It’s Sunday and I have nothing else to blog about so I thought I’d share my experiences with my phone since downloading the 2.0 firmware and telling you what apps I put on my phone. First off — I am glad that I decided not to buy the new 3G iPhone. From what I hear, there really isn’t much difference except for a faster network but even that is neither here nor there.
Since downloading the 2.0 firmware that allows the downloading of third party applications, I’ve noticed that my typing had become very sluggish. I’ve had to reboot my phone three times since the download. Anyway, the Apple app store is now open and what I love is that you can easily download any app anywhere from your phone. The app store categories help a lot — it gives you the top 25 free and paid apps. Some apps popularity is questionable so read the review. Anyway here are the list of apps that I have installed on my phone, in no particular order:
1. Scrabble ($9.99) — I love it but it did crash on my once. I had to reboot my phone. The reviews seem to be pretty mixed. Negatives of this app is that it has a long animated intro that you can’t skip. Plays music even after you select “music off” and it crashes on you from time to time. Once it’s up and running, it becomes very addictive.
2. Bookshelf ($9.99) — ebook reader app by Zac Bedell that cost $9.99. I don’t use it much because I have better reading devices at hand like my Pocket PC. It’s nice to have a back-up and I am waiting for Mr. Bedell to update this app with features that will lure me away from my PDA. One of the best things about this app is the Shelfserver where I can connect to my ebook library on my computer. Downloads are super quick and I can access other people’s shelfserver, too. Negatives: no scroll option that I could find and there isn’t very many options to change the look of your ebook once rendered. Often I’ve had to tap my screen several times for this app to show my “options tool bar” and the “bookmarking” tool doesn’t seem to work for me.
3. eReader app (free) allows you to download the secure and non-secure ebooks in ereader format (.pdb) from Fictionwise or ereader.com. Pretty simple and quick downloads and I like using it but I don’t like being locked into one particular format even though I can read it on just about any device. The format wars really need to end. DRM on this sucker is connected to your credit card, too. So you have to use one credit card when purchasing books in this format. Bookmarking tool doesn’t work the way I like — you can bookmark chapters, not particular scenes. The way the pages flip is annoying and again, little to no options on how your ebook is rendered on the page.
4. ePocrates RX (free) — for work. I read that doctors had petitioned to have this app ready to go live when the App store opened. I have impressed my co-workers with this nifty tool. I recommend everyone download it. It gives you probably more info than you need if you’re a consumer but has nice “pill pics” and can identify drugs for you. Also, you can look up side effects of your prescription drugs. I just wish it had a lot more herbal drugs in here because I get asked about that a lot. Negatives: speed. I wish this was on a faster network because I use it a lot. You will have to set up an account to use this app. It can take about 10 minutes to do if you’re fast. What I love about this app is that you can add formularies — I have Target’s $4 generics drug program, Texas Medicaid and Aetna’s 2nd and 3rd tier copay drug costs, among others. The formulary also tells me if a drug requires a “prior auth” and if there is a limit on quantity. Excellent application.
5. Pandora (free) — just downloaded this one so no review on it as of yet. It’s suppose to be a personalized radio. You have to set up an account with them first in order to get started (I haven’t done that yet).
Well, that’s it — for now. I don’t want to use up all of my space on apps. Anyway, please share, what are some of the apps that are worth noting and using? What apps do you have your phone? I downloaded the Wordpress app but I need to upgrade first in order to use it. I apologize to readers who care nothing about Apple or their devices. I will make it up to you next week. [g]
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Off to get that one! Thanks! I love Pandora. Awesome app. Thanks Angie!
I’ve been using Pandora on my computer for several years and love it.
On my iPhone, I also use Twitterific, for twittering, which is great.
I have Shazam, which is a fun app for identifying songs (because Josh and I are always trying to do this when we’re in the car). You just hold the iphone to the speaker, it records a clip and then tells you the song and artist.
I also have just started using Jott. Essentially, it’s a service that allows you to call in reminders to yourself, and then the service sends them to you via email at the time you specify. I haven’t used it much on the iPhone so I’m not sure how the app works yet, but it’s already helped me remember a few things.
Other than that, I’ve installed a few to try, including the Wordpress app, but haven’t tried any of them yet.