Filed under: Analysis / Opinion, iPhone, App Store
Favorite iPhone apps: Victor's take
I've been noodling around on a hand-me-down iPhone with no service for over a week now and I find a few apps keep me coming back again and again. Over the next week or so, each of us with an iPhone or iPod touch will tell you our favorite or most-used apps.1. ShoZu - OK, I use this maybe a little less than AirMe, but only because I don't use the iPhone as a cell phone. AirMe is great when you're out and about and need to send a pic instantly (to Flickr, in my case). ShoZu is like AirMe on steroids, minus the instant upload. That's a good thing, in fact. If you're a big fan of blasting your photos and text posts to a bunch of services at once, ShoZu is ideal. There are over a dozen services it'll hook into, and you can set up a "CC" list so whatever you upload pushes to several places at once. We'll put this through the wringer soon and give more details in a full review.
2. Texas Hold'em - Like Steven said, this is a port of the iPod version. But I have to give Apple a lot of credit for showing everyone how to make use of the iPhone's features. Tip the iPhone over and you see a top-down table view, throw your cards into the pot to fold, etc. There's a lot of polish on this and it is much cheaper than playing the real thing with my card sharp buddies (none of whom have mortgages, apparently). Mike Rose notes his one big gripe with this Hold'em, in contrast to the classic iPod version: no way to have your own music play in the background while you rake in the chips.
3. ToDo - From our very own Erica Sadun comes this super-simple app that's just a "to do" list for you GTD or listmaking freaks. Aside from the simplicity of the app itself, the badge on the app icon is really handy if you're trying to stay on top of things and only need a glance to see what is pending. One would think Apple could do this with iCal to-do's, but apparently creating a great poker app is an easier task. Perhaps they can use ToDo as well?
App Store links --
ShoZu and AirMe
Texas Hold'Em
To Do
[thanks for the copy editing Dave!]
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
John Mortnesen said 9:07PM on 8-26-2008
I got a 3G iPhone and have been thinking of turning my "Classic" iPhone into an "iPod Touch". Can I just upgrade it to 2.0 and use it w/o service?
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spyker said 11:33PM on 8-26-2008
Actually, when my dad went in to upgrade to a 3G they deactivated his old iPhone. But left it usable. It just says searching in the top left forever and ever ;). The only problem.... I don't know what they did!
Victor Agreda Jr said 9:21PM on 8-26-2008
John, you absolutely can. I highly recommend it. Update via iTunes. Don't worry, it'll say "waiting for activation" but you don't have to activate. Once the update is done you just unplug the iPhone, then plug it back in while iTunes is running. Boom! It just (mostly) works.
Don't forget to keep it in "Airplane mode" and turn on WiFi.
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kc! said 9:27PM on 8-26-2008
WTF! Dizzy Bee bitches!
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Zac Grose said 9:45PM on 8-26-2008
When people say "You can't listen to your music while playing such-and-such game" they don't realise that simply pressing the button on the earbuds (be it the Apple or 3rd-party) will start the music again. It's not an embago on music, it just stops it when the game starts. From there, you can play all the music you want.
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dawolf said 7:07AM on 8-27-2008
On the iPod touch (iPhone too), just double tap the start button to bring up the start/stop music and volume controls overlay to start your playlist after you started the game.
Yorgle said 9:55PM on 8-26-2008
I've been using Zenbe Lists. It syncs with a web service (when you have net access) and offers a web based interface to edit the lists, as well as the iPhone app itself.
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JKT said 10:34PM on 8-26-2008
Agreed--Zenbe is the better to-do list because it's the most versatile. You can use it for anything & anything.
Victor Agreda Jr said 10:00PM on 8-26-2008
OK, before this becomes yet another "WTF WHAT ABOUT THIS APP U FOOLZ!" thread, let's remember that several other TUAW bloggers are assembling their own lists.
Can we wait until everyone has had a chance to name their 3 apps before the name calling begins in earnest? Please?
And yes, Dizzy Bee rocks. My kids love it.
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Al Willis said 12:49AM on 8-27-2008
Saw a demo tonight of Theta Poker, a Texas Hold'em game written by a hardcore poker player that does allow background music while playing and has better game play than Apple's version. It should be on the App Store sometime next month.
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Spanky said 12:23PM on 8-27-2008
WTF?? What about Moonlight, FOOLZ! You guyz gotta love the interface and the graphics and the fact that it's free. Stomps on Dizzy Bee.
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Azon said 3:38AM on 8-27-2008
I want tip of eveyone about Evernote. Hav this on the iphone and the MBP as well has helped me ALOT!
Great app worth giving a shot!
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Jash Sayani said 6:10AM on 8-27-2008
Even reQall is a great app. It had speech-to-text for quick note-taking.
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ikebana said 9:23AM on 8-27-2008
can somebody pls tell me some more important applications that one should have installed in his iPhone?
http://iphone-pink.com
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Dave said 8:55AM on 8-27-2008
Seriously? "...through the ringer... ?"
Come on, folks. Proofread. WRINGER.
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Victor Agreda Jr said 9:52AM on 8-27-2008
If that's the worst typo we have this week, I'll wake up a very happy man on Saturday.
Fixed!
Raheem said 8:52AM on 8-27-2008
I find "To do" to be very shoddy and slow.
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SRG said 11:25AM on 8-27-2008
The problem with the Hold 'em game is not the music, it's the AI. The AI seem to have no idea how real-world betting works, and will make calls that are so far past what is mathematically reasonable. Yes, real people will do this too, but not so consistently.
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MostTornBrain said 1:48PM on 9-03-2008
The new 1.1 update of Texas Hold'Em no longer stops any background music you might be playing via the iPod App. Just make sure you have the in-game background music disabled in the settings.
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Robert Jen said 1:46PM on 10-02-2008
THETA Poker is now available in the App Store now, and the AI is far better than any other Hold 'Em game on the iPhone. Visit http://thetapoker.com for the latest rave reviews.
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