Posts Tagged ‘iphone’ Return to Archives List
My iPhone home screen apps
June 26th, 2009 | Comments Off
I just (finally) upgraded my iPhone OS to the new 3.0 and thought this might be a good opportunity to go over some of the apps that I keep on my iPhone’s home screen. I won’t deal with the native iPhone apps, just the third-party gems that I can’t function without.
(All application links go to the iTunes store.)
SaiSuke. This is my preferred calendar app because it syncs beautifully with Google Calendars. You can read my full calendar sync setup here. There is a limited free version but I use the paid $9.99 version.- Things. One of the best task management (to-do list) applications around. It also syncs via WiFi with the desktop version. You can read more about my task management setup here. The iPhone app is $9.99 and the desktop app is $49.99.
- Flashlight. Because you never know when you might need a little extra light (or a crazy, rave-ready party light machine). Flashlight is free.
- Facebook. Everyone is on Facebook and the native iPhone app is the best way to access those crucial updates on the go. Facebook is free.
- Tweetie. Tweetie for iPhone and Tweetie for Mac are both beautiful Twitter applications. I’m not saying they are right for everyone, but so far they are both my choice. I can’t wait until they start syncing with each other… please! Tweetie for iPhone is $2.99 and Tweetie for Mac is either free (ad supported) or $19.95. (I use the free version of the desktop app.)
- Byline. For a long time I have been a happy NetNewsWire user. NNW is a free RSS reader for both Mac and iPhone. With a free Newsgator account both versions even stay in sync. However, I recently tried out Byline which is an iPhone app that syncs and caches feeds from a Google Reader account. I think I have officially made the switch. Byline works really well and looks great. Plus, with Fluid I can setup a separate “app” for Google Reader on my Mac. Google Reader is free and Byline is $4.99.
- Instapaper. Instapaper is a free online service that allows you to store the contents of web pages for later reading. You simply click a bookmarklet in any browser and the contents of the current web page gets stored in your Instapaper account. The iPhone app downloads all stored pages in your account so you can read them offline on your iPhone. This is perfect for reading long articles on an airplane. The web service is free and you have a choice between a free version of the iPhone app or a “pro” version which costs $4.99. (I use the free version.)
- The Weather Channel®. I like this app over the native Weather app. Honestly I don’t even remember what features pushed it above the other, but I do like it and it’s free (although there is a “Max” version for $3.99).
- Evernote. I like Evernote a lot! Evernote is a web application that allows a user to import stuff that gets synced to other places. I posted one example of how I used it here. Basically imaging copying stuff from your browser on your Mac (like a recipe) and being able to view it later on your iPhone, or taking a picture on your iPhone and being able to view it later on your friend’s PC, or any number of other things. Evernote works via their web interface but they also have free apps for your desktop or iPhone so you can access your stuff more easily. It is a free service but you can also upgrade to a premium account to gain more bandwidth and other features.
That’s my home screen and a few of the iPhone apps I use on a regular basis. What apps do you keep up front on your iPhone?
An iPhone upgrade rant
June 10th, 2009 | 10 Comments
Are you upset at AT&T’s iPhone upgrade pricing? Do you own an iPhone 3G and now you’re stuck in a 2-year contract with AT&T? Do you think AT&T is being unfair because they won’t let you upgrade your phone for the same price as a new customer? Well you’re not alone. There are a lot of people whining about AT&T’s iPhone upgrade policy since the new iPhone 3Gs came out. Here are a few things to consider before you go writing a hateful email to your cell carrier of choice.
Remember when you got your iPhone 3G from AT&T? They make you sign a 2-year contract in order to get the phone at a greatly discounted price. So, like every other American consumer with an unstoppable thirst for Apple’s technology you signed the contract stating that you were theirs for 2 years. In turn they gave you a discounted iPhone and told you that you could upgrade your phone in 18-24 months. Then Apple had to go and develop a new handset that is better than the old one (surprise, surprise). Now you want a newer, better phone at a discounted price and you want it right now. But the contract you signed is not up so your only options are:
- Wait until your contract is up.
- Pay full price for the new iPhone 3Gs.
- Complain loud enough that it’s AT&T’s fault and hope they change their mind.
Sadly, it seems that most people are choosing option #3. They signed a contract with AT&T making a commitment and giving their word. Then they saw a newer, shinier piece of hardware that they wanted–not needed–although they didn’t want to pay full price for it. And somehow this whole situation was AT&T’s fault. They are the ones who didn’t allow their customers to break the contracts those same customers willingly signed a year earlier in order to get a discounted phone. How dare they hold people to their word instead of just giving people what they want all of the time. They are acting like responsible adults or even parents!
Sometimes in life we have to pay full price. Sometimes there are consequences to our actions–actions like making an agreement and then trying to weasel out of it. I don’t like AT&T’s service either, but if you are one of these whiners please remember: This is your fault, not theirs. Either pay or wait. Not only is it the right thing to do, it might just make you a better person.
End rant.
My calendar sync solution for Mac & iCal
May 30th, 2009 | 1 Comment
Calendar syncing is an issue for anyone who works on a team, has multiple computers, or even just has a computer and a phone. It seems like it should be easy to keep appointments and events in sync among all of your devices, but so far there hasn’t been one solid solution to rise to the top of this market and woo the masses. However, that doesn’t mean the calendar syncing landscape is barren. There are a lot of good solutions available that each solve one piece of the puzzle. By putting the right pieces together anyone can create their taylor-made calendar syncing masterpiece. When I started looking for a solution I wanted something that would:
- Sync multiple iCal calendars from my Mac with multiple Google calendars (belonging to multiple Gmail and Google Apps accounts).
- Allow others to subscribe to any of my calendars (if I give them permission).
- Two-way sync over the air with my iPhone (I’m too lazy to have to plug in my iPhone every day).
- Not cost too much money.
I already used Google Calendars for different parts of my personal and professional life with different Gmail and Google Apps accounts. Another option would have been to use MobileMe, but I prefer Google Calendar because of its feature set and price point–free. One of Google Calendar’s great features is the ability to share calendars with other Google Calendar users. The first thing I did to get setup with a good syncing solution was to choose one Gmail account to have complete control over all of my Google Calendars. This same feature also lets me share calendars with other people allowing them to see the information but not make any changes to it.
Now that I had everything in Google under one account I just needed to find a way to sync that account with iCal on my Mac. There are a few options out there that do this, but the one I prefer is SpanningSync.
Some people don’t like the fact that all information runs through SpanningSync’s servers (as a privacy issue), but I actually like the fact that they operate as a service because they notice when things break and are very quick to respond. Also, I don’t really mind my calendar data passing through SpanningSync on its way to Google–if my data were too sensitive for SpanningSync I wouldn’t be sending it to Google in the fist place.
SpanningSync allows one Google account (Gmail or Google Apps) to sync any of its calendars with any calendars in iCal. It runs as a preference pane and includes a little menubar icon to show you when a sync is in process or if there has been a sync error. SpanningSync is a service so it is not free. But you get continuous support for that fee. Users choose to either pay an annual fee of $25 the first year then $15 each year after that, or a one-time fee of $65.
With my Mac and “the cloud” all synced up I just needed to throw my iPhone into the mix. The first solution I tried was the standard iCal sync via iTunes. This solution was quickly thrown out for a couple of reasons. First of all, the note field. For one of my jobs I use the note field in iCal to contain long lists of information about each event that I create. This fields syncs perfectly up to Google so I can view all of these notes online. However, for some reason iTunes cuts off the note field when it syncs iCal events to the iPhone. Since this information is critical to my job, I cannot use iTunes calendar syncing for my calendars.
Besides, who wants to have to use a cable to sync your phone and your computer these days anyway?!
So I started looking into alternate solutions for iCal/iPhone/Google Calendar syncing and I found Saisuke. Saisuke is a calendar replacement app on the iPhone. So, instead of opening the default calendar app on my phone I now open Saisuke instead. I first tried the free version of the app which is limited to 1-way sync (Google to iPhone only), 1 calendar only, and a shorter sync period. Once I felt comfortable with this solution I went ahead and paid for the full version ($9.99).
With Saisuke my iPhone and Google Calendars are always in sync. With SpanningSync my iCal and Google Calendars are always in sync. The total calendar sync cost of this solution: $65 + $9.99 = $74.99 (less than one year of MobileMe). Of course, MobileMe offers a lot of other features for that fee, but they are features I didn’t need so this solution was the one for me.
How do you keep your schedules in sync?
dropbox iphone bring back simple view
May 21st, 2009 | Comments Off
I like to see how people end up here at my website. Most of the time the search terms people use to get here are pretty normal. However, sometimes they are kind of obscure. Today I saw a search term that landed someone on this post that was descriptive enough for me to guess the problem they were having that prompted their Google quest. I know because it’s a problem I have had as well.
The search term was “dropbox iphone bring back simple view” and I assume the problem was that they were surfing the Dropbox website on their iPhone and they switched from the iPhone-optimized view to Dropbox’s “standard view.” I love that so many sites give you this option because sometimes they strip out necessary features when designing an iPhone-optimized view. It is nice to be able to switch back-and-forth, except that in the case of Dropbox you can only go one direction. Once in the normal view there is no link to switch to the iPhone-optimized view.
Before I show you the solution on this one, let me say first that I submitted feedback to Dropbox about this after it happened to me and very quickly received a response saying:
Hello Ben,
I will pass your feedback about the iPhone issue long to the team.
We are always working on improving our service and adding new features and functionality so please keep using Dropbox and let us know if there are any other suggestions!
If there is anything else we can do to help just let us know!
Best,
David D
You have to respect a company with customer service like this. Now on to the solution. Simply point your mobile Safari window to the following URL: http://getdropbox.com/iphone
While it isn’t quite as good as a link back to the iphone version, it does do the trick and it’s super easy. Happy Dropboxing!
TextEdit, Dropbox, and my iPhone
May 13th, 2009 | Comments Off
I love TextEdit. For those who aren’t familiar with TextEdit, it is essentially Apple’s version of Microsoft’s Notepad (or more accurately WordPad). With Quicksilver installed I am only one quick keystroke away from having a new document open and ready to receive whatever information I need to throw at it–a phone number, a quick list, whatever. Combine this with Dropbox and those files are now accessible from anywhere–even my iPhone! Sound too good to be true? It is. Amazingly, the iPhone won’t read TextEdit documents. But don’t fret, this story has a happy ending that is sure to up your productivity and mobility.
My favorite Twitter clients for Mac
April 29th, 2009 | 1 Comment
It seems today that Twitter has hit the mainstream. This means that there will be a lot more businesses using Twitter as a means to pimp themselves and there will be many more annoying people using Twitter to post every meal they eat and every thought they think.
However, this also means that the Twitter application market is much more attractive to developers. If more people are using the service then more people are interested in using applications to make their Twitter experience better. Let’s face it, Twitter’s web interface isn’t amazing. I’ve taken a few Twitter clients for Mac (and a couple for iPhone) for a spin and here are my favorites.
- Tweetie – Free with ads or $15-20 (also for iPhone)
- Twhirl – Free (requires Adobe AIR)
- Nambu – Free (also for iPhone)
- TweetDeck – Free (required Adobe AIR)
- Twitterific – Free with ads or $15 (also for iPhone)
- EventBox – $15-20
Things I look for:
- Small footprint with a lot of power
- Menubar icon or simple show/hide functionality
- Keep feed window on last read tweet when new tweets arrive
- Free option
- iPhone version
- Choices for URL shortening services and picture attachments
- Be beautiful and functional
What’s your favorite Twitter client?
Exporting your stuff from Evernote
April 22nd, 2009 | 5 Comments
I really like Evernote. I suggest it to a lot of people, especially anyone who owns an iPhone. Evernote makes it so easy to take a picture, write a note, or record some audio on your iPhone and retreive it later on your Mac, PC, or even online. This has so many potential uses from comparison shopping to simple reminders. However, as I was using Evernote the other day I realized one fatal flaw in the system. Evernote only exports “notes” as Evernote-compatible files. Why is this a bad thing? Let me share my experience…
Right now Shaun is in song-writing mode preparing for a new album and a new round of completely free songs. While at a church in Iowa the other day Shaun was messing around on the church’s piano and wrote this beautiful melody. A few hours later before the concert, it was completely gone from his head. In his own word, “I’m not too old to write music, just too old to remember it.” Hoping it would return to him I told him I would record it with my handy-dandy iPhone and then send it to him later. Sure enough, the following morning Shaun woke up and the melody had returned. I immediately opened up Evernote for iPhone, started a new audio note, and within a few seconds the melody was captured and sync’d up Evernote online. So far so good, but that was only the first step.
