[LobsterSan]

So I picked up my 3G iPhone on launch at my local mall Softbank shop (I was the only one waiting... and I believe I appeared quite loserish

)...

But boy, I am so glad I got one! This thing is truly awesome, and it totally kicks my old HTC Hermes (Softbank X01HT) to the curb.

I'm just curious what apps people have downloaded and what tips and tricks do you all have to make the iPhone even more useful?

Here's the best of what I've got:

Midomi *HIGHLY RECOMMENDED*
This FREE and absolutely amazing app is something of a dream come true for me. Have you ever had a tune stuck in your head and for the life of you you couldn't figure out the title? In steps Midomi. Just hum a few seconds of the song into the iPhone mic and it'll come up with the title with surprisingly accurate results! It's also got a radio mode, so if you hear something good when you're in the car you can just tap your iPhone a couple times, hold it to the speakers, and you'll get the name of the song right then and there! It's really a brilliant piece of software, excellently programmed and linked to iTunes and YouTube.

iPhone Calendar <-> Google Calendar <-> Rainlendar
Calendar synching has always been something of a pain in the butt unless you use Outlook or iCal, but this solution works amazingly well! I can now update my calendar from my iPhone and it updates my Google calendar, which in turn updates all my computers running Rainlendar on the desktop. Additionally, I can update Rainlendar or Google Calendar and it'll likewise sync and show up on iPhone and all my Rainlendar-enabled computers. It's all done through a really cool beta service called nuevasync.

One note: keeping the synched calendars on "push" mode drains the battery like nothing else, so it's probably best to keep it on manual update. You can change the setting for each synchronized item via the settings menu.

Tap Tap Revenge
This wouldn't be complete without a game thrown in the mix, and this one is free, pretty fun, and expandable! It's a rhythm music game akin to Guitar Hero. With the recent update, you can download new songs, extending replay infinitely! The one thing I would have preferred is a little more feedback for hitting notes right -- sometimes I'm not sure if I actually tapped at the right time or not.

 

[monolith]

Sudoku Unlimited is a really excellent sudoku application for the iPhone and iPod Touch. It costs $2.99, but I feel it's worth it. It's the only program I found that actually generates the puzzles rather than drawing from a large pool of them. Considering how simple they are to generate, this puts it above and beyond all the others.

On top of that, it has three skins, the ability to keep notes, five difficulty levels, a timer, and it holds your games whenever you leave the application.

 

[LobsterSan]

Does anyone have a good screen protector recommendation? I purchased the Power Supply Anti-Glare screen protector, and I love the matte finish, smooth surface, and fingerprint killing abilities. However, it makes the screen look grainy and reduces text and image sharpness. I had to ditch it for a clear protector, but I loved the other properties of it.

Are there any other anti-glare / matte-finish / fingerprint-free protectors out there that don't mess with the image quality?

 

[terance]

Crystal Film Screen Protector

Get yourself one of these.

There is an "Anti-Glare" version made by the same company, but I felt that it made my screen look fuzzy and out of focus. However, outside it works exactly as intended.

I also like how your fingers slide on this screen protector, the iPhone screen will feel "sticky" after you go back to using it.

Overall, a great way to spend 15 bucks! (and you get 2-3 protectors)

I had one of the old iPhones and tried the two protectors, but I've got a 16gb White coming to my ATT store tomorrow with my name on it!

 

[LobsterSan]

Yeah, that's the one I got (anti-glare)! I loved the way it felt, but hated how it made my screen look. I'm using an off-brand crystal one now, but wanna find an anti-glare one that doesn't ruin the image quality.

Oh, BTW, you may want to make sure you get the 3G version. The old one is a bit small and doesn't go bezel to bezel on the 3G iPhone.

 

[bigshot]

Pandora Radio makes it so you don't even need to load music on your iPhone!

See ya
Steve

 

[pkshiu]

bejewel2 of course.
iTune remote control
BoxOffice but only for the US I guess
midomi is much more fun that it sounds, great app.
Things will be a great GTD app once they release sync. I use their desktop version and right now it does not sync with the phone.

 

[Spiritboxer]

With hollow staring eyes and shaking hands he asks, "is Scrabulous accessible on the new 3G iPhone"?

 

[jordanross]

Twitterrific is a great app.

If you like twitter.

Netnewswire is an amazing rss aggregator.

 

[bigshot]

Twinkle was just released. It's even better than Twitterific. BookShelf is worth paying for. You can easily upload text files from Project Gutenberg to your iPhone. That alone is reason to celebrate.

See ya
Steve

 

[LobsterSan]

Nice recommendations, please keep them coming!

While Midomi appears to be excellent at identifying hummed songs, I've heard that Shazam is better at recognizing actual music being played.

Unfortunately, I can't seem to find Shazam in the apps store any more! Was it removed? Are they planning on charging money for the service now?

Found a few more cool apps too:

SportsTap
Great quick interface to view all sports boxscores, updates, and news!

Zenbe
A nice list/todo app with the ability to make multiple lists.

Aurora Feint
An amazing game that's free! Kind of like Puzzle Quest -- it's like Bejeweled but with an RPG emphasis. Great music too!

Morocco
A free version of Othello.


The following apps are pretty pointless, but somewhat fun:

iPint
It's beer. On your iPhone. Looks tasty!

PhoneSaber
Turn your iPhone into a lightsaber! May the force be with you..

Jared
The singing face returns, butchering more songs for your delight.

 

[terance]

Two words:

Brain Challenge

 

[LobsterSan]

Brain Challenge looks interesting. There was a review from a self-purported doctor of neuroscience on iTunes championing the neurological benefits of the game. The game looks interesting, so whether or not it actually helps maintain my neurons is kind of a moot point. Japanese version was 1200yen last I checked, so it looks like I'll be going for the $4.99 US version

Oh, BTW -- I figured out why Shazam wasn't showing up for me. The iTunes Japan store doesn't have some of the iTunes USA apps, so I used my US credit card and made a new account. For anyone interested, it appears there may be a way to get an iTunes Japan account if you have a Japanese iTunes gift card -- I'm not sure if this is still allowed, but I've heard it mentioned during my googling for an iTunes USA account.

Questions with Pandora and iWant:

Pandora's Radio is not available for streaming in Japan. Is there any way to circumvent this via proxies or somesuch internet witchcraft?

iWant also does not appear to work for Japan, as I get no results for any of the categories. Does iWant actually work for people in the States?

And now, a couple more recently found apps:

Mandarin
Really cool free talking phrasebook. It would be great if they released a bunch of these for different languages, but so far I only know of Mandarin.

Cube Runner
A really relaxing, fun, accelerometer-using game with expandability. This game is one of those games I can sit and just mind-meld with for an hour or so.

 

[Saana]

I'm getting iPhone 3G soon with unlimited data plan

17€ a month =3, can't wait! I install all free apps to it xD (Maybe not but ;D)
And I also get Invisible Shield

It prevents all scratches ;D And is unnoticeable

 

[zachary80]

Quote:

Originally Posted by bigshot /img/forum/go_quote.gif Pandora Radio makes it so you don't even need to load music on your iPhone! See ya Steve

Remote and Pandora are the two apps that made me buy a Touch

Also experimenting with:
AIM - are there any alternatives?
A Personal Assistant (PageOnce) - a good portal for all my accounts
Break - brick breaker, fun game
Facebook - saves some time over using the browser
Google Mobile App - quick links, but I'm not sure it helps over bookmarks
nuevasync - for integrating my google account
Shakespeare - all of Shakespeare's major works, but no footnotes for the unfamiliar
Tap Tap Revenge - fun game