Craigster

Posts Tagged ‘Utilities’

Craigster

Chrisa | Feb 14, 2009 Utilities

User rating:

(6 votes, average: 4.33 out of 5)

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I LOVE Craigslist. I started using Craigslist back in 2000 while I was one of those dot-commers in San Francisco. Really, I was! I still peruse Craigslist for collectibles, pets, announcements, stuff I’m looking for, etc, almost every day. And no, I don’t use the personals, get your mind out of the gutter. Ok – I read them sometimes, for fun.

I love this application from Visceral labs as much as I love Craigslist. It’s truly Craigslist for the iPhone. You can do everything – search any Craigslist city, browse all the categories, search the entire list or just a category, post a listing, and even email a listing to a friend. You can save favorite searches so you don’t have to re-enter them every time. If there’s an address on the listing, you can open a Google Map of it, right from the app. The only thing that you bored psychos with too much free time on your hand can’t do with this app is flag entries for removal. And that’s NOT a criticism. I’d be happy to see that go away from the actual Craigslist.

Now, it wouldn’t be one of my reviews without at least a little criticism. So here it goes. I confused the hell out of myself when I first downloaded Craigster, because the icon name and the name on the splash screen says “CraigsPal”. Maybe it was the martinis talking, but it took me a day and a half to figure out if I’d installed the right app or not. Craigster is only $0.99, and if you’re a Craigslist regular, it’s a must have.

: It's not the martinis, is it.

: All your Craigslist categories, right there.

: Click on any listing to expand it and see the images.

Tags: $0.99, Utilities

Q&F: RepairPal

Chrisa | Feb 12, 2009 Quick & Free, Utilities

User rating:

(8 votes, average: 3.75 out of 5)

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(Ahem)…before I begin this review, allow me to shamelessly plug MY website www.sceneexchange.com. Go take a look at it, I’ll wait.

So now you know why I chose to review RepairPal, a nice little, totally free application that will not only give you a ballpark range on what your auto repair will cost, based on what’s wrong, but show you a list of shops in close proximity that can do the repair. It will even find you the closest tow truck or dealership if you’re broke down on the side of the road somewhere.

This, my friends, is what the iPhone application is meant to be – useful in a jam, totally free, and pretty darn comprehensive. If I could improve upon it, I’d have it refer you to www.sceneexchange.com for collision repair(shameless plug #2), and I’d have it give possible diagnoses for car trouble based on symptoms, but other than that, I’d swear this app was made by AAA.

Can't get any easier than that.

Tags: quick and free, Utilities

VoiceBox Dialer

Swain Valasek | Feb 5, 2009 Utilities

User rating:

(9 votes, average: 3.89 out of 5)

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Voice dialers for the iPhone are not in short supply; puh-lenty to choose from. So in this review I’ll try to find what VoiceBox Dialer from VoiceBox Technologies Inc has up its sleeve in its attempt to stand out from the crowd.

It’s important to rattle off some standard caveats so take your coat off and stay awhile. First, be aware that ALL app’s in this category are somewhat crippled and not by any fault of the dev’s. Due to the terms Apple set forth and enforces in the SDK, no app can fully integrate all the actual ‘phone’ features such as call lists, favorites and contacts. Another limitation is none can offer hands-free dialing (bluetooth headsets work after the call is underway but can’t initiate). So the best you can expect is to first enter your password (everyone should password their iPhone /end soapbox), touch the app icon, wait for it to load, hold an onscreen button, speak your command, wait for it to parse and then dial (there’s at least one app out there that goes right to ‘listen mode’ so you save the step of holding an onscreen button). On a side note, my advice to anyone is forget about using this type of app while driving unless you’re just begging for an accident. Also notable is background noise can cause parsing failures but again this is the same for all apps in this category.

Whew. All of that said, there definitely ARE plenty of situations where these apps can be fun and useful and the dev’s truly have done the best they can given the strict limitations. So without further adieu we have VoiceBox Dialer (VBD from here on out). This app actually records your spoken command and sends it off to a remote server for processing. Assuming you’re ok with this (their website states they do *nothing* else with this data), be aware that without an Internet connection this app isn’t going to function. If, like many others, you routinely keep 3G disabled to save battery you will find that 2G is so slow that the connection attempt can actually time out. Even if you always keep 3G on, we all know how possible it is to be pushed back to 2G at any time based on the whims of the 3G coverage gods. Personally I don’t think this ‘offloading’ is a very good decision for this kind of app but regardless of what I think let’s cover what you get for the effort.

All such apps let you give simple commands like ‘call mary at home’ or ‘call john mobile’. VBD ups this ante with more natural language support so you can say things like ‘get me billy at work’ or ‘dial 867-5309′ or even ’what about kristin on her cell phone’ and quite a few other combinations. This is the most valuable extra that’s directly related to the increased processing power of an external server and it’s pretty cool. Int’l dial is supported as long as the contact entry has all the right prefix info. Fairly standard options such as vibrate, autodial delay and sound prompts can be configured inside the app. VBD also takes an Iron Giant-sized stride toward convincing you to permanently replace the default phone app by presenting your entire contact list and a direct dial keypad from within the app. As noted, no app can pull your current call lists or favorites but VBD does its best by giving you its own so if you decide to commit to the app you’d eventually have the functional equivalent of each.

In the end, VoiceBox Dialer is extremely high on features, probably as close to a default phone app replacement as you can get within SDK limitations. However, I personally can’t quite get behind the feature of sending your voice commands to a remote server. Not because I fear for my privacy but because of the very real possibility that your data connection or a VoiceBox server could be down or slow, any of which resulting in delays you would never experience with the default phone app. VoiceBox Dialer is as free as a jaybird so in the end, due to the wealth of great features, I absolutely recommend you grab it, spend some time with it and see if it suits you personally as it is in fact a superb app (especially for those of you who like to keep 3G enabled and/or spend a lot of time on WiFi). Lastly, if you want to do a little head to head comparison of VBD with another app in this category that doesn’t parse commands offsite, try Melodis Dialer which is also free.

Version reviewed – 1.1.0

: Certainly an attractive UI, no complaints here

: All the configurable settings

: A manual dial pad, slick

: Access all your contacts w/o leaving the app? You bet

: Like the default phone app, your call history is logged and you can choose favorites

: As usual, 2G = the l0se, best to stay on 3G or Wifi for this app

Tags: free, Swain Valasek, Utilities, voice dialer, voicebox dialer

iAmbigram Lite

Chrisa | Jan 30, 2009 Entertainment, Utilities, Wallpapers

User rating:

(3 votes, average: 4.33 out of 5)

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Ambigram. Noun. A design that may be read as the same word or phrase – or sometimes as two different words or phrases – oriented in two different ways. That is, more or less, the definition of an ambigram, according to Webster’s Dictionary.

I like ambigrams, always have. I have an ambigram as a tattoo. So when I found iAmbigram Lite, I was pretty happy to give it a spin, pun intended. It’s an inexpensive little application, and, I am told, a lighter version of a full iAmbigram to come. The lite version lacks the ability to upload the ambigram you create and purchase it on clothing or other items. And I can live without that.

It works pretty easily – enter two words, and it will create an ambigram of them. If you want just one word that rotates on itself, enter the same word on both lines. They app then uploads to the “ambigram server,” or so it says, and returns your ambigram for you to rotate and spin over and over and over. If you don’t know what words to use, there are suggestions in several categories, like opposites, family, etc. Once you create your ambigram, you can try spinning it and inverting it to see how it looks. When you’re happy, click “accept” and see your ambigram on one of three different backgrounds. The “i’nformation icon in the upper corner brings up a menu that lets you save your ambigram in the photo gallery, change the background, or start over.

But – there’s a catch. iAmbigram Lite only allows you to create two ambigrams for your $0.99. That’s all. So if you’re someone like me, you’ll have used up the app after about three minutes of playing around with it. A suggestion for the developer – make it free while it has its limitations, then charge for it when it’s the full version. Hook ‘em, THEN charge ‘em, man, like heroin.

So, iAmbigram Lite was fun, but short-lived fun. I’d suggest you save your dollar and wait for the full version.

: Easy to read directions.

: Suggestions, if you don't know what to ambi.

: Turn your monitor over - you'll see love turn into pain.

: What I can do with my ambigram.

: WTF?

Tags: $0.99, Entertainment, Utilities, Wallpapers

Peeps

Chrisa | Jan 29, 2009 Utilities

User rating:

(1 votes, average: 5.00 out of 5)

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I’m not all that down with the hip lingo the kids are using today, so when I first saw the name of this application, I had no freakin’ idea what it was for. Hey - not to get too off topic, but - why do I always point out how old I am? I mean, I’m really NOT that old. It’s not like I can collect social security or anything. Sure my hair is getting a bit gray and I have to wear underwire now, but BoyScouts don’t help me cross the street or anything.

But I digress.

Peeps, it turns out, is a little app to help you keep track of all your contacts. “But Chrisa,” you say, “there is already a contact manager in iPhone. Why would I need to buy Peeps?” Good question, fair reader! It turns out, if you’re under 25 or so, and your iPhone is full of contacts that you met at the mall, in class, online, and you take pictures of them all, then Peeps from Plausible Labs is for you. If you have the name of your shrink, your boss, and the gals in the carpool instead, you probably don’t need it.

The application is fine – it takes your contacts and puts them all into a nice list with the pictures visible. If you view it vertically, it’s a table. If you turn your iPhone and view it horizontally, it’s a flip list, like the iTunes album covers flip list. Nice if you can’t remember the name of your Facebook booty call from last night, but not so great if you have 468 business contacts, none with pictures, like I do. When I use peeps, I pretty much get a flip list of a zillion little owls, and that’s not really all that helpful.

The application also has a group manager feature, so if you want to put the girls you’ve already “tapped” (my teenager tells me this is a legitimate verb) in one list, and girls you haven’t in another, you can. It’s definitely an app with an audience, but for someone like me, it’s not worth the $1.99.

: Names and faces have been changed to protect my contacts. The whole name does show, usually.

: Yeah - boring, unless you snap a pic of all your contacts. This is my address book.

: Horizontal "flip" mode. Again, I blanked out the name and the face a bit to protect, well, my boss, actually.

Tags: $1.99, Utilities

Q&F: Boombox

Chrisa | Jan 22, 2009 Music, Quick & Free, Utilities

User rating:

(7 votes, average: 4.29 out of 5)

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If you’re an old fart like I am, you remember those days in the 70′s, when guys with big hair carried around enormous boom boxes on their shoulders blasting Kool & The Gang loud enough to deafen a small child six blocks away. Well, Gorloch Interactive has done a pretty slammin’ job of taking the feeling of the boom box and squishing it into a nice little application that streams pretty much any song you could ever ask for from blip.fm.

Now, I have what I like to call eclectic taste in music. So imagine how thrilled I was to find both the latest from Red Jumpsuit Apparatus as well as that Glen Campbell classic “Witchita Lineman” both available! Not only is the music library vast, but the user can select songs found and create their own playlist. If you like the song well enough to want it around all the time, a handly little “$” button will take you to the iTunes store to purchase the song.

There are a few little irriatations that didn’t really take away from my fondness of Boombox. First, you have to be connected to WiFi for it to work, even if you’re a 3G iPhone user. Ok, I get that one, and I can let that slide. There’s also no way to move to the next song, or back to the last, but the developer says that’s in version 1.1, soon to be available.

Besides that, I’d say Boombox is exactly what I look for in a free application (did I mention, it’s FREE?) – it’s useful as well as entertaining.

I just love the little equalizer.

Tags: internet radio, Music, Quick & Free, Utilities

Remind Me

Lee | Jan 7, 2009 Utilities

User rating:

(8 votes, average: 2.75 out of 5)

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“Out of sight, out of mind.” We’ve all heard that saying before. Smudge Apps helps us keep focused with Remind Me. It’s a tool you can use to remind yourself of, well, whatever’s top of mind for you. The developer lists things like, shopping list, to-dos, notes to self… the usual suspects. I’m an organization freak so I “got” the idea of this app right away.

When you open the app the splash screen is the first thing you see. To me, it seems to linger about one second too long. My natural inclination was to start looking for something to press to get things moving. Eventually it slides away and leaves you with a set of index cards on an attractive star-filled background. From there you can fill the cards with your reminder of choice by touching the “Edit” button.

Once you’ve put in your reminder, you have options to right-, left-, or center-justify your text. Nice. Then you choose your note style and wallpaper. Choosing is as easy as flicking right or left on either the note or the wallpaper. If you are the adventurous type, then you can select “Random” to have both the note style and wallpaper fall where the dice roll. All-in-all, Smudge Applications has given six different backgrounds and eight different note styles. Good variety.

Once you have chosen your look, you then press “Save to Wallpaper.” A pop-up note informs you to open the settings app and tap on wallpaper to choose your new home screen wallpaper… your newly minted reminder. The operation of this app could not be any easier. It’s straightforward. Easy-as-pie.

I like the idea of this app but I think it’s major shortcoming is the fact that you have too many steps if you are frequently changing the reminders, say daily or many times a day. That can get old. Ultimately, I found a good use for my iPhone: a customized positive affirmation reminder! Every time I open my iPhone, I’m reminded of something positive to motivate me through the day.