Feature Writer Lynne Tatum – iPhone App Updates
On the heels of Apple’s exciting news regarding iOS 6, I thought I’d offer a list of apps which I’ve recently purchased that have made my iPhone a thing of fun and productive beauty. During the past two weeks I’ve been absolutely app-crazy. I would read a Tweet about an app; open www.applevis.com (an informative source for reviews, podcasts, and more); install the app and pronounce it worthy or not. Be warned: All apps are not free.
Not a fan of Facebook, I do have an account and check it sporadically to see what my “friends” are up to. So it was with great hopefulness that I installed two apps–VoiceBook and Focus for Facebook. It took some time before I got the hang of working with VoiceBook, as you need to perform a one-finger swipe to move through the status updates. While it is a text-based site that does the job, I still found the swiping a bit cumbersome. Focus for Facebook, however, is an app that reminds me more of my Twitter apps, in that my friends are in a friendly list which can be navigated very easily with a three-finger swipe up or down. I have not yet posted on Focus for Facebook, but its easy interface just might cause me to face it more often.
For those of us who do not have the incredible (or frustrating) Siri, we must content ourselves with finding apps that at least come close to her magical powers. The Voice Dictation app (not to be confused with the Dragon Dictation app) does the trick for me. Open the app, double-tap on the screen to begin your recording, and double-tap to stop it. It’s that easy. I have turned recording sounds on for my convenience. Once done, you will be prompted as to the action you would like to take with your recording. You can edit the text, send it as a text message, e-mail, it, send it to Facebook or Twitter, and save it to the popular online storage service known as DropBox if you so desire.
Speaking of DropBox, I am absolutely in love with an app called DropVox, with a “V.” This little gem allows me to create recordings that are immediately saved to my DropBox account. All I needed to do was provide my DropBox username and password (these days known as my credentials), start recording, and it is magically whisked there. I’ve been recording my contracted Braille lessons using the app and find it an indispensable learning tool.
The acquisition of these apps has facilitated my learning to move them around from screen to screen. My home screen bears little resemblance to the original layout, but it suits my needs just fine–for now!
More amazing apps to come in an upcoming piece. Stay tuned!