My favorite apps for iPhone and iPad



Within the past few months I've been fortunate enough to upgrade my personal technology to and iPhone and an iPad. I'm no expert on these devices, but I've found some pretty cool apps I wanted to share with you. By the way, they are all FREE.

Flipboard
Excellent way to quickly read through your subscribed feeds in just about any social network. I most often use it for Facebook, Google Reader and Instagram, but you can also connect Twitter, Flickr, LinkedIn, Tumblr and a whole bunch of others I've never heard of. You can even customize a section (I've got one for my own Flickr photo feeds) or read everything all bundled together. Flipboard also suggests feeds for you if you like - but if you don't want them they are easy to delete. Photos in this reader appear absolutely stunning on the iPad, in a format that makes you feel like you're reading an e-magazine customized to your interests. Flipboard works on the smaller-screened iPhone too, but it's kept pared down to single stories rather than multiples on a page.



Instagram
A fun way to share photos with friends. Sort of a combination of Facebook, Foursquare, Twitter and Flickr, all dumbed down into one app. Oh, and it syncs with all of those apps as well. Simply take a photo, enhance it using one of the included easy-to-use filters (optional, and super fun!), and then post it to any or all of your favorite networking sites (including Instagram itself). Because the app uses hashtags (the same way Twitter does), you can also easily search for fun photos of your favorite subjects. Instagram posts weekend hashtag ideas too - so you can participate in a community photo-sharing project (for instance, my recent - and lame - #alightinthedark entry). You can view my Instagram feed in the left sidebar - click to view any of the photos full size or to view more than six. Oh, and feel free to follow me on Instagram and I'll follow you back!


Skype
Now finally available for the iPhone and iPad! I find that if I'm at home, it's easiest and best to use Skype on my iPad with wifi, but if I'm out and about, I can also use it on my iPhone (though it's a little laggy, especially on big Skyping occasions like Mother's day). For all you out there who use Skype on mobile devices, please be considerate of the people you are chatting with and use some sort of easel or holder to keep your device still. I found a cheap, nifty little foldable iPhone stand on eBay - I carry it around in my purse's phone pocket so it's ready to whip out anytime I might need it.




Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Tutorial: Baby blanket and matching "tie" onesie

Image
Hello bloggy friends! 2011 is off and running and as usual, so am I. I was hoping to get more recipes posted but just been too busy! With what, you ask? Here's a start... Onesie and blanket sets I went to a post-partum baby shower for two of my friends and wanted to stick with my goal for this year of making gifts - but what to do? Since the babies were already born in November, and also were the second child in each family, I knew the gals would already have all the basics covered. I did some crafty blog searching and found this tutorial from Sew Dang Cute for wide binding and mitred corners on a sweet little minky-backed baby blanket. Unfortunately I got lost along the way on the binding part, but figured out how to do it my own way and they both turned out terrific! Again, this is not my original idea  - all the credit goes to Tam at  Sew Dang Cute . If you like to sew I highly recommend giving this project a try - the blanket was easy to do, though I now wish I...
Read more

Penguin cookies

Image
Made these little cuties this weekend for my friend Leslie's 50th birthday party. As you could probably guess she collects penguins. It was my first experience using black icing - interesting. I had to remind myself that the color would darken after some time. At first it was an unappetizing gray-purple but as you can see it turned out black (as did our tongues after eating them). People say the black tint changes the flavor of the royal icing but I couldn't tell. Maybe because most if it was covered with white. It did take quite a lot if gel though. I used Americolor gel colors, in case you were wondering. 
Read more

Christmas Cookie Recipes

Here are the Christmas cookies I'm making this year - enjoy!                      * Exported from MasterCook *                                Booze Balls TNT Recipe By     : Serving Size  : 54    Preparation Time :0:00 Categories    :   Amount  Measure       Ingredient -- Preparation Method --------  ------------  --------------------------------   1                cup  semisweet chocolate chips   20                    Chocolate Wafer Cookies ...
Read more