(Yet another) iPhone get thread

[Metcarfre]

Hey all, looks as though I'm most likely picking up an iPhone 4 from Rogers this evening with my wife. We'll be sharing a voice/data plan ($100, 1Gb + unlimited 'social networking', 400 mins + nights and weekends, etc). A few questions for you savvy iOS users;

1) A good calorie tracker/excercise tracker etc app with Canadian nutritional info.
2) Good apps in general; games (esp. free), accessories, or just clever little things.
3) .pdf reader for scientific papers.
4) Networking *stuff* for home use.
5) Any other general tips?

Cheers.

Edit; also a good Twitter app.

[Lord Chrusher]

May I ask why you picked an iPhone? I am contemplating getting some sort of smart phone.

[Digital Dolphin]

Rumours state the iPhone5 is going to be released in September. There will probably be substantial savings if you can hold off just a little longer?

Just thought I'd bring it up, in case it's an option.

[Metcarfre]

We have the money now, we won't in the fall.

Chrusher, everyone I know that has one loves it, including people that don't use Macs. I've always been a (home) Mac user, so it seems the natural fit. My father-in-law, who is the coordinator for all Southern Gulf Islands and Capital Region District search-and-rescue literally says it's the most important, valuable, and versatile tool he's ever used, and he's lobbying to have all search-and-rescue coordinators throughout the province of BC equipped with them ASAP.

However my mind's made up and I'm set on it, so I'd rather not get into a whole iOS vs. Droid vs. whatever discussion, thanks.

[Vigafre]

I will name all the good apps I own (I don't remember which were free):

Appbox Pro (various tools)
Red Laser (USP scanner)
UrbanSpoon (local restaurants)

Actually, I don't have many recommendable apps. I also don't know which of these work in Canada.

[goat]

I am very interested in this, since I just got mine a couple of months ago.

The iBooks app (pre-loaded) stores any .pdf you look at in Safari and stores it on your "bookshelf" (I have no idea what the settings are like, though, the one paper I read on my phone no longer appears to be stored there).

Other apps:

-get a proper weather app (I dunno if The Weather Channel has Canadian coverage or not)
-news outlet apps (I like BBC's and joystiq's, for real news and game news, respectively)
-the Wikipedia app
-the IMDB app
-check to see if your local bus/public transit service has an app
-get the NHL app (buggy and slow, but it's the best way to get game info)
-QR code scanner (I use iNigma) for those pesky square barcodes
-a timer app (I use Chronolite) makes for a handy extra timer in the lab as well as good for cooking and/or laundry

I use the proper Twitter app, but I'm not exactly a frequent user, and would love to hear if anyone (LRR crew, eh eh?) has any suggestions. Also, my current favorite app is Leafsnap, which identifies leaves for you based on a picture. I have yet to actually use it, but that shit sounds cool.

[Vigafre]

I forgot to mention that Red Laser also has a QR scanner.

[Tally]

Ooh, Urbanspoon, I need to add that one! Thanks Vigafre.

I used the default Twitter app for a couple months before realizing there were things it just couldn't handle (like shortening urls, grr). I switched to Tweetbot and I like it lots better.

Two non-essential but sweet apps I've found are Craftgawker (pretty much exactly what it sounds like), and Virtuoso, which is a handy little piano-playing app if you need to check your pitch or bang out a few basic notes. Game-wise I've enjoyed some of the obvious ones (Angry Birds, Tiny wings, Bejeweled), as well as Battleheart and Pocket Frogs (which is a bit of a ridiculous game but I like making new frogs in pretty colours). Fruit Ninja's fun. I also recently downloaded an interesting little puzzle game called Zentomino, which I've only played with a bit but it seemed decent. A bit like a non-moving Tetris puzzle.

I feel like there's probably a lot of great stuff out there that's either handy but not essential, or is a better version of some of the basic apps the iPhone comes with, I just haven't found out about them yet.

Oh, and Metcarfre, I'd recommend getting a good maps app (does Google maps have one? I need to get one myself), because iPhones/iPads are brilliant navigational tools when traveling.

[goat]

Oh, and Metcarfre, I'd recommend getting a good maps app (does Google maps have one? I need to get one myself), because iPhones/iPads are brilliant navigational tools when traveling.

Mine came with "maps" preloaded, which is google maps (oh, and I effing love it)

[Metcarfre]

Perfect guys, love it, and I'm heading to Ottawa next week so maps would be pretty clutch.

[korri]

I use Loseit for calorie and exercise tracking, its free and you can use the website too (they have forums and you can friend people). I believe it has some canadian things in its database, but I don't think they've added in non-imperial units yet. Some people like Myfitnesspal, but I don't know if that has Canadian stuff

There is also an interesting app called Fooducate, that you can scan food barcodes and it'll give you all sorts of interesting info about whatever you've scan.

[tamaness]

I recommend getting Google Places, as it's a bit more full-featured than Maps, and it connects seamlessly with Maps when it needs to do so.

Get the app for your financial institution of choice, so you can track and manage accounts.

Wikipedia and Dictionary(.com) apps are essential.

I recommend getting and using the Google Authenticator app if you have any Google services. 2-step authentication is key in data security. (Also Blizzard Authenticator if you Play WoW or SCII).

For social apps, I like Seesmic for Facebook/Twitter. The Facebook official app works pretty well, too.

Qrafter is just about the best QR scanner out there, having used that, Red Laser, i-nigma, and a couple others. It's also free, will read QR codes from saved images, and has other 2-D codes available as in-app add-ons. I use pic2shop for ISBN and UPC codes, as it supports UPC, EAN, and EAN13.

I haven't found an all-in-one health app I like. I like "Pedometer PRO GPS+" by Arawella for my pedometer, as it's pretty accurate, and uses both GPS and accelerometer data in tandem to increase accuracy. MyFitnessPal Calorie Counter is an okay nutritional tracker, and it's free. I'd like to find something better. I use WeightBot to track my weight, but I also track it in the Pedometer app.

Network Toolkit LITE is a not-bad network app, and I use Mocha RDP for remote desktop, though I'm replacing it with TeamViewer.

iBooks keeps PDFs in a separate library from books. If you tap "books" at the top of the screen and then choose the PDF collection, it'll show any PDF documents you have saved.

For those who like to cataloge everything, Book Crawler is a great app for keeping track of books read, owned, and loaned out.

In addition to IMDB for general info (who was that guy in that thing?), I recommend Flixter for movie times and tickets (not complete listings, but better than many online listings), and Crunchyroll is a good way to watch a few different anime series. You should also have the Netflix app if you have their service.

My library of games is always changing, but I'm playing Tiny Wings, Cut the Rope, Air Penguin, and PvZ recently.

Pandora is a good app to have, and I would have recommended the last.fm app if they hadn't relegated streaming to paid subs only.

If you use an Apple TV or listen to music from your computer without being in front of it, Apple's Remote app is useful.

[2stepz]

I use MyFitnessPal and iMapMyWalk+, twitter, and kindle.

MFP does have some Canadian choices (and British choices), but you can always create your own food and update their database if there's something you regularly eat but can't find. It's really good for tracking homemade foods and creating recipes on the computer, then logging your leftovers throughout the week. I use it to track my intake, my exercise, and my weight loss.

iMapMyWalk+ is a GPS-based tracker that maps your walk, measures the distance, speed, elevation changes, etc. Getting + means that you can stay within the ap and control your iPod... that function was worth the $2.00 fee to me. (Basic is free.)

Twitter is twitter, and Kindle is a kindle. (I only read the free books.)

I also have pocket frogs... its addictive, and my niece likes to make the frogs jump.

[Metcarfre]

Just got back from a week-long trip to Ontario, and I gotta say, having a smart phone is GENIUS when traveling. One device in my pocket has;
- My boarding passes and flight info
- Email with details about hotel bookings
- Maps of the area
- Guide to restaurants, bars, and attractions
- Twitter (yay!)
- Camera (though I haven't been able to take good photos, yet
- The Internet
- Contact info for my friends in town
- Weather info
- Games and such
- A (rudimentary) notebook and voice note recorder
- A calendar...

The list goes on and on. I was constantly on Google Maps and UrbanSpoon, which were both very helpful, and keeping up-to-date on the free agent frenzy in the NHL. So glad I bought this thing.

Though I must say I've yet to find a use for the bar scanner...

Also, Bump is pretty fun and good to have if you have other friends with smartphones.

[Vigafre]

See, I had Bump, but I never used it because it was generally faster to input the info manually.

For me at least.

[Metcarfre]

Update, with other cool stuff I have found.

- The twitter official app I have found to be really good. In fact, I think it works faster than the web portal (which really says more about the nigh-decrepit age of my work and home compys than anything)
- The Google+ app was a bit buggy for a while (kept telling me I had new notifications when I didn't), but after an update it seems OK.
- I use My Fitness Pal A LOT, best of which I am actually now LOSING WEIGHT.
- WeatherEye works for Canada and is fairly accurate.

New apps I've tried that are good and generally free;
- Flashlight. Seriously. It's free, and it uses your camera flash LED so it uses less of your battery. You never know when you may need it, it can be constant, flash, strobe, or even automatically flash SOS in Morse code. Or you can use the screen in different colours for a techno rave dance party. IT'S FREE.
- Put all your calendar stuff in your linked gmail account and organize your life.
- The Netflix app is great. iPhone = 2nd TV. HELLO TOP GEAR.
- Get Dropbox. DO IT. DO IT NAOW. It allows you to seamlessly move data and files between computers and devices or the tubes. Just click and drag the file into the Dropbox folder on your desktop, boom, done. Just that easy. No more USB sticks or emailing attachments to yourself.
- Read It Later seems to work pretty good if you get a link to something somewhere (like on Twitter) and don't have time to read it just then.

Overall I am highly pleased with my purchase at this time.

[SecretsOfMoon]

Cool, here's my new phone:


Yeah, can you bludgeon someone to death with your fancy smart phone?

[Metcarfre]

There's an app for that!

[thatlaurachick]

There we go!

HEY GUISE! MET"S IN A GOOD MOOD! CATCH IT WHILE YOU CAN!

[Valliac]

See, im happy with my phone. It makes phone calls. It does text.

That's all it does. I don't need internet in my pocket. Because no one would ever see me again.

That being said, congrats on your phone.

[GreigKM]

I prefer Android
If only because the company attached isn't using obscure patents and legal trickery to staunch competition...
But, enjoy the phone regardless.