: iPod Apps

By: g | No Comments » |

Ya I said it before, I will not touch an iPhone, call me a Luddite if you will. But I do love my iPod Touch, everything of the iPhone without the annoying telephone – though it would be nice to have a camera. Anyhoo, I mostly use my iPod as a second brain when I am out and about, so I have it pretty much geared up as a glorified PDA. I do have some games, you know, for when waiting can get a little dull but for all but a few, I find the screen size just too small to be ‘engaging’.

As I have been so selective with what I have put on my iPod, I thought I’d share my fave apps as maybe someone out there might find them useful as well…

Awesome Note: I Just wish they’d have a desktop version so I could sync between the two but that maybe would defeat the whole point? aNote is perhaps the best ‘notepad’ application I have seen to date and looks the part too. It’s pretty extensive and you can create all sorts of notes and categorise them, order them so on and so forth. On the iPhone you can link images to notes as well as geotag and backup is to Google Docs. I love this app, was the first I put on my iPod and has helped me remember some pretty key ideas and thoughts over time.

Things: More of a project management tool and I first looked at it for the desktop. I am one of those people that tends to keep things in their head and until recently it’s worked pretty well. these days though there’s just too much going on, so having a really simple tool to manage and track projects etc. has become a bit of a necessity. Things is designed to be super simple, clean and easy to use. I don’t like PM tools that are overly complex and are more of a pain to use than they are useful, so Things is perfect. Like anything it’s only as good as one’s ability to use it so I am training myself to use it more and more. Best of all, it syncs to the desktop version and, if you have one, the iPad version as well.

mSecure: I have so much info that I need locked down it’s not funny. Bank accounts, server, email, ftp logins, memberships and on it goes. mSecure is a password encrypted storage system that allows you to categorise and store all manners of information you want with you but locked down. Five false attempts to login and all the data is fried, so it is nice and secure from would be thieves. it also creates an encrypted backup to your Mac via a mSecure application available to you after you buy the app.

Skype: Perfect when on the move and wheen you’re in a WiFi hot spot, you can communicate as if you were in from of your desktop. Perfect.

Tweetdeck: On my desktop, Tweetdeck allows me to manage all the various feeds I have – Twitter accounts, Facebook accounts and pages etc. Tweetdeck on my iPod takes that ability on the road.

Allhours: A nice little app that allows you to arrange meetings in different timezones at all the appropriate times for all parties involved.

Convert: Convert pretty much all forms of measurements including live-time currency conversions (as long as you can connect).

Australian Oxford Dictionary: Because ‘like’ and ‘aw mah gawd’ is not English.

Peppermint: Peppermint is a portable colour reference system allowing you to define colours in  a number of different colour systems. You can create palettes based on a number of colour ‘laws’ and store faves. If you have a design project and are dwelling on a colour scheme, Peppermint is perfect to go and have a coffee somewhere to work it out.

Sketchbook Mobile: Based on Autodesk’s Sketchbook Pro for the desktop, the i’X’ version does everything it’s bigger brother does. Some people create amazing things with it but for me I might just do the odd doodle to remember something I am thinking about. Sketchbook though almost justifies the iPad for someone like me, as it finally gives a true alternative to having to carry around a sketch pad to work – if only they’d sort out the issues with the iPad and come out with V2.0, I’ll be there in a flash.

miniDraw (Trial): Trying this one out but like Sketchbook, I think this will be in its element on the iPad. miniDraw is a neat vetor based drawing app, great if you do lots of stuff in Adobe Illustrator and want to be able to do vector images while on the move but be able to then take them into Ai to firm them up. Fun on the iPod but really more of a toy because of the screen size.

Carpenter: This was my second app and is still by far the prettiest! Carpenter is a very accurate measuring tool (one calibrated) allowing you the measure angles, levels, plumb and length. A must if you deal with things in the physical world.

Buamai: Eye candy. Buamai is an app that taps into Buamia.com and serves up random posted images from the repository. More a source of inspiration when you are a little dull.

Auspostcode: Like it says, all Australian Postcodes. Handy.

Accura (Free): A better and far more indepth battery gauge for the iPod/Phone. Breaks down battery power based on the various activities you might do on you i’X’.

Zen Bound: Using the 3D physics engine of the i’X’ devices, Zen Bound is a super relaxing game where you wrap wooden object of increasing complexity with rope. It sounds pretty dull but it’s really entrancing with its beautiful graphics and deep sound track. I love this game and it also is now in the iPad.

Dinosaur Handbook: Because who does not like Dinosaurs? I know my wee one does and having every dinosaur discovered to date is pretty cool.

Labyrinth (Lite): A 3D puzzle game. Roll your chrome ball bearing through mazes of increasing complexity. This is the counterpoint to Zen Bound and that you can get quite worked up trying to get through some of the mazes, which of course only makes getting through them more difficult.

DigDug Remix: A perfect recreation of the Namco arcade game of the 80′s. Pure gold. I might have to buy it though I do think, like most games, it will be so much better on the iPad, prolly why I have not bought the full version yet. There’s also a revamped version on the same install but let’s face it, the charm lies in the original.

Galaga Remix: Like DigDug, this is the original Namco Galaga of the 80′s.

InfinityLite: Like DigDug and Galaga, this will rock on the iPad. Basically, take the original Space invaders and then put it on a heavy does of speed. This is a mind blower and in some ways a total overload. Love it but want it bigger!

 

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