fun and simple remake of a timeless classic.

Rating: 5/5. Runs perfect, also has nice instructions.

Developer site:
SolitaireForever.com/Klondike

The concept of Wallpaper Clocks is an interesting one–it lets you download a wallpaper, then puts a clock on it. But, that clock updates in real time (just like a real clock!). In reality, it’s essentially a wallpaper that displays the current time, as well as a nice background. VladStudio is known for their beautiful computer-generated artwork, and Wallpaper Clocks is no exception. They have a collection of downloadable wallpapers, most of which are free. If you haven’t seen this before, you should check it out as soon as possible. It’s entertaining and intriguing at the same time. try not too get too distracted, though.

Rating: 5/5. Minimalist, but very cool. I love the downloadable wallpapers.

Developer site:
VladStudio.com/WallpaperClock

LEGO Digital Designer is a timeless classic in the eyes of a child or an adult. Everyone is familiar with LEGOs in one way or another, but LEGO Digital Designer can take you much farther with design. Essentially you’re given a selection of pieces, and you can put them anywhere in your virtual world. While this app is tons of fun (and the official LEGO one), I can’t help but like the feel of BrickSmith better. Its only drawback is its extremely strange interface.

Rating: 3.5/5. Fun, but the interface is pretty bad.

Developer site:
LDD.LEGO.com

StepMania is one of the coolest free cross-platform games ever. It’s essentially exactly the same as Dance Dance Revolution, except with tons more songs (which can be made by the users), and a huge fan base. Now, if it sounds dull to play DDR with a keyboard, you’re right. It really is. But, StepMania takes it a step further (no pun intended) and lets you plug in a dance pad via USB. This way you can actually dance to really any song you want. StepMania has been around for a while, and keeps getting better. Simply put, this game is a blast. I might add that you need a pretty good knowledge of computers to play StepMania.

Rating: 4.5/5. Lags from time to time, but who cares?

Developer site:
StepMania.com

TrailRunner is one of the most visually stunning applications I’ve ever seen. It has loads of incredible features that are extremely well-implemented. It supports lots of athletic gadgets, including the Nike+iPod device that goes in your shoe. You can keep an exercise diary within the app, as well as comprehensive exercise plans, all within its gorgeous interface. On the right side of the main window, you’ll find a map of the world, where you can click and drag areas to draw routes for yourself. These routes can then be exported to your GPS device, or even your iPod (as well as import it back). Another nice feature is the ability to select your map type. For example, you can select a roadmap, overhead satellite map, hiking map (which is awesome), a terrain map, or an “OpenStreetMap”,which combines several of the views. Then you can describe your route with directions. Another added bonus is he ability to add and save common waypoints and routes, or even search the world for a waypoint. This app is one of the most amazing free apps I’ve ever seen. Even if you don’t plan to use it, you definitely have to give it a test drive. You’ll be blown away.

Rating: 5/5. They could charge $99 for this app with all of its features. Absolutely stunning.

Developer site:
TrailRunnerX.com