One of my favorite gadgets is my iPhone 4S. The great thing about the iPhone is that it is easily extendable with an array of applications. Surprisingly most people do not use many of these. So I decided to post some screenshots and descriptions of what apps I am using. Maybe you will find some new apps you enjoy. If you have recommendations please share them in the comments.
Uber is a cab like service that can be summoned with the iPhone. I got a $20 credit for it but since they are not in Hartford I have not used it yet.
SeeClickFix is a New Haven based company that provides a program to report potholes and other quality of life issues in your neighborhood. Many public works departments in Connecticut interface with SeeClickFix so they can find and remedy problems after they are reported.
ForceEffect Motion is an app for simulating mechanical systems with moving parts. ForceEffect is for simulating systems without moving parts. They are fun to tinker with but maybe a bit geeky for non-math or science people.
123D Catch is also made by AutoDesk and can create a 3D rendering of an object after you take pictures of it from multiple angles. You can use other software from AutoDesk to edit the resulting object and then print it on a 3D printer.
VMWare View is for connecting to VMWare virtual computers in the cloud. It works better on the iPad than the iPhone.
The top row of apps is self-explanatory. Scan is a QR code scanner, and Amazon and eBay are for online shopping.
Google Drive is powerful now that it allows editing of Google documents. If you have a Google account it is worth downloading to access, edit, and share files. It is even better on the iPad.
YouTube, GarageBand, and Podcasts are self-explanatory. Miso Music was an app that I saw on Shark Tank that provided tutorials for beginners learning to play guitar or other string instruments. It is fun but I haven’t spent a lot of time with it.
iHandy level uses the iPhone sensors to check whether a surface is level. Cards is Apple’s mobile app that lets you design and send greeting cards the same way you can from iPhoto. I used it once to send a birthday card to a friend and was told the quality was good. djay is a mobile DJing app that is probably underutilized in my hands. I have not used Sprint TV as without a premium subscription the channel lineup is poor.
The fourth screen is dedicated primarily to games. My current favorite is Letterpress, a word game designed by the same developer who wrote Tweetie.
My third page is dedicated to news and media. In the news category I have NPR, CNN, The White House, and Politico Playbook. The Playbook is a nice summary of the news of the day that is driving DC. Instapaper is my favorite app for downloading long form articles to read later. It is one of my most used applications. iMuscle is an app that lets you tap a 3D rendering of the human body and will give you exercises to work on that muscle. I use it for workout ideas at the gym. DuoLingo is a free app for learning a foreign language. I have used it a little bit and so far have enjoyed it but have not used it enough to opine on its effectiveness.
My second page has some of my most used apps. CoBook is an enhanced address book application to keep contact databases synced and organized. I have the Mac version as well. I also use CardMunch to automatically convert business cards to iPhone contacts.
Waze is a social GPS application. I used it until Google Maps was released.
1Password is the ultimate password and PIN code management program. I have over 200 logins stored in it. With Google, Dropbox, and other websites I use Google Authenticator for two-password authentication. This adds an extra layer of security.
Dropbox is the best application to access and store files.
Camera+ is an enhanced camera application. It has features to aid in composing and editing photos, including a stabilizer.
CardStar stores all your loyalty cards so you do not have to carry them. It used to work with all types of scanners but on the iPhone 4 and later it only works on the optical ones.
The main application I use in the finance category is Mint. It pulls the account information from all my bank accounts and keeps me updated on bill due dates among other things. Most of my banking is through ING Direct and I use their application to deposit checks using my smart phone camera. It is one of the best features of having a smart phone.
These are all your standard social media programs. For twitter I prefer to use Tweetbot. It syncs among the iPad and Mac versions using iCloud and has an easier to use interface than the regular twitter client.
Finally the first page is fairly standard. I use the GMail app instead of the built-in mail app since it provides a little more functionality and better battery life. However I miss the ability to double-tap to zoom. Hopefully the app improves and adds this in the next update.
TurboScan is by far the best mobile scanning application I have ever used. It will process a picture of a page into a PDF that looks better than something you get from a flatbed scanner, especially if you use the option to scan three times. The only downside is that recently the user interface has become ugly.