App Review: Pdf+
One of the appealing aspects of the iPhone is having a device in your pocket that can open various types of documents. Whether it’s to check a spreadsheet emailed from the office or to read a PDF file downloaded from the Web, there are numerous times when you’ll want to open a document without carrying a laptop around with you.
This functionality is available on the iPhone ‘out of the box’ so any app whose sole function is to work with PDF files (especially one that charges for the privilege), really needs to offer something special. So how does Pdf+ from mBrain Software shape up?
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App Review: Readello
[A big hello to Gideon, our third new reviewer. Matt]
How do you review an RSS reader? In theory a good reader should not really be noticeable as it is merely a conduit to the information you want to read, and therefore – using my line of reasoning – anything that detracts from you getting to your information can be classed as a negative. You may not agree with my logic, but hopefully, as I give you good and bad points to Readello, you will understand my line of thought.
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All your third party applications broken after iTunes 8.1? Me too. Here’s the fix.
I got a shock today when starting up applications on my iPod Touch. Nearly every third party application was broken. Each quit back to the launcher after a second or so. After a few minutes panic and the usual restarts and soft resets (none of which worked), the penny dropped. I’d upgraded to iTunes 8.1 yesterday and the application problem was only since my sync. In other words, something in the new iTunes had blatted all over my applications.
In my year of owning an iPod Touch, this was my first real showstopping problem. But what to do? I’d be very surprised if this was a Touch problem – I’m guessing this is equally applicable to the iPhone as well. Half an hour’s Googling and I came across a reference to a similar problem encountered on a previous iTunes update by some users. I decided to try their solution – and also to try the iTunes/iPod backup system for real.
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App Review: RSS Player
I was a latecomer to the delights of the iPod. I had several other MP3 players before and was therefore familiar with the benefits of carrying my CD collection around with me. But when I finally got my iPod Touch and started using iTunes, a whole new world opened up to me – podcasts.
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App Review: GeoTweeter & Voilà
[Please welcome Jane Sales as a new reviewer. Jane previously wrote Symbian OS Internals, and is currently working on something location-specific for the iPhone.]
Twitter is becoming a platform, and GeoTweeter is the latest proof of that. It’s the new iPhone app from Schmap, the creators of the iPhone-friendly interactive travel guides and the Schmap.me location sharing service, and it’s a free download from the App Store.
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New review tweak for the App Store
We’re not really a breaking news site, but here’s a quick blast of relevant news – especially as we’re doing a few more reviews on All About iPhone these days.
Apple have released a new tweak to the review system on the App Store – reviews are now more pertinent to the current version, and receive two ratings – current and all versions (click image for bigger).
Hopefully there will be more tweaks like this to improve the App Store experience, as Apple works through the growing pains of managing a store with (at last count) 27,000 applications on it.
Head over to AppleInsider for more: http://bit.ly/f9L0y
Thanks to Andy for the tip.
Sync problems with single-name contacts
Well if Steve can have a rant then so can I! Is anyone else having a problem with single name contacts syncing to their iPhone?
The problem is simple: I have a contact on my iPhone, e.g. “Mum”, which is filled in as the First Name in Contacts. The Last Name is blank. That’s the way I want it.
The contact is also set up *exactly* the same way within Address Book. I sync with my Mac a few times, and everything seems fine. Then all of a sudden, on some random sync, the name will change from “Mum” to “Mum Radford”. Maddening!
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App Review: AppSniper
[Andy’s the first of our new reviewers – so welcome to him, and I hope you enjoy his review! – Matt]
The success of the App Store has been one of the key factors in the continued success of the iPhone (and iPod Touch), allowing developers to fill holes in the functionality of the device and widen its appeal to more users than the base functionality alone might attract. Giving the platform a way to regularly refresh itself also helps keep the device from gathering dust on a shelf somewhere once the initial thrill of a shiny new gadget has worn off.
But the success of the App Store has led to problems of its own. With dozens (often a hundred or more) new apps appearing daily, keeping track has gone beyond the realm of the casual user. The onboard App Store application itself no longer gives the user an easy way to keep track of all the new applications. Also, with increasing competition among the developers, one or two day sales mean there are often bargains to be had but how are users meant to know?
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Carnival of the Mobilists 164
This week’s Carnival of the Mobilists is yet again chock full of excellent writing, plus another contribution from All About iPhone. There are stats galore, especially relating to mobile data usage from Tomi Ahohen and Chetan Sharma.
But the post of the week, and also my favourite read, was from Andrew Grill of London Calling. He reports on his “Eureka moment” with Twitter + mobile + search. There is a lot going on in the mobile location services space at the moment. We’ll also have article up on that topic soon, from someone working on an iPhone location app.
Read the Carnival at Ubiquitous Thoughts.
The App Store update system is broken, I tell you…
Up until about a month ago, I’d been very impressed by the way the App Store app (if you see what I mean) kept me up to speed with updates to my installed applications. However, I’m now as wary of App Store’s claimed updates as I would be of a cornered lion…
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