Zephyrus of the Anemoi

A friend of mine recently purchased an iPhone 4 and asked me “So what apps can I not live without?”

I started to list off several that I use regularly, but realized that the list was going to grow rather large, rather quickly. So, I sent him a quick email of the ones I have on my first two pages and promised him a follow-up email with the rest. Then, I compiled the list into a blog post for all of you out there just now getting an iPhone or an iPod touch for the first time. This is, by no means, an exhaustive list, and if you’d like to know what other apps I recommend, please check out my iPhone category for all posts I’ve made about the iPhone.

Apps that I feel are 100% necessary are rare, but there are several that I swear by for their “WOW!-factor” or just because they’re so much fun. This is that list. I’m sure, I have forgotten several, and I know that I’ll have to make another one eventually (thus, the use of penultimate above). But, it’ll get you started. So, without further ado. Okay, maybe one more ado.

Twitter – There are several of these apps, but the official Twitter app is probably the best.

Boxcar – So you can get push notifications when someone mentions you on Twitter, or when you receive an email at an email address that doesn’t support native push email, or any number of other things.

Facebook – This one’s obvious. If you have a Facebook account, you need a quick-and-easy way to keep in touch with those on the site. This app is not as feature-rich as the full site, or even the “touchOS” version, but it has push notifications and some other really nice features, so check it out.

Chirpie Pro – Let’s you quickly post to Twitter and Facebook simultaneously. There’s a free version, as well, but Pro is well worth it, if you use both Twitter and Facebook.

qStatus – Same idea as Chirpie Pro but with some other neat features, such as letting you see through your camera while typing (for tweeting on the go).

Simplenote – Best note-taking app on the store. Text is displayed in Helvetica for easy viewing, syncs automatically with server, has a pro version that stores revisions of your notes in case you accidentally delete or modify one and need to go back, and way more.

Meebo – Let’s you log in to AIM, MSN, Yahoo, gChat, and more and remain logged in for 24-48 hours after the app is closed. You’ll receive push notifications from anyone that sends you a message and chat history is saved on the server (unless you turn it off) so that you can even see what someone is talking about if they don’t respond for days. This is a must-have, in my opinion.

Byline – Syncs with Google reader for easy reading of your RSS feeds. Has a free version, as well, but this is one of the best ones I’ve seen on the app store in terms of features and interface. There are some visually amazing ones for iPad, but haven’t seen any of those that translate well to the iPhone.

NotifyMe 2 – To-do app that lets you set reminders for events with push notifications OR local notifications (no Internet required, but affects battery life a bit more). Excellent companion for reminders  you don’t want to put in Calendar for one reason or another.

Audio Flashlight for iPhone 4 – Free flashlight app that uses the LED flash for a flashlight, strobe light, and audio strobe.

The Weather Channel – I’ve tried several different weather apps for the iPhone, and while I stopped using this one for several months, the interface is still the best and the performance is (usually) rock-solid.

Dropbox – If you use Dropbox, this app is indispensable, as you can quickly and easily view your files, send links to them by email, and even save some to the internal memory of your device for quick access. If you don’t use Dropbox, sign up free here, and get an extra 250MB of storage for free.

1Password Pro – If you already use 1Password for Mac & Windows (a password, software license, identity, credit card, and secure notes database program), this app lets you sync your data to your iPhone so you have it on the go. The latest version of the app synchronizes your info with Dropbox, so that you can keep everything up-to-date, no matter where you are. 1Password is shareware on the Mac (and Windows), so you can test it out and see how you like it.

SoundHound ∞ – You’ve probably heard of Shazam, which is okay, but SoundHound goes above and beyond, letting you hum a song, or even just type the lyrics in to find out what it’s called. There’s a free version that works like the free version of Shazam (limited number of song requests per month), but the full version is well worth the money if you are constantly hearing a song on the radio and want to know what it is.

Netflix – Instant streaming from Netflix over WiFi AND 3G. This can eat up your data plan VERY fast, so be mindful of that when on 3G. The quality is phenomenal, even over 3G.

5 Minutes to Kill (Yourself) – All [adult swim] games are on sale for a short period of time, so you need to pick them up as soon as possible. You can play any of them for free on the [adult swim] site (Flash required) and decide which you like the best. This one is pretty fun and takes 5 minutes or less to play. I think the title explains it well enough.

Robot Unicorn Attack – Another [adult swim] game, and easily their most successful to date. It plays similar to Canabalt and other “endless-side-scrolling-sprinters” that you may have seen, but it has an awesome soundtrack and amazing graphics. Plus it’s hilarious.

N.O.V.A. – Near Orbit Vanguard Alliance – If you like first-person shooters (and especially if you like Halo), this game will have you feeling right at home. With a pretty impressive campaign, gorgeous graphics, and a rock-solid multiplayer experience, this game really shows that the iPhone can play just about any game type you’ve ever experienced.

Pinball Remote – When coupled with The Pinball on your Mac, turns your iPhone into the ultimate pinball machine controller. One table is free and two more can be purchased from within the app. Very cool.

Plants vs. Zombies – The ultimate in “backyard defense” games. Honestly, anything by PopCap is going to be amazing on your iPhone, but this one goes above and beyond. The iPad version has additional features, but the iPhone version still contains the entire core of the game.

Final Fantasy – The game that started it all, now on the iPhone. If you’ve enjoyed any Final Fantasy game and you want to see where it all began, you need to check this out. Even if you played the original NES classic, this version contains new graphics, a new translation, and some gameplay tweaks to make it work playing all over again.

Wolfenstein RPG – The iPhone lends itself perfectly to RPGs, and this reinvention of an id Software classic is no exception. If you love Wolfenstein and you love RPGs, you’ll love this.

Ocarina – Turns your iPhone into a working Ocarina. I even have songs I’ve transcribed for easy playing on my website.

Epic Citadel – This is a tech demo of a game that Epic (yeah, the guys behind Gears of War and Unreal Tournament) is currently developing. Graphics like this have never been seen on a mobile phone. Ever. And they make the PSP look weak.

So that’s it. That’s the list of iPhone apps I recommend to anyone picking up an iPhone or iPod touch for the first time and completely overwhelmed by the content on the App Store. I hope that it has helped you, at least somewhat, to make your new device sing.

Anyone that knows me has probably heard me talk about my affection for various iPhone games. One of my favorites of late has been We Rule by Ngmoco. In fact, I had planned to write a blog post about it several months ago, but never made the time.

However, from the moment that I first fired up We Farm, I knew that I had to tell people about it. It’s such a well-made take on the farming sim formula. It improves greatly over We Rule by allowing you to increase various buildings’ performances by tapping on them periodically to “pet the chickens” or perform other actions. I highly recommend it. Plus, it’s free!

Here’s a quick screenshot to whet your appetite:

So I’ve been meaning to write this post for a while (since June 28th, to be exact), but just have been so busy that I haven’t felt like forcing myself to write anything. But I wanted to take a moment to tell you all about my experience with purchasing and (thereafter) loving my new iPhone 4.

On Wednesday, June 23rd, my family and I headed down to the Country Club Plaza in Kansas City, Missouri to have some happy hour dinner at McCormick & Schmick’s (I had the 1/2 pound hamburger and fries, which was delicious as always). We arrived around 5 pm and already saw a few people carrying chairs and coolers in the direction of the Apple Store. After dinner, we went down to the store and saw that there were about 40 people waiting in line already. A second line, specifically for those that had reserved a phone through the website or by calling the store during the initial reservation process, was completely empty. That was my line. I had arrived, more than 12 hours in advance, for a product that I could get by walking into the store at any time during business hours the following day.

But I wanted to be first.

I have owned 3 iPhone models in total, including the iPhone 4. I got the first one for free from my employer and loved it like a child. When the iPhone 3G came around, I purchased a white one and gave my original iPhone to my wife (who eventually traded it for a black 3G to someone that wanted to unlock it). Unfortunately, due to a discount from my employer, I was forced to purchase through AT&T and couldn’t wait in line at the Apple Store. It didn’t matter, though; my 3G went everywhere with me. Many times I was chided for pulling it out during inappropriate moments (TWSS), but I didn’t care. When the 3GS came out, I couldn’t upgrade without paying the full price, but I knew that the next revision of the iPhone would be worth waiting for. And it was.

I pulled my car around in front of the Apple Store and parked it very close to the start of my line. I got out my chairs, my cooler, and my bag of gadgets and sat down with my 7-year-old son to wait for the digital device of the year (I would have preferred to say decade, but it’s the first year–I doubt that Apple won’t top it by 2019). For several hours, we were the only ones waiting in line. Avery played with his iPod, I with my DS. I couldn’t play with my iPhone 3G as I had sold it two weeks prior and spent the first time in 2 years completely cut off from my preferred iDevice. Soon, others joined us and we made many friends. There was the guy whose friends were all waiting in the non-reserved line but asked us to hold his spot in the reserved line so he could hang out with them, the former police officer that loved his iPad for all of the amazing productivity apps that he used it for, the current Apple employees that were so excited about the device and the energy around waiting all night for it that they hung out with us (including one that showed us how to play Marble Mixer for iPad—now also available for iPhone), and the couple that were waiting for their new iPhones together.

The news crews came around several times before dark to interview the earliest line-waiter, a gentleman that had arrived around 3:30 to wait in the non-reserved line. He was a pretty nice guy who had waited in line for an iPhone launch before. He came prepared with a cooler, several reclining chairs, a TV, a Nintendo Wii, and a power source that was somehow tied to his large truck parked directly behind him.

As the night went on, even I found myself doing a few interviews with the news crews, as the reporters came around in the middle of the night. Eventually, I managed to get an hour nap from 5 to 6 am, woke up in time to chug some caffeine, and do a live interview with KCTV5. Most of the questions came down to why I was waiting in line (I’ve never been able to do that before due to how I had to get my last two iPhones), what I thought was so amazing about this iPhone (incredibly fast hardware, video calling, HD video camera), and what I had been doing while waiting in line all night (playing lots and lots of video games).

My wife showed up around 6:30, as well, and began handing out muffins she had baked (she apparently stayed up nearly all night, unable to sleep with Avery and I sitting out on the street all “alone”), which were a big hit. Latté Land brought coffee out to everyone waiting in line, and Apple employees that had been working all night changing over the visual displays in the store started stepping outside to gauge the level of anticipation of employees. One of the managers even walked down the line checking inventory levels of the iPhones that people in the non-reserved line were hoping to pick up to make sure that no one was waiting in line in vain (they weren’t).

Finally, at 7 am, I walked through the doors of the Apple Store, and in less than 2 minutes had an activated iPhone 4. I immediately made a FaceTime call to several people I had waited in line with, as well as my wife, and drove home to quickly get ready for work. It was a remarkable experience, and one that I would not trade for any amount of sleep I lost out on that night.

This past weekend, we took the boys to the park and took lots of photos for Liam’s 1-year birthday. While most of the pictures were of Liam, Avery was in several, as well. I decided that while we were taking pictures, I could get some video with my new iPhone 4 to show you all how gorgeous the video is. I’ve embedded it below. It should work on your computer or your iPhone, though you’ll definitely want to be on fast WiFi, as the file is pretty large.

Liam’s 1-Year Photo Shoot in HD

I wasn’t able to edit it in iMovie for iPhone because I couldn’t figure out how to trim a clip without dragging the end point to the desired location. On a 1-2 minute clip, this wouldn’t be a problem, but one of my clips was 10 minutes long and was quite a hassle. If I can figure out how to do more with iMovie for iPhone or just shoot smaller clips next time, I will definitely post something edited entirely on my iPhone.

As for my new iPhone 4, I’ve actually got a story to tell about the experience of getting it. I just haven’t found the time to sit down and write it yet. Perhaps this weekend, I’ll sneak away for a bit to get it written. It’s already been a week, so it’s past time to share with you.

I’ve been seeing a lot of Apple fans rabidly proclaiming the iPhone the ultimate mobile gaming machine and the death-knell for Nintendo’s and Sony’s portable platforms. However, as lifelong gamer and the owner of 3 generations of Nintendo’s portable hardware and 4 separate devices in that family, I can say that Nintendo is not going anywhere anytime soon. Let me tell you why:

1. Nintendo makes their own games – Until such time as Apple starts making games of their own (and Texas Hold’em doesn’t count) and competes directly with Nintendo’s offering, these two behemoths aren’t even in the same ballpark. Sure, they both make handheld devices, and both of those devices seem to be primarily used for gaming in today’s market, but Nintendo also makes great games of their own that Apple just can’t compete with.
2. Nintendo serves up “fuller” games – Building off the first statement, it’s important to note that Nintendo both makes and distributes games that appeal to a different market than those that are available on Apple’s iDevices. While there is some overlap (with games like FINAL FANTASY and the like being ported to the App Store), developers for Apple’s devices tend to focus more on bite-sized games than large-scale epic, 40-hour sagas. Nintendo themselves has been making Mario and Zelda games for so long that they barely have to try anymore to create compelling games that gamers will play for days on end. Third parties on Nintendo’s devices also tend to create games that will take 20 hours or more to complete the first time through. Apple’s developers rarely craft games of that caliber. They may be fun, but they’re certainly not that grand.
3. Nintendo has Mario and Zelda – Until such time as Nintendo decides to stop being both a hardware and a software company, Mario and Zelda are Nintendo exclusives. And that alone is enough to keep the gaming giant in business. While the franchises may decline for a time once Shigeru Miyamoto retires, the massive numbers of gamers familiar with these characters will keep the company going for many years. Further, Shiggy has already passed the torch in the Zelda series to Eiji Aonuma and he has done rather well with it. Talent exists, and passion for these franchises has grown immensely throughout the years. Someone will continue to make great games for Nintendo until the lights go dark.
4. Touch-screen only controls limit the gaming experience – Nintendo popularized touch-screen controls with the release of the original DS in 2004. Apple utilized touch-screen technology to make the world’s most advanced and easy-to-use smartphone in history. But gaming was not at the top of their list of priorities. Nintendo knew that only using the touchscreen would cause control of some games to be erratic while limiting what could be done to interact with your characters on the screen. Until such time as Apple allows for controllers to be attached to iDevices, I don’t see developers successfully developing “large-scale” games as mentioned above for Apple’s devices.

All that said, Nintendo cannot sit still and wait for Apple to rectify the deficits that the iDevices have in terms of being a complete portable game system. It certainly seems like they are moving forward with the new 3DS. However, they are going to have to certainly change up some aspects of their business plan to maintain control.

I suggest that they start by allowing 8-bit and 16-bit games on the Wii to be copied to the DS family of devices so they can be played portably. Syncing wirelessly between the two would be easy and would really increase the desire to have both systems.

You hear that, Nintendo? That one’s free.

When the iPhone was first released, I quickly bookmarked a specially-designed web app for Mobile Safari that allowed me to access IMDb content quickly and clearly. Unfortunately, as time progressed, I grew tired of the various glitches and missing information that cropped up in the site from time to time.

So when I discovered that an official app was released today, I was overjoyed. I am rather consistently checking IMDb from my iPhone, so I knew that as long as they didn’t frak up their own application, I would make a special place for it on my Home screen.

The first thing that I noticed when I loaded up the app was that they have included more than just the simple movie database in their app. While the search box is at the top of the screen, they’ve made it possible to browse movie showtimes, check box office results and much, much more.

Searching for a movie (or show, video game, person, etc.) is simple: just type something into the search field and get the same results you’d find on the IMDb website. Tap on the result you’d like to view and you’re taken to the same info you’d find on the website, but formatted specifically for the iPhone.

As you can see from the image above, IMDb has ensured that all of the information you’re used to finding is easily accessible. Just scroll downward and you can see the top-billed cast members, trivia, quotes, and all the other info you’d expect.

Here’s a sample screenshot of the trivia section.

Lastly, here’s an example of what it looks like to check showtimes for a movie. The only drawback that I could see is that there’s no links to online ticketing solutions from within the app. However, after clicking on the theater that you’d like to visit, the app does provide you with a phone number for ticketing by phone.

All-in-all, I really love the app and hope that it will gain additional features as time goes by, although online-ticketing is the only one I really want at the moment. Suffice to say, I will be moving this app to a prominent position on my Home screen as soon as I can decide which app no longer makes the cut. Grab the app here.

Several iPhone developers have chosen to have sales this weekend, in the spirit of Black Friday, and Thanksgiving. Some of these sales are pretty nice.

For example, Electronic Arts has slashed prices on a number of their products to 60% or even 50% of their original price. One such game is Wolfenstein RPG, which I picked up immediately, as I’ve been waiting for it to go on sale. While Wolfenstein is famous for being a first-person shooter, it translates really well into an RPG. It doesn’t feel turn-based at all until you enter combat, at which point the enemies just don’t shoot at you until you’ve either moved, fired a weapon, or done some other action. There are puzzles and experience points and all the things that make RPGs great, as well as some great moments of humor (for example, there are chickens everywhere that you can kill in a variety of ways to turn into chicken dinners for health).

In fact, all of id Software’s titles are on sale this weekend, so if you’ve been interested in DOOM Resurrection (an on-rails shooter that’s been very well received) or Wolfenstein Classic (the classic PC game from the early 90s, perfectly recreated for play on the iPhone and iPod Touch), now is the perfect time to pick them up.

In fact, most EA iPhone titles are available (around 30 of them) at the discounted price, so if there are any you’ve been eyeing, but were waiting for a discount, now is the time to check them out.

The other title that I was really excited to find out is on sale this weekend, is Hero of Sparta by Gameloft. When iPhone OS 2.0 first came out, the company Digital Legends Entertainment released Kroll, a beautiful-3D brawler that had some of the most amazing graphics seen on a portable device, but fairly low on gameplay techniques and replay value. Hero of Sparta took it a step further by marrying those beautiful graphics that the iPhone was capable of to a more solid control scheme with more action and a lot more gameplay value. If you are a fan of hack-and-slash action games, then Hero of Sparta is a good choice for you.

Keep your eyes peeled for better deals out there, because if there was ever a good time to find great deals on iPhone software, this weekend is likely to be it.

I read an article recently that told the story behind StoneLoops! of Jurassica and its removal from the iTunes App Store. In the article, it was mentioned that the factor that initiated the removal of Stone Loops was MumboJumbo sending Apple a letter requesting it be removed.

When I discovered this, I was rather upset, as I have long been a fan of this particular genre in general, and StoneLoops! was as great a game as I had ever played. While I have played Luxor 2 on the Xbox 360, I was very impressed with StoneLoops!’s touchscreen implementation. I would have been interested in trying out Luxor on the iPhone, but sadly that day will never come.

Due to the decision by MumboJumbo to use bullying tactics instead of actually trying to improve your product, I will henceforth no longer support MumboJumbo in any way. This means I will stop purchasing games published by you, and I will begin actively speaking against purchasing your products to friends and family. In the future, I hope that you decide to do the right thing rather than simply using your name recognition to remove your competition from the markets in which you compete.

As for your allegations that the developers of StoneLoops! were somehow copying your work, I point out to you that you did not create this genre and have not attempted to use this same bullying tactic against your other competitors (including Stone!Loops!’s other iterations on various platforms).

I hope that this message reaches you as an example of just one of many disgruntled fans of StoneLoops! that could have been fans of Luxor and other MumboJumbo games, but will now instead choose to seek out alternatives rather than supporting a company that uses “the protection of intellectual property” as an excuse to avoid improving upon existing work to compete.

∞∞∞∞∞∞∞

I have not included any links to MumboJumbo’s website or its games on the iTunes Store due to my decision to boycott them and encouragement of you to do the same. You can, however, contact MumboJumbo by email here. My heart goes out to the developers of StoneLoops! of Jurassica. If you would like to show your support for them, or for indie development in general, you can purchase StoneLoops! for platforms other than the iPhone from their website. For more information about why I am posting this open letter, please visit the AppAdvice article that brought the issue to my attention, and the developer’s blog.

The third page of my iPhone home screen is devoted entirely to games, and is the absolute most dynamic page on my iPhone. In fact, before I started writing this post, I changed this page two or three times in an attempt to get the best selection from my existing apps and the new ones I’d recently downloaded.

As always, from top-left to bottom-right (I’m skipping the Dock because if you don’t know what those four are, you’ve been living under a rock:

• 7 Cities – I love tower defense. The first game I remember picking up for my iPhone when iPhone OS 2.0 hit was TapDefense. So it’s to be expected that some form of tower defense will be on my iPhone at any given time. The problem is that I am a perfectionist when it comes to tower defense and will often stop playing a game in frustration because I let only one enemy through my defenses. Nevertheless, 7 Cities is one of the most unique tower defense games I’ve ever played, as it has set paths for the enemies to travel but doesn’t use a square grid system for placing towers, but rather a hexagonal grid, allowing some fairly unique methods of tower placement. I highly recommend you look into this game if you are a fan of tower defense, even if just for the opportunity to fire at a sea monster as it heads toward the town you must protect.
• Civilization Revolution – I have never been a big fan of Civilization, mostly because I prefer real-time strategy games on the computer. However, it is a perfect fit for the iPhone with a lot of customizable gameplay based on which particular civilization you choose to play as and whether you aim for a diplomatic or conquering gameplay style. I was pleasantly surprised by how polished this game turned out to be.
• Dr. Awesome – I haven’t really been a big fan of games released by ngmoco. In fact, aside from MazeFinger and Topple (both of which have been free for quite some time), I was not interested in any of their games. When they announced the full launch of the Plus+ network and released Dr. Awesome and Topple 2 for free, I was initially frustrated, as Topple 2 was completely unplayable on my iPhone. But thankfully, Dr. Awesome played great, and was a lot of fun. If you’ve ever played Qix, you already know how to play this game. If you haven’t, then I weep for you. I fully recommend getting this while it’s currently free.
• Elven Chronicles – This is a classically-designed RPG with excellent controls (something that can be difficult to accomplish with a Japanese-styled RPG on a touch-screen device). While not as robust or as beautiful as some other RPGs on the iPhone, it’s still an excellent game and a lot of fun.
• Minigore – The iPhone has no shortage of dual-stick shooters, so it takes something special to stand out. Minigore has gorgeous graphics and the promise of periodic updates to add new features. With OpenFeint integration for high scores and achievements, it has several advantages over the competition.
• Pocket God – More of a toy than a game, Pocket God is sort of like an ant farm. Only in this ant farm, you get to torture the ants without all those pesky moral dilemmas. This is an excellent time waster when you only have a few minutes to kill.
• Pocket Tanks – The best artillery game on Mac and PC for years is now the best artillery game on the iPhone, as well. Unlike most artillery games, Pocket Tanks includes 105 different offensive and defensive weapons to use against the computer or your friends.
• Reign of Swords – Turn-based strategies lend themselves very well to the iPhone, and Reign of Swords stands out above many. With a rather extensive campaign, a large number of units, an extensive upgrade system for making more powerful units from lesser ones, and Internet multiplayer, it will keep you busy for quite a while.
• Reign of Swords: Episode 2 – More of the same above. If you like one, you’ll like the other. This one is currently not on the App Store, due to a pending update. I will update the link once it’s back.
• Rogue Touch – Rogue is the first top-down adventure game ever created. It used ASCII characters to represent the game world, character, items, and monsters. It has seen two releases on the iTunes App Store and this is the better of the two, though it is not free like the other one.
• The Creeps! – This is the cutest tower defense game I’ve ever played. It centers around the premise that monsters are coming out of some sort of door to a nightmare world and are approaching your bed. You must build towers to destroy them before they reach you. Unlike other tower defense titles, The Creeps! has various decorative objects in the level that you can destroy for money and that also get in the way of building new towers in effective locations until destroyed.
• Underworlds – This is a remarkable Diablo clone. If you tried out this game in its early releases, you’ll be pleased to hear that the controls have been fine-tuned quite a bit. The developers also recently added an entirely new episode free of charge to the game if you’ve already finished the initial story.
• UniWar – I think I recommend this game more than any other game I have, mostly because it frequently goes on sale and has an excellent multiplayer component. If you like real-time strategy games, it’s a pretty great buy. The developers also frequently fine-tune the gameplay to make it more balanced.
• Vanguard Storm – Final Fantasy transfers well to the iPhone as long as the games are not traditional JRPGs. In this unique take on defensive simulations. It’s a very strategic title with familiar characters and a nerve-wracking time-limit that really pushes you.
• Warfare Incorporated – This game plays very much like Command & Conquer, which is a good thing. An update was released yesterday which added online multiplayer, that actually works fairly well over 3G (though I haven’t tested it over EDGE). If you’re interested in picking this game up, let me know, because I’d love to play with you.
• Words With Friends – Fake Scrabble. For iPhone. With online play. Tell your friends.

Thanks for stopping by. Now go buy some new iPhone games. There are plenty to choose from.

Okay, so page one was so long in the description section, I felt it was only fair to break this up into multiples. But the good news is that it gave me an idea. I will probably do 3 or 4 of these, as I am enjoying explaining to people why I choose particular apps over others. Plus, it lets you see which apps I’ve mentioned before on here but perhaps am no longer using for one reason or another (usually because I found a better app or found I wasn’t using it as much as I had hoped).

Once again, from top-left to bottom-right (excluding the Dock. Duh.):

• App Store – Seriously, if you don’t know what this one is, then how in the world are you going to get all of those pretty icons onto your iPhone/iPod Touch?
• AppBox Pro – All hail the King of all Swiss Army Apps! This thing does a little bit of everything: battery life estimator, flashlight, currency and unit converter, loan and tip calculator, random number generator, translator, ruler, clinometer, and web app portal. This single app gave me back more iPhone home screen real estate than any other. I highly recommend picking it up.
• Transmission – This is a web app that is built-in to the Transmission BitTorrent client application. It’s incredibly cool, as it is essentially a web-based interface for managing downloads and adding new torrents to the download queue. Just turn the feature on in the preferences, make a note of your IP address (or use a dynamic DNS service), and connect using Safari on the iPhone. After saving the app to your home screen, the next time you tap on the icon, it will load the app in a separate instance of Safari with no address bar, giving the illusion of a native iPhone app.
• Glyphboard – This is another web app that masquerades as a native app once installed to the home screen. It provides you with a number of unique characters that can all be copied and pasted into other apps (like Twitter, Mail, Safari, etc.) so that you can use unique characters not available on the iPhone virtual keyboards.
• 1Password – I love the desktop version of this app and was very excited when an iPhone version was released that synchronized all of my passwords, wallet info, and secure notes. With the impending release of 1Password 3 and its ability to synchronize software licenses, this app is a must-have for any on-the-go techie.
• Stanza – This app has been collecting dust of late, due to the large volume of fall television shows I have taken it upon myself to view so you don’t have to. But it’s still the best ebook reader on the iPhone and certainly in the top three readers across all devices. Download calibre for Mac or PC to organize and sync your ebooks from your computer to your device.
• Dictionary.com – I have used quite a few different dictionary apps on my iPhone since they became available, but was always frustrated in the beginning by their dependency on network access to get their information. I can just use Google as a dictionary if I have network access. Thankfully, the team over at Dictionary.com love me and made an app that I can download and use even in Airplane Mode or on an iPod Touch in the middle of nowhere.
• Read It Later – You can thank Echofon for turning me on to this handy little tool. Whenever I encountered a link in a tweet that I wanted to check out later, I used to save the tweet as a favorite. Unfortunately, favorites aren’t exactly private and I’d always forget to go check them out anyway. But by installing this app, not only can I use Echofon to add a link to my Read It Later list (tap-and-hold the URI), and not only can I read the saved links from my iPhone, but I am reminded every time I scroll past that page that I need to check out those items the next time I’m at a computer. Plus, once I’ve read it, I can check it off my list and pretend it was never there.
• TV Forecast – I have been using this app ever since it was a web app. You simply add the TV shows you watch to a list and when you load the app, it tells you when the next episode airs. Unfortunately, with the web app, if you ever removed your cookies, you had to rebuild your list from scratch. Thankfully, the native app only loses your list if you have to completely restore your iPhone. Plus, it has added features like seeing when your TV show last aired, in case you don’t know if you missed an episode or not.
• i.TV – This app and I have had a love-hate relationship since its initial release. I have used both i.TV and What’s On? to get my television listings and while I usually prefer to use What’s On?, i.TV supports Netflix queue management. This app is on my list of apps to one day remove entirely (or at least, delegate to the back page), as there are other Netflix queue management apps and I don’t watch live TV, so I have very little use for TV listings.
• Now Playing – Another app that may one day find itself on another page, this one is also capable of Netflix queue management, but is primarily designed for giving you movie listings. It’s a great app for that, and for buying tickets if your theater supports ticket sales through Fandango.
• Shazam – I don’t keep up with new music the way that I used to, and I rarely listen to the radio. But when I do, I often hear a song that I like and will probably want to buy on iTunes one day. The problem is that I don’t listen to the radio enough to know what the name of the song is. Enter Shazam. Record 10 seconds of the song and Shazam tells you who it is. I used to use Midomi, but found that it just wasn’t as effective as Shazam.
• Wikiamo – I love Wikipedia. It’s my go-to source for anything I just want to understand better. Wikiamo is a perfect example of an app that replaced another app I was fond of recommending. If you’re a fan of wikis in general, then I also recommend WikiSnail. While it doesn’t make page two (due to its rather simplified interface and feature-set), WikiSnail is an app I use to browse all those other wikis, something Wikiamo just can’t do.
• Facebook – This app just got kicked off the front page, as I really don’t use it very often. It’s an incredibly well-designed app, but until push notifications hit, it just doesn’t serve to open it very often, since I prefer to use Facebook as an extended address book more than anything.
• Amazon.com – Another app that I love to have nearby, but don’t use that often. Last Christmas, it was very instrumental in purchasing my brother’s gift, even though I did send it to the wrong damned address.
• Bank of America – Sadly, this is still the best banking app on the iPhone. It’s nothing more than the web app with a wrapper and (I hope) a few cached images. But, when you’re in the store and you need to know if it’s okay to buy just one more keg, you’ll be glad to have this app.

And that’s it for page two of my iPhone home screen. I hope that it was as entertaining for you as it was for me. It was an interesting experience.