Machete don't text

[gwyn]

Now that I have an iPhone, I'm playing around with my apps way too much considering how much work I have to do. So I've DLed a couple of free apps, but I don't know what else to pick up (and I already have Angry Birds on my Nook Color, so I don't want to spend the money to get that again). If you use an iPhone, what do you like? I was wondering about those photo doctoring apps, especially -- I see all these interesting treatments of pictures, and I assume they're apps, but I don't know which one's best or coolest or what have you. I'm also interested in some GPS apps -- do you use one you like? It seems the best ones are very expensive in the long run, and you have to re-up your service annually or semi-annually.

Anything else that's cool? I'm not a games player, but you could possibly sell me on something intellectually focused.

I'm trying to get better at the texting thing, but I don't really have anyone to text with, so it seems kind of moot. The onscreen keyboard is nice, but wow, am I bad with it. I always hit the wrong keys. I think it's a matter of time before I end up on one of those autofill joke pages.

Comments

[raine]

I use Google Maps, which is a free app and does really well. I also use InRix Traffic, which isn't free (and is one of the more expensive apps), but it has a feature I really, really like in the premium version: I can save my frequent routes, and it will calculate, with traffic, how long it will take me to get there.

Beyond that: I use Stanza as my ereader (I can't stand iBooks; it doesn't sort stuff the way I want it to). I also have a tip calculator, DocstoGo for writing/viewing Word docs and various other apps for stuff I use (like Twitterific, Vevo, OpenTable, and Dragon Dictation). There are tons of lists of "best apps" out there (Time magazine has one that's pretty recent), but what I've discovered is that the apps I keep are the ones that I use frequently, regardless of whether or not they were free to start.

[dorinda]

Wellll, I have a gerbeelion games, more than any other kind of app, so I might not be the best person to give recs for non-game things. However! Having said that, here are some I like and use...

* I have an app called "Local Books" (free), made by LibraryThing. It will find bookstores, libraries, 'bookish events,' etc., near your current location (or any location you enter). This is not only handy to find the closest library/bookstore/book fair (as well as its contact info, events, etc.), but also to find the things many of those places often have: free public space, bathrooms, wireless, tax forms, librarians. *g*

* I have the Yelp app (free)--I don't write reviews (nor do I have a Yelp account, you don't have to have one, even though the app will prompt you and ask if you want one), and really, I don't pay attention to the reviews per se. But I follow my brother's lead, in using Yelp to find nearby places/businesses of any sort. You can search by categories (drugstores, grocery, gas, bars, restaurants, coffee shops, bookstores, museums, parks, etc. etc.), or by the name of a place, and have it find things near your current location, or near any location you specify.

* For travel, I have Kayak mobile (free)--I think klia might have recommended it while I was visiting? I've mostly used it for its flight tracker functions so far, which were very easy to use and handy.

* I have TuneIn Radio (free--there's also a 'Pro' version for 99 cents), which lets me listen to digital radio from all over the world. Presently, my top two presets are a British "UK 1940s radio station", which plays music, speeches, comedy, and other things from WWII British radio; and BBC Radio 4 Extra, which airs a lot of radio drama. But there are SO MANY stations, from everywhere, and in all kinds of other languages. You can browse by genre, by language, by country, etc.

* I strongly suggest the app "Find My iPhone". It's free. Basically, you set it up on the phone, and then if you lose or misplace your phone, you log in to Find My iPhone from another Apple device (or apparently through the web using iCloud, but I don't know how to do that personally), and it'll show you where your iPhone is on a map. You can remotely lock the phone, wipe its data, have it play a sound, etc.

* I have the USPS (postal service) app (free), which lets me find post offices, find mailboxes, find zip codes, get prices, track packages, etc.

* Sadly, my favorite and widely-beloved e-book app, Stanza, apparently is no longer supported by the newest iPhone OS (my iPhone OS is quite old by now, so that fact hasn't yet harmed me personally). Otherwise I'd recommend it.

* However, I can still rec the Instapaper app, if you'd like to have an easy way to read articles and other things from the web on your phone. It's $4.99, so it might not be the sort of thing you would want to buy and then not use--but I use it a lot. Basically, you sign up online through any web browser for a free instapaper account at Instapaper.com. And then, wherever you are, on a computer anyplace, if you find something on the web you want to save for reading later, you just plonk the URL into Instapaper (there are easy 'read later' Instapaper buttons you can drag into any browser toolbar, if you want to make it a one-click process). Then your Instapaper account syncs with your phone's Instapaper app, and the articles, wherever you were when you found them, will be saved on your phone, for easy reading whenever (and simply formatted for iPhone reading, rather than looking like a teeny tiny webpage).

* the_shoshanna recommended the iCab Mobile web browser app ($1.99)--no offense to the included Safari browser, but iCab has more features, including the ability to read pdfs, plus tabbed browsing, autofill for filling in forms, a download manager, etc.

Sorry I can't speak to the awesomest photo-manipulating or GPS apps, but I hope other people have good ideas!

[thaccian]

My favorite app is Star Walk - 5 Stars Astronomy Guide ($2.99). Find stars, constellations, planets. . . be able to track satellites as they go by.

My brother has this on his iPhone and I have the version designed for my Android phone. It is totally cool

[adair]

I'm impressed that you are trying to use an iPhone. I just broke down and got a tracphone this summer. I've used it 4 times since July; none of them for really necessary calls that could not have waited until I got to a land line, but convenient to make when I did. You probably have more need for a cell phone than I do, but everyone seems to expect everyone else to have one. I keep the number secret, so no one can call me - the notion that I should be available at all times and interrupted at some one else's will just does not appeal. Your work probably means you need to be more available - I hope the iPhone is fun as well as useful

[imkalena.livejournal.com]

Photo apps -- Snapseed's probably good. Nik's PS plug-ins are unbelievable.

http://www.scottkelby.com/blog/2011/archives/19599

They have them for the iPhone, too, of course.

[spasticat.livejournal.com]

Apps I enjoy (my iPhone phone service is cancelled but I can still access the apps via home wifi)...

Daily Puppy (puppy pictures!)
Guardian (news!)
PBS (stream shows!)
Bookworm (fun word game!)
Mew Mew Tower (silly Japanese game where you stack cats)
Must Eat Birds (weird and fun Japanese game)
Plants vs Zombies (weird and fun game!)
Infinity Gene (updated and very fascinating version of Space Invaders)
PS Express (photoshop express...you can do neat photo effects with this)
Instagram (fun photo app, effects are retro)
TiltShiftGen (look up "tilt shift" in google, it's a neat photo effect, I use this app for that and to up contrast)
Halftone (create comic book photo effects, even word balloons)
OldPhoto (make your photos look vintage)
HDR Foto (create dynamic range photos)
SplitCam (combines two photos...that you take using the app)

With the photo apps I will play with a photo in one app, save it, open it in another app, and play with the photo again. Sometimes I use up to 3 or 4 photo apps on one image.

[darthhellokitty.livejournal.com]

I just got one too!

I've had fun dictating texts. They're hilarious until I fix them up...

I got a LiveJournal app!

[gwyn-r.livejournal.com]

Thank you so much for the Mew Mew Tower recommendation. OMG, I love it. Perfect timewaster. I don't know if the pay version is much different from the free one I got (they give you more cats? or something? I have no idea), but it's awfully cute.