Today, I am going to let out my secret weapon. Well, it’s not such a secret. In fact, there are more than 1 such app but this is what I have stuck to recent days.

PandoraBox is an iPhone app that tracks iPhone apps on sale.

With more than 100,000 apps in the App Store and everyday dozens of these apps either go on sale by 20, 30, 70, 80 percent on sale or even sometimes goes FREE for a limited time.

A smart iPhoner would make use of such sales and grab the iPhone apps on a nice deal.

An app like Pandora Box makes that such an easy task. You can see the apps that are on sale that are updated several times a day. You can see the description of apps that are on sale or free.

You can also create your own list of favorite apps and track apps you want to find on sale.

There are a few sneaky developers who keep throwing their app on sale and removing it flooding these lists. PandoraBox has an answer to that. You can block certyain authors you don’t care about seeing in the list.

With the Thanksgiving holidays coming up in the US, there is going to be a ton of sales with some nice apps.

Will you be ready?

I have another similar iPhone app deal finding app review coming up. Stay tuned.

Sreenshots

Rating: 4 out of 5 stars

Availability: App Store [iTunes link]

Price: Free

PandoraBox – Find iPhone Apps on Sale - Originally published in Top iPhone Resource on 2011/10/05 (RSS)

© karthik for Top iPhone Resource, 2011. | Permalink | One comment | Find us on Twitter - @TopiPhone and on Follow TiR in Facebook.

But, there wasn’t a way for us to display the geotagged data on self-hosted WordPress sites.

Until now.

Folks at Automattic have released a WordPress plugin – Geolocation for self-hosted WordPress powered websites.

Once you install the WordPress Plugin in your site, a link appears inside your post with a short description of the location where the post was tagged.

When a user hovers over a link, an interactive map appears showing the location as a pin on the map.

This could be an amazing feature for bloggers and websites that can benefit from geotagging their posts. For eg. a travel blog can review different places with Geotagging certain locations. A Foodie blog reviewing restaurants can geotag the eatery locations, etc.

What if you forgot to geotag a place when you posted? No worries. In the Edit Post page, you can still add geo information using the GeoLocation panel. Just add the address and hit load. So you can even go back to your older posts and start geotagging them as well.

Now, get out and blog more with your iPhone with the location information intact and easy to share with your readers.

Geolocation Plugin for WordPress Available Now - Originally published in Top iPhone Resource on 2011/08/04 (RSS)

© karthik for Top iPhone Resource, 2011. | Permalink | One comment | Find us on Twitter - @TopiPhone and on Follow TiR in Facebook.

iWork is the suite of productivity apps announced with the iPad launch and were available in the App Store.

iWork has consistently done well since it’s release and in fact have stayed in the top paid iPad apps section since their release.

Here are the updates

Pages  ($9.99)

- Support for French, German, Japanese, Dutch, Italian, Russian, Simplified Chinese, and Spanish
- Toolbar and ruler are now available in wide-screen landscape view
- Documents automatically fit to page width in landscape view
- Enhanced Back/Front slider in the Arrange panel

This update also:

- Improves reliability when exporting Microsoft Word documents
- Addresses issues with exporting documents previously imported from Microsoft Word
- Fixes an issue with text wrapping in Microsoft Word after exporting a document with a frame around an image
- Addresses a chart font size issue when exporting documents previously imported from Microsoft Word
- Resolves an issue with scrolling after inserting and playing a movie

Numbers ($9.99)

- Improves reliability when importing Numbers ’09 spreadsheets
- Addresses a chart font size issue when exporting spreadsheets previously imported from Microsoft Excel
- Fixes an issue when formatting a table pasted from Keynote or Pages
- Addresses an issue where formulas did not properly update when dragging and dropping cells
- Fixes an issue with applying a new style to a table in a template after an Undo

Keynote ($9.99)

- Improves reliability when importing Numbers ’09 spreadsheets
- Addresses a chart font size issue when exporting spreadsheets previously imported from Microsoft Excel
- Fixes an issue when formatting a table pasted from Keynote or Pages
- Addresses an issue where formulas did not properly update when dragging and dropping cells
- Fixes an issue with applying a new style to a table in a template after an Undo

There are really significant reliability fixes that will add stability to these productivity apps. So, if you have already bought them, make sure you update them right away.

If you are considering buying the iWorks apps, this seems to be a good time to jump in with the apps becoming more reliable.

iWork iPad Apps Gets Updated - Originally published in Top iPhone Resource on 2011/07/15 (RSS)

© Karthik for Top iPhone Resource, 2011. | Permalink | Be the first to comment | Find us on Twitter - @TopiPhone and on Follow TiR in Facebook.

This little app from Nuance – who also makes desktop speech recognition software is functional and useful. But this app was very limited in what it could do.

Remember the app Siri which Apple bought? The app that can take your voice inputs to do a search on just about anything?

Nuance has now released a free app called Dragon Go! which is more like Siri and leaves the Dragon Search app in the dust.

Dragon Go! can process your voice commands in a multitude of ways. You can use it launch Pandora and play a song, you can lookup news information, find what people are saying about a movie on twitter, go to wikipedia for information, etc.

By default, Dragon Go! uses Google but you can switch to Bing or Yahoo. The results are organized by sources in the form of tabs at the top. You can swipe left or right and change the results.

You can even easily share the results by email, text message, Facebook or Twitter.

With an app like Dragon Go!, the way you use it is only limited by your iimaginetion. I now have Dragon go! front and center in my iPhone dock.

Dragon Go! is a free app available on the iPhone only at the moment. But, an iPad and Android app are in the making.

Now, if you will excuse me I have to go talk to my ‘little dragon’ iPhone 4.

Availability:

Rating: 4.5 out of 5 stars

Price: Free

Reviewed at version: 1.0.0

Developed by: Nuance

Dragon Go! is What Apple Should Build Into iOS - Originally published in Top iPhone Resource on 2011/07/14 (RSS)

© karthik for Top iPhone Resource, 2011. | Permalink | Be the first to comment | Find us on Twitter - @TopiPhone and on Follow TiR in Facebook.

Until I came across Reeder – a new Google Reader sync iPhone app and have been happily using it since.

Now, when Byline 2.0 was approved in the App Store, the list of updates to the app caught my attention. I contacted the app developer was given a review copy and here are my impressions on the app.

Byline 3.0  Features

You can read the full list of features offered by this excellent feed reader iPhone app at iTunes. I don’t want to repeat all that information. Instead, I will try to go over some of the features that make this a useful and places where it could use a little improvement.

Features

• 2-way Google Reader sync – feeds, folders, starred items and notes
• Integration with Twitter, Instapaper and Read it later
• Offline browsing
• Automatic caching
• Built-in web browser
• Landscape mode

Now, I will try to highlight a few things about the app as I observed it

Interface

Byline has a gorgeously designed interface. It is clean and not so bland and has some nice transition effects while swiping or when the feeds or updating. Works great in portrait as well as landscape mode. The star icons are easy to access. A pleasure to read the feed content on.

You can swipe individual feed to left or right to star it or mark as read.

Settings

Settings section offer portrait mode lock so you can read in bed without holding the iPhone at weird angles. You can control sync manually. You can set a default start folder. You can set caching to work only on WiFi. You can turn images on/off. You can set up your Twitter, Instapaper or Read It Later accounts here.

Another great feature in this app for folks who travel a lot or those who have intermittent data connection is the offline mode caching. You can choose to cache everything or certain folders. The app also does automatic caching based on your feed reading habits. It also continues caching with the screen locked as long as your battery is atleast half full.

The new update has brought fast feed sync and fast navigation with single swipe. You can easily browse to next or previous item in the feed with a sideways swipe.

Byline also shines in integration with social media and other services like Twitter, Instapaper & Read It Later. While it’s not perfect it’s a step in the right direction. Also, you can email the full feed content without leaving Byline.

You can also create and share notes for each feed item.

Needed Improvements

Now, I am going to go some of the improvements this app needs and where it falls short at the moment for me

• Landscape mode – lacks sharing features when you are in landscape mode. I share a lot of interesting items on Twitter and I like reading in landscape mode. So this is a glaring omission in my eyes. Also, it’s missing options to star it or mark as read, etc. Landscape mode is crippled right now in short.
• Mark all as read is hidden – In fact, you may think this option is missing but actually you can get to it by hitting Edit in the right top corner or swipe across the bottom status bar to get the ‘Mark all as read’ option. But, a tweet from the developer says this is getting fixed soon.
• Missing sort by feed – This feature went missing in the new version.
• Missing Mark item as unread – that says it all
• Share on Twitter improvement – While sharing via Twitter, you just get the url in the tweet window. Most apps automatically fill the title for the feed item as well.
• Facebook Integration – Ability to share links on Facebook would be much welcome too. And if it’s not too much to ask ability to post to Facebook Pages as well.

Byline 3.0 has undergone some major performance improvements and some nice UI changes. As a lot of existing Byline users have noted, the new version has also lost a few existing UI features.

I asked in Twitter for some Byline feedback from our group and here is what I received

Mark_L said
my single biggest gripe with Byline is having to use 2 taps to mark all read.
iPhonerssread said
1. Sweep gesture for Next Unread item or at a minimum a button like NetNewsWire 2. Removal of 1000 item limit for all RSS feeds

I am sure the developer has heard some of this already or has gotten a chance to read this now and quite possibly working on some of these improvements.

At the moment, Reeder seems to have an upper hand since it already has all the improvements plus a robust array of sharing features.

However, if you choose to purchase Byline, you are still getting a fast and robust RSS feed reader app with some incredible features listed above.

Screenshots

Byline Promo code giveaway

We have a couple of promo codes for Byline to giveaway. Here is how you enter.

You can do one of the following or all

• Leave a comment  in this post (with a valid email address so I can email you the code)
• Tweet this message on Twitter
  Retweet this for a chance to win Byline iPhone app ($3.99) from @TopiPhone http://bit.ly/94HaLc
• Become a fan on TiR Facebook page and leave a comment there mentioning you want to win this app.

We will announce winners by May 18 5 PM. Good luck!

Disclaimer: Promo codes are mostly valid only in US iTunes Store.

Rating: 4 out of 5 stars

Availability: App Store

Price: $4.99

Byline Feed Reader iPhone App Review - Originally published in Top iPhone Resource on 2011/06/30 (RSS)

© karthik for Top iPhone Resource, 2011. | Permalink | 4 comments | Find us on Twitter - @TopiPhone and on Follow TiR in Facebook.

Ever notice how some list managing apps seem to be designed for people who don’t really need any help staying organized?  If you’re like me, you’re not organized enough to make use of the very features that these fancy apps offer to help you stay organized.  Well, Scrublist is a whole different animal.  It’s meant for people who need help just hanging onto the list to start with. You write a list on paper, snap a photo of it, then use the touch screen to cross out (or re-add ) items, within the ridiculously simple Scrublist interface.

First of all, with Scrublist, you don’t need to figure out what needs to be entered in 17 different text fields just to get started .  I’ve tried those apps with the purest intentions, and soon start avoiding using them as much as I was avoiding the things on the list to start with, because of the tedious chore of typing in the items.

The app recognizes listed material, letting you cross out individual items.   If you keep your phone handy all the time like most users do, you won’t have to worry about forgetting that list.

Scrublist (iTunes link) gives you the most convenient aspects of paper list making with a dose of iPhone efficiency. And $0.99 is a small price to pay to untangle the knot of disorganization!

Availability:

Rating: 4 out of 5 stars

Price: $0.99

Reviewed at version: 1.1

Developed by: p13 Development

‘Scrublist’ for Better Organization: Keep the iPhone, Skip the Typing - Originally published in Top iPhone Resource on 2011/06/08 (RSS)

© Slim for Top iPhone Resource, 2011. | Permalink | Be the first to comment | Find us on Twitter - @TopiPhone and on Follow TiR in Facebook.

So, far the iOS versions of iWork – Pages, Keynote and Numbers worked only on the large screens of the iPad. Now, Apple has updated these apps to work on iPhone as well. 

All these apps are now universal so if you already own the iPad versions, you can just install and start using it on your iPhone and/or iPod Touch for free now. 

Also, the latest update brings the ability to organize documents into folders. You can also change font style and font size directly from the ruler when editing text. The app has added Smart zoom for viewing and editing data.

You can get the apps in iTunes from these links

• Pages ($9.99)
• Keynote ($9.99)
• Numbers ($9.99)

iWork Apps Pages, Keynote and Numbers Now Work on iPhone - Originally published in Top iPhone Resource on 2011/06/02 (RSS)

© karthik for Top iPhone Resource, 2011. | Permalink | Be the first to comment | Find us on Twitter - @TopiPhone and on Follow TiR in Facebook.

WordPress for iOS 2.8 focusses on improving stability but also has added 2 awesome features. 

Quick Photo

If you are a photo blogger and love to take snaps with your iPhone and post it on your WordPress blog, you will love this Quick Photo feature. 

The “Quick Photo” button is a big step towards the next-generation WordPress app. It’s the first feature that’saction-centric, meaning that instead of picking the blog, and then selecting what you want to do with it, you pick your action first. The thinking is that an app should be all about getting in and out quickly, performing a specific task.

As you launch the app, you’ll notice there’s now a button in the bottom of your blogs list. Tap it to launch the camera and take a picture, when you’re satisfied you can add a title or a description (if you want, both are optional), and boom — you’re done! The function remembers the last blog you posted a Quick Photo to and will use that for future posts as well.

Quick Photo basically lets you launch the app, take a photo and post it with whatever text you want with it. Lovely! 

iPhone only for now.

WordPress Stats

This is another welcome feature for those addicted to checking the traffic numbers provided by WordPress.com Stats plugin. Now, you can check your blog traffic right from your iPhone. 

I still use the Ego iPhone app to get an overall idea of all my stats in one place – Twitter followers, page views, rss feed reader count, etc for multiple blogs in one app. 

WordPress 2.8 app also adds localization so it can be translated to multiple languages. 

iTunes links for Apps mentioned:

1. WordPress for iOS
2. BlogPress
3. Ego

WordPress for iOS 2.8 Makes Photo Blogging A Snap - Originally published in Top iPhone Resource on 2011/05/19 (RSS)

© karthik for Top iPhone Resource, 2011. | Permalink | Be the first to comment | Find us on Twitter - @TopiPhone and on Follow TiR in Facebook.

The new update has brought several cool features

• Video upload
• Local Drafts – has been completely rewritten – stablility improvement
• Autosaves – no explanation needed. Potential life saver .
• Setup process – new wizard. if you are a self-hosted, use the wordpress.org option.
  
• Media Library – access photos and videos – view file size dimensions – ability to add media above or below content
• Bug fixes and enhancements

But after downloading and installing the new update, my excitement was soon deflated. I got a bad username/password errors right off the bat.

I looked through the app forums and found that deleting and re-installing the app took care of this. Ok – I had to add 6 blog details on the puny iPhone keyboard but fine.

Then on loading a blog, the posts screen won’t load with the posts. I kept getting this error.

“The operation couldn’t be completed. ( NSXMLParserErrorDomain error 5 )”

Ok so I went on to try the new video upload feature – the app would just crash after compressing the video. Come back in no sign of the draft I was working on.

Ok lets just try a simple image upload, the screenshots I uploaded all lose the aspect ratio when they get resized to different sizes. I do have the ‘Resize images’ option but I would want to retain the aspect ratio.

#Fail #Fail #Fail

I feel bad for the WordPress team who worked on this app update. I understand they have made some heavy architectural changes in this version but if the app isn’t usable right off the bat all the bells and whistles don’t matter at the end of the day.

So if you haven’t pressed that ‘update’ button on your iPhone yet, I highly recommend you stay off this update until we get an idea on whats going on with this version.

If you are adventurous type, go ahead and try it and let us know in the comments if you saw any of the issues we saw.

I am on an iPhone 4 on iOS 4.0. I haven’t tried this on the Apple iPad yet but the forum posts indicate it might have similar issues.

{ via WordPress for iOS }

WordPress for iOS 2.6 Released. Too Buggy? - Originally published in Top iPhone Resource on 2011/05/11 (RSS)

© karthik for Top iPhone Resource, 2011. | Permalink | 8 comments | Find us on Twitter - @TopiPhone and on Follow TiR in Facebook.

ToDo is a beautifully designed iPad app making full use of the larger screen in the iPad. It is an app where function meets form. ToDo has a lot of cool and useful sync features including iCal, Outlook and ToodleDo.com over WiFi. Plus, other iPhone app developers can integrate their apps to work with ToDo. There are a handful of apps that already does.

ToDo Features

• Real-planner Sync with iCal, Outlook and ToodleDo.com
• Multiple paper and binder choices
• Compatible with ToDo for iPhone
• Task reminder alerts
• Projcts and Checklists
• Repeating tasks
• Full landscape support
• Notes on tasks with clickable phone numbers and URLs
• Multi-select for managing multiple tasks
• Full calendar view for choosing due dates
• GTD support with Contexts and Tags
• Drag and drop sorting
• 3rd party iPhone app support

ToDo has a tons more features too and you can read it all in the iTunes description.

ToDo has an easy to understand and fresh interface. At the top right, you have options to re-sort the task list, quick add a task or add a task in full detail. At the top left is the search option.

In the task detail screen, you can add a due date, time, repeat, priority, list, context, tags, or add notes. You can also email tasks.

The bottom task bar has 5 options – sync, contexts, tags, & settings.

The Settings tabs has a few options – show/hide completed tasks, rotation lock, sorting by due date or priority. You can setup email alerts for your tasks.

One thing that recently upset current users was the discontinued support for the popular online task manager web app Remember the Milk. I am not sure of future plans for this service but this would have made it even sweeter for me to use ToDo.

However, I have since switched to using ToodleDo for my task management and have been happily using ToDo with it.

ToDo doesn’t come cheap though. ToDo usually sells for $10 but the developer has it at 50% off for $5 to celebrate the launch of ToDo.

Earlier, you would have spent $10 just on the iPhone app but you can scoop up both the iPhone and iPad app for $10 right now in the sale.

If there is an app that is worth the price for the productivity gain you stand to gain, ToDo definitely is.

Screenshots

Availability:

Rating: 4.5 out of 5 stars

Price: $4.99

ToDo Task Manager iPad App Review - Originally published in Top iPhone Resource on 2011/03/24 (RSS)

© Karthik for Top iPhone Resource, 2011. | Permalink | 5 comments | Find us on Twitter - @TopiPhone and on Follow TiR in Facebook.