Posts – The First Decent Blogging App?

Posted on Thursday, August 23, 2012

I have no idea why it has taken so long for developers to come up with a decent blogging app. The first one that came anywhere near being usable was Blogsy by Fomola, prior to that a WordPress blogger was basically stuck with the utterly wretched official app and users of other platforms like Blogger were basically screwed.

When you first open the app you see a dashboard full of posts arranged Pinterest-style in date order. You can edit one of these existing entries or you can create a new post, page or draft. You can also search for content or quickly go to a specific date using either the calendar or the slider.

At the top of the editor screen are buttons to access the properties windows, media, previews and HTML. The properties windows enables you to change post title, tags, categories and article visibility. The media window enables you to insert photos directly from the iPad or from an online image or movie somewhere like Flickr or YouTube. The HTML button gives you access to the raw code to do any markup styling or further additions.

At any time you can save your draft post either locally or online, meaning you can easily switch between iPad and a browser window. The ability to save locally also means  you can write blog entries without Internet access and upload your work when you’re online again. If there are any downsides to the app it’s that it doesn’t give you access to any plugins you might have installed – for instance SEO management.

If you’ve never been tempted to try updating your blog on your iPad, Posts is probably the app that could change your mind. It’s a beautifully designed app, thoughtfully created and is sure to become one of the essentials. It’s available now for $9.99.

Grid – Awesome New ‘Visual’ Spreadsheet App

Posted on Wednesday, August 15, 2012

Grid is a spreadsheet app that’s better suited to lifestyle than regression analysis or loan amortization tables. It uses voice input, images, calendars and embedded social media tools to streamline the planning of activities, events or anything else that needs a bit of forward thinking.

Wikiweb – Nodes Meets Wikipedia on iPad and iPhone

Posted on Friday, July 13, 2012

Love the thinking behind this iOS app. It’s like an information themed marriage of mind-mapping style nodes and all the information in Wikipedia. Initial searches enable you to build a custom map of interlinked subjects which you can then save out in ‘web’ format. It’s available now in the App Store for $4.99.

Tweetbot – The Best Twitter Client for iOS Now on Mac

Posted on Thursday, July 12, 2012

I‘ve got a Twitter account that is numbered in the 14millions and so while I wasn’t an incredibly early adopter, I certainly did better than people joining now in the 600millions. If there’s one app that’s made me embrace my under-used Twitter account then it’s Tweetbot which, on iOS, is an incredibly well coded app. Well now it’s coming to Mac and has just been released for free in its early Alpha form. I’ve been using it for a couple of days now and it works perfectly, if a little slowly. You can find it here.

Converge – Uber Cool Dock and Recharge Station

Posted on Tuesday, July 3, 2012

Here’s a slick dock for your digital accessories. Converge enables you to display and view your phone, tablet or other electronic device while it recharges discretely through one of the four USB outlets. It’s available now from Quirky for $39.

TriggerTrap Mobile – App and Cable Transform your iPhone into a Sophisticated Camera Controller

Posted on Monday, July 2, 2012

$10 (iPhone app) – $10 (Mobile Dongle) – $10 (Camera Cable) – TriggerTrap.com

Thanks to digital sensors and the high quality and affordable pricing of medium to high-end DSLR cameras, there has been a renaisance in the photography scene. Swing by a site like 500px and you can quickly see how much high quality imagery is being produced by hobbyists and pros alike. This renewed popularity has lead photographers to experiment with different techniques, such as timelapses, low light, astrophotography, tilt-shifts, HDR, macros and underwater photography. What we’re also starting to see are add-on hybrid products that bridge the gap between pro gear and consumer gear.

Google+ Adds Events Feature

Posted on Thursday, June 28, 2012

Google’s development of Plus continues onwards with one of Facebook’s mainstays brought into the fold. Google+ Events functions, it must be said, nearly identically to Facebook’s in terms of set-up and sharing. However during the event itself, you can engage Party mode on your smartphone and utilise the instant group photo sharing facility.

Gmail for iOS Updated – No Longer Logs You Out on Quit

Posted on Tuesday, June 26, 2012

It’s a small thing, but a bloody irritating one. The Gmail app for iOS never really gained much traction because it was an average app competing with quality software like Sparrow. Now some of its annoyances have been fixed, perhaps as a prelude to a larger update. There’s now persistent log-in, notification center support (lock-screen notifications etc) and send-as alternate sender support.

Facebook Messenger 1.8 – Zucks Finally Getting it Right?

Posted on Tuesday, June 26, 2012

Facebook is such a part of the patina of life in this day and age that it’s hard to imagine how we kept in touch with each other before it came along, any more than we can remember what search was like before Google. The Facebook apps (both iOS and Android) have, until now, been fairly mediocre affairs, but the latest version of the Facebook Messenger app shows that they’re finally starting to get at least some things right. New in version 1.8 is faster loading, better push notifications, quick conversation switching and swipe to delete messages.

Paprika – Recipe Manager for iPad

Posted on Wednesday, June 20, 2012

Recently updated to version 1.6, Paprika is a popular recipe manger for Mac and iOS that enables you to file your favourite recipes and follow them in the kitchen when you want to cook. This latest iPad version has retina graphics, a redesigned interface, star ratings and cooking enhancements such as the ability to cross ingredients off the list as you use them.

Easy Chef – Recipe App with Reverse Search for Ingredients

Posted on Sunday, June 10, 2012

If you’re anything like me then there are probably many occasions when you’re put your head in the larder or the fridge and wondered what you could make with the ingredients you have at your disposal. Easy Chef addresses this problem quite neatly by enabling you to do a reverse lookup on ingredients – so instead of looking at recipes and working out if  you have the ingredients, you start with the ingredients and the app tells you which recipes you can make. It’s available now in the App Store for $0.99.

MySocialStylist – Foursquare for Frocks

Posted on Wednesday, May 23, 2012

While I personally have the fashion sense of a crack addict, my better half enjoys dressing stylishly and appreciates feedback from her friends on what she’s wearing. She’d appreciate MySocialStylist, which is an ‘interactive social shopping iPhone app’ that enables you to get honest advice on your outfits, give advice yourself and track fashion ‘finds’ on your shopping sprees. The app’s free and available now.

Mobile Gallery – Your WordPress Portfolio Made Mobile

Posted on Wednesday, May 23, 2012

The WordPress CMS has gained a lot of traction with artists and photographers due, in part, to some excellent portfolio plugins. Now Raygun Design have produced an app that hooks into their Portfolio Framework plugin and reproduces it on an iPhone or iPad. The clear advantage of this is that you can concentrate on building a cool portfolio on your website and not have to worry about syncing your work to your iPad when you want to show it off to someone. The WordPress plugin is $28, but the Mobile Gallery app that displays everything on iOS is free.

Brydge – Transform Your iPad into a Netbook

Posted on Tuesday, May 22, 2012

EveryMe – The AntiSocial Network that Cuts Out the Crap

Posted on Sunday, May 20, 2012

Facebook addressed the issue by adding groups and Google+ introduced us to circles, but what if you don’t care to share your stuff with random strangers or friends of friends of friends? EveryMe is an antisocial network – a closed bubble in which your posts only appear for those you explicitly wish to share them with. They even block indexing by Google, so those pictures of you getting blown by a stripper on your stag night don’t appear in Google Images. There are iPhone and Android apps all ready to rock and sign-up is, of course, free.