This page reviews some of my favourite iPhone apps.
I read an article in March 2009 which claimed that a survey had revealed that of all the iPhone apps downloaded, most might be fun or interesting for a week or two, and after that they fall into disuse. The article said that only about 10% apps remain in active use after a month. I've certainly tried a number of applications and after trying them for a while, found that they no longer interested me, so I deleted them.
On this page I'm only going to write about "keepers"; the apps I use and find truly useful (other than the great features that come with iPhone).
12 January 2010 comment:
It's now over a year since I bought my iPhone and I have a lot of apps, and by now, a lot of personal experience over time, regarding what apps are part of my daily life, what are very useful to have, and what are candidates to be removed to make room for new apps. I bought four new apps last weekend, at a cost of about A$95. Now that sounds a lot. But this year I decided to try to learn Italian. I soon found that a good English-Italian dictionary is essential. I ended up with three, and will later wrote about this. One of the dictionaries costs $150 in book form and has 2,800 pages, and is so big and heavy that it would be a pain (literally for me) to hold. Another dictionary has an outstanding feature that no book I know of offers. Again, I'll one day write about this. The thing is that my list of favourites below is way out of date. Even the OZ Weather review is way out of date, as late last year a PRO version was introduced, and this is significantly better. I use this app many times every day.
Also, when I wrote the following reviews, I only mentioned a few of the apps that I use. I didn't like to admit how much money I've spent on iPhone apps, and how keen I am on some subjects. I have many English dictionaries; the Anglican Book of Common Prayer; four Bible apps, covering various versions of the Bible; and some games.
And I'm now seriosuly into apps that might help me understand, or even learn, some Italian.
When time permits, I'll revise this page.
Aussie Rules LIVE - A$3.99 (now FREE)
Update 18 April 2010
As hoped, after the second round this app was updated and instead of taking at least 75 seconds to upload, it only took about 5 seconds or so, and the interface was gfreatly inproved and no longer pointlessly tacky. The app became really useful again. However, I was very disappointed that it still didn't have the graph that showed the progress of the game throughout its length in terms of who was ahead or behind at any moment in time, and by how much.
This weekend the app was updated again, and hallelujah, the much missed graph was restored. They called it the worm. Of course! It's like the worm shown by TV programs (mainly Ch 9) during a political debate, to show who is ahead or behind and by how much at any point in the debate.
I can now thoroughly recommend this app again.
Update 14 March 2010
In the past week the Aussie Rules LIVE app was "upgraded." Most owners who bought it last year regard it as a downgrade. I certainly do.
The application is now free and comes with adverts for Carsales.com.au, which are very annoying and take up screen space.
The app used to be a quick way to check the progress of games and current scores, but it now takes 1 min 15 seconds to open. So it's no longer quick. The once simple and classic looking interface is now unbelieveably tasteless.
Unless it improves dramatically in the next two weeks, I doubt that I'll be using it in the 2010 AFL season. At this stage I can no longer recommend this product.
Original review
At this time of the year a good place to start with my favourite iPhone apps is Aussie Rules LIVE.
For me, this is a great way to see what games up coming up, and when and where together with lots of information if I care to look it up.
But mostly I just enjoy looking at the live scores of games in progress - and the scores come through within seconds of a change in the score when you press the Refresh button at top right of the iPhone screen.
One feature I particularly like and find informative, is the graph of the scores which can be viewed during the games and afterwards. It shows at a glance how the course of each game played out.
There is an animated video at aussieruleslive.com (click on the image to go there) which shows many of the features albeit at a somewhat annoying speed, with a strange green circle.
I do however have a warning. If you're watching a game on TV that is not live, them be wary of checking the score on the iPhone. For example, last Friday night I was watching Richmond v Western Bulldogs. The Bulldogs were leading by a large margin in the second quarter, but in the last 10 minutes or so Richmond put on a huge burst with goal after goal and at half time were in the lead. Very exciting. That's when I checked the score in this App. Ooops! In real time it was getting near the end of the game in the final quarter, with the Bulldogs so far in the lead that Richmond had no chance of winning. The game score graph showed that after half time the Bulldogs had regained control of the game from the start. So knowing the outcome, and how the second half would play out with the Bulldogs leading all the way, I didn't watch the second half.
OZ Weather - A$2.49
This is easily my most used application. I usually check it out several times a day.
Click on the image to see a video of it in action.
There are other weather programs and one is included as standard on the iPhone - but OZ Weather is connected to the Bureau of Meteorology, and as such is very accurate.
I find it handy to be able to quickly check out the current weather (and that includes the radar maps) and forecasts for Melbourne and cities in which I have friends. In summer I used it to see if cricket matches held interstate were likely to (be affected by approaching rain).
Wikipanion - Free
Wikipanion is an app on the iPhone that might seem a bit useless, because all it basically does is let you search for an entry in Wikipedia and then it brings the entry up on screen for you to read. I can search Wikipedia in the Safari web browser which comes with the iPhone. So what's the point?
Speed and convenience! It gives instant access to the Wikipedia search engine and once you start typing in your search entry the app soon begins offering suggestions that more often than not saves you from having to type in the whole entry.
It's the speed and convenience that makes it so practical to use. I've found it handy during conversations when a subject comes up to which no-one knows the answer, and want to find out.
Click on the screen image (on the right) if you want to read about the great features of this free program. The app gives instant access anywhere to a huge online encyclopedia that covers far more than any printed encyclopedia could hope to cover - let alone often update so quickly.
There is a paid version of the app called Wikipanion Plus for A$5.99 which offers a few features that are of no real interest to me, as my queries are mostly unplanned and not part of a lanned course of study.
Gorgy Timing Atomic Clock - $1.19
This app is synched to a 100% accurate clock - the same as the time pips on 1194 or on ABC radio.
It has paid for itself already in 1194 phone I haven't had to make to check the exact time before setting my clocks at daylight savings and after power breaks.
The author of this app often makes improvements to the display and to the features.
Flashlight - Free
Ludicrous? No, it's actually quite useful (unless you always carry a torch in your pocket). I've used it a lot.
iTalk - Free ...... or ad-free version A$5.99
It's been a good solution for me if I need to take down someone's name and address (read between the lines here) and record them giving it me and me repeating it back to them, and maybe using the iPhone to take photos of them. It can also be used for recording notes and ideas and so on, as they occur to me. At this stage I'm using it as an easy alternative to carrying pen and paper with me when I go out, in case I need to take notes.
200 Great Books - A$2.49
I can't believe it.
This app started off as 50 Great Books for Ten Bucks - A$12.99 is what I paid. But it is now 200 Great Books for A2.49.
Why would you read a book on the iPhone? What better place to read books (novels, etc without pictures) than on the iPhone. What printed books allow you to choose the font size, font colour and paper colour to suit your eyesight? And what printed books are so small and light that can you easily carry them with you? And not just one book, but 200 books. The app knows what page you're up to in each book you open and perhaps start to read. I've read five books on the iPhone this year, and have just finished reading The Mysterious Affair at Styles by Agatha Christie. I've also read Pride and Prejudice, Happy Prince and Other Tales, and The Curious Case of Benjamin Button. The other book was Tarzan of the Apes which I read in the Stanza app mentioned later on this page. However, the Tarzan books were included in the latest update (on 12 June 2009) and I've read The Return of Tarzan in this app rather than Stanza. But I've downloaded the next book in the series - The Beasts of Tarzan - to my Stanza app.
You can scroll the book at the speed you set, and can adjust the speed on the fly. Beam-It-Down keep adding more books and more features to make the reading experience more comfortable.
There is a video at http://www.beamitdown.com/ (click here) to give you an idea.
This app will shine on the iPad.
Urbanspoon - Free
Urbanspoon covers major cities throughout the world and your local area within those cities. I've so far found it very comprehensive in terms of the covering eating places with names, address and phone numbers, so that you can what is around where you are or plan to be for eating.
The app will become even more useful once more restaurants and cafes supply details of operatings hour, menus, etc.
The main thing is that it's currently free.
Oh yes, the app uses the iPhone's GPS function to determine exactly where you are, so that it can list the nearby restaurants.
Darkroom (formerly Steadycam) - Free
Darkroom takes better photos than the built-in iPhone photo-taking app, and perhaps the main reason is that it doesn't take the photo until you're holding the camera steady. For instant shots I use the standard Photo app.
The photo here was taken with my iPhone using Darkroom. If you click on the photo it will open in a new tab or window where you can left click to bring the image to full size, and you can then scroll to judge the quality.
My judgement is that the photos taken with darkroom are surprisingly good, and usable. There is an A$1.19 Premium version.
The photo is, by the way, of my car.
SearchDial - A$2.49
The iPhone is an amazing mobile phone and computer for me. But this little app has something that's so simple and obvious, that it's surprising that the iPhone doesn't have this basic feature. SearchDial can search the contact list. It can search by parts of names or numbers and the search can be set to search for phone, SMS or e-mail contacts.
I've read that version 3 of the iPhone firmware will be able to search contacts.
Bloomberg - Free
If you have shares or are otherwise interested in the stock market, the iPhone comes with Stocks which enable you to keep track of your shares and stock market indices.
But the free Bloomberg app blows it away for looks and the amount of information it supplies, including share price graphs that you can set to cover 5 years.
Unfortunately, this app, like the iPhone Stocks app, is a bit of a dud when it comes to increasing the value of my stocks.
Remote - Free
I have iTunes on my computer, and I've imported a lot of my CDs into my iTunes library, and I've bought a lot of music from the iTunes store. An album in iTunes costs only A$16.99 which is much cheaper than a CD. Better still, with many albums, I might only like one or two tracks, so I can buy the tracks I like for AS1.69 (unless it's a longer track that is only sold as part of the whole album). So far, I have 1,685 songs (or tracks) in iTunes. I suppose that's very small by some standards.
The other thing is that my PC is connected to a good sound system. This not only makes the music very enjoyable, but it makes mastering music for CDs and video very easy and reliable.
Anyway, Remote turns the iPhone into a remote control for your iTunes library. That doesn't seem impressive until you try it. Remote is not the conventional remote control. It's a computer app with full access to your iPod library, and allows you to play what you choose from your library.
Google Mobile App - Free
What can a Google app do when the iPhone already has a web browser - Safari, where you can Google things?
It's like Wikipanion, reviewed above. The Google Mobile App is so much faster and more convenient for Googling on the iPhone. Once you begin typing your search keywords, the app starts coming up with suggestions that might be what you are looking for, to save further typing.
But better still, because the iPhone and Google maps know where you are, the app offers suggestions that are relevant to your area. That is, when it works! And you can also touch the microphone icon and speak your Google query. This is a really impressive feature when it works; however, when it doesn't, which is more often than not, it's frustrating.
Dictionary.com - Free
As I move more into developing this web page, you're going to find that I'm a dictionary enthusiast.
I'm going to have a lot to say about that.
In the meantime, I downloaded this free dictionary only last night, with its built-in thesaurus. It's too early to judge it yet, but I can say that I've been a fan of Dictionary.com for many years. It's a plug-in for Firefox so that if you don't understand any word (or even place, or person) that you read on a web page, you can ALT click on the word and up comes a small floating window with the Dictionary.com definition or other information, with links to further information.
Wivi Band - Free
Have a look at this amazing demo - CLICK HERE .
The Wivi Band app is playing the saxophone part, with an acompaniment that was presumably recorded beforehand.
There is a free version with the Flute and Trumpet, which is good for a bit of fun and showing off the iPhone. It's quite fun to see the look on people's face when you blow on the iPhone (near the microphone) and you get the sound of a flute or trumpet.
The paid app is A$5.99 and has 15 wind instruments.
Overall, it's just a bit of fun.
Stanza - Free
This is a free electronic book reader.
You can read about it at http://www.lexcycle.com/ and watch a 10 minute video which shows how to use Stanza to read books; how to set it up for your preferences for most comfortable reading; and how to use it to download ebooks either direct to the app or via your PC or Mac.
It is this latter ability that is the most amazing. The web site has a free Desktop reader which is a delight in itself (check out the Lexcycle navigation bar):
"Featuring a clean, well-organized interface, Stanza Desktop is expressly designed for reading digital publications, including electronic books, newspapers, PDFs, and general web content.Stanza Desktop features built-in support for HTML, PDF, Microsoft Word, and Rich Text Format reading, as well as all the major eBook standards: unprotected Amazon Kindle and Mobipocket, Microsoft LIT, Palm doc, and the International Digital Publishing Forum's new epub Open eBook standard."
The beauty of Stanza Desktop is that it can share its books with the iPhone. Just download a book to Stanza, and share it with the iPhone.
In case you're wondering, the 200 Great Books app that I mentioned above is a very different proposition. It's not free, and you're paying for the application and its very smooth way of scrolling the pages as you read them, and a nice way of doing things. The books themselves are actually free as they are in the public domain.
In this context, Stanza is not as polished, but in the end it's very practical (it works) and you have access in a free app to maybe 100,000 free books, such as those in Project Gutenberg which you can access, search and download directly from the iPhone app. The range of free books is amazing because it includes most of the classic books that have stood the test of time.
I've downloaded The Beasts of Tarzan to read in Stanza once I've finished reading the previous book which I'm now reading in the 200 Great Books collection.
This is another aplication which will benefit from the iPad.
Wunder Radio - A$8.99
Yes, this app costs A$8.99 - so the price will put a lot of people off.
But it's a great app for the iPhone if you want to listen to radio on your iPhone.
As you can see in the screen grab on the left, the app gives you a great choice of searching for radio stations that might interest you - worldwide - and you can add stations you like to your favourites.
I'm especially fond of BBC Radio 7 which has a lot of good old fashioned radio plays and so on, plus a lot of the old comedy programs.
I've also made favourites of some of our local radio stations, and other BBC stations.
I read somewhere that the app has access to some 30,000 radio stations.
That said, if you don't have an iPhone yet, or don't want to spend A$8.99 on the app, you can listen to all the radio stations - and about 100,000 of them, at radiotime.com.
I recommend a search for BBC Radio 7.
In fact, click HERE and simply sit back and listen to BBC Radio 7.
XE Currency - Free
For years I've been using the XE Currency web page, after a Google search for a currency convertor, to convert US, UK and Euro currency amounts to A$ to see what an online purchase will cost me in Australian dollars (on top of which there will be exchange fees).
The iPhone now has a free app that provides the same information to me as the XE currency page that I've been using for years. The iPhone does it just as well, but with more information at a glance. Instead of having to select which currency to convert and then the currency to convert to, the iPhone app can show all 10 currencies you choose on one screen.
You can then select any of the currencies to enter an amount, and all the other currencies you choose will show the conversion.
And of course with the iPhone I can use the app to do conversions when I'm not at my computer.
It's free, and it's good.
Midomi Ultra - A$5.99
Update 18 April 2010
This app is now called SoundHound. I still like it.
The following is my original review:
Last night I was watching So You Think You Can Dance (USA) and, near the end of the show, when the judges went off to decide which two dancers would not make it to the final 10, there was a guest singer and group to fill in the time while the judges were away. The singer and the name of the song were announced but I didn't take any notice as I hadn't heard of her or the song.
As it turned out, as the song went along, I found that I quite liked it and the backing arrangement. I knew that the name of the singer and song would not be repeated afterwards, so I sprang up to get my iPhone, opened up Midomi Ultra, and tapped the large orange button you can see on the screen shot above, and let Midomi listen to the music. After a short while Midomi stopped listening, and displayed the result. I could then tap to watch a free YouTube video of the artist singing the song, or buy the recording from iTunes, share it with a friend by email or find the lyrics, and so on.
There is a similar iPhone app called Shazam, which I think is also worth having as it's free. However, it wasn't able to identify the song last night. For me, Midomi Ultra is worth buying if identifying songs (neither are good with classical music) and artists is useful to you. Midomi can also be useful if you have a tune running around in your head, but don't remember what it is, and want to identify it. You can sing it into Midomi.
I learned something today. If you click on the above video to play it, and click on it again after it's finished (or even while it's playing) it will take you to the YouTube page for this video, where on the right you might see a video where someone has compared Midomi with Shazam. The result of the comparison according to the guy who posted the video is that Shazam is more reliable than Midomi. What I learned is not to trust what you may see on the Internet. The current version of Midomi is nothing like that in the video. Read the comments below the video, and check out the Midomi screens in iTunes.
DSLR Camera Remote Professional - A$23.99
This is an application that is only useful for those who have a Nikon or Canon DSLR (digital single lens reflex) camera supported by this app. For those who do have such a camera, and have need of what this app can do, it could be a godsend. It certainly is for me.
If your camera has Live View, as mine does, you can see in the iPhone screen what the camera can see, and if you're taking a self portrait, you can position yourself to frame the shot.
If you're taking a photo or serious portrait of someone else, you can move away from the camera and get closer and more personal to the subject, and engage them in conversation - including letting them see how they look in the viewfinder, and even let them take their own photo.
There is a lot to this application and what it can do. At the time of writing this review I'm really excited by what it can do for me.
However, at this stage I've only had it for two days, and three photo shoots, so I've got no long term experience with it. But I can say that my results get better each time I use it, because I understand how to use it better.
At the same time, the app seems to be less than a robust solid application, as I've had to reset my iPhone in two of my three photo sessions. But I don't see that as a deal breaker, because when it works, it's amazing, and it has enabled me to take some photos I really like. In two days it has already justified its cost, and I'm sure there will be free upgrades that make it even better.
On the left you can see me holding my iPhone with the index finger on my left hand poised after pressing the SHOOT button on the iPhone which took the photo you can see below.
Check out the tutorials at http://www.ononesoftware.com/tutorials/tutorials_dslr.php and details of the app at http://www.ononesoftware.com/detail.php?prodLine_id=38
The app is more than a remote shutter button. With my Canon EOS 5D Mk II the app (depending on the camera mode such as full auto, program, aperture priority, shutter priority, bulb etc) allows me to change ISO, shutter speed, aperture, white balance, exposure compensation, image size and type (RAW or JPEG or combination), and other settings, on the iPhone. It can also activate the auto focus, when the app is working. At this stage, I've found that the auto focus refresh is a weak point.
But DSLR Camera Remote Professional does more than act as a remote. It can also set burst mode; it can also bracket exposures wider than the camera itself allows you (this is handy for taking HDR photos); and a rather interesting feature is that it can act as an intervalometer taking photos at intervals ranging from a second to a day. I think the iPhone would have to be plugged into the power to take photos at long intervals.
I'll quote from the app's web page:
Real-World Applications for DSLR Camera Remote
Self Portraits
If you've ever experimented with self portraits, you know how hard it can be using self-timers and running back and forth to the camera to see if you've got the shot. Now with DSLR Camera Remote Professional Edition you can see yourself through the viewfinder of the camera to make sure you are positioned correctly, then take and review multiple shots at your own pace rather than racing against the timer.
Free to Move
Stop hiding behind the camera. If you photograph children or pets you know how valuable it can be to keep eye contact with your subject and to interact with them to get the right expression. Being stuck behind the camera is often the worst place to be. With DSLR Camera Remote you can move freely to interact with your subject, hold a reflector, you name it. You can fire the camera easily and even review the shot without having to return to the camera.
Event Remote Cameras
Sometimes you just can't be behind the camera. If you've placed a camera in a church balcony or behind a basketball backboard you need to be able to fire your camera remotely. Today you have to use expensive radio transmitters that can only fire the camera. With DSLR Camera Remote you can fire, control and review your shots with the iPhone or iPod Touch and the laptop you already own.
Leonard Maltin Movie Guide - A$5.99
The last Leonard Maltin Movie Guide that I bought was the 2003 edition and it was over 1600 pages and cost A$18.95.
The latest is the 2010 edition and it's also over 1600 pages, but the pages are bigger, it weighs a rather hefty 1134 grams, and it costs A$29.95 at Borders. It doesn't have any images, let alone colour images and video previews, nor does it update - unlike the iPhone app for A$5.99 - now available.
For me it's a no brainer. I almost bought the print edition last week from Readings, but I decided it was annoyingly heavy.
The iPhone app is weightless. It places capsule reviews and facts for 24,000 films at your fingertips including hyperlinks to cast and director filmographies. And over 4500 films can be previewed directly on in an internet connected iPhone.
My major use for Maltin's 2003 Guide was to look up movies that were going to be on TV to see if they were worth watching, and also to refresh my memory about the name of an actor or actress in a movie. But of course the 2003 Guide is not helpful with movies made since then. Nevertheless, one of my delights so far in looking at this application was to look up the review of Sailor of the King (one of my favourite movies at the time) and to find the original movie poster (the pale colours on the poster are because it's a B&W movie). An even bigger delight was to find and watch the original theatre preview of Pride and Prejudice.
There are a few areas that could be improved.
(1) The search is rather slow (I suspect it's searching online), sometimes to the point of testing my patience as whether I'll continue to wait for the result.
(2) It would be useful if it had a history of searches I've made so that I can look them up again quickly.
(3) It doesn't seem to list movies made for television (I'm sure the 2003 edition did). There is for example, a very obvious omission when it comes to the BBC production Pride and Prejudice (the one with Colin Firth); and it doesn't mention that production in the list of movies that Colin Firth has played in.
(4) The movie previews (trailers) are so enjoyable that it would be good to have list of the movies which have these previews.
Overall, it's remarkable value for movie buffs. It's a keeper.
