3 Free Apps For The Nintendo DSi And Nintendo 3DS

When I tell people that they can download and play thousands of free apps for the Nintendo DSi and Nintendo 3DS, they often think I am clearly out of my mind.  Their thinking is that all DSi and 3DS games come on cartridges, so how could you ever download a game cartridge.

Then I show them my R4i card.  This little care looks just like a game cartridge, except it lets you insert a micro SD Card that it then uses to load your free apps from. Then it all starts to make sense of course.  You download the free dsi apps from the Internet (they're freeware - get as many as you think you'd like to try) and then you put them on the R4i and you're ready to start playing.  And that is exactly how it works.  I love my R4i card and I have a whole slew of apps and freeware games for my Nintendo DSi system (and they all work on my Nintendo 3DS too) and have had a great time trying out some of the most unique apps ever.

With thousands of them out there, it can be a bit of a chore finding the r4i apps that are worth while, and will help enhance your DSi or 3DS system.  I have my top 3, top 5 and top 10 lists based on what the apps do.  One for Entertainment, one for productivity and yet another for tasks and todo lists.  Here are 3 of the top dsi apps that I use one a daily basis.  Each of them serves their purpose, and works flawlessly.  And naturally, since these are all homebrew apps, you'll want and need the R4i to be able to load and run them.

When it comes to entertainment in the form of movies or videos, Moonshell is the one for me.  This cool free app lets me load up and watch any movies or TV shows that I either convert from my DVD's or download from the internet.  The UI is excellent, allowing me to quickly pick and choose the movie or video files I want to play.  I have yet to find a show that i can't load and watch on my DSi.  The fact that it is free sometimes amazes me to be honest.  It's full of features that you often get only from full priced media players on any platform.

For my Day To Day organizing, I use DSOrganize on my Nintendo DSi or Nintendo 3DS.  This little gem turns my 3DS into a pocket organizer.  It reminds me a lot of a palm or a windows mobile PDA. I can plan my schedules, write to do lists, book appointments and even take some quick notes if I want to remind myself to do something later.  The interface is super easy to use, and getting the hang of it won't take you more than a couple of minutes.

And for when I'm ready to call it a night with a good book, my favorite ebook reader is the iKu Reader DS.  This full fledged ebook reader can be turned sideways (the screen that is) so when I am reading on my DSi XL, it actually feels much more natural, as if I were holding an actual book.  I choose this ebook reader because it is one of the only readers for the DSI and 3DS that is compatible with epub files. ePub seems to be the default ebook format for pretty much every single ebook reader out there, even the Kindle can read epub files.

There are of course hundreds upon hundreds of different free homebrew applications available.  These 3 are just my top one for how I use my hand held console.  Your list may be very different than mine of course, and I would love to hear about it in the comments.  As with all DS, DSi or Nintendo 3DS homebrew games and applications.  You'll need either an R4i 3DS card or an R4i Card depending on which console you're using it on.  These cards range in prices, but are usually available for about $20.00 or so at sites like http://www.r4i.ca