Okay, iPhone users, let’s talk apps

[annathepiper]

Shiny new iPhone goodness is mine! I picked up the lovely thing this morning and am endeavoring to keep from playing with its shiny, shiny, candylike buttons while I’m at work. This is not, however, keeping me from pondering what apps I want to slap onto it the moment I get home.

I know I’ll need QuickOffice, for compatibility with Office files and ability to write on the device. The ability to mount the device as a drive over Wi-Fi and then to drag and drop files back and forth will be very helpful.

I will also need an ebook reader of some sort. Stanza seems highest priority on this, as that’s the one I keep hearing about, but I’m willing to be swayed to other suggestions if folks want to chime in? Note that almost all of the ebooks I have right now (free ones yoinked from various places) are in PDF format, but I have a couple of Microsoft Reader ones as well. Chances are high that I’ll probably buy further books either from Fictionwise or from Amazon’s Kindle store, and I know Stanza in theory talks both of those formats. Anybody got any counterarguments on appropriate apps?

And I’ll need a Sudoku app. Just because I use the old iPaq pretty much only for playing Sudoku these days and I will clearly need to be able to do that on the iPhone. Although I am wondering how you’ll do a proper Sudoku game with the iPhone’s touchscreen.

Just about everything else I’ll be doing on the iPhone will be functionality that comes with it. But talk to me, people; are there other cool apps out there that you cannot live without? If so, tell me about them!

Mirrored from annathepiper.org.

Comments

[eveshka.livejournal.com]

I don't have an iphone, but Trackthis (www.usetrackthis.com) has an app to allow you to push tracking info on packages. I interface mine with Twitter, and I'm pleased with that aspect.

[rmd.livejournal.com]

rogue.

mlb's "at bat lite" serves to let me know when baseball games are going to mess up traffic patterns.

handy level or icarpenter (the first is the free version of the latter)

multiconvert is awesome.

just light for turning the iphone into a flashlight.

tausendstern has an hp clone rpn calculator for free.

touchterm for ssh.

stanza for ebooks.

google earth/google apps

att has a 'my wireless' app for looking at your account info

the pri "public radio" app includes streaming for other radio stations including knhc

interacting with specific websites: wootwatch. craigsphone. phoneflicks. ebay's app. amazon's app.

tally counter for counting stuff.

snaptell looks interesting.

twitterfon is still my twitter app of choice although the way they're handing ads now is becoming annoying.

dicebag.

metronome

iffoundplus to put a "please return to" on your phone's locked state wallpaper.

ETA: not an app, but i find making use of the camera helpful - everything from recording serial numbers on devices to grabbing titles on stuff to taking photos of things to buy at the store.

[mari-mac1109.livejournal.com]

Here's what I have and use SO SO MUCH:

Spore Origin. Because sometimes you need to have fun making little primordial microscopic beasties and have them eat other little primordial microscopic beasties. A "prologue" of sorts to the desktop game, but it's fun. I am in a Spore phase, but I'll probably get over it soon.

Evernote. Also has a desktop and web-based client. The program is super awesome and the app isn't too bad. The app/desktop client pairing to get. Both are free. The service (for so much bandwidth) is free. Snapshot web pages to your Evernotes. Snap a picture of a business card ON YOUR PHONE and upload it as a note. Will interface with the server and make the image text searchable. Notes are private unless you make them public. It's where my brain overflows to. If there's something I KNOW I'm going to want to see on computer and desk top, I Evernote it. Great for 'shopping around' when looking to buy something new. I cannot do it enough justice. Favorite ever.

Shazam. Tags and analyzes songs to tell you the name. Super useful.

Thomson Rueters for news. There just aren't that great of news apps that I've found. I still think cnn.com's mobile site is some of the best, but full text Reuters articles? Not bad.

Twitterfon for Twitter. I don't doubt that there are better pay apps, but this has worked for me. Crashes less than free Twitterific, at least.

Pandora. Internet radio, on the go. OH YES.

Yelp. For all your "What's cool around here?" things.

EveryBlock. Businesses, new permits, new bike racks, crime stats, etc. based on blocks in most big US cities.

Remote. Control iTunes from your mobile phone. AWESOME. Phone and computer running iTunes must be on same wi-fi network.

Crosswords. What it says on the tin. Pay app but downloads tons of free crosswords every day/when you tell it to. There's also a Lite/Trial but it only has about 30 puzzles, all pretty darned easy. For passing time on the bus. Woo.

Simplist. For making and keeping to-do lists.

I don't use either of these either more, but if you're logging food: Lose It! and Spark People apps aren't bad. Lose It is more user-friendly, BY FAR.

And I don't think you do, but in case anyone reading this does: KnitBuddy for any knitter. Store all the needle sizes you have, yarn stash and current projects. Each project can have multiple row and/or repeat counters. It's dead handy if you're going to be picking something up and putting it aside a lot or if you have a lot of works in progress.

[akadriver.livejournal.com]

I am the queen of free apps for my iTouch, so I have:

Naturespace (nature sounds for relaxation)

Drinks Free (over 5000 drink recipes on the off chance I'm out and want something new)

Facebook

Urbanspoon (Restaurant finder)

Moonlight Lite (Mahjong)

Cooking Mama Lite (game)

Sim City (I actually paid for this one, which is rare for me. But it's Sim City!)

Meltdown Lite (game)

Scribble Lite (sketching/drawing app)

ChChPop Lite (game)

Labyrinth LE (game)

I Can Has Cheezeburger (Also can access failblog and everything on their website, whee!)

Peg Jump (game)

TanZen lite (game)

Twitterrific (has not crashed for me, but I've used it, uh, twice? I don't tweet much)

Wordsworth Lite (game)

Tap Tap Revenge 2 (game)

So probably not helpful for useful stuff (Although I would recommend Urbanspoon), but there you are.

[tvaddictgurl.livejournal.com]

I have 2 Sudoku apps on mine. One is by EA (that's the one I play most).

[daspatrick.livejournal.com]

Tuna Pitch is a free chromatic tuner that works pretty well ... I've been very happy with it.

iSyn is a little monophonic synth + drum machine app which is fun for making bleepy-bloopy tunes ... pretty capable but pretty nerdy interface.

Facebook's app is almost perfect except for a couple annoying things (when you tap a notification, it takes you person's profile, not the status they are commenting on)

Urbanspoon - you shake the phone, it gives you a nearby resturant.

I've been using Trails for recording and communicating GPS tracks if you are into that

[annathepiper]

Cool, good to know! Thanks!

[annathepiper]

I presume you mean rogue as in the ancestral game of nethack? *Googles* Hrmm, though I see nobody seems to have done a proper port of nethack to the iPhone yet. Sadness!

Ooh yes I shall need an ssh client, I'll check out touchterm.

Thanks for the many other suggestions, this is awesome. :)

[annathepiper]

Ah, that makes you the second person who's voted for Twitterfon for Twitter purposes. And thanks for all the rest of the suggestions, this is great to hear about. :)

[annathepiper]

Ah yes, of course the Facebook app!

A Mah Jongg app might be fun indeed. And you're the first to recommend Twitterrific as opposed to Twitterfon; have you tried the latter? Curious how they contrast and compare.

Thanks for all the suggestions! :)

[annathepiper]

Sweet, good to know there are options! I love me some Sudoku. :)

[annathepiper]

Ooh, the tuner sounds helpful, though I think solarbird will get more of a kick out of iSyn. Thanks for this and the other tips! Most appreciated!

[gazerwolf.livejournal.com]

Not an iphone owner but I just spotted this:

http://www.uberreview.com/2009/07/isamurai-bluetooth-iphone-app-sounds-fun.htm

It looks fun.

[akadriver.livejournal.com]

I haven't tried it, although the interface looks very clean. I just haven't had any problems with Twitterrific that have caused my iTouch to crash so I never bothered getting something else. I'm lazy like that. :) There's ads unless you buy a license to remove them, but I haven't found it too irritating. I don't tend to notice advertising anymore unless it's blocking something I'm trying to access.

[annathepiper]

Right on, thanks for giving me your feedback. :)

[annathepiper]

Heh, cute. Sounds like the app I've heard of that lets your iPhone make lightsaber noises. ;)