AppleTap » Top app lists

And My iPhone RSS Reader of Choice is…

Matt Petch — Tue, 30 Mar 2010 20:25:46 +0000

I have decided to change the way I present my group reviews. In fact they wont really be group reviews as such any more. I will still spend a good deal of time looking at all of the available apps within a chosen group, but rather than take up space talking about the ones I wasn’t so keen on I have decided to cut to the chase and just talk about my preferred app.

I have recently been looking for a good free RSS reader. Why do I feel a twinge of guilt when I say I’ve looking for a free one? Anyway it couldn’t just be any RSS reader. I had a list of criteria that it had to meet.

Google reader synchronization.
I want to be able to add to my RSS feeds whilst at my computer so it was important that the reader app would sync with whatever I added to my Google Reader account.

Manually organize subscriptions into folders.
I wanted to have the ability to group feeds into folders rather than have a single long list of feeds or some sort of automated sorting.

Built in Web Page viewer.
I didn’t want to have to leave the app to view a feeds web page in Safari.

Look good and be easy to use.
It is important to me that an app looks good and is easy to use.

This criteria allowed me to draw up a short list of half a dozen or so apps. I couldn’t find an app that satisfied all of the above criteria, but Of those I looked at, two really stood out. iNews O by gdiplus and MobileRSS (Free Version) by Nibiru Tech.

iNews O is a very feature rich and customisable RSS reader. Notable features are its option of displaying feeds in a tiled manner rather like magazine thimb nails, the ability to customize the navigation bars and the impressive range of export options which include Mail,Instapaper, Read It Later, Twitter and Facebook. Despite these features it still lacked one important thing for me; The ability to arrange and group feeds into folders of my creation.

The RSS reader I finally settled on is the free version of MobileRSS. MobileRSS Synchronizes with Google reader and whilst I can’t manually create a folder structure, it does maintain the folder structure I create in Google reader.It does have a built in browser and it can display feeds for the small screen. Export and integration functions are quite good allowing you to send to Twitter, Facebook, ReadItLater, Instapaper, Delicious and Email.

In all these are two very good apps but I think it is the simplicity and clarity of MobileRSS that wins me over.

Link to the Proporta website

Halloween iPhone Apps to Make Your Halloween Truly Despicable.

Matt Petch — Wed, 28 Oct 2009 21:01:57 +0000

It’s almost halloween and with nothing but my Mac to guide me I have searched the deepest corridors and loftiest towers of the iTunes store in search of some digital dreadfulness for you to sink your teeth into. I emerge, blinking in the morning light, clutching six, pixel sodden apps that I hope will help make your halloween truly despicable. MMMWAA HA HA HA HAAAAA.

1.First on the slab is Halloween Sounds by Pixel Narrative. Halloween Sounds is a collection of fifteen good quality spooky sounds and a spooky soundtrack that can be played by its self or as a background track to the various scary sound effects that can be triggered by tapping the appropriate tombstone icon. The volume and quality of the sounds is quite good and I can imagine it being a good audio accompaniment to your fancy dress occasion or you could plug it into a sound system at a party and invite passing guests to trigger sounds at will. Halloween Pro which is the pay version of Halloween Sounds offers the ability to trigger sounds remotely via a second device or set a timer so your chosen sound can be played after a set amount of time has elapsed.

2.Hallowcarver by WNRS is a surprisingly good pumkin carving app. You can choose which pumpkin you want to carve and display it on a selection of different spooky backgrounds. The actual carving process works very well, you draw the shapes you want to cut out of the pumpkin with your finger and they are automatically removed to reveal the flickering light within the pumpkin. Once your design is complete you can save it to your photo gallery, post it to a web gallery, share it on facebook or shout it on Twitter.

3.Horror Classics by Alexandru Brie is a collection of classic horror stories contained in a reasonably well presented app. The book reader within the app isn’t as pretty as some but is perfectly functional and offers the usual common features such as book marks, automatic scrolling and the ability to alter the font size. Improvements could certainly be made to the appearance and functions of this app but its still a good collection of classic stories at a great price.

4.Halloween Postage by Rogue Sheep is a Halloween themed postcard app than enables you to take a photo from your library and customize it in various ways before delivering it vie mail or Facebook or saving it to your photo library. It is a nice looking app and very easy to use with quite a good set of features but I think its appeal would be quite short lived. I would like to see a larger selection of postcard styles to choose from.

5.Zombie Pizza by Appy Entertainment, inc is fun and rather disgusting horror puzzle game where you find yourself having to create Zombie pizzas by adding eyeballs, guts, brains, hearts, bones and other such delights to a pizza base and flicking it out of the door before the zombies break in and eat you instead. It is a nicely designed game and despite its unappetizing subject matter is fun for all the family. My little boy loves it anyway.

6.On the subject of horror games; I felt compelled to add Resident Evil 4 by Capcom to this list of six. It is seen as one of the best 3D action shooters on the iPhone, the graphics are great, the controls work surprisingly well and above all it is actually quite scary…or am I just being a wimp?.

1.Halloween Sounds by Pixel Narrative

2.Hallowcarver by WNRS

3.Horror Classics by Alexandru Brie

4.Halloween Postage by Rogue Sheep

5.Zombie Pizza by Appy Entertainment, inc

6.Resident Evil 4 by Capcom

The Internet Marketers iPhone or iPod Touch.

Matt Petch — Wed, 07 Oct 2009 18:01:04 +0000

The iPhone is a wonderfully versatile pocket computer. Thanks to the tens of thousands of available app’s and the flexible way they can be arranged on your iphone or Touch, it is easy to set up individual screens to cater for specific workflows. Having more than a passing interest in internet marketing I thought I would set up a screen of app’s and links to serve my assorted internet marketing needs. This was the result: (Instructions for creating web links are at the bottom of the page.)

iPhone apps for internet marketing

1. iThoughts. A mind mapping application to plan your workflows and business models. Im currently using iThoughts but also give MindNode a look.

2. Shortcut to Google Keyword tool to help you select a niche and populate your pages with appropriate keywords so they can be found when people search for them.

3. DomainScout. A domain name search tool so you can check the availability of your preferred domain names. The thing I like about DomainScout is, as you discover various names you like you can add them to a favorites list. As names pop into your head during the day you can check their availability and add them to an ongoing list.

4. Go Daddy. Once you have found your domain name of choice you will need to buy it from a company such as Go Daddy. Yep there’s an app for that.

5. A shortcut to a hosting company such as HostGator will allow you to host and control your website via Cpanel, all via your iPhone or Touch.

6. WordPress for iPhone will allow you to add to and edit your WordPress Blog. Prefer TypePad? Well you may want to look at the TypePad app.

7. A shortcut to ClickBank. Search for products to promote and check your sales on your iPhone or iPod Touch. You may also want to look at the CB Stats app.

8. TweetDeck is great, not just for checking and posting tweets but it also allows you to search and connect with people talking about things related to your niche.

9. Facebook app allows you to interact with your Facebook contacts and post happenings for all to see.

10. Analytics Agent. Having a good Google analytics app on your iPhone or iPod Touch will help you keep track of how well you are doing online as well as giving you an insight into what your potential customers are looking for. Analytics Agent has a nice interface and is easy to use but you may also want to take a look at Analytics App.

11. The PayPal App. Keep tabs on your ingoing and outgoing payments with the PayPal App. You may also want to look at Pay Mobile.

12. Documents To Go. A text editor so you can write articles or blog posts whilst away from the office. I’m still looking for a solution that enables me to edit the same documents regardless of whether im on the desktop machine or iPod. Many text editing App’s claim to sync with Google Doc’s but the ones I have looked at don’t really sync, they just allow me to upload and download documents. The best solution I have found to date is Documents To Go, and its desktop syncing app. With this you can make a change to a document on your iPhone and sync. When you open it on your desktop machine it will be updated. It works equally well going from desktop to iPhone as well.

13. iTimeZone allows you to see what time it will be in your location at a certain time in a different part of the world. This is very useful for making sure you don’t miss webinars and teleseminars by your favorite overseas marketing mentors.

14. Shortcut to Online Success Coach. I like to have a shortcut to the web page of my current online marketing training course or tutor. I am currently with the Online Success Incubator which is part of TechTamers. After many months of looking for the right assistance, I chose the Online Success Incubator because of its extensive archive of information, Step by step guidance through the whole marketing experience, affordability and general no hype approach. If you’re looking for help getting started in Online Marketing I would recommend Online Success Incubator. They do a good news letter here

15. Briefcase. Online marketing is a continuos learning experience and you will find that you will accumulate a quantity of training courses, ebooks, tutorials, videos and audio. Its very useful to be able to get this info onto your iPhone so you can learn whilst away from your computer. There is a large collection of apps available to help you do this but I rather like Briefcase. Briefcase allows you to easily browse all of the files on your computer and pick out the ones you would like transfered to your device. It also allows you to view or play back most media types.

16. Instapaper. There will often be times when you will come across articles and web pages online that you would like to read but don’t have the time. Instapaper allows you to easily mark any webpage to be read later. Your iPhone will then sync with your instapaper account and download the articles to your device allowing you to read them at any time, on or off line.

17. What Tasks. One way to ensure progress is to keep a short daily to do list. What Tasks is currently my favorite allowing me to manually arrange the order of to do items and keep multiple lists so I can create long term as well as daily lists of goals. It is also nice and easy to use unlike many full blown get things done app’s.

18. Fenix Notes. Its always useful to have a quick and easy note taking system. I have taken a liking to Fenix Notes largely because I can open it and take a note very quickly.

19. Safari. Where would an internet marketer be without a web browser…

20. Or email for that matter.

Incase you are wondering how to get shortcut links to websites onto your iphone or iPod Touch this is how you do it. Use Safari on your device to find the webpage you would like to save a link to. Tap the + (plus) icon in the menu bat at the bottom of the screen. Select the Add to Home Screen button.

I hope you have found this article useful. Please leave a comment if you know of other good internet marketing app’s or sites I could have added to this list.

Upload Photo’s to Almost Any Sharing Site From Your Iphone or Touch.

Matt Petch — Thu, 02 Jul 2009 16:09:11 +0000

When I first decided to write this post, the intention was to review a collection of the better photo sharing app’s. After some initial research I realised that the list of available app’s was nearly as long as my To-Do list. To review and discuss them would have been an unenviable task and an even less enviable read.

What I have chosen to do instead, is recap on how you can upload your photo’s to your MobileMe gallery using only your default Photo app. I have then listed some other common photo sharing sites along with their corresponding upload applications. Because there are so many I have been a little selective and only included the more promising options.

To Share Your photo’s From the Default Photo App.

To do this you will need a MobileMe account: which is free for 60 days but then im afraid you have to pay for it. Before you dismiss it, it’s worth considering some of the many features you get with the service. Check it out here.

Assuming you have a MobileMe account, you first need to login to the service and create an album to upload your photo’s into. Do this on your computer beforehand. Make sure your album settings allow adding of photo’s via email or iPhone as shown below.

Once you have done this you can start selecting and uploading photo’s from your iPod Touch or phone…

1. Launch the default Photo application that comes with your device and open an album.

2. Tap the share icon in the bottom left corner of the screen.

3. You can now tap any photo to select it. You can tell that it has been selected as the photo icon dims, and displays a small tick.

4. Tap the share button and you should get the options of emailing your selection or sending it to MobileMe. Click “Send to MobileMe”.

5. Give the image a name and select the gallery you want to upload the photo to. When you have done this, simply tap the Publish button in the top right and off it goes.

The only problem with this is you can only upload one photo at a time. Luckily you can email lots of photo’s in one go but you need to know your galleries email address.

1. Use your browser to go back to your MobileMe gallery on your computer.

2. Select your gallery and then click on the settings button at the top: The one that looks like a light switch.

3. Just below the checkbox that reads “Adding of photo’s via email or iPhone” will be an email address you can use to email photo’s to the gallery.

4. Now when you want to email some photo’s from your device you simply select photo’s as we did before but this time select multiple photo’s.

5. Tap the share button and select “Email”. Your chosen photo’s will immediately be transported to your mail app.

6. Enter that email address (perhaps save it in your address book)and shoot them off to your gallery.

Other Popular Photo Sharing Sites.

Even if you do have a mobile me account, it may not be where you want to send your photo’s. I have listed below all of the most promising photo uploading apps and grouped them by photo sharing and social media sites. Pick your preferred service, download one of the app’s and share away.

Flickr – http://www.flickr.com

Photobucket – http://photobucket.com

Photobucket for iPhone

Shutterfly – http://www.shutterfly.com

Shutterfly for iPhone

PixMatter

Picasa – http://picasa.google.com/intl/en_US/web/learn_more_picasa.html

Picassolino

Portfolio

Youtube – http://www.youtube.com

Lifecasting

Twitter – http://twitter.com

pic.im

Snap2Twitter

Gyazickr

Multiple services including Facebook, MySpace, Flickr, Picassa, and tumblr

FTP

Ok well thats it for now. I hope you have found this post useful. Feel free to comment.

MobileMe is available via my link here

The Golden Age of video games on your iPhone and Touch

Matt Petch — Thu, 11 Jun 2009 13:09:13 +0000

Come with me on a geeky journey through time and pixels…

If like me you were born in the late sixties or early seventies you would have experienced the birth and development of video games during your childhood. The early games were simple, but it was an exciting time. Modern games are without doubt amazing and I wouldn’t want to go back to what we had then, but there was a certain magic about those first games that has now been lost, probably due to our familiarity with technology. Remember the film Tron? Well, as children I think we really did wonder what went on deep inside the brains of those emerging computers.

The first known video game was a device called the Cathode-Ray Tube Amusement Device patented in the US by Thomas T Goldsmith Jr in 1947. It used a collection of vacuum tubes to draw the trajectory of an imaginary missile which could be adjusted with various knobs to hit a target which was a simple overlay stuck to the screen. There was no such thing as computer graphics at this time.

There followed many one off attempts at computer based amusement, mostly run on university computers but It wasn’t until 1972 that the first truly successful arcade video game with wide spread appeal was developed by a new company called Atari. The game was called PONG. based on table tennis, it sold 19, 000 machines and and kick started the games industry we know today.

If you want to relive those heady days of PONG, Breakout, Space Invaders and Pac-Man you can do so on your iPod touch or iPhone. Outlined below are the key games of the 70’s, 80’s and early 90s along with their app store equivalent. Once again you can stand proud in the knowledge that you have saved man kind from the invading armies of flickering pixels.

1972 – Atari – PONG
Pong iPhone Edition. This is quite a nicely designed version of Pong which has been presented in a retro looking frame. Sounds, 2 player mode and Landscape play to come in a future version. Also take a look at Classic Qong Arcade.

1976 – Atari Breakout
Atari Super Breakout for the iPhone wont quite give you that retro feel until you switch it to its old style graphics option. This version is really quite customisable and even allows you to set your own background picture.

1978 – TAITO – Space Invaders
Taito’s Space Invaders on the iPhone is a faithful reproduction of the original set in an arcade cabinet complete with joystick and fire button. You can even switch it to very early versions of the game which were monochrome or used a colour cellophane overlay.

1979 – Atari – Asteroids
Astro Clash is the closest thing I can find to one of my favorites, Asteroids. It was one of the most popular games of its time and has been duplicated many times for many different systems.

1979 – Namco – Galaxians
Space invaders with a bit more interest,; Galaxians presented the added hazard of kamikaze aliens. This iPhone version of Galaxians seems to be the most authentic but check out the reviews before you buy. You could also try BugHunt

1980 – Namco – Pac Man
Namco have recreated PAC-MAN for the iphone which seems to be almost identical to the original. You have a few control options with this which can make game play easier, including accelerometer mode. If you’re not ready to spend the cash you could try the free version here.

1980 – Atari – BattleZone
BattleZone was another favorite of mine. It utilised wire frame 3D graphics to create a futuristic tank battle and is considered to be the first virtual reality arcade game. The Touch and iPhone version is called Vector Tanks and is a rather good recreation or the original.

1980 – Atari – Missile Command
In my opinion this was when games started to get a bit creative. Missile command involved deploying missiles in the path of incoming nukes to in an attempt to save several cities. The iPhone version of Missile command gives you the option of playing with the original original game or a modern, graphically enhanced version.

1980 – Atari – Centipede
A clever variation on the Space Invaders/Galaxians theme; Centipede required you to shoot advancing insects before they reached you at the bottom of the garden. Like the other Atari iPhone games this version of Centipede gives you the option of original or revamped graphics.

1980 – Williams Electronics (who?) – Defender
I had a version of this for my ZX Spectrum called Penetrator, loved it. Planet Defence is the closest thing you will get to this side scrolling classic on the iPhone. Lite version available

1981 – Konami – Frogger
Not one of my favorites but a popular game nonetheless is Frogger. Could this have been the forerunner of a multitude of platform games? Frogger on the iPhone features some pleasant updated graphics which are not too far removed from the original.

1982 – Namco – Pole Position
You know, I’m sure some months back I had a version of this on my iPod Touch that sported the original graphics. Anyway Namco’s current iPhone version of Pole Position has some updated graphics but is otherwise much the same. Prepare to qualify! Lite version available

1984 – First Star Software – Boulder Dash
Unlike previous titles this cave digging, diamond collecting game was released on multiple platforms including the Apple II, MSX, ZX Spectrum, Commodore 64, and Atari 400/800 home computers. Bolder Dash for iphone features a choice of modern or original graphics.

1984 – Tetris
Tetris has complex roots but it was originally created by Alexey Pajitnov whilst working for the Academy of Science of the USSR in Moscow. Tetris has evolved in a very organic way spawning many variations over the years. Tetris for the iPhone is a recent addition to a long string of Tetris games.

1991 – SEGA – Sonic the Hedgehog
I never had a Megadrive and have never played Sonic the Hedgehog. Now on the iPhone Sonic the Hedgehog is a faithful reproduction of the original of the craze hedgehog themed shenanigans.

1992 – id Software – Wolfenstein 3D
Wolfenstein can be credited as being the forerunner of the first person shooter genre and was released on a multitude of platforms. It is said that secret level 3-10 is a replica of the maze from Pac-Man, including ghosts and power pills. Wolfenstein 3D Classic for the iPhone is is a faithful copy of the original. Lite version available

Well I’m all geeked out now so I hope you have found this brief journey back in time interesting. Please feel free to comment if you feel I have left anything important out. I now return you to the present.

10 Apps I Would Recommend To A Friend

Matt Petch — Sun, 05 Apr 2009 14:51:47 +0000

Ten iPhone apps I own and would recommend to a friend.

I have a friend who recently gave in to temptation and parted with some hard earned cash to buy a nice new iPod touch. I wasn’t with him at the time but we were soon exchanging notes via Skype. To be honest I’m not sure who was more excited. I found it hard to resist sending him a flood of messages telling of the great things he could do with his new toy. At one point in the conversation he wrote, “at some point if u don’t mind u could make me a list of useful software?”

I have just under a hundred apps on my touch and below are the first ten I would recommend to a friend. Some make the grade because they are so useful whilst others just score points on interest factor. I haven’t included any of the default apps. Lets start with the application that guides me through my daily tasks.

01 WhatTasks – To-Do application – http://www.whattasks.com

I recently discovered that the single thing that keeps me focused and prevents me from running around like a headless chicken is a short daily to-do list. Having tried quite a few to-do apps I settled on WhatTasks. This app seems to hit that sweet spot between being too complicated and too simple.

In its simplest form it can be used to create multiple basic to-do lists, but it is also feature rich enough to satisfy the needs of those who subscribe to the GTD management methodology. WhatTasks is available as a Lite and Pay version.

02 iThoughts – Mind mapping tool – http://www.ithoughts.co.uk

Mind mapping tools are a great way to note ideas in a logical and graphical manner. iThoughts is such a tool for the iPhone. It is easy to use and has import and export facilities that allow you to send files to and from your computer in a range of common formats.

03 FileMagnet – File transfer and viewer tool – http://magnetismstudios.com/FileMagnet/

FileMagnet can transfer files from your computer to your iPhone and allow you to easily view them. It consists of two parts; an app for the iPhone allowing you to view the files that have been transferred and an application for your Mac or PC allowing you to specify the files to transfer. Simply drag your files to a window and they get wirelessly transfered to your iPhone. If you don’t have FileMagnet open on your iPhone at the time they patiently wait in line until you do. FileMagnet can display many common file formats.

04 Remote Tap – Remote desktop application – http://www.readpixel.com/remotetap/

This is one of those app’s that I don’t think I will use very much but would willingly recommend to a friend just because of its wow factor. RemoteTap allows you to wirelessly view and control any Mac over your WiFi, 3G or EDGE. It is easy to set up and has been cleverly developed to provide features that make manipulating your desktop and applications on such a small screen relatively easy.

05 Instapaper – Read web pages offline – http://www.instapaper.com/iphone

Have you ever found a web page you want to read but don’t have time to read it? You could throw it to the abyss that is your bookmarks folder and forget about it, or you could use Instapaper. A simple but very useful idea consisting of a “Read Later” link in your browser tool bar enabling you to easily mark web pages you find interesting, plus an app on your iPhone enabling you to read those pages at any time. If you open your iPhone app whilst connected to a network it will download any new pages you have marked allowing you to read them offline later. Instapaper is available as a free and more advanced pay version

06 Stanza – eBook reader – http://www.lexcycle.com/

Stanza is a free, feature rich eBook reader. It connects to an online catalogue where you can download your book selections from thousands of free titles. Your library can then be organised within the app and displayed as lists or in a “cover flow” style similar to Apple’s iTunes. Many aspects of Stanza can be customized to suit your personal requirements including colors, contrast and print size. It is surprisingly comfortable to use and it is free.

07 Fring – Instant messenger – http://www.fring.com/

If you use any instant messaging services such as iChat, MSN, or Skype then you may find Fring Useful. Fring allows you to add many of the popular messaging services and removes the need to have multiple applications. Fring is free.

08 StarWalk – Astronomy application – http://vitotechnology.com/star-walk.html

This is a beautifully implemented application that puts the universe in your iPhone. It shows you a real time view of the sky based on your current location. You can rotate and zoom by dragging, tapping and pinching, clicking on any abject zooms in and provides additional data. One fascinating feature of this application is the ability to move through time backwards or forwards at any speed or jump to any time in the past or future. Watch the sky darken and the sun move below your feet as you fast forward through the hours.

09 Google Earth – A detailed photographic model of the Earth – http://www.google.com/mobile/apple/earth.html

This is another application that I haven’t really found much use for, but I still love it. There is something very seductive about being able to explore the entire globe in detail with a few taps and swipes of the finger. It is not as fully featured as its desktop counterpart but still rather good. Google Earth is free.

10 Remote – iTunes remote control – http://www.apple.com/itunes/remote/

Remote allows you to view and control your iTunes and Apple TV. It is incredibly quick and easy to set up and allows you full access to your libraries and all your playlists. Any currently playing media is displayed on the iPhone screen along with the usual transport controls and volume. Because Remote works via your WiFi it can be used in any room in your house so is more useful than a control requiring line of sight.

So there you have it. It was a difficult choice but of all the apps that I have on my touch these would be the first I would recommend. What’s your top App?

AppleTap » Top app lists

And My iPhone RSS Reader of Choice is…

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