The title speaks for itself... which are you favourite iPhone apps? I'm just getting into downloading apps but there's a mind-boggling choice so I'd be interested to see which ones other people like

The tube route planner is fantastic!

I'm new to this too... but because I just have an itouch, not the phone, and haven't managed to work out why my router won't let me use it to connect to the internet ( ) I'm using non-web based apps.

So far my absolute favourite is 'Things' because I use it as a 'to-do' list every day. It's really helped me organise myself.

I also love the 'notes' which came with it and I use it a lot. Oh, and I also downloaded an excellent 'contacts' app (address book)

For distraction I downloaded the book 'Benjamin Button' because I've been travelling a lot recently and I have really enjoyed it.

For pure escapism I also downloaded 'Flash Gordon' comic

I have never played computer games in my life but I downloaded this little game with furry balls that you ping about (can't remember the name) which is quite challenging for my brain!!! I like the fact it's a puzzle more than a mindless game. I also tried 'Donkey' but once you've done it once it's pointless so I've deleted it.



I'm looking for more suggestions too...

Things is fab - I have it both on my computer and on my iPhone and love the way it organises my to do's by place so I can do all my errands together and all my phone calls etc. Plus the interface is really friendly.

I also use Bento, which is excellent. I have a tuner on there for tuning up the fiddle in loud sessions (only for the A) but it also does solfa and other stuff which is fun and - surprisingly - is every bit as accurate as my korg electronic tuner.

I also have the Irish trad tunebook which allows me to stock ABC files of thousands of tunes - very useful in a session if I can't remember the beginning of a tune and need to just remember the first two bars.

I like oblique strategies too - useful when you want a new way to view a knotty problem.

There's just so many - I could make a huge list !

I've been toying with buying an iPhone but I can't force myself to let go of my battered old phone because the battery in it lasts for about 3 days!

Everyone at work with iPhones seems to be forever charging them up, and I think that would drive me insane!

I get two days out of mine, Solari.

I think it depends on usage, though, and do you have the newer 3G S or whatever it's called? I think the reason my workmates get such poor battery life is that they use the internet access capabilities while commuting to work. That's 2 hours use straight off the bat. Making quite a lot of calls (necessary for work) won't help either..

Absolutely everyone I know that has the latest iPhone says that the battery life is something rhyming with twit.

Are they not quite big and heavy too? My itouch is very slim but OH says not to get the phone because it's so heavy.

Most smartphones have pretty poor battery power.

I normally plug my iPhone into my work computer to top it up throughout the day. Though even without that it will last all day with 3G, Wifi, GPS and location services all active. Since I don't sleep with it (the only time it's not with me), I can charge it up overnight.

It certainly has longer battery life than my laptop and doesn't require so large a pocket.


Peterson Strobe Tuner.

I find it shocking that, despite all the new innovations and bells & whistles on the new phones, no one seems to have sat down and thought how they would actually power the things for any decent length of time. A few years ago, it was pretty much the norm to have a phone that would last days without recharging, and it's not as if battery technology has stood still.

How do you manage with an smartphone if you want to go away camping or fishing for the weekend, for example?

Yes I too usually hook mine up to my laptop USB whilst working either at home or at the office. It only tends to run down if I get on the forums too much in the evening when I'm just in the lounge. It's supplied by my company but I have free personal use.
I dont find the weight a problem either.

But they ("ordinary" phones) have hardly anything running to draw power.

Well I can switch off 3G, Wi-fi, Location Services, Push Services and GPS. So I'm left with a mobile phone.
I can charge up the piggy back charger at home before going away. I can buy a solar charger if absolutely necessary. Or I could leave it switched off all together because I'm away camping or fishing and only use it if I really need to.

That was the point I was trying to cover when I said that battery technology has hardly stood still.

It was always a given that colour screens, GPS, Bluetooth, Wifi would draw a lot more power. I'm just a bit perpexed as to how a day or less of average usage on a lot of these phones was deemed to be fine? Maybe I'm just difficult to please!

Maybe a few software tweaks for power-saving might help in the near-term.

OH NO. I had a bit much to drink last night and went to bed with my iPhone switched on. This morning the battery was down to 57%.

This topic started well but then went off topic with battery life and weight issues!

Back to the iphone apps that I like.

Ragdoll Blaster.

You can even get on a national or international leader board! My record is 221 The leader is around 140!!!!

Regards, Peter.

I've discovered some music trainer apps which are quite handy.

iNote Trainer by pokmis - you can pick the treble or bass clef, or both, and you can choose to answer with note names, keyboard, or what I think is sol-fa although check with me on that if you're interested. You can do it against the clock or not, and there are different levels.

Key Signature Quiz by Jason Neufeld - you can choose Major, Minor or Both; Sharps, Flats or Both; and you can do it against the clock or not. What you can't choose which is a bit of a drawback, is how many sharps/flats to include. So it includes up to 7 sharps/flats which could be a bit much for beginners. Although I guess you could just ignore these and only try to answer the keys which are within your current range.

There are also several similar apps by Bidbox. I got a couple of these before I found the others and I don't think they're as good.


I also downloaded something called Player Piano which I think is rubbish - how do I get rid of an app?

Press and hold the app. and it will vibrate and an 'x' will appear which you can press to remove.

Regards, Peter.

Oh alright then:

Flight Control. Apparently some people have managed to land thousands of planes. I can't get past handful.

Folders, iDisk, Facebook, Ebay, FStream (internet radio), Rightmove (because it's nicely written not because I'm looking for a new house), WritePad (it's clever but I don't actually use it), PortaPotta (Avante!).

On the other hand apps that should be good but just aren't include Shazam and Urbanspoon.

Thank you - duly done!

And if you didn't already know, whilst they are vibrating you can drag them around to re-order them.

No Problemo, glad to help.

Regards, Peter.

Thanks for that - I didn't know at first why they were randomly vibrating so I asked on here and I think it was TSax who enlightened me

You can even start a new page, I have 4 desktop style pages, I don't know how many it will allow, Just drag the application to the edge and keep going.

Regards, Peter.

Thanks - I've now got 3 pages, with all my apps neatly on one page

Also iTunes (at least on a mac) allows you to manage your apps then synchronise the settings with the iPhone.
Here's a useful webpage http://www.apple.com/uk/iphone/how-to/#basics.introduction
and a user manual http://support.apple.com/en_US/manuals/#iphone

Brilliant - thank you!

The bubble wrap... it's not as therapeutic as real bubble wrap, but it's relaxing all the same. I don't have an iPhone though, I was using my friend's.

I remember when during an economics lesson one person had their itouch and our teacher got hooked. It wasted an entire single period!

This is a really helpful thread!!! That's great info about the vibrating apps.


How do I find the Bubble-wrap one??? I WANT that one!!!

Search for bubblewrap in App Store.

ahhhhhh *looking*

Well, I suppose if you're going to use it all day - then like any battery operated item it won't last for ever - often people have a phone, and an MP3 player and a computer - each of which has a certain battery life - if you combine them into one object, then you cut the batter life by three I suppose. However I get two days out of mine even using the internet, mail, phone and ipod quite a lot.

Mind you, I leave the localisation and wifi things turned off unless I need them - that helps a bit.

Wouldn't have been me. I have a work supplied Blackberry that isn't data enabled (a raspberry). I use it to make calls and send texts and that's about it.

As for iPhone Apps the one that I covet is the Real Book. Nicely laid out chord symbols for jazz standards, and you can transpose them into any key at the touch of a button. My teacher uses this when he's playing piano for me and we're doing a "how many keys can you play this in" exercise. I have to transpose in my head.

Ah, yes, it was nova - sorry, both of you

Is that all it really does?? Just one page with some random bubbles? No other levels etc? I'm bored of it already