Seven iPhone apps that I love
Everyone has their own must have list of iPhone Apps. Here’s mine. What’s yours?
Communication:
1. BeeJive: (Based in San Francisco) This multi-client instant messenger isn’t free. At $9.99 it’s more than most (if not all?) other iPhone instant message clients …but it’s worth it. The reliable platform allows users to sync up on AOL, Yahoo!, Facebook and other popular instant message services. Features include, manage your buddy list, including add/remove, nicknames, groups, & blocking, set custom status messages, invisibility, set an auto-away status, and quick switch between multiple chats. Users can also call from chat and email chats.
What I love: look and feel, custom avatars for each IM service, ability to have multiple user accounts for each IM service.
Room for improvement: could use an option for on screen notification based on individual IM accounts.
Poor man’s alternative: eBuddy -not as reliable and does not have all of BeeJive’s features, but it also supports multiple IM clients and it’s free.
2. Twitterific Premium: Twitter client that allows multiple accounts, saved searches, local and trending topics. Twitterific has a slick interface with customizable font sizes and an easy to use toolbar for popular features such as retweeting, replies, etc. Clicking on a user’s author button also allows you to see both if you are following them and if they follow you on one screen.
What I love: easy switching between accounts, intuitive interface
Room for improvement: Sometimes the service is unable to connect. This could be either because of Twitterific or Twitter itself.
Poor Man’s alternative: Twitterific: a free, somewhat limited version of Twitterific Premium. If you have one Twitter account and are looking for a free client, this one is hard to beat.
Productivity
3. Evernote: (Based in MountainView) This free application allows users to record their thoughts in text, voice, or picture format. Information is auto synced to a web-based user account (again free, although there is a premium version for those who want tons of space -I’ve never felt the need to upgrade). Features include tagging, multiple folders, and an easy to use interface.
What I love: It’s free yet offers more features than some paid applications. Very easy and quick -great for notes on the run.
Room for improvement: Synching from computer to iPhone (when you begin your docs on your laptop versus your phone) could be smoother. More features for doc editing on the web version.
Poor Man’s alternative: This is the poor man’s alternative.
4. Lose it: Ever wonder just how many calories you consume each day? Some experts say that Americans underestimate their food intake by 30%. Whether you’re looking to achieve a certain goal weight or just want to stay on track, Lose It is a great too. The calorie counter / exercise journal features a database of foods (including calories, fat, carbs, protein numbers), and exercises (and how many calories you burn doing each). Users can view their progress by the day or by the week and past entries are saved.
What I love: ease of use, ability to make fine adjustments to food qualities, ability to enter your own foods.
Room for improvement: Would love to see charts showing counts of fat grams against goal (as it is, it counts fat grams but does not give you a recommended amount per day as it does with calories.
Poor man’s alternative: None! This app is free.
5. Camera Genius: One of many enhanced camera apps for iPhone, this one stands out for the number of features you get for a mere 99 cents. Features include camera zoom, sound capture, anti-shake, a timer and guides for lining up shots.
What I love: the “big button” feature -especially useful when you’re turning the camera on yourself and can’t “see” the button.
Room for improvement: The lag time when using anti-shake can be annoying.
Poor man’s alternative: If you are just taking quick photos on the fly, use iPhone’s built in camera feature. No zoom, timer, etc., but if you don’t need it and really don’t want to spend the buck, the built in app isn’t bad.
Fun and passing time
6. Police radio: This app allows users to listen in to police radio from precincts all over the country. Included are big city forces like the LAPD, Oakland Police and NYPD. Small cities are represented as well, however, and I was pleased to find both my home town of Troy, NY, and current city, Campbell, CA. Some reviews on iPhone caution that you “never hear the good stuff”, but the first night I listened in I heard, “Man threatening to kill his girlfriend…” along with a slew of police code, helpfully translated on the app’s screen.
What I love: huge number of cities covered, easy to navigate, surprisingly clear reception, low price tag of 99 cents.
Room for improvement: Sometimes the app can take a few seconds to connect to the police feeds, so the first time one uses the app, it seems like there is no activity or the app is not connecting. I have a feeling this is more to do with what it takes to grab the feed versus any fault of the application.
Poor man’s alternative: Although not on iPhone or easy to grab, many local feeds are available on the web. A simple Google search will likely bring you to the web-based feed for your city.
7. Dexter: Any fan of the show is likely to enjoy this game, which follows vigilante, serial killing, Dexter on his adventures. This app is not kid friendly (nor is the TV show and book series it is based on), but for adult fans, it’s a fun time waster. The graphs are incredible and the game takes full advantage of iPhone’s unique features (sometimes in gruesome ways…such as in how Dexter “takes care” of his victims). This game is not for everyone, but for show fans, I recommend it highly.
What I love: great performance from actors in voice over, effects, story line.
Room for improvement: None.
Poor man’s version: There are no other Dexter games, but free, non violent games are plentiful and easy to find on the iPhone app store.
Popularity: 2% [?]
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This entry was posted on Monday, September 28th, 2009 at 9:00 am and is filed under News. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.
moreclick October 31st, 2009 at 2:36 am
it is a good text.