NetworkUseful tools
reQall is a memory tool that integrates with phones, smartphones, IM, Firefox and more. In a very short period of time we have both come to rely on it in our daily lives. The ability to record record spoken memos and notes which reQall transcribes and sends to our email inboxes, and stores in our reQall accounts for editing, is just hard to live with out.
Meebo
Meebo (web-based IM) can be a real savior. In fact it’s the iPhone version we like. Regardless of where we are we can contribute to our project’s by keeping in touch with our clients and Noded team members the same way we would from our laptops. Sure, IM is less flashy than other things you can do with the iPhone but the Meebo app is one everyone should have installed. Just in case.
Freshbooks for your iPhone
Time tracking, invoicing and expense app Freshbooks, loved by freelancers everywhere, recently released their iPhone application. This is a great addition to their toolbox. In addition to the web site and the widget there is now a good way to keep track of time while on the move.
Finally a good RSS reader for the iPhone
Newsstand really takes advantage of the iPhone’s accelerometer. It has two completely different ways of displaying your subscribed feeds; in the vertical position it looks like an ordinary RSS-app.
When you tilt the iPhone, it becomes a visual newsstand where you can flip through your feed’s front pages cower-flow style. Wiz bang stuff aside, what really got me hooked was the simplicity of subscribing to feeds. Just type in a URL, Newsstand scans that page and serves up a list of feeds from that page for you to choose from.
Collaborative whiteboard
Dabbleboard has a clean, simple interface for collaborative white boarding (once you get past the old skool site design). It features real-time collaboration and it only takes about 5 seconds to get going.
I especially like the “shape”-recognition feature. It’s a real timesaver since you dont have to nail your drawing to the pixel: just sketch stuff out and Dabbleboard will recognize squares, boxes and circles.
Dabbleboard also has a dead simple API for including it in your own sites and projects.
Summizer lovin’
My current favorite iPhone app is Summizer. It “quickly and easily tracks Twitter and follows the trends you care about.” Great for seeing what people are reacting to or talking about. Brilliant.
I like the ability to save searches and also view all tweets from a particular person. “Trending topics” lists the hottest topics, and it’s all clean, neat and fast. Great app, great tool.
Coda
This app is not exactly hot off the press but it’s so brilliantly well tailored that it’s worth every positive syllable ever been written about it. At first it doesn’t look much different frm other code editing software. But after a while you notice that the guys over at Panic really have built this app with the intention of improving developer work flows.
Some nice functions:
- Webkit preview
- Drag-n-drop ordering of CSS structure
- DOM hierarchy inspector
- One click batch publishing
- Live collaboration on code
- Code clips and snippets
Try Coda and you’ll in love with both the app and the code you produce with it just like I did.
Writeroom for the iPhone
Writeroom is a brilliant little notes and text-editor for the Mac. I recently tried the iPhone version (also works with the iPod Touch). It’s pretty good, especially with the device flipped on it’s side and the horizontal keyboard visible.
Unfortunately developer Jesse Grosjean hasn’t used the Apple SDK to the fullest. For exampel, syncing notes is quite tricky and illogical for no apparent reason. On the other hand Jesse has created a very different workflow for managing text //…//
Evernote
The first time I tried Evernote I was far from impressed, much due to the poor note-view interface. Two weeks ago I decided to give the app another try, and I must say that I really like it. A few updates have worked wonders and the previous shortcomings are essentially not there anymore.
Evernote is a “suite” of note-apps that help you remember absolutely everything, and it runs on everything too; there’s a desktop app, an iPhone app, a web version and even a clippings plug-in for Firefox. The advantage is clear: Evernote is with you 24-7 and synced on all of your devices.
Another reason I like Evernote is that it doesn’t force any behaviors on you. There is no the-Evernote-way to do things. You are completely free to take and access notes anywhere, anytime.
Try it out at Evernote.com
Stattoo
Small desktop app that displays your RSS-feeds, emails, upcoming to-dos and other info bites on your desktop. A real time saver as you don’t have to switch between different applications to see what’s going on.
Buy or try at Panic!
