Pocket Express: It’s like it ate nine other apps and pooped this baby out.

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So, you use a news app like the AP Mobile News Network. You check your horoscope everyday with iScopes or something like it. You use Now Playing to show you movie times at your local theater, and you use the pathetic built-in iPhone Weather app to tell you how to dress, eh?

Well, STOP IT! Right. Now.

PageOne is needlessly crowded.

What if I told you there was one app that did it all? Weather, news, horoscopes, movie times, etc.

Well have no fear, Pocket Express is here. Don’t believe me? Think it can’t possibly replace all those other gadgets? Calling me a liar? Huh?

Well, okay, I sort of am. Let me explain.

I’ll say up front: Pocket Express is a great app. It’s fast, easy-to-use, and contains a lot of information. As discussed before, the weather tool is superior to most others. The news is on par with AP Mobile News Network. In fact, since it seems to get most of its stories from the Associated Press, the two are almost identical in content. The movies section gives fast access to star ratings and movie times for theaters it finds nearby.

But Pocket Express isn’t all it promises based on its description. For almost every “mini-app” within this big app, there is a better application out there. We’ll go one-by-one.

• News–AP Mobile News Network is more comprehensive and better organized.

• Horoscopes–Pocket Express provides only a quick overview, where as iScopes will give you detailed horoscopes geared to different aspects of life. (But neither app has any basis in science.)

• Movies–Now Playing provides a better interface, with useful TomatoMeter information as well as links to plot synopses and iPhone ready trailers. ( Now Playing is another great app that will get a review of its own.)

Thanks! I was looking for a way to waste some time.

• Travel–It isn’t even ready yet! It just takes up space on the home screen.

• Weather–Badass in every way.

• Finance/Sports/Entertainment–These are hella misleading. In truth, these three buttons are just extensions of the News section, providing news pertaining to these categories. Why not just divide the news section into three other parts, the way AP Mobile News Network does? It’s a waste of space on the home screen.

• Assist–I’ve never had to use it, but the idea of 24/7 technical support and an online FAQ for an app is very appealing. It is clear that the Pocket Express creators are serious about creating a quality app.

Re-reading my breakdown, I feel like I am being overly harsh, and maybe it is because I am of two minds on the app. On one hand, almost every section can be replaced with a better, more-specific app. On the other hand, it is very nice to have all these elements within one app, well-created and easy-to-use.

I come down in the middle on Pocket Express, and I really think it’s a matter of preference. If you already have dozens of apps and want to save space on the home screen, this one packs a lot of punch for very little real-estate. If, on the other hand, you are a true news, weather, and horoscope junkie (read: me), then you might want to stick with individual apps that are more focused.

Even though I have all the competing apps on my phone, I keep Pocket Express installed. For me, though, it’s all about the weather. As long as there is one segment of this app that surpasses the competition, I think it’s earned its space on my phone.

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