APP REVEIW PAGE
GREAT PLACES TO FIND APP INFORMATION
There are many ways to find new apps and app reviews. I only follow iPad and iPhone/iPod so these are the ones I know most about. Most of these are apps (APP) that you install but a few are websites.
-Built In Apple App Store APP
Complete organized listing of all apps available for iPhones, iPods and iPads.
-BestAppSite APP
Provides detailed reviews of several apps each week.
-Chomp APP
Gives a list of free or on sale apps through iTunes.
-AppShopper APP
Very well organized listing of apps searchable by numerous criteria.
Popular Mac magazine site with frequent app reviews.
-AppAdvice APP
Offers brief comments on numerous apps. There's always a section with apps that are free for a short period - often only one day - so you need to check this one often.
-AppMiner APP
Great searching and sorting tools including Apps on Sale and a Watch List you create to watch for apps that go on sale.
My personal blog with periodic app discussions
Numerous other "magazine" sites including Computerworld, Infoworld, Maclife, PCworld and Datamation.
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APP LIST - UPDATED SEPTEMBER 2012
I've tried at least a thousand apps (programs) on the iPhone and iPad in the last three years - and a few on a Samsung Galaxy Tab.
Since there are over 700,000 apps available you can see why a newbie might be overwhelmed. Remember iPhone apps will work on the iPad; they will just use a small portion of the screen and will resemble the iPhone display. Of course most iPhone apps will also work on the iPod Touch. In many cases a company will provide two versions - one for the iPhone/iPod Touch and one that takes advantage of the large screen on the iPad; Many newspapers do this. Apps designed for the larger iPad screen will not work on the smaller devices.
Office Apps
Many, if not most, people want to use Microsoft Office on their tablet. There are apps that actually allow you to do this but it is not a pretty sight. No matter what the device is - traditional computer or tablet - a ten inch screen is impractical for displaying the large amount of content on a typical Word, Powerpoint, or Excel screen. These apps including Onlive Deskop and CloudOn actually run Office on remote servers and display the screens on your tablet. Don't hesitate to try them - they're free - and judge for yourself.
What most of us will really end up doing is using apps that read and write Office files but get rid of much of the clutter and unused capabilities of these gigantic applications. Office was developed for screens that grew bigger almost every year and ten inch tablets require a different approach. Here are several popular apps that can open, edit and save Office files
- Apple iWork suite consisting of Pages, Numbers and Keynote $10
- Documents To Go (DocsToGo) $17
- Quickoffice Pro HD $20 for iPad, $15 for Android
If you use an iPad, iWork is a companion to Apple's more powerful office suite.
Drawing and Design
Tablets are often characterized as “consumption” devices - for consuming information but not producing it. While it’s certainly easier to perform many complex tasks with a large screen and full sized keyboard, there are a growing number of apps useful for creating documents including drawings. When you think of it, drawing with a finger or stylus is more natural than using a mouse. What child does not just "know" how to finger paint? So, if you're designing a kitchen, drawing an org chart, designing a process flow or flowchart, these might just do the trick.
There are lite (free) versions of most but many users would need the full (paid) versions for serious work. Prices vary from $10 to $50 for these iPad apps (many are also available on Android). Here are some I’ve tried and believe might be useful. The (+) sign indicates my favorites.
- + TouchDraw
- + Graphio
- + Omnigraffle - $50, based on a great Mac program
- Popplet
- inFlowchart
- iDraw HD
- GraphPad
- AutoCad - free mobile version of the powerful and popular desktop app
I would recommend playing with several and based on your needs - flowcharts, floor plans, process diagrams, org charts, etc - choose one that seems to fit best. Just like their PC and Mac cousins, these are drawing apps where you can easily arrange, delete and modify elements as opposed to “paint” apps where objects cannot be easily modified.
Photography and photo editing
The major improvements in iPhone cameras and the addition of a camera to the iPad have caused explosive growth in photo (and video) related apps. The physical parts of small cameras - lens, sensor, etc. - play a small part in mobile device photography. The importance of apps in taking pictures and processing them later is illustrated by the nearly six thousand apps listed in the Photo and Video Category. Here are some definitely worth trying
- THIS FIRST GROUP IS FOR EDITING AND ARRANGING PHOTOS AFTER THEY ARE TAKEN
- ImageChef - you absolutely have to get this one! Snap a picture of a friend and email it with the photo on a billboard, TV screen or milk carton - and much, much more.
- Photo Delight - a wonderful and easy to use special effects app.
- MobileMonet - similar to PhotoDelight but more special effects.
- Alien Booth - kids will love to take and play with friends pictures.
- Photo Booth - similar to Apple's Photobooth program.
- PhotoSync - one of many apps to wirelessly transfer photos among iPad, iPhone, Mac and PC.
- iPhoto - mobile version of Apple's popular photo storage and editing software.
- PhotoStudioHD - special effects applied after a photo is taken are referred to as "filters". This app has a huge collection of easy to apply filters.
- Sketch Agent and My Sketch turn photos into sketches - great results.
- iPicture, Pic Stich, Pic Collage, iFrameShop, FrameMagic, ArcFrame, F.Maker.HD a great collection of photo framing and collage making apps. Often free with more frames available for $1.
- + Photogene, PS Express (Photoshop), Filterstorm, Snapseed very popular apps for adjusting brightness, contrast, cropping and a whole lot more, Just try one and it will probably work fine.
- THE FOLLOWING APPS ARE FOR TAKING PICTURES AND VIDEOS BUT SOME INCLUDE POST PROCESSING CAPABILITIES - FILTERS, ETC.
- Fast Camera one of many apps that allow rapid fire still photos - great for shooting active children - you know what I mean!
- DerManDar (DMD) takes 360 degree panoramic pictures - viewable by anyone if posted on the web - like Google Streetview images.
- ToonCamera - one of my favorites.
- CameraFun - variety of special effects.
- ameraC - More powerful special effects creator.
- Vintagio - upgraded version of my former favorite Film Director - makes wonderful old time movies - go ahead and spend the buck!
- TrueHDR - Great app for taking better photos with bright and dark areas - HDR is one of the latest advances in photography.
- iMovie - mobile version of Apple's popular movie making software.
- Avid Studio - similar to iMovie - Avid is another big name video developer.
- RELATED IMAGING AND VIDEO APPS
- AirBeam - Allows image from (for example) an iPhone to be transmitted to an iPad. I use it to project people onto a big screen during a lecture or meeting. The iPad is connected to the projector.
- xtranormal.com - this is a web site well worth visiting - it allows you to make those - sometimes hilarious - cartoons by merely typing in the script for the "actors".
- dpReview.com - very detailed digital photography equipment review site to compare cameras, lenses, etc.
OLD APP LIST TO BE UPDATED SOON
News and Weather
- Fluent News - aggregates news from a variety of sources
- SkyGrid - similar to Fluent News but more organized
- Dozens of other general, technical and political news sites
- Built-in weather app
- The Weather Channel
- ESPN - for all things sports
Travel
- The built-in Maps - for navigation and traffic displays
- Beat The Traffic - large screen version for the iPad
- GPS Drive - locating coffee shops, etc.
Voice Input
- Dragon Search - I use this for Google searches even when I'm at my computer
- Dragon Dictate - tiny keyboards be gone! it's time to talk
- Vlingo is the current alternative but I have not used it
Calendar, Contacts, Etc.
- The built in Calendar and Contact apps are integrated across platforms and the web
- Bento - this easy to use Filemaker lite database greatly improves on the standard contact app and integrates with it
- W&Y Pages - White and Yellow Pages
- MobileMe - a service that has apps for syncing contacts and calendars
- Bump - moves contact info, calendar dates and other information between Apple and Android devices - by bumping them together - you have to see it to believe it.
Presentation
- Keynote - a version of the Mac program
- Picture Frame - built in iPad photo display app
Reference
- World Atlas - National Geographic
- US Documents - text of 100 important documents from the Constitution to the Louisiana Purchase Treaty and the Gettysburg Address
- Dictionary.com
- MyConvert - thousands of conversation factors - just fun to try - did you know there were 12,152.23312 cubits in a league!
Entertainment
- Netflix - Watch movies on your iPad or stream them wirelessly to TV
- IMDb - movie database
- TV Guide
- YouTube
- Movie Vault - free movies
- Pandora - music
- Flip Clock - radio
- Several dedicated radio station apps
Stock Market
- Stocks - Built in iPhone app
- QFolio HD - A powerful iPad app
Apps for finding Apps - you'll need these!
- BestAppSite
- AppAdvice
Miscellaneous
- FlightAware - flight tracking
- Big Tipper - calculate tips and split restaurant bills
- World Clock - display clocks for numerous locations of your choice.
- TweetDeck and Twitter - for Tweeting
- Sketchbook Pro - drawing and painting
- Dropbox - file exchange
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