apps | David Lee King

Which apps have I been using enough that I want them on my main iPhone screen? Here’s a rundown (right now, I have two more screens of apps that I don’t use nearly as much, but are pretty handy once in awhile … like a flashlight or the calculator app):

Messages – default text messaging app.
Calendar – self-explanatory, and used a lot!
Clock – I set lots of alarms to remind myself to do stuff (like picking up a child from dance practice). I also use the alarm clock feature when I’m traveling.
Camera – self-explanatory. Does video too.
Evernote – I use this for random note-taking, jotting down quick ideas, that type of thing. I also keep some lists here (ie., lists of books I want to read)
RTM (Remember the Milk) – It’s a to-do list that works well with the Getting Things Done method.
reQall – Very cool app that I just discovered. It’s replacing the Jott service I’ve been using, and doing a nice job of it, too. Basically, you can record a 30-second voice memo, and it turns it into text and emails that text to you. You can do a lot more with it … that’s for another post
Photography – These are all different cameras, photograph editors, or effects that I’ve been playing with:
- CameraBag – has some neat filters, like 1962 (looks like an old photo, Fisheye, etc.
- Darkroom Pro – alternate camera I was playing with, until …
- Camera+ – I discovered this one! They were kicked out of the iTunes app store for awhile – not sure if they’re back yet. But it’s a great camera app – better than the default one, plus it has some great filters built-in. The only reason I haven’t replaced it with the default app is video (as in, it takes none).
- CameraPlus – not sure why I still have this here … must play with it again, then probably delete.
- PS Express – as in Adobe Photoshop Express. Great little app with some handy editing features.
- Flickr – a flickr browser.
- TiltShiftGen – makes those funky tiltshift “miniature” style photos. It’s fun!
- Photos – default iPhone photo browser.
- Qik Video Pro – this one’s been a disappointment. I bought it because it has some fun video filters (like black & white, frost, etc.). But guess what? It doesn’t do the 16X9 HD video that my iPhone 4 can do (even though the iTunes app store description says “works with iPhone 4!”). So that’s no fun! Otherwise … the app posts live video to Qik, and sends to other places like Twitter, Facebook, or YouTube.
Bibles – a couple different Bibles I use:
- AcroBible – the NIV version. A classic.
- Bible (YouVersion) – I use the Bible part of this app, primarily … but it’s really more of a social network with a Bible in it. You can friend people, see any notes they create, set up virtual Bible studies, hook your calendar up with a variety of Bible reading plans, etc. The app comes from lifechurch.tv – a church that makes apps and social networks!
TWC – as in The Weather Channel. Hey – I live in Tornado Alley!
Wikipanion – a Wikipedia app. I bet I use this app almost every day…
Reeder – a Google Reader app. Also used almost every day.
Location Stuff – I’ve been experimenting with location-based services, so…
- Foursquare – you can be the mayor…
- Gowalla – another cool tool.
- Brightkite – a third service I play with.
- Loopt – the first location-based service on the iPhone.
- check.in – web-based app that lets you checkin to multiple places at once. Right now, I have it hooked into Foursquare, Gowalla, and Brightkite. It’s very beta, so doesn’t always work.
- Mayorama – lets you see how many checkins you need to be mayor (Foursquare only). Sorta fun playing with this… 31 more checkins until I’m mayor of Lake Shawnee!
- Whrrl – another location service.
Shazam – cool music service. If I hear a song, I can hold it up, press “Tag Now” and find out who it is, and most of the time, it works great. Unfortunately, I’m often listening to weird college radio or a christian station … neither of which are mainstream. So I sometimes get an “unrecognized” out of it.
Facebook – self explanatory.
Twitter – self explanatory.
And of course, my phone/mail/safari/ipod apps that show on every page.

So, that’s what I’m using. What do you have on YOUR smartphone’s main app page? What can’t you live without?

My library has a Facebook Page, and I’ve been experimenting with it lately. I have loosely broken down what I’ve done into three sections – Basic Info, Facebook Functionality, and Social Stuff:

Basic Info:

photo of the library
basic library info, like our address, phone number, and hours of operation
shared our website’s URL

Facebook Functionality:

YouTube app – showing some recent YouTube videos
a couple fan photos of books
Facebook fans – 192 of em so far

Social Stuff:

RSS feeds – sending my website’s main RSS feed to the Facebook page via Simply RSS (doesn’t appear to be working today – drat)
Favorited other Topeka-area Facebook pages (local sports team, the performing arts center, a local church, etc.)
I make sure to thank people when they write something on our wall
I sent one “Update to Fans” broadcast message – no direct responses, but more people favorited us after the message went out
Started one discussion board topic – “What would you like to see here?” (no one has commented on it yet 🙂

I also asked my twitter friends for input – what were they doing with Facebook Pages, and what other innovative library Facebook Pages have they found. Here’s what they said:

bmljenny – we use the “Blog RSS Feed Reader” app to post our blog feed on our page. Seems to sync OK.
sharon370 – I like Purchase College Library’s space on fb – Bookshare, Events, RSS feed from lib blog, OCLC app
fabi_k – i like the fb page of the UoM graduate library: http://tinyurl.com/6bw87u – esp. the “ask us” and catalog search feature
debrouillard – student program and event advertising mostly
amylibrarian – I use facebook to promote the CiteMe application.
shelitwits – found it! do you send out event notices or just use the feed to include events? i think sending FB updates to fans helps a bit

Another person said this, via a Facebook message: “One thing I would like to see happen here, is spreading out control of the page. I wish we had someone from each department who would post events and contribute to updating fans. Like, if reference has a new database, they can send out a notice that way … or if reader’s service has a cool new recommendation they can do the same. I would like to see that happen w/ our Myspace page as well. We have WAY more friends on Myspace than FB. We have a bunch of feeds sent to FB, but that only works if our fans are coming to our page.”

Things I still need to add: