1. Know Your App Spending

    Recently Michael tossed an informal poll asking how much anyone budgeted for the month on iTunes purchases for both music and Apps. Quite frankly I don’t even surpass the $7 mark in a month and the expenditures that are made derive mostly from Apps and I was curious in knowing how much I had invested in them. They’re addicting and convenient little buggers that can get out of hand if you don’t pay attention to how much the prices add up.

    Surprisingly enough, there is a free application that tells you just that. It’s called App Store Expense Monitor and it sits discreetly on your status bar.

    Upon initial launch, it scans your iTunes folder for “.ipa”-files, extracts the contained information about it and displays the total amount of money you spent on the App Store.

    The inventory of Apps that it catalogs is not just limited to purchased ones but it equally displays free Apps that you downloaded as well.

    If you’re an organization freak like me, you’ll even appreciate being able to export your entire list of purchased Apps straight into a spreadsheet (.CSV format) to be opened and styled with the Numbers.app for archival purposes.

    2 years ago  /  1 note

  2. Shake It Photo - Instant Photo on your iPhone →

    This ¢99 app has by far become my favorite app to use for impromptu photographing on the iPhone. It’s snazzy tag line of “take it, shake it, share it” really does make the act of taking a photo that simple and it certainly makes up for what the default camera app doesn’t have.

    The fun part comes after you take a photo where you’re required to treat it as an actual Polaroid that requires shaking of the camera so that the image comes into focus and renders that old instant film look to your photos.

    No photographing is fun until you share and there’s already Flickr Group created to cater specifically for all the unique photos that you can get with the app. I can favorite almost all of them. (via Fotovine)

    2 years ago  /  Notes

  3. Taking Notes

    I wish I could have that kind of open affair with my Moleskine like every other proud owner has had with their notebook. I own quite a few, each varying in size and paper formats and my intention investing in them was so that they could serve as an invitation to pour out casual ideas while on the go but lately I’ve done more carrying than writing with it. I think I’ve become just enamored with the concept of owning a Moleskine with zero substance in saying that I used them.

    It’s not that expectations weren’t met with them but I’ve concluded that it’s my commitment to the actual note taking with a pen and paper that I lack. I do well in a work setting but not in my personal life. Most of my organizing, scheduling and writing is accomplished electronically and I’m more quick to whip out my iPhone than to scrambled to find something to write on.

    Just recently I was grumbling about my aversion towards Marker Felt, which as you know is the default font in the Notes application. Simply put, it’s just ugly to look at and if the purpose of taking notes is to ultimately refer back to these important tidbits of information, the font itself will keep me away from ever looking at them again and that’s just silly.

    Light at the end

    Fast forward to a couple days later and DF goes and writes a detailed piece on an app that truly lives up to its name: Simplenote. Gruber writes:

    Simplenote’s developers clearly studied what is good about Notes and thought about how to make something that is good in the same ways, but improves upon its major shortcomings.

    I love the minimal elegant interface, the instant search feature but above all the syncing that the application uses with a secure web app. There’s no need to transcribe anything back to your desktop because it’s readily available for you to copy & paste anywhere you want or to continue any thought you had started on your iPhone.

    Copying an idea just doesn’t work. You have to improve on what’s already out there and Simplenote does an exceptional job in accomplishing that. Mostly importantly to me, it’s instilled back the beauty of on-the-go note taking even if there’s no pen involved. Ultimately it’s the content that matters.

    2 years ago  /  Notes

  4. Exit Strategy NYC is a practical iPhone app that tells you where to get on the subway train so as to be in an ideal position when you get off. It includes every stop in Manhattan, and large parts of Brooklyn, Queens, the Bronx and most of the surrounding areas. I love how the creators share their story behind the app especially the process it took to assemble the particulars: It took us about two-three months of riding the subways to gather all our data. We basically set out in the morning, and worked through the evening rush hour. We tried to plan things so that we could pop above ground and have lunch in an interesting neighborhood each day. It’s important to note that they do have plans to expand this app to other major cities. I’ve used it already and it works perfectly.

    Exit Strategy NYC is a practical iPhone app that tells you where to get on the subway train so as to be in an ideal position when you get off. It includes every stop in Manhattan, and large parts of Brooklyn, Queens, the Bronx and most of the surrounding areas.

    I love how the creators share their story behind the app especially the process it took to assemble the particulars:

    It took us about two-three months of riding the subways to gather all our data. We basically set out in the morning, and worked through the evening rush hour. We tried to plan things so that we could pop above ground and have lunch in an interesting neighborhood each day.

    It’s important to note that they do have plans to expand this app to other major cities. I’ve used it already and it works perfectly.

    2 years ago  /  3 notes