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My Favorite iPhone Apps: Mat's Picks

by Mat Lu Aug 29th 2008 at 8:30AM

For my shot at iPhone favorites I'm going with three apps I find myself returning to over and over.

Zenbe Lists (iTunes link) - this is the third-party app I find myself using most often. It's basically a TO DO list manager, but with a big difference: online syncing. The Zenbe iPhone application interfaces with the online lists that you can manage from your desktop at lists.zenbe.com (free account required). But unlike some other iPhone apps that are front-ends for online services, Zenbe on the iPhone caches all your data locally. That means that you can access and edit your lists even when you can't get online (e.g. on a plane) and then sync when you get back online. With the absence of notes syncing on the iPhone I end up putting all kinds of things into Zenbe: shopping lists, travel info (flight schedules, etc.), various ideas that come to me on the go, and much more (free).


Moonlight Mahjong (iTunes link) - games are naturally a matter of personal taste, but this 3D implementation of mahjong on the iPhone is first class. It utilizes the standard iPhone gestures for zooming and panning, as well as automatically recognizes device orientation. The full version includes 19 different tile layouts for a very reasonable $4.99; there's also a free lite version (iTunes link), which will give you a good taste the gameplay but is limited to 3 tile layouts. Moonlight Mahjong does not include sound, but that makes it perfect for listening to your own tunes, which I much prefer.


Pandora (iTunes link) - Pandora has long been my favorite streaming music site, so much so that I run the dedicated Pandora client PandoraJam on my Mac. So I was thrilled when the iPhone version was released with full access to your custom stations. Unfortunately, Pandora is facing problems these days so there's no telling how long the service will remain up. But for the time being Pandora is my go to app for streaming music (free).

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For my shot at iPhone favorites I'm going with three apps I find myself returning to over and over.Zenbe Lists (iTunes link) - this is the...
 

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snowmentality

Zenbe Lists is where it's at. Especially awesome to sync grocery lists or other errands lists with other members of your household, with the list sharing function. Let's say I made myself breakfast this morning and used the last of the milk. I put "milk" on our shared grocery list. My boyfriend gets out of work before me, so he'll get a chance to hit the grocery store first. He gets out of work, checks the grocery list on Zenbe, and sees that we need milk. He buys it and checks it off. I get out of work, see that "milk" is already checked off, and go on home.

Could be used in any situation where multiple people are doing things from a to-do list.

September 01 2008 at 12:31 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
Jeremy Verdusco

I third on Zenbe Lists. GTD is a little more than I need. Simple lists that sync to the Web and are accessible from anywhere? Works for me.

Also a big fan of Moonlight Mahjong. It eats way too much of my time.

August 29 2008 at 5:50 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
LuminousNerd.com

It's all about Things man! Why has no one mentioned it? I hope someone on TUAW uses it.

Things syncs now, and is the best to-do/GTD manager EVER!

Oh and what about Galcon? :P Best game EVER!!

August 29 2008 at 5:10 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
homan2

2nd on Zenbe Lists; it's the simplest and most efficient ToDo app I've found so far. Jott is cool too, but I spend more of my time correcting Jott transcriptions than actually getting everything down before I forget it.

August 29 2008 at 1:34 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
Patch

Why is it there are hundreds of "Mahjong" games that are not actually Mahjong. This game is really under the game style that is called Shanghai.

Shanghai uses Mahjong tiles, but that is all that is similar.

August 29 2008 at 12:30 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
1 reply to Patch's comment
Rapp

Yeah, I hear ya. Whenever I hear of a new Mahjong game I get excited until I find out it's a solitaire thing. I'd love to see a sort of networked 4P Mahjong game, Japanese or HK rules, on the iPhone. Where's Konami when you need them?

September 01 2008 at 12:07 AM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
Michael Howard

Thanks for highlighting Moonlight Mahjong, Mat. You might be interested to know that version 1.1 has been submitted and should be showing up soon. It has some features that people have requested, and one big obvious feature that I don't think anyone is expecting. And thanks to the folks that have bought the game, more is on the way.

August 29 2008 at 11:44 AM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
1 reply to Michael Howard's comment
LuminousNerd.com

Dude, I'll buy your game when I can, because I love it. I'm satisfied with the free version functionally, but I'll buy it soon just to support the game.

August 29 2008 at 5:11 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
georgi0

Is there an app for the iphone 3G to search for wireless networks around (apart from the built in netwrok search?)

Also is there a way to activate 3G and deactivate much quicker or via a shortcut??

tnx

August 29 2008 at 11:31 AM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
gary

What happened to iPhone-less feed? Why am I seeing this stupid iPhone article?

P.S. Yes, I hate iPhone. So what? Do I have to like it?

August 29 2008 at 10:23 AM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
2 replies to gary's comment
bbwinkle

Gary,

You have the choice to go right over it and pretend this post never was posted. Grow up, learn to move on, and read things you want to instead of commenting saying how you do not like the iPhone. And to answer your question, no, you don't have to like it. ;)

August 29 2008 at 10:51 AM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
Mat Lu

That was my mistake. It shouldn't happen again.

August 29 2008 at 12:27 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
Galley

I had the free version of Moonlight Mahjong, but found the 3D really annoying. I bought Aki Mahjong and love it.

August 29 2008 at 9:29 AM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
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