B Tech: Apps We Love

[As a design agency, we appreciate good design. At BAKER, there is a huge percentage of employees who have iPhones. The iPhone is an amazing gadget that is a total lesson in great design. Sure, there are a few old-schoolers and some Android users on Verizon that couldn’t wait. For the most part, however, we are an completely infatuated with our iPhone’s. We love them and their apps.]

I am addicted to beautiful apps

We’re talking iOS apps here. The iPhone (and iPod touch) with iOS have revolutionized the use of mobile devices as tiny computers. Computers you can take anywhere and use anytime. I love my iPhone. I have owned each iteration of the iPhone since day 1, and it is quite literally the best device I’ve ever possessed.

But it’s not just the hardware that makes it amazing. It’s iTunes and it’s the apps. Just like a car without gas or a coffee cup without coffee, having an iPhone without some great apps leaves you with just a phone that plays music.

For an app to be loved, at least by me, it has to start with a great user interface. I believe the UI must be designed well in order for the app to work well. The app icon is a great telltale as well. I can always tell when an app was built by a “coder” versus an app that was “designed” with care. Great user interface design can take a simple need, like the weather forecast, and making it rewarding and enjoyable.

Second, for an app to qualify as lovable is whether it can get me to use it more than once. My iTunes library is full of apps that I have launched once and never returned to. My favorite apps are like little buddies. You can rely on them when you need them, you find yourself wanting to spend time with them and they never let you down. OK, that souned a little creepy, but it’s really quite accurate.

Lastly, most free apps are lame. My 2¢. You get what you pay for. The “lite” versions are great for evaluating before you buy, and apps from major services like Twitter and great, but the fart, burp, cell tracker, fingerprint scanner and mood reader you just downloaded to your shiny new phone aren’t worth the time spent tapping on their icon.

My basic checklist for apps:

– Great UI (and icon) – Thoughtful and logical – It works – Inform, solve, entertain or assist–quickly and easily

Sure I could have listed Angry Birds, Yelp, Word with Freinds and the other “Top” apps. Sure those apps are very popular for their own reasons. But I have my reasons to love an app and it’s hard for me to narrow my list down to just a few. That being said, here is a rundown of some of my favorite, most-used iPhone apps, some you may have never heard of:

Where To? $2.99 Category: Navigation

Where To? is one of many apps that help you locate stores and services in your immediate area. This one, however, just happens to work and look the best of any I’ve tried. You can easily search for café‘s, restaurants or ATM’s with one tap. It even sorts by brand, for those of us who are always searching for the closest Caribou Coffee.

For searches you perform often, you can save it to your Favorites list. Best of all, not only can you can send your found destination to Google Maps for directions, but it integrates with the major GPS apps like TomTom or NAVIGON. They have also just added the amazing new “Augmented Reality” feature which let’s you browse in 3D. Your points of interest are displayed on top of reality. Oooh, ahhhh.

Outside $2.99 Category: Weather

Outside takes the simple idea of a weather forecast, and makes it stylish and useful at the same time. You can get a quick idea of the current weather, like looking through your kitchen window as well as the next 5 day forecase with just a swipe. 

It also supports custom push notifications for weather events like temperature, rain, snow, UV and even t-shirt weather. Have it set to wake you up each morning with the weather for the day… rain or shine, snow or blistering heat. This app makes even the crappiest weather a little more enjoyable.

Camera+ $0.99 Category: Photography

Camera+ picks up where the built-in Camera app leaves off. Again, there are a ton of after market camera apps out there, but this one is the cream of the crop. It has it’s own light box that let’s you store, edit and save your photos for easy manipulation. You can apply filters, crop, rotate, add borders and apply scenes with ease and with professional results. I love the tilt-shift effect you get by using the “Miniaturize” filter.

For shooting, there’s a stabilization feature, a timer and the ability to shoot a burst of frames in a row. Another favorite feature of mine is the ability to turn on the LED flash full-time for assistance with lighting your subject. When finished with your photo, you can save it to the Camera Roll or share it on Flickr, Facebook, Twitter or e-mail it to someone directly from inside the app.

Momento $0.99 Category: Lifestyle

Momento is a unique diary/journal writing application which provides a quick and easy way to record moments. Connect with popular web services, such as Twitter, Facebook, Flickr, Foursquare, Gowalla, YouTube, Vimeo, Digg and Last.fm, to collect and display your online activity as part of your diary. Whether you already have a journal, or like the idea but struggle to find the time, Momento can help make it quick, easy and rewarding. I love it because I have “man-brain” and I forget a lot of useful stuff. It helps me look back and remember stuff i’ve long forgotten.

What really makes Momento shine is its unique ability to import and archive your online activity from popular web services and display it as part of your diary. In minutes Momento can create a searchable record of historic information and media that you have shared online.

Screens $19.99 Category: Utilities

Screens is a remote control app for any computer. Not a remote like your TV, but complete control over the computer as if you were sitting in front of it. Yes, you see correctly, this app is $20. The abilty to view and control any of my computers from anywhere in the world is well worth the price. I’ve tried numerous remote desktop applications, and this one is far and away the best. Screens is a Universal app, so I can use it from my iPhone or iPad and the larger display on the iPad makes this a brilliant solution.

It’s got a gorgeous interface that operates flawlessly and intuitively. It also includes a free downoad for your Mac or PC to ease the setup process through firewalls and other network security systems. You have complete control over the remote computer. Full keyboard, mouse movements and special keystrokes, like Option, Shift, Command and Control shortcuts. 

So, for the cost of a couple trips back and forth to the office, I can control and configure my web server, mail server or office workstation in my pajama’s on any given frigid Sunday morning. I like wearing slippers instead of boots.

Astronut Free ($0.99 in-app purchase for the full game) Category: Games

You didn’t think I’d make a list like this without a little fun, did you? The iPhone is a great gaming platform. The success of games like Angry Birds and Doodle Jump are good examples.

My current favorite is Astronut. Oh, the hours I’ve wasted. It’s visually awesome, enhanced for iPhone 4’s retina display. It’s an easy-to-learn and tough-to-master game for iPhone and iPod touch from the amazing developers at the Iconfactory. You can play the first 4 levels for free, and upgrade the the full game for a buck. The full game has 24 levels spanning 6 sectors.

Your goal in the game is to get your little Astronut to jump from planet to planet, collecting star shards & earning bonuses. He is affected by gravity, and there a bunch of powerups to help you through each level. The game is quite addictive and it’s arcade style action is perfect for both beginner and advanced gamers. Visit the Astronut web site for downloadable goodies like wallpapers and icons. 

Well that’s my short list. Since I have over 150 apps on my iPhone, it really only scratches the surface of the apps I love. Maybe I’ll have another blog post about apps in the near future.

Feel free to let us know what you think by leaving a comment below and tell us what you’d like to see next!

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