iWin!

[gilana]

My amazing friends got together and gave me an incredibly generous gift certificate to the Apple store for my birthday. After some reflection, I decided that my greatest need was to replace my dying Palm Pilot -- with a brand-new 32GB iPhone 3GS. (You may now pause to wipe the drool off your keyboard.) I'm so excited, I was actually petting the box in the store before we got it open. :)

I spent most of yesterday transferring data and checking out apps and being amazed at how easily it does some of the things I've been kludging on the Palm. But now I'm looking for recommendations. Anyone got any great apps to share? Which ones are worth paying for?

Comments

[ckd]

I switched from a Palm TX to an iPod touch a bit over a year ago, and have since moved from the iPod to an iPhone (3GS 32GB, like yours). It's been a very nice change in general, with some hitches and glitches; I posted about the first few months back in January.

I use SplashID for password storage, OmniFocus for to-do and project planning, and NetNewsWire for RSS reading. All three of them have desktop versions that they can sync with, though it's not as transparent as the way Palm stuff worked with HotSync conduits.

The Facebook app is quite nice, and free.

Games: I've played a lot of Strategery and Mondo Solitaire. Flight Control is highly addictive, too. Frotz is a nice way to play text adventures anywhere, and it's free.

Check to see if any of the businesses/services you use have applications: DirecTV, Zipcar, etc all do. I can set my DVR or find a car from anywhere now.

For ebook reading, I much prefer eReader to the Kindle application, but they're both free and you can load them up with free content from ManyBooks.net or Amazon teasers to see if you like either or both of them before putting money into ebooks. (You may not even feel the need to buy any, given how much Project Gutenberg content there is on ManyBooks.)

[gilana]

Thanks, that's very helpful!

[valadil.livejournal.com]

It's not an app, but google sync is amazing. It keeps your contacts and calendars up to date with your gmail account and does so entirely over the air. Up to date contacts doesn't sound like that big a deal, except that it means you'll never have to back up your contacts again. If you lose your phone all your friends numbers are still available in gmail.

My favorite app is probably pixelpipe. It lets you upload your photos straight from your phone to flickr, facebook, picassa, or wherever else you want photos to end up.

[gilana]

Oo, that *is* handy, thanks! Checking out pixelpipe now, that sounds great.

[plumtreeblossom.livejournal.com]

I'm so sorry I missed your party. For some unknown reason, none of the emails about the party made it to any of my inboxes (I don't know what e-mail address the organizers had for me). But I'm glad you had a wonderful time!

[gilana]

Sorry you missed it -- I was sorry not to see you there, but Chris mentioned you had Stomp tickets, so I'm glad you were doing something fun, at least!

[saraheeyore.livejournal.com]

I just got an iPod touch - I've been using Stanza (for ebooks), Skype, Instapaper, and Dropbox. For games, Lock 'n' Roll is free and addictive, and Scramble is always fun.

[gilana]

Thanks! Just downloaded a whole mess of free books on Stanza :)

Lamest birthday gift ever: app suggestions.

[shereminisces.livejournal.com]

HAPPY BIRTHDAY A BIT LATE! YAY!

I got all the emails about the party, but the commute was just a little too long. Heh.

Anyway, I have eleven fricking pages of apps, but I will try to keep this short for you.

Most used app: Evernote. It's a free notebook-type app that is so much more useful than the basic notes thing on the iPhone. Syncs to a free desktop app, too. Just google it and check it out, as it would take a bit to explain here.

Banking: I use Pocketmoney to keep track of finances. I tried three or four, and this was the best of the cheap ones.

Diet and Exercise: I don't know if you keep track of this stuff, but I use Sparkpeople online and they have a free app.

Quick dialing: Thumbtacts is an app that helps you find a contact and dial with just one thumb. It's a lot easier to use than the regular meethod when your hands are full.

Upgrading the camera: Camera Genius and Camera Zoom are very similar apps that add functionality to the camera. You can zoom, focus differently, use the whole screen as the button to take the picture, etc. Worth checking out.

Shopping lists: I use Shopper, which lets you keep track of multiple stores (I have my basic store, Whole Foods, Trader Joe's, etc). It gives you auto-suggestions as you type, and you can also just input your own. And it groups anything it recognizes (or you can manually group things) into categories so you can quickly glance at the part of the list that corresponds with what aisle or section you are in. You can even input prices and it will add tax and keep track of how much you have in your cart at any given time, although I have been too lazy to bother with that.

Cocktails+ is good if you like cocktails.

Midomi is music recognition software, so you hold it up when you hear a song and don't recognize it and it will tell you what it is andvvgive you links to lyrics, youtube videos and other such things. Midomi is around six bucks, and Shazaam does it for free, but the difference is that Shazaam only recognizes recorded music and Midomi allows you to sing or hum something.

Convertbot converts all kinds of measurements and includes mixed measurements (you can input in feet and inches, rather than having to total it in inches first, etc).

Best tip calculator I've found: TipCalculator. It's the only one I've found that not only splits the check, but allows for each person to have a different amount rather than splitting evenly.

Best photo enhancing app: CameraBag. Allows you to make pictures look like they were developed in different ways (polaroid, magazine editorial, etc).

If you're ever going to use your phone as a clock, CandyClock is awesome.

If you ever watch TED videos, get the TED app. Awesome.

WikiHow has a million how-to articles, and it saves first aid and emergency related ones to your phone so you don't need an internet connection to view them.

There's a livejournal app (I should use that one more often).

Birthdays imports birthdays from facebook and your address book and sends you reminders.

iTreadmill has the best ratings for pedometers.

Other helpful ones you may want to check out: Yelp, google, cell tracker, remote (and/or rowmote), TenTwoFive, Cardstar, Cell Tracker, ClickerPlus, BargainBin, Flashlight, Shakespeare, lingo, Dictionary, Art, Epicurious, Recipe Puppy, Fandango, Urbanspoon, Amazon.com, SnapTell, ATM Hunter, Around Me, Dial 0, Your Rights, iCoque345, Urban WotD, TimeBook

I've left off games and frivolous entertainment apps as I don't know what you'd be looking for, and there are a million. Let me know if there is a type of game you are interested in. Also, I have a lot of music related apps, so let me know if you need any of those (metronomes, tuners, theory quizzes, etc.) Ditto for brain trainers (you know, raise your IQ, increase your memory and all that).

Enjoy your new phone!

Re: Lamest birthday gift ever: app suggestions.

[gilana]

Not lame at all, those are some great suggestions! The TED one alone may make my gym trips more interesting, I always mean to watch more of those and never get around to it.

As to games, I tend to like the Bejeweled type -- not too fast-paced, not too heavy strategy, just something simple to keep me occupied on the T or during meetings. Card games are good, too.

Re: Lamest birthday gift ever: app suggestions.

[rainbow-spork.livejournal.com]

OMG, thank you! This list is awesome. I've had an iphone for a year and a half and I didn't know about half of these. (zomg, I had no idea about the camera apps! so awesome!!)

[thatwesguy.livejournal.com]

Get TaxiBall Free. Then, if you like it, get the paid version.

(Yeah, that's me doing the soundtrack. The entire soundtrack. Voice only.)

[shanghaibex.livejournal.com]

Lightsaber! It never fails to make me smile.