Glee (Free but $1.99 to $2.99 for Songs)

Do you love to sing in the shower or car, especially when no one is listening. Or can you actually belt out a tune?

Either way, let us highly recommend Glee, an app based on the popular Fox TV musical series Glee. It’s yet another addictive app from Smule, a company that initially burst onto the scene by turning an iPhone into an ancient flutelike instrument called an ocarina.

The instrument you use in Glee is your own voice, of course, and you get to compete globally for starbursts, which you earn every time you pretend to be, say, Sinatra, Streisand, or Freddie Mercury. You earn extra points for keeping to the melody.

If you share your songs via Twitter or Facebook, or e-mail them, you might gain a following of gleeks, as fans of the TV series are called.

You start by practicing along to Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star before graduating to more challenging material such as We Are the Champions, butchered by Ed in Figure 18-11 (take our word for it). As with any karaoke machine, you are backed up by a soundtrack and can follow the words on the screen. You can sing with a harmonious choir or turn on a pitch correct feature, if needed. Songs are recorded, but based on our own efforts, you save them at your own risk.

You can choose to sing a cappella, or sing along to tracks in your iTunes library, which unlike other material here, cannot be shared because of licensing restrictions.

If you tap World from the main Glee screen, the globe shown in Figure 18-12 appears. Drag the globe around with your finger to find talent from around the world. If you’re so inspired by what you hear, you can join in, leave a comment, or become a gleek.

Although the app is free, you’ll probably find yourself quickly spending more loot on extra songs, some for an additional 99¢ each, some for $1.99 a pop, some a buck more.