8/26/09

Apps on my iPod touch

This may be of no interest to anyone, or maybe only to one friend who just purchased his first Mac and his first iPod touch, but I figure if I write it for one, I might as well get mileage out of it.

Unless otherwise stated, all apps were free of charge from the App Store (iTunes Store). Some I bought via iTunes on my Mac, and some I bought from my iPod and the App Store app.

On the bottom of each screen are the things I use most often, Mail, Calendar, Contacts, and Music.

Screen 1
  • Safari, Facebook, Google, Twitter, Calculator, Settings all obvious. I do often check FB and Twitter in the morning and evening.
  • Weather. The Weather Channel powered by Yahoo! I check the weather every morning. I also have the weather for places friends and family are.
  • Notes. I use a lot! References, etc. I copied Memos in text form from Palm Desktop and put them into the Notes in Mail.app on my Mac. Need 3.0 update of iPod software for this. Worth the $9.99.
  • Google Maps. I entered my home access points MAC addresses into Skyhook, so it knows my location at home. Most outside networks show up (APL, coffee shops, etc.)
  • BibleReader, and eReader—I use daily.
  • mSecure. I bought this. It is an encrypted lockbox for passwords, and other info I want to keep safe but cannot just remember. There is a free desk application so that I can create in either place, and I can backup.
  • FighterVerses. Google “fighter verses john piper”. I got this from a tweat of his.
  • Skype and LinkedIn. I can text chat or audio chat via Skype and a microphone (which I bought). I never had (have on my Mac though). But I have the mic with me if I want/need to! 🙂 I check LinkedIn but rarely use it. (I am moving both off of my first page.)
  • Evernote. I need to blog on this but Google search it. I am now using it on my iPod, home Mac, and work Mac, and syncing them via the Internet.
Screen 2

  • Clock. I rarely use the alarm and timer, though I have used both. I use it to keep time zone info for cities with friends in (Odessa, Bangalore, Vienna, Chiba, etc.)
  • iTunes, App Store, obviously for purchases when not at my home Mac.
  • Photos. Rarely use. Sometimes for capturing screen-shots (like these) and them emailing to myself to incorporate into something else (like this).
  • IM+ Lite. IM client for AIM, etc. Rarely use.
  • TouchTerm and VNC for remotely connecting to other machines, Rarely use.
  • TWC and Weatherbug. When I want to see a weather map, hourly and 1- day forecast, and weather cameras I use these.
  • ShareContact. Rare. But, in Contacts, if you want to share someone’s contact info with someone else it will send it via email as a vcf attachment. I know a bunch of folks who would not know what to do with it. This sends text in the message body.
  • Stanza is like eReader. I think I was testing it. Don’t need it.
  • iTalk is a voice recorder. You need a mic.
  • Mars Hill. I wanted to see what their app did. I don’t use it.
Screen 3


  • PNC is an app to get to my back account, etc.
  • FedEx is obvious. I don’t use it.
  • Voice Memos, obvious. Came with the mic..
  • SkyVoyager, etc., were free on July 20 to celebrate the anniversary of the first moon landing.
  • AllRecipes. Cute, interesting, maybe useful.
  • B&N; is a B&N-branded; eReader. I don’t mean it is an eBook reader; I mean it is eReader with a B&N; wrapper. I’ve deleted it, but one might want it for the free dictionary and books.
Screen 4


  • This is True. A daily dose of www.thisistrue.com. See
  • Ambiance Lite. Cute. Different cover-noises. Rain on rood, rain on car roof, highway, train, etc.
  • Amazon.com, NY Times, USA Today, Stocks (which I don’t use, but is not removeable), all obvious.
  • TV.com, YouTube, linked to those video sites.
  • Videos are videos that I downloaded via iTunes on my Mac which converts to size for iPod touch. I’ve got videos saved from YouTube, movies I bought and illegally converted, etc.
  • Drinks Free. All sorts of drink recipes.
  • DocsToGo. Paid for it for Palm and I may have had to pay something for the version for the iPod/iPhone. Word, Excel, PowerPoint. There is a Mac-side application and this syncs with that.
  • Pingle is a central app for updating status or making microblogs on LinkedIn, Twitter, FaceBook, etc.
Screen 5

  • Games. Free ones. Mostly got for kids. I have to be incredibly bored to play any of them

2 comments:

Fred Avolio said…

I removed a few apps. I upgraded NetNewsWire and found that it no longer syncs with Newsgator; it syncs with Google Reader. But, I don't use that. 

Through Time Machine, I rolled back to the older version, which still sync to Newsgator, keeping the 3–MacBook Pro at work, PowerBook Pro at home, and iPod touch–in sync.

I added two Starbucks apps, just because they were free. One allows you to manage your Starbucks card (and at participating stores, try using your iPhone or iPod touch instead of your card). The other locates the nearest Stsrbucks to your location. That's more useful for the iPhone than the iPod, since it needs to be connected to the Internet. (I got a taste of this when returning from a business meeting with ci-worker Shelby, who found us a Starbucks with Garman on her mobile phone. Magic.)  

Fred Avolio said…

I am surprised I did not mention this, and I promise not to update everytine I add an app, but I've added Todo Lite. It is excellent, syncing with the To Do/Tasks on my desktop. I really like it. Just not $10 worth. I don't know… $9.99 seems high. $.99 is too low, I know. What would I pay? Hard to say. "Free" for basic functionality (and a limited number of Tasks — 10 I think — is not so bad. (As I delete tasks, more enter into the queue, so as long as I don't have a lot… okay, I suppose I would pay if I had to see more than 10.)