8 apps I’d like to see on the iPhone
I was checking out TUAW’s post on the 8 apps they’d want on the iPhone. I, being little more than a blogging copy cat, decided to make my own list to see how that’d work out (although I’m certainly no stranger to lists of 8). I don’t care what apps they are - existing or new, whatever, I’d just like them to exist. Check it:
· RSS reader
Need a good offline RSS reader that just sucks down feeds periodically and keeps them ready. Google Reader might do in a pinch if gears ever works, but even that is sub-optimal since you have to physically take it into offline mode. I often want to check the latest feeds when I don’t have connectivity.
· chat
A nice multi-protocol chat like Adium would be really nice. Really nice. A web app would be, eh, since I’d like it to be running (automatically) and alert me if a new chat comes in no matter what I’m doing - I’m not sure that a webapp can do that.
· basic control over camera exposure
Very little’s known about the camera, but it’s probably pretty basic. An app that gives you slightly more advanced control - nothing more than exposure compensation so that if you’re shooting with wierd lighting that the camera can’t figure it out you can give it a little direction.
· secure password database
A nice password database that syncs with a desktop app is really great to have. (Clipperz may work for this - but again less than ideal)
· MAME or some old console game emulator
Lots of old school games. What’s not to love?
· Skype
It’s got wifi, it should have Skype! Be really convenient.
Ok - here’s the ones with extra nerd sauce poured on top:
· ssh client
This is probably the single reason I am able to resist the iPhone. Not that I ssh much from my phone, but there is the occasion where I just need to do something quick and having ssh in your pocket is really, really, really convenient. There’s a web client for this in the works, but I would definitely have very strong reservations about security with a solution like this.
· ping
Sue me, sometimes it’s nice to have another place to ping from, as a first pass to see if something is really down or not.
There’s my picks, what you got?
June 26th, 2007 at 2:24 pm
An easy wikipedia widget and/or offline capable would be sweet.
BTW, check out my recent attempt to get a free iphone on youtube(:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pIntjZqNuGU
June 26th, 2007 at 4:22 pm
A multi-protocol chat program would definitely be nice but I’m guessing the first one will be iChat which’ll be limiting. =p
Hopefully something similar to SplashID (password management) will appear for the iPhone although they’ve never had a MacOS compatible desktop program to go with their Palm/Symbian/WinCE stuff.
And I guess it’d be nice to have a port of Vindigo too. And Worldmate. And some decent games. And Salling Clicker!
June 26th, 2007 at 4:38 pm
Yeah, I nice slimmed down interface to wikipedia and the imdb, oh and fandango/moviefone, too. :)
Vindigo’d be nice - although to be honest I never really used it. That’d be a nice online app that ties into google maps. I guess we’ll find out what happens!
June 27th, 2007 at 6:16 am
[...] I know yesterday was iPhone day, but apparently today Apple let the review embargo lapse so now there’s tons of [...]
June 28th, 2007 at 8:36 am
Wifi + Skype would much better than Iphone. Wifi ares in USA perfect, but the Europe is very pourly :(
June 28th, 2007 at 9:33 am
[...] In other interesting news to corporate types the iPhone will also support VPNs so you can connect to your company’s secure network to reach those exchange servers that the iPhone should be able to interface with. I’ve had first hand experience trying to set up VPN connections to various devices on my desktop and it’s a harrowing experience, I wonder how well this will actually work in real life on the iPhone. It’d be great if it worked, it’d also be great if we got a real SSH app on the phone. [...]
August 17th, 2007 at 9:50 am
[...] best news for me, the killer feature if you will, is that it works on the iPhone (one of my top 8 apps I wanted on the iPhone). As far as I know, it’s the only game in town, so I’ll definitely be using it. The [...]
October 18th, 2007 at 3:18 pm
experience trying to set up VPN connections to various devices on my desktop and it’s a harrowing experience, I wonder how well this will actually work in real life on the iPhone. It’d be great if it worked, it’d also be great if we got a real SSH app on the phone. […
October 18th, 2007 at 3:37 pm
T, you’re right! It is the rare experience when setting up a VPN conn is smooth. You’d think there’d be standards and apart from a few more settings wouldn’t be unlike connecting via ssh. Sadly, it isn’t - nevertheless… VPN Tracker for the iPhone would be a welcome start. :)
I would love nothing more than a good SSH app. Included in the “good” part of that is either a new keyboard or easy way of hitting special characters like ctrl and esc. Sigh. What a dreamer I am!