Baggas' Blog

While those of us in Australia have to make do with just our small screen iPads iPhones for a while longer, I thought I’d mention a few cool apps I’ve been using lately.

Ever since I got my iPhone I’ve been looking for a good to-do list app. I’m a big user of to-do lists and often have an old fashioned paper version sitting on my desk at work or the bench at home. I’ve tried a number of free and paid apps including Things, Tasks, and others, but never found one that really suited me. They are either too complicated or not powerful enough or not quick to use. In fact the one list program I use the most on the iPhone is a simple shopping list app called ShopShop that Jenni found. It’s created for creating a number of simple lists that you can cross off (ie when walking around a shop) and even email to other users of the software so they can import lists into the App on their own phone (Jen does this for me sometimes). I use this app not only for going shopping but also for longer term lists of things I need to buy, or tasks related to various groups I am involved in etc. It’s not very sophisticated, but it works.

But now I’ve discovered 2Do. This is a very impressive list app that is worth every cent of it’s A$5.99. It’s visually beautiful, easy to navigate, but packs a powerful set of features under the surface. I really like the tabbed interface where you can easily view tasks in different categories, or all at once. Very easy to create a new task and assign it to a category, set a date and priority, associate it with a contact, set all sorts of alarms and reminders. It supports push and can also send you an email at the time of your choosing. You can associate your tasks with audio recordings or photos from within the app. You can tweet them. It also allows you to sync your lists with the online free toodledo server so you can edit it on the web also. There is truly a myriad of options which you can check out on the website. But the good thing is that it does it’s basic functions very well. Lists are easy to see and tasks are easy to create and edit. This is fast becoming one of my most used apps.

The other App I’ve discovered recently is Gowalla. It certainly doesn’t enhance your functionality in the same way that 2Do does but it takes social networking in interesting new directions. Basically it’s a way of letting people where you are and seeing who else is around or has been there by “checking in” to various locations based on GPS. These locations might include restaurants, shops, cafes, museums, nightclubs, churches – generally any public place is legit. You can then also cross-post these to your facebook or twitter account, and upload photos from the location. There’s also a bit of a game to it where you earn badges and stamps on your “passport” and also collect these virtual items that your can then drop off in the places you visit. I can already hear some people say “what’s the point?” – really it’s just another amusing way of sharing your life with people online, with a functional and attractive app. Heavy duty users of facebook will probably understand. Others may not. Check it out if the idea appeals to you, and take a look at my profile if you want.

3 Other Apps I will briefly mention. The first is the Opera Mini browser, which was just released the other day. It’s faster than safari, but the pages don’t render as nicely. Secondly Doodle Jump, a totally addictive game where you are a little doodle man jumping up platforms (it’s better than it sounds, really). Screenshots of these two below. Thirdly, Angry Birds, another addictive game where you fling birds using a slingshot to try and smash buildings in order to kill evil pigs (once again just trust me on this – it’s quite good)

And finally, once we eventually get our supersized iPhones iPads in Australia, hopefully this app will be available – Pocket Bible for iPad. It’s the ultimate Bible reading app on any platform and the iPad is perfect for this use. If you’re into Bible software then just check out this sneak peak video…

Now this is an area where I think I’ve only barely scratched the surface yet, but the iPhone is a veritable treasure trove of useful apps for musicians and music lovers. Here’s a few of the ones I’ve tried so far…

Shazam

This is one of the Apps that iPhone users love whipping out to impress their friends. And there’s a reason for that – it’s just cool. Basically if you hear a song playing and want to know what it’s called and who sings it, Shazam listens to the song through your iPhone’s microphone, processes it, and then gives you the answer – as well as the option to purchase the song for yourself on iTunes or search for it in YouTube. Seems to work about 90% of the time. I’ve used it in the car, and even in a crowded restaurant, with surprisingly good results. Definitely worth downloading.

ooTunes

This is an internet radio program which you can use to listen to streaming radio stations from around the world. I first downloaded this when I wanted to listen to the JJJ Hottest 100 live instead of our usual 2 hour delay here in Perth, but have since discovered plenty of other cool stations from Australia and around the world. There is something cool about being able to tune into country radio live from Nashville, plug my iPhone into my HiFi and enjoy. Some stations are very high quality and even support listing of the currently playing song, lyrics display and links to buy the song. Other stations are poorer quality and some don’t even work so it takes a bit of experimenting to find the best stations. Also a warning this is probably an App you’d only want to use when connected to a WiFi network as I’d imagine this would use up your 3G download quota pretty fast. But keeping that it mind it’s well worth downloading.

Y! Music

Another app suggested to me by Deano, this is a similar program where you can tune into a range of radio stations. Seems to be less range than ooTunes (though still huge) but in general the stability is better with less drop outs and fairly good quality. I’m just tuned into a Reggae station at present. This program offers the ability to skip forward tracks so must work differently somehow. Free, and very useful.

Guitar Toolkit

There’s a myriad of guitar related apps out there. This is a paid one which I think was $9.99 – you can probably get much of the same functionality by getting a few different cheaper ones, but I found this to be the most elegant and powerful one I saw. It combines the following features :

• Tuner – accurate, works well, allows alternate tunings
• Fretboard / Scales – playable fretboard where you can display a huge range of different scales in different positions along the neck
• Metronome – Set your bpm and time signature (from a large selection) and off you go. Very useful
• Chord library – extensive chord library showing a large number of inversions/positions of just about every chord you can imagine. certainly more than I would ever use. And you can strum them all too.
• Instrument – this app can be used for 6 and 12 string guitars, 4 and 5 string basses, and includes a huge library of alternate tunings, as well as settings for left handed players

As I said, this is not free, but it’s an incredibly versatile and powerful app that I would recommend to all guitarists…

I still need to find a similar app with chord library and scales for my Mandolin. Must add that to my to-do list.

MiniPiano

Free single octave piano keyboard. Works fine, but very simple.

Piano Sharp

Similar to mini-piano but allows you to switch to higher and lower octaves. Also includes a library of classical tunes that it will play for you, and you can record your own compositions. Worth investing a few $ if you’re a keyboard player.

My Songbook

This is a very cool litte program, which basically stores a library of songs with lyrics and chords on your iPhone. Perfect for sitting around the campfire or a small group singalong or if you just feel like playing some music (I always keep a spare guitar in my car boot for such an eventuality…) It includes a built in search function so you can find songs on Google or Chordie.com, which has a large database of user submitted songs. You can also add your own songs but the uploading process is a little convoluted. There is an auto-scroll feature so you can use it hands-free while playing, and it will also transpose for you so you can find the perfect key to suit your voice. Definitely a great app to have. I’ve got 100s of songs ready on my iPhone for whenever I need ‘em

iPod

Ok, so this is not an App you can download in the store, because it’s a standard part of the iPhone, but I had to mention it because it’s just cool. This is about my fourth iPod to date, but it takes things to a new level. I love having my music constantly in my phone in my pocket. I can play any song in an instant and don’t even need to carry headphones around (although the sound is so much better with them – the in-built speaker is not too bad). Navigation on the iPhone (and iPod touch I guess) is a vast improvement over the classic iPods – I can find what I want so much faster. Also scrubbing within a song to find a particular part (eg a guitar solo I’m trying to learn) is easy and efficient. Cover Flow is just cool, like flipping through CDs on a shelf – great for getting ideas if I’m not sure what to listen to. And I really like the Genius feature – pick a song and it will create a playlist of related stuff – and the playlists are really good. Having access to the iTunes store on the phone is nice too in case I ever want to purchase a new song when I’m out and about.

This iPod is becoming much more a part of my daily experience than my old ones. The only limitation is that it only has 32Gig or less or space, but I still have my 160 Gig iPod classic for when I want to carry a more exhaustive music library around (or when I want to save my iPhone battery) – look forward to a 64 or 128 Gig iPhone in the years to come perhaps?