What's on your iPhone - useful apps

[tulak]

I too will continue to use my neat clamshell t-mobile to go phone and will be giving myself the Touch. Makes sense for my situation

Good primer to learn about the apps

This is what I did. Second day with the iPod Touch. It's a fun device. I'm having a good time using the Pandora app. If I get around to it tomorrow, I'll load up Skype. NPR app is also nice. Plus all of the podcasts/iTune U. Lot's of stuff to do (and not enough time to do it)...

 

[Katsmeow]

I am thinking of going to a blackberry plus data plan. Verizon told me that the cost will be $30 for the blackberry data plus another $30 for an "unlimited" data plan where I can tether my blackberry to a computer, much as I do the aircard. So, the total cost is the same as my aircard alone and will do the same thing as near as I can determine. Anyone ever explore using a blackberry that way?

This is maybe too much of a highjack, sorry OP.

Yes. I used to have an aircard but now have a Blackberry (my data plan is $45 a month) and tethering (which is $15 a month). The tethering works fine, just like the aircard, same software. You can theoretically do it through Bluetooth but I found that slow so I connect it with the cable.

That said I'm getting an iPhone when one of two things happens:

1. Verizon or someone who has a tethering plan gets the iPhone or
2. ATT has a tethering plan. ATT has said it will have one but not yet.

I currently have a BB Storm (the first version) and its touchscreen typing is really, really awful. I know because I have an iPod Touch and there is just no comparison. Touch is so much better. Hence wanting to have an iPhone.

 

[RonBoyd]

Yes. I used to have an aircard but now have a Blackberry ...

I currently have a BB Storm (the first version) and its touchscreen typing is really, really awful...

I have a Verizon Aircard. It is plugged into a Router in our RV creating a network that connects our two laptops to the Internet (and others when allowed).

We, also, have two Blackberry Storm2s. We elected not to subscribe to the Tethering option because it would have been an unnecessary and less effective duplication. The BBs have Internet access either through BIS or via Wi-Fi.

BTW, the Storm2's touchscreen keyboard is a joy to work with... once you get used to it --that took several days.

 

[RonBoyd]

once you get used to it --that took several days.

On second thought:

Fat Finger Phone Frustration | People Of Public Transit

 

[vicente solano]

i have a motorola flip phone and a cheap sandisk mp3 player instead of an ipod, but reading this thread is feeding my desire for an iphone. I will have to start battling the impulse to buy one.

give in, give in......;d

 

[Goonie]

I have a Motorola flip phone and a cheap Sandisk mp3 player instead of an iPod, but reading this thread is feeding my desire for an iPhone. I will have to start battling the impulse to buy one.

give in, give in......;d

OK...somewhere else around the ER forum I stated that I don't have, want, or need a 'phone' that does all this cr*p. But after reading through this thread, and exploring iPhones and Droids, and related apps on the 'net....I decided what the heck, I'll go check 'em out.

Using the AT&T website, I found their local stores and headed out...'in search of'....

Went to the official "AT&T AUTHORIZED RETAILER" here in town....AT&T's website says that iPhone is available there....LIE!!! The CS folks were very nice, polite, and congenial! I told them that I was interested in an iPhone.....he says "Yes...we are too! And hopefully someday we'll have them here, but we're not a 'company' store, so we don't get to carry them." I told him what I read on the AT&T website, and he said only the 'company stores' have them.

So I headed to the next town over, to the AT&T "company store". Yes, they have them! But the place was packed! Minimum 30 minute wait! Sorry...I don't stand in lines for cr*p I don't need. So I left and went to the coffee shop...no lines...no crowds!

2 strikes and they're out! I'll stick with my Motorala flip-phone from Tracfone! (and I already have an iPod) Besides...this way I'm saving a passel of money that I can waste on something I really do want....if I ever decide that I actually want something!

 

[W2R]

Goonie, thanks!! Maybe remembering your experience will help me to battle the craving to surrender to my impulse (to buy an iPhone)!!!

Vicente, I don't know - - maybe I will give in! I am trying really hard not to.

 

[calmloki]

OK...somewhere else around the ER forum I stated that I don't have, want, or need a 'phone' that does all this cr*p. But after reading through this thread, and exploring iPhones and Droids, and related apps on the 'net....I decided what the heck, I'll go check 'em out.

Using the AT&T website, I found their local stores and headed out...'in search of'....

Went to the official "AT&T AUTHORIZED RETAILER" here in town....AT&T's website says that iPhone is available there....LIE!!! The CS folks were very nice, polite, and congenial! I told them that I was interested in an iPhone.....he says "Yes...we are too! And hopefully someday we'll have them here, but we're not a 'company' store, so we don't get to carry them." I told him what I read on the AT&T website, and he said only the 'company stores' have them.

So I headed to the next town over, to the AT&T "company store". Yes, they have them! But the place was packed! Minimum 30 minute wait! Sorry...I don't stand in lines for cr*p I don't need. So I left and went to the coffee shop...no lines...no crowds!

2 strikes and they're out! I'll stick with my Motorala flip-phone from Tracfone! (and I already have an iPod) Besides...this way I'm saving a passel of money that I can waste on something I really do want....if I ever decide that I actually want something!

So how many coffee shop visits equal an I-phone? You really wanted a cup of coffee? Of course a cuppa doesn't have an ongoing service fee.... But the coffee gets lost quicker than the I-phone... Don't care for crowds either, at all.

 

[Goonie]

So how many coffee shop visits equal an I-phone? You really wanted a cup of coffee? Of course a cuppa doesn't have an ongoing service fee.... But the coffee gets lost quicker than the I-phone... Don't care for crowds either, at all.

Well, let's see.....iPhone 3Gs is $199 plus activation fee to get started...then add in monthly phone service at about $39/mo plus data service at $30/mo. So just for the iPhone alone (not counting activation fee) would be 99 coffee shop visits (including the tip)....monthly combined service (excluding taxes & fees) is $69.95, so that would be about 35 coffee shop visits (per month, with tip.....420 additional visits per year).

That would be 519 coffee shop visits the first year, and only 420 visits each year after that...without figuring in the taxes, activation fee, and other miscellaneous monthly fees for the iPhone....or the purchase of apps! And since the coffee shop is only a couple of blocks from home, it is normally directly on my route to or from home to wherever I'm going or from where I've been, so gas and vehicle maintenance costs are near $0 extra cost.

With the iPhone I could communicate with friends, learn stuff on the internet (much of it useless), and get entertainment. At the coffee shop I can communicate with friends, learn stuff (most of which is useless), and get entertainment (piped in music, the comedy that goes on between customers, waitresses, cooks, bus-boys, and owners).....and I don't have to continually recharge the batteries!

Now if there were an app that would let the iPhone brew a real cup of coffee.........

Oh, and "yes" I needed the cup of coffee!

 

[calmloki]

...
With the iPhone I could communicate with friends, learn stuff on the internet (much of it useless), and get entertainment. At the coffee shop I can communicate with friends, learn stuff (most of which is useless), and get entertainment (piped in music, the comedy that goes on between customers, waitresses, cooks, bus-boys, and owners).....and I don't have to continually recharge the batteries!

Now if there were an app that would let the iPhone brew a real cup of coffee.........

Oh, and "yes" I needed the cup of coffee!

Here I was thinking you were in a Starbarks drinking that high dollar froo-froo blend. So you know I had to look for an I-phone app for you - first thing that pops up isn't an Apple product, but may be of interest: Pomegranate Concept Phone Makes Coffee and Shaves You! | Concept Phones

Now if you were a Starbonks fan you could avoid lines with this free app: iPhone + Starbucks - GENOCO by Phil Lu

Or you could find a coffee joint with this app: Coffee Finder review - Apple iPhone Applications - Know Your Mobile

I'm sure there's a virtual coffee app out there - there's beer, lighters and smokes - but we gotta get you a real brew function... cheap comes with time.

 

[vicente solano]

Goonie, thanks!! Maybe remembering your experience will help me to battle the craving to surrender to my impulse (to buy an iPhone)!!!

Vicente, I don't know - - maybe I will give in! I am trying really hard not to.

I can resist everything except temptation-O. Wilde

...there are terrible temptations that it requires strength, strength and courage to yield to-O. Wilde

So, follow the advice of the classics

 

[calmloki]

Psst.... Telephoto for the I-phone, or, as they say: "The new design to run of rays can effectively avoid the contortion of image, and makes the super wide angle, the larger luminous flux, the higher visual acuteness, good for color reduction, which makes the high quality of photography." Give your iPhone 3G a telephoto lens

or for the crafty, SLR telephoto: captin nod: The Phone-O-Scope: Attaching SLR lenses to an iPhone

 

[CuppaJoe]

I’ve had an iPod Touch only a few days and have already deleted a couple of redundant or useless apps. A very good one so far is called Instapaper Pro. While I’m at my computer looking at the forum or elsewhere on the net and see an article I want to read later, I just click on the Instapaper icon on the bookmark bar, it instantly flashes, “saved.” Whenever the iPod has a wireless connection, Instapaper will download the article. I can later read it offline. It looks similar to e-book text on the screen, with adjustable font sizes, no ads. It includes working links if I happen to have a wireless connection while reading it.

 

[FIREd]

A very good one so far is called Instapaper Pro. While I’m at my computer looking at the forum or elsewhere on the net and see an article I want to read later, I just click on the Instapaper icon on the bookmark bar, it instantly flashes, “saved.”

Instapaper Pro is a great app. You can also install the Instapaper bookmark on your iphone, so that if you see something you want to read later while browsing the internet on your iphone, you can save it and read it later too.

 

[CuppaJoe]

Instapaper Pro is a great app. You can also install the Instapaper bookmark on your iphone, so that if you see something you want to read later while browsing the internet on your iphone, you can save it and read it later too.

Thanks for that tip; it took me forever to get though all the steps to install the bookmark on the iPod but it is so cute the way it works.

 

[FIREd]

OK, that's not a useful app, but I bought a iPhone game called "build-a-lot" and I am completely hooked. The goal: maximize your net worth and income by flipping real estate and renting your investment properties... Now I want to become calmloki...

 

[CuppaJoe]

OK, that's not a useful app, but I bought a iPhone game called "build-a-lot" and I am completely hooked....

In my book, anything that prevents boredom while waiting, say for a bus, grocery or Post Office line is useful. I now have many games on the iPod and now SO wants to borrow it, uh oh; he never wanted to look at the Kindle.

 

[calmloki]

For (cheapazz) car enthusiasts that drive BMWs. OK, maybe it will work in any old car, but for maximum joy a BMW is suggested. Free at the App store. Thanks for the app BMW!

BMW Announces Free M Power Application for iPhone, iPod Touch – Automotive News & Car Rumors at Automobile Magazine

"Other applications promise to harness the built-in accelerometers in both the iPhone and iPod Touch to record speed, g-forces, and acceleration times, but most cost at least $10 in Apple's Application Store. M Power is the first free version to be widely offered -- and, in our opinion, the best-looking interface yet (but hey, we're suckers for the traditional M colors).

Once downloaded, users simply need to affix the phone to the car (a windshield mount may suffice), select what parameter should be measured, hit the start button, and go. These types of applications may not be 100-percent accurate, but for the enthusiast who wants a quick estimate of vehicle performance, it may suffice..."

 

[Goonie]

Let's see....I've only had my iPhone for a couple of days, and I've found a few useful apps for it...and at least one that it's usefulness may be questionable.

I installed 2 apps for things I use on the PC regularly...Facebook and The Weather Channel. Then I installed AOL Radio...let's you find and listen to all sorts of radio stations...including my favorite news radio station in Chicago, WBBM-AM 780....it nice to be able to hear my 'local' news while I'm traveling. You can search by genre (rock, country, jazz, talk, sports, etc.) or by locale (Atlanta, NYC, LA, Dallas, etc.).

Also installed Epicurious, which is a nice recipe 'book' that's got detailed ingredient and recipe procedures, and also let's you make a shopping list.

Then there's the perhaps less than truly 'useful' app.....iStooges! It's a bunch of sound-bytes of various 3 Stooges sayings and sounds....since I love the Stooges, it's a great time-waster, and perfect for annoying people that don't like them!

 

[Rich_by_the_Bay]

Then there's the perhaps less than truly 'useful' app.....iStooges! It's a bunch of sound-bytes of various 3 Stooges sayings and sounds....since I love the Stooges, it's a great time-waster, and perfect for annoying people that don't like them!

What? No farting app yet? There are several out there.

 

[Goonie]

What? No farting app yet? There are several out there.

Hey, I'm just getting started...I'm a newbie. I'm sure I'll have one before very long, but I had to get the Stooges first.....a matter of priorities! Heck, what good is an electronic gadget that can't produce gross, disgusting, or annoying sounds?! If they can't at least do that, what good are they! Ha!

 

[Ronstar]

DW has an Iphone, me a Blackberry. She has a weight watching calorie totaling app, a couple of radio stations, movies nearby app, and a few others including one we put on yesterday that controls our stereo from anywhere in the house. I just have google maps on my Blackberry.

 

[Goonie]

What? No farting app yet? There are several out there.

...I'm sure I'll have one before very long.....

Got one...iFart! I'll be perusing for a better one though....I [-]want[/-] need one that has a good solid, earth-shaking fluttle-blaster!

Also now have 'Walgreens'....so I can check out their weekly flyer and see if need to go there after my coffee run just down the street, like we did this morning because the had 'Nature Made' vitamins, fish oil, and such on sale 2-for-1, plus I had $1 and $2 off coupons too!!!

For cooking I've added:

"CrockPot Slow Cooker Recipe Finder"....lots of slow-cooker recipes!

"McCormick Recipe Finder"...more good sounding recipes.

For my gardening addiction:

"Botany Buddy" (that I still have to figure out how to use...it was really late last night).

"MyGarden" which will allow me to log all sorts of info on my gardens and plants and stuff...pretty much a garden notebook that I can carry in my pocket and 'write' in while I'm out in the gardens and BEFORE I forget to do it later!

"Herbs+" has info on growing and using various herbs, and a little (very little) info on medicinal uses of herbs.

I'm still digging through the zillions of apps available, in search of useful and/or stupid stuff.....Thus far, I've found bucket loads of both!

 

[Bestwifeever]

....iStooges! It's a bunch of sound-bytes of various 3 Stooges sayings and sounds....since I love the Stooges, it's a great time-waster, and perfect for annoying people that don't like them!

Maybe I DO need my own iPhone! I love the Stooges. I'm going to download that one to DH's phone. Nyuk nyuk.

 

[Goonie]

I've added on:

"WhitePages"....an easy to use people finder (phone number & address), I use the the WhitePages.com website all the time!

"TruckStops"....pick a state, pick an interstate, and it show where the truck stops are, for some it shows the current price for gas/diesel. You can also find out the locations of rest areas, and the where there are WalMarts. It also uses Google Maps so you can see where these thing are located, get directions to them (or from them), etc.

"TideGraph"...find when high and low tides are for various areas. Also includes sunrise/set, and moonrise/set, etc.

"LSolitaire"......just a plain old solitaire game similar to the one that comes with MS Windows......I gotta have something creative to do when I not just wasting time and annoying people!