Ever need a flashlight but are only carrying your phone? Well, then the Flashlight app for the Palm Pre® is perfect for you.
Flashlight provides a light that fills your whole screen. You can change the color of the light from white to green to red to blue. You can also choose how your light appears – solid, blinking, blinking the SOS pattern, or only showing up when you tap the touch screen. All of these items can be modified on the Preferences menu for the app, located in the upper left hand corner.
I tested the light out in a dark room. It is not as intense as a flashlight and you do need to hold the light closer to the area you are searching. But, if you need to find your keys under the seat at the movie theater, this Flashlight app for the Palm Pre will do the trick. And it’s free.
Whether you’re looking to make sure the picture you are hanging is level or to figure out how many sugar packets to put under the rickety table leg at a restaurant, the Bubble Level app for the Palm Pre® is just the thing for you.
It functions just like a bubble level that contractors use and is also very easy to use. You have 2 level choices right on your screen – horizontal or vertical. Simply line up the bottom, top, or either side of your phone with the surface you want to check, and watch the bubbles slide into position. You know the surface is level when the bubble is between the two middle lines. There isn’t a lot more to it than that. You can change the color of the bubbles by clicking on the menu tab at the top left hand corner of the screen and choosing Preferences. You can also turn on or off the angle readouts that appear below the bubble.
The Bubble Level is easy to use and easy to read. It can be a bit tricky to line up your phone on the surface you are checking, especially since the Palm Pre has buttons on either side of the phone and has a curved shape. But, the developers of the app took that into account when calibrating the bubbles and you should still be able to cleanly and neatly hang or level whatever you wish.
For a handy way to check how level your pictures or tables are, the Bubble Level app for the Palm Pre is for you.
Have you ever flipped a coin to make a decision? Well, now you can flip a coin without having any change, with the CoinFlip app for the Palm Pre®.
CoinFlip is very simple. Once you launch the app, a coin appears on a black screen on your phone. Tap the coin and it flips up the screen, to land in either the Heads or Tails position.
You can change the coin, from either a Susan B. Anthony to a penny or a half dollar. The half dollar is the default coin. To pick another coin, simply tab the menu at the left hand corner of the screen and choose “Preferences” and then pick your coin of choice.
For a quick decisionmaking, CoinFlip for the Palm Pre is perfect, especially since it’s free.
Fliq Bookmarks for the Palm Pre® allows you to transfer all of your Safari bookmarks from your Mac computer (and only your Mac, the PC version is coming soon) right to your phone, so that you can visit your favorite sites wherever you happen to be.
You can view the bookmarks in Fliq and then transfer them straight to your Palm Pre web browser. Fliq Bookmarks works in tandem with The Missing Sync app for your Palm Pre. Transferring your bookmarks is as easy as syncing up your phone to the computer. If you don’t have The Missing Sync on your phone, don’t worry. The app immediately asks if you have it before it even goes to the main Fliq Bookmarks page. If you don’t, you can upload the program from a provided URL and even email the URL to yourself if you need to so that you don’t have to worry about retyping anything. The Missing Sync allows you to share videos, music, bookmarks, photos and ringtones between your computer and your phone. It does cost $39.95 for personal use, $69.95 for the family pack, or $89.95 for the Business version, but it is a very handy program to have on your computer if you plan on sharing anything in iTunes or iPhoto to your phone.
Once you have The Missing Sync on your computer, transferring the bookmarks is easy. Connect your Palm Pre with your USB cord, choosing ‘USB Drive’ on the phone when it asks what you want to do. Thereafter, enable the Bookmarks plugin on the Missing Sync menu for the Pre, double-click the Bookmarks plugin to select which ones you want to sync, click ok to save the settings and then click the synchronization button in the Missing Sync Toolbar on the computer. Voila! Your bookmarks are transferred.
For the person looking to visit your favorite sites without having to retype them all into your phone and you have a bunch of favorites, the Fliq Bookmarks app for the Palm Pre is for you. However, for those people looking to share one random photo or song on their phone, it is cheaper and easier to just transfer it directly, without the Missing Sync program, by choosing ‘Media’ on the phone when you connect your Palm Pre to your computer. And the best part – it doesn’t matter if you have a PC or a Mac.
The Evernote® app for the Palm Pre® is the mobile version of the Evernote program, where you can type notes, to-do lists and reminders, clip web pages and save them for later reading, snap photos, record audio clips and memos for later, and email or text notes right from your phone, which then can be saved to your online account and accessed by computer. It is the ultimate taskmaster for the person on the go.
The interface on the app is mostly user friendly. Once you launch the app, you then sign up for an account (or login), which allows you to sync up Evernote in all of your technology, be it your computer, phone or blackberry. After logging in, you can create a new text-based item or email a snapshot, simply by tapping on the plus icon in the lower right hand corner of the screen. You then are asked to select what type of new item you wish to create. If you tap ‘Text’, a new window opens up and you can write a title for your note, add keyword tags for easy searching within your Evernote account, and then write the substance of what you need to remember or do. The note saves to your online account, which means you can access it from anywhere, making marking off that to-do list item really simple.
Once you have several items saved to your Evernote account, they appear on the first screen of the app, in screenshot format. There is also a search function, which allows you to search either your recent notes or any nearby notes for a specific word, phrase or tag.
The free version of Evernote only allows you to write a note or send a picture. If you upgrade your account by paying for it, you can do some of the more advanced features of Evernote, like recording audio clips. However, for those times when you need to remember something or created a new to-do list, the free Evernote app for the Palm Pre is a great way to keep track of it all.
There are several iPhone® applications that offer ambient noise for relaxation. Ambiance for the iPhone offers a distinct advantage over similar products by allowing users access to unlimited downloads from a free library of sound files. Whether you prefer hearing the bustle of a city street, a thunderstorm, or whales, you can find them on Ambiance.
The application has five tabs from the main screen:
Featured – The Featured tab shows recent additions to Ambiance’s sound library. Tap on any item in the list to hear a sample or find out more information about the sound file.
Search – If you’re looking for a specific type of sound file, enter your search term here. This is the easiest way to find exactly the sound files you want.
Sounds – The Sounds tab lists all the sounds currently in your personal library.
Favorites – If you marked any of the sounds in your library as a favorite during playback, they will show up here in the Favorites tab.
More – The More tab has six subsections:
Categories – You can set up categories for the sound files you’ve downloaded, such as “Nature” or “Water.” Create categories by pressing the New Category button; when viewing your personal sound library via the Sounds tab, scroll to the bottom to change its category. To edit a category name, tap the Edit button at the top right of the screen.
Alarm – From here you can set an alarm, including fade options, alarm sound, snooze and other functions.
Mixes – Another great feature offered by Ambiance is the ability to create mixes of various sound files. To build a mix, tap the button, then select the files you want from the list. Once you’ve saved the mix, you can set the volume for each file.
Settings – On the Settings page you can make changes to the timer and alarm settings, adjust the cycle length of sounds, change background images, and set up alerts for when new sounds are added to Ambiance’s library.
Help – The Help page explains what all the different icons mean, provides a list of frequently asked questions, and gives you a way to contact the developer or let a friend know about the app.
QuickStart – Turn QuickStart on to make Ambiance a one-touch application. This way, when you launch the application, Ambiance will start playing your favorite sound or mix right away. Once you toggle the switch to On, you can set up the alarm and choose the sound or mix to play.
While the possibilities with Ambiance may seem overwhelming at times, the fact that it offers so many different options means you won’t need to look for any other ambient noise applications.
Pros: Huge database of sound files to help users individualize their Ambiance application. Allows user to create sound mixes. Can set alarm. Cons: Application can be a little confusing in its complexity. Might time out quickly when downloading additional sounds.
Have trouble falling asleep? Avoid buying expensive “white noise” CDs or devices to help you doze off—just download Sleepmaker Rain Free for the iPhone®.
On Sleepmaker Rain Free, two different types of rain sounds are available: gentle onto forest foliage, or medium and steady with puddles. Both sound files are high quality and realistic. Switch between files during playback by tapping on the scroll window on the screen. Starting and stopping playback is easily done via the large Play and Stop buttons, while you can increase or decrease the application volume using the slider at the top of the screen.
The application includes a timer that can be set for up to 24 hours. To set the timer, tap the Info icon, then scroll to set the hours and minutes. You can save your selection as the default by tapping the Save as Default button. Once you’ve set the timer, press Done to return to the main screen. A gray banner displays the time remaining.
Pros: Realistic sound. Timer can be set. Cons: Free version is limited to only two sound files.
iPhone® users who are looking for a way to stay on task might find reQall to be an effective productivity tool. Similar to programs such as Remember the Milk and the now-defunct I Want Sandy, reQall can be set up to send reminders on tasks via email, text message (with paid accounts), or instant message.
The major selling point for me, however, is the voice-to-text function. To have reQall add a task, tap anywhere on the screen, then start speaking the task. Once you’ve finished recording, tap the screen again. It will take anywhere from a few seconds to a couple of minutes for reQall to post the task. Using this feature requires a little bit of training on the terms to use. For example, to set up a shopping list, you have to say “Buy” at the beginning of the recording, while adding a note is done by prefacing the message with “Note.” reQall’s website offers tips on how to use the voice-to-text function effectively.
reQall breaks down your tasks and reminders into five areas:
Jogger—The Memory Jogger gives you a quick rundown of what you need to remember. Here and Now shows you any meetings or items that are due today, while the Pro-account-only Memory Boosts remind you of activities associated with the day or your location.
Time—The Time page shows time-sensitive tasks and reminders, separating them into Due Today, Due Soon, Due Later, and Overdue categories.
Things—The Things page groups your reminders based on what they are, such as To-dos, Shopping List, and Notes.
People—You can associate tasks and reminders with particular people. reQall will access your contacts on your iPhone. If you want to share an appointment with someone who isn’t a reQall user, the application will send them a reminder via email, provided their email account is in your Contacts list.
Places—Those with a Pro reQall account can assign locations to tasks and reminders.
While you can change the settings for a number of reQall’s features via the mobile application, you will need to log in to the web-based application for several key features, such as syncing. You can also create an RSS feed for your reminders on the web-based application. This is perfect if you tend to go to your RSS aggregator to read up on the news before delving into your daily task list.
Paid users of reQall get additional features, such as integration with their Outlook and/or Google Calendar accounts, push notifications, and other handy tools. New installations get a free trial of the Pro version for a few days.
Pros: Voice-to-text feature makes it very easy to record tasks on the fly. Can set recurring tasks and categorize them easily. RSS feed allows for easy integration into feed aggregators such as Google Reader or My Yahoo. Cons: Voice recognition may not always be accurate. If the account is set to sync with Google Calendar, all calendars subscribed to will be listed in the daily memory jogs.
This is a great app to keep track of everything that happens in your life. You can use Evernote to enter notes, ideas, snapshots, recordings, etc.
This great app instantly synchronizes all of your Evernotes from your iPhone® to the web to your desktop. Whenever you add or edit a note, it quickly becomes available on all computers and devices that you use, letting you access your notes and memories at any time.
This app will also automatically geo-tag all of your notes and memories and all of your notes can easily be accessed offline as well as online.
You can also add a Word document, PowerPoint, or PDF using Evernote on your computer, then sync and view those files on your iPhone. You can even email the files to friends and colleagues. So make your life easier with Evernote.
Do you like to go to the movies? Then you should check out this iPhone® application.
Movies lets you watch trailers and will show you show times at your local theater. It also lets you read about the movie and get a detailed description and read ratings and reviews. If you’ve found a movie you would like to watch, which isn’t at your local box office, the app will give you a map with directions to the nearest theater and you can order tickets online.
Movies also has listings of the top box office leaders and movies opening soon so that you will always be updated.
The design is nice and the application is easy to use.
And, if you have some spare time, you can always watch one of the DVDs in the DVD catalog of over 50,000 films or you can watch one of the 10,000 high quality trailer and video clips—right on your phone!
I usually remember them a few days ahead, but when the birthday day arrives, I have usually forgotten it. So for me, this Birthday Reminder app is great and simple!
It reminds you of when all of your friends’ birthdays are. When you first start the app, it will automatically list all of your contacts’ birthdays gathered from your address book. You can also gather birthdays from your list of friends on Facebook®. After you enter your Facebook account information, the app will sync up.
The list of contacts is displayed in chronological order, with the most recent birthday at the top and the birthdays furthest away at the bottom.
The notifications option allows you to enter one email address for where to send the reminders. You can select the exact time and how many days before a birthday to send the email reminder.
I usually forget my shopping list that I wrote carefully at home with everything that I need to buy. I always figure this out when I’m in the store. I try to pick up the stuff I wrote down but I usually only remember half of the things on my list. It’s so frustrating! I found this new iPhone® app, Grocery Gadget, which is great! Since I always have my iPhone with me, I no longer have to shop without my list.
Before I leave my home, I create a shopping list on my iPhone and usually name the list after stores. Sometimes I have to make a specialized list for holidays, birthdays and parties.
What is great about Grocery Gadget is that it stores all of my lists, so I can easily refresh them or use them over again. When I have found an item, I just check it off the list and it will then appear at the bottom of the list. When I have ticked off everything I need from the store, the Grocery Gadget will show me the total cost and this helps me to keep within my budget.
All of the items on my list can be rearranged via dragging. When I tap on an item in my list, I can see the detailed screen where I can add quantity, notes, prices and taxes. If I wish, I can make more categories. Sometimes I have to send someone else out to do my shopping. I then just e-mail them my Grocery Gadget list and they will know what to pick up for me. What is great is that on the detailed list of items, I can attach a photo. This helps the person picking up my groceries buy the right product.
The main screen shows all saved lists, along with an Edit and plus-sign button. The Edit button lets me delete lists, and the plus sign will create a new list. Tapping an existing list brings the list up for viewing, which can be viewed in two modes: Prepare or Shop.
So make your shopping easier! Get Grocery Gadget at the AppStore.
Are you often out on the run and, like me, you never remember to bring a pen or you would like to try something else than your standard keyboard? Then you should get Shapewriter! This application is genius. I think this application should be a default writing method for the iPhone®.
One thing that saves me a lot of time writing with the ShapeWriter is that I can write a text in a note or an e-mail in a totally unique way. Instead of poking at the screen to input each individual letter, I just trace my finger over the letters of the word I want to write.
Currently, for iPhone, this app only works for email and notes, but hopefully it will be developed further and integrated into more areas. Finally, you can enjoy writing!
The thing is… you might think what thing!? Things is a great iPhone® application, it is actually one of the top task manager applications for your iPhone. It is really easy to use and it has many features that increases your productivity.
When I first downloaded this app on an advice from a friend, I was surprised to see the nice design and how simple it looked. The Things app is a very intuitive task manager and easy to use. I must say that Things has the right balance between ease of use and powerful features. What took me a while to figure out was the possibility to sync wirelessly with the desktop version of Things using Wi-Fi. This is fantastic and it makes it a great tool!
I was a little confused in the beginning with the Inbox, but I quickly found out that all of the new to-dos I created were stored in there and I could easily get things out of my head and into the Inbox instead. Doesn’t that sound great—you can store all of your thoughts in an Inbox, its fantastic! When I made “things” with dates, they appeared automatically in the Today folder for that specific date.
One of the folders I have been using a lot is Scheduled. It lists all of the things I have to do but never find the time to do. I try to set a date to make some time to do them, but usually they end up in the “Someday” folder. I’m pretty sure I’m not the only one having the problem of too little time and too much to do.
So if you feel that you have the same problem as me and need some help to sort all of your things, then I warmly recommend the Things app.
