Four Cool iPhone Apps

With more than 100,000 apps available in Apple’s app store, it can be difficult to choose which ones to download. There’s only so much space available on the iPhone, so you want to be sure to fill that prime real estate with the best apps. Plus, there are some you can’t remove, the ones that come pre-installed on the phone, taking up space, so the spaces left over are even more valuable. But best can mean different things to different people. It can also depend on what you’re doing, or what’s going on in your life. Some apps are more useful at certain times than others. And then some you probably want to keep installed at all times, like the app to access your bank accounts, or your Twitter client. These four apps stand out for their usefulness, and just because they offer some really cool features.

HazelMail Postcards

Sending postcards from vacation spots started out as a way to keep in touch with family and friends while you were away. It also gave them a glimpse of where you were, displaying scenes of the landscape, wildlife, or monuments.

Nowadays, it’s much easier to snap a photo with a smartphone and send it to friends with a clever caption, or post it to your Facebook profile so all your friends can see it at once, saving you the trouble of writing out postcards, affixing postage, and mailing them. But what about your family members of friends who may not be on Facebook or have smartphones? Many seniors have entered the world of social networking, but if your grandparents haven’t, they’d probably still like to get a postcard from you. Enter HazelMail.

It allows you to send a postcard directly from your iPhone. After installing the app, you simply take a photo with your phone’s camera, write a brief message to accompany it, enter the recipient’s e-mail address, and click send. The postcard with your photo and entered information is printed, and a HazelMail employee will stamp it and mail it for you, all for just $1.50. This is pretty much the cost of most standard postcards and postage, and even if it’s a bit more, it’s worth it for the convenience of sending a postcard to your grandparents from the top of a Hawaiian volcano. The app itself is free.

Shopper

Everyone loves to save money, and one of the best ways to control spending is to have a list ready before you go to the grocery store. Just walking through the store throwing whatever catches your eye into the cart is a sure way to overspend, and end up with a lot of junk too. But who has time to slog through the grocery stores’ weekly fliers and find all the deals? And how do you know there’s not a better deal at the other store down the street? Shopper does it all for you.

The first thing it does is create a basic grocery list. There are several preloaded categories and possible list items, but you can easily create new ones. You can also create multiple lists, not only for different grocery stores, but for big box stores, pet supply stores, do-it-yourself warehouses, or any other retailer you frequent. Shopper allows you to enter prices for all the items, but at the different stores. For example, if a loaf of bread costs $1.10 at Grocery Store A, but $1.20 at Grocery Store B, both those prices for the same item can be saved by the app, and accessed by simply switching from store to store. This is what allows cost comparisons.

The app’s developers recently added store specials and fliers to the app, so when you enter an item (and for this, it usually helps to include the brand you normally buy), the app searches your local area, and then displays any ongoing specials or sales for that item, letting you know which store has the best deal. You can also enter sales tax information, which helps you keep a running tally while you shop so you don’t go over budget. The best way to learn all that this app has to offer is to give it a try. Shopper costs $.99.

Bump

Say you attend a lot of meetings or conferences because of your job. What businesspeople the world over have done for decades is exchange business cards. Office supply stores sell little carriers specifically made for business cards, as well as big albums with hundreds of slots to hold all the cards you collect. Now there’s an easier way, provided your colleague also has an iPhone.

Bump allows two iPhone users to exchange contact information in less than 30 seconds without using cards or paper, and without having to manually enter names or phone numbers. Both users open the app, select the contact information to exchange from the contacts list, then securely holding the iPhones, both people literally bump hands. The selected contact information is instantaneously transmitted from one phone to the other.

It doesn’t just have to be your own contact information, either. You can share the phone number and address of your favorite restaurant, a doctor you’re recommending, or a mutual friend. If it’s in your contacts list, it can be bumped. The app is free.

Citrix Receiver

This one’s for the IT pros out there who do a lot of work away from the office. As any IT pro, or end user knows, networks can catch bugs or go down at any moment, day or night. Sometimes an end user needs to be walked through a certain process in order to access a network, or troubleshoot a problem. Rather than having to drive into the office on a weekend, or try to give step by step instructions over the phone, an IT manager can use Citrix Receiver to remotely control a desktop.

The app also allows Windows apps to be run remotely, as long as they are installed on servers hosted by XenApp 5 or Presentation Server 4.5. Yes, having to run a full size desktop remotely on a tiny iPhone screen can be frustrating, but if it saves a trip to the office, it can make that bit of frustration worthwhile.

Of course, there will still be situations that require the IT pro to physically access the computer or the server in trouble, but for minor emergencies that can be easily fixed, Citrix Receiver can be a big help. It also offers features like DocFinder to search for and locate documents on the network server. It allows the user to host or attend GoTo Meetings as well. The app is free.

Photo courtesy Apple

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