I resisted getting an iPhone for a really long time, despite the fact that hubby had one and loved it. I never argued that they were cool and had neat features and applications. My primary reason for resisting was that a) I didn’t want to pay for a data plan while we were paying off massive debt and b) I really didn’t see the need to encourage my internet addiction. I also have a great love of physical buttons. For my birthday this year, I gave in and got one. And I LOVE IT.
My favorite app is the Shopper grocery app, so that I always have my grocery list on me and don’t have to swing by the house if I have an opportunity to go. On close heels of that is Words With Friends (I’m kaitnolan if you want to play me!), which feeds my Scrabble addiction. Best of all, it provides lots of games and things to entertain me when I’m stuck in line at Walmart or in my boss’s office while she’s on a never ending phone call and won’t let me leave. I find that I actually read quite a bit on my iPhone, which was a surprise given that it’s such a tiny screen. But between it, my nook, the audiobooks in my car, and all my dead tree books, I am often in the middle of at least 3 or 4 books at once.
It’s got other nifty features that I like as a writer. There’s the Wikipedia app. Dictionary and Thesaurus. Dictation, which is awesome when I have an idea and no paper to write it on. SimpleMindX to allow for some plot mapping on the spot. Baby name apps, which are fun for thinking about character names. I haven’t gotten enamored enough to buy an actual writing program like Word as I don’t foresee ever actually WRITING on my iPhone, since I’m almost never away from a computer. But then again, Dropbox has an app now, so being able to look at current works in progress wouldn’t be a bad thing…
I’ve also got a zillion food and foodie related apps, though I confess I don’t use them as much as I expected I would. I love being able to check the nutrition info at restaurants before I order (since they don’t bother putting it on the menu).
And of course there’s the compass, and the Maps features. And I can keep up with Gmail or twitter. I just discovered the Goodreads app today.
Anybody got some awesome apps they can’t live without? What are they and why?