Tài liệu Best iPhone Apps, 2nd Edition pdf

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Best iPhone Apps

Second Edition

The Guide for Discriminating Downloaders

Beijing · Cambridge · Farnham · Köln · Sebastopol · Tokyo

≠ J.D. Biersdorfer

Best iPhone Apps, Second Edition: The Guide for Discriminating Downloaders

by J.D. Biersdorfer

Copyright © 2010 Jude Biersdorfer.

Printed in Canada.

Published by O’Reilly Media, Inc., 1005 Gravenstein Highway North, Sebastopol, CA 95472.

O’Reilly books may be purchased for educational, business, or sales promotional use. Online editions are also available for

most titles (http://my.safaribooksonline.com). For more information, contact our corporate/institutional sales department:

(800) 998-9938 or [email protected].

Editor: Peter McKie

Production Editor: Nellie McKesson

Indexer: Julie Hawks

Cover Design: Monica Kamsvaag

Interior Design: Josh Clark, Edie Freedman,

and Nellie McKesson

Printing History:

First Edition: October 2009

Second Edition: September 2010

While every precaution has been taken in the preparation of this book, the publisher and author assume no responsibility

for errors or omissions, or for damages resulting from the use of the information contained herein.

Many of the designations used by manufacturers and sellers to distinguish their products are claimed as trademarks.

Where those designations appear in this book, and O’Reilly Media, Inc. was aware of a trademark claim, the designations

have been printed in caps or initial caps.

This book presents general information about technology and services that are constantly changing, and therefore it may

contain errors and/or information that, while accurate when it was written, is no longer accurate by the time you read it.

Some of the activities discussed in this book, such as advertising, fund raising, and corporate communications, may be

subject to legal restrictions. Your use of or reliance on the information in this book is at your own risk and the authors and

O’Reilly Media, Inc., disclaim responsibility for any resulting damage or expense. The content of this book represents the

views of the authors only, and does not represent the views of O’Reilly Media, Inc.

ISBN: 978-1-449-39414-1

[TI]

iii

Contents

Foreword . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . vii

1. Best Apps For Work . . . . . . . 1

Get Things Done

Quick To-Do Lists 2

Tracking Goals 3

Sketching Out Ideas 4

Sharing Big Files 5

Tracking Packages 6

Online Productivity 7

Digitizing Receipts 8

Applying to College 9

Visual Thinking 10

Work on the Go

Working on MS Office Files 12

Taking Unique Notes 14

Reading Documents 15

Scanning Business Cards 16

E-Business Cards 17

Speaking Your Mind 18

Printing 19

Make Phone Calls

Saving Money on Calls 20

Finding Business Numbers 22

Hands-Free Calling 23

Geek Out

Finding More Apps 24

Desktop Remote Control 26

Password Storage 27

Monitoring Battery Time 28

Updating Your Biz Blog 29

2. Best Apps On the Town . . . 31

Wine and Dine

Previewing Menus 32

Finding Local Restaurants 33

Pairing Wine and Food 34

Choosing a Cheese 35

Figuring Out the Tip 36

Mixing Cocktails 37

What’s Happening Nearby

Sharing Discoveries 38

Finding Your Friends 39

Nightlife on the Go 40

Avoiding Parking Tickets 41

Life’s Little Necessities 42

The Silver Screen

Movie Mavens 44

Movies on the Go 46

Going at the Movies 47

Culture Connoisseurs

Locating Museums 48

Finding Local Events 49

3. Best Apps For Leisure. . . . . 51

Social Networks

Updating Your Profile 52

Twitter 54

Instant Messaging 55

Emoting in Text 56

Exchanging Contact Info 57

Books and Literature

Reading Books 58

Finding Nearby Books 60

Perusing the Classics 61

Following Superheroes 62

Word Reference 63

News, Sports, and Media

International News 64

National News 65

Local News 66

Sports News and Scores 67

Business News 68

Reading Web News 70

Reading Web Pages Offline 72

Public Service Channels 73

iv

Rock Out

Internet Radio 74

Traditional Radio 75

Streaming Your Music 76

Belting Out a Tune 77

Learning Chords 78

Getting Your Groove On 80

Requesting an Encore 81

Make Art

Drawing and Painting 82

Virtual Sculpting 84

Temporary Brushwork 85

Enhance Pictures

Improving Your Photos 86

Retro Photography 88

Taking Better Photos 90

Underexposed Shots 91

Wide-Angle Shots 92

Sharing Photos Online 93

Make Movies

Making iPhone Movies 94

Creating Cartoons 96

Video on Older iPhones 98

Streaming Video 99

Watch the Tube

Planning Your TV Time 100

Watching Vintage TV 101

Watching Live TV 102

Watching Live Baseball 103

Expand Your Mind

A Meditative Mood 104

Future Astronauts 105

Busting Your Brain 106

The Power of the Pen 107

Thinking Outside the Box 108

4. Best Apps For Play . . . . . . 111

Arcade Games

A Space Invaders Remix 112

Pizza Parlor Classic Game 113

Death Star Attack Game 114

Retro 3D Game 115

Vengeful Avian Game 116

Mythical Creature Action

Game 117

Facebook Crossover Game 118

Undead Attack Game 119

Digital Dirigible Game 120

Mindless Time-Killer 121

Puzzles

Ax-Wielding Puzzle Game 122

Word Game 123

Crossword Puzzle Game 124

Sudoku Game 126

Maze Game 128

Third-Dimension Game 129

Gambling

Online Poker Game 130

Strategy Games

Real-Time Strategy Game 132

Sliding-Puzzle Strategy

Game 133

Tower Defense Game 134

Chess Game 136

Checkers Game 137

Sports

Soccer Game 138

Basketball Game 139

Golf Game 140

Football Game 141

Car-Racing Game 142

Fantasy Teams 143

Combat Games

Fantasy Combat Game 144

Historical Combat Game 145

Flights of Fantasy

Flight Simulator 146

Space Combat Simulator 147

5. Best Apps At Home. . . . . . 149

Cooking

Healthy Recipes 150

Pocket Cooking Lessons 152

Nutritional Information 153

Shopping and Errands

Mall Shopping 154

Rocking Craigslist 155

Contents Contents

v

Contents

Online Deals 156

Car Maintenance 157

Manage Your Money

Tracking Your Finances 158

Mobile Banking 160

Sticking to Your Budget 162

Trading Stocks 163

Home-Loan Calculations 164

Distract the Kids

Entertaining Toddlers 166

Being “The Cat in the Hat” 167

Early Education 168

Digital Picture Books 169

Drawing Little Pictures 170

Young Zoologists 171

Learning the Numbers 172

Home Work

DIY To-Do Lists 174

Buying Materials 175

Virtual Toolbelts 176

Handyman Jargon 177

Decorating Ideas 178

Household Management 179

6. Best Apps On the Road . . 181

Planes, Trains, and Automobiles

Booking Cheap Trips 182

Organizing Your Itinerary 184

Stuffing Your Suitcase 185

Tracking Flights 186

Stops off the Interstate 188

Hailing a Cab 190

Navigating Mass Transit 191

See the Sights

Visiting Big Cities 192

Admiring Architecture 193

Oddball Americana 194

Explore the World

Maps 195

Globe-Trotting 196

Speaking in Tongues 197

Blending In 198

Sharing Adventures 199

7. Best Apps

For Your Health . . . . . . . . . 201

Medical Matters

Healthcare Records 202

Prescription Reference 203

Fitness

Dieting and Weight Loss 204

Personal Training 206

Striking a Blissful Pose 207

The Sporting Life

Running 208

Cycling 209

Golfing 210

The Great Outdoors

Hiking 212

Extreme Camping 213

Bird-Watching 214

Sky-Watching 215

Gardening 216

Weather Forecasts 217

Index. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 219

vii

Foreword

When the first edition of this book appeared in the summer of 2009, Apple’s App Store offered around 50,000 mini￾programs. Little more than a year later, the App Store has passed the 250,000 mark and is blazing a trail toward a

300,000 apps. With all of them clamoring for your attention, how do you know which ones rise above the others and

which ones you should avoid like day-old sushi in a heat wave?

You could trawl the App Store for new releases every week, listen to Apple’s Genius suggestions, or poll iPhone- and

iPod Touch-owning friends. Or you could get a book like the one you’re holding, the brand-new edition of Best

iPhone Apps.

So what does it mean to be the “best”? If you think about it, best really is a loaded word. Its usage lurches between

something you can prove (as in, “Toy Story 3 had the best ticket sales of any movie opening this weekend”) and

something that’s a matter of personal or collective opinion (as in, “The Oscar for Best Picture goes to…”).

A combination of factors came into play when I selected this year’s best iPhone apps. The biggest one was copious

amounts of time spent in the App Store, downloading and testing hundreds of apps to see how they performed. User

interface was also a consideration—was the app easy to use and navigate, or did it seem like it was designed by the

Galactic Avengers from Planet Garble? And yes, even some personal opinion went into the decision-making.

Other aspects of the evaluation process—like overall sales, App Store popularity, professional reviews, and user

ratings—held less sway, but couldn’t be ignored. After all, when you see that Angry Birds (page 116) is the best-selling

game several weeks in a row, gets overwhelmingly rave reviews, and has a devoted fan base around the world, you won￾der what all the fuss is about and download the game. (And when the app’s sheer inventiveness consumes so much time

that it nearly causes the author to miss a deadline, the app tends to get included in Best iPhone Apps.)

viii

The seven chapters in this book touch on the major aspects of your daily life, from work to play, and home to travel.

So sit back, relax, and take a stroll through the next 200 pages or so. You’ll find apps that will change how you use

your iDevice—and maybe make you use it more often.

Have fun stormin’ the App Store!

About the Author

J.D. Biersdorfer is the author of iPad: The Missing Manual, iPod: The Missing Manual,

Netbooks: The Missing Manual, and several other books. She writes for the New York

Times (a lot); has written for the AIGA Journal of Graphic Design, Budget Travel, and Roll￾ing Stone; and has contributed essays to several books on the collision of technology, art,

and pop culture. She got her first iPhone at an AT&T store in Pennsylvania on June 29,

2007, and her current iPhone on June 24, 2010, after standing in line at Apple’s West 14th

St. store in Manhattan for 6 hours. She welcomes feedback at [email protected],

but suggests contacting the app’s developer if you’re having a specific problem.

1

Best Apps For Work

Compared to smartphones favored by big corpora￾tions (*cough* BlackBerry *cough*), the sleek and

shiny iPhone may seem like its main contribution to

the workplace is to sit there and look pretty while you

wait for your spouse to call. But don’t underestimate

it. With the right apps, your iPhone becomes a serious

tool for running the office (and Microsoft Office) right from your

pocket.

This chapter highlights just a fraction of the huge number of apps

aimed at people who want to do more than watch tiny movies on the

train. They help you get things done, like brainstorming ideas and

tracking projects.

Your iPhone or iPod Touch also helps you work on the go, from

editing spreadsheets in a waiting room to taking dictation. Apps can

also unclutter your life by converting paper to pixels or the reverse,

turning pixels into paper (by printing them).

Communication is key, and apps that make phone calls easier keep

you better connected to your clients and coworkers. And when you

really need to get down to business and geek out, like control your

desktop PC from your phone or update the company blog from

your Touch, you can do that, too. Read on to find out how to tap the

iPhone’s business potential. Photo: Herval Freire

2

For Work

LEFT AND RIGHT: Swipe your finger

from right to left to call up text-editing

commands. Swipe left to right across a

completed task to knock it off the list.

Crossed-off items get an automatic

Done tag (@done) so you can see your ac￾complishments in one place, and you can

add your own tags to list items and search

for them anytime.

BLANK SLATE: TaskPaper lets you jot

down thoughts in a hurry, without getting

bogged down with unnecessary bells and

whistles. Type in an item and then tap the

gear-shaped icon in the bottom-right to

get to basic word-processing commands,

apply searchable tags, or to change an

item’s category. TaskPaper automatically

adds bullet points to its task lists.

Best App for Quick To-Do Lists

TaskPaper

$9.99

Version 1.2.4 | Hog Bay Software

For all iPhones and the iPod Touch

There’s no shortage of organizer apps

for your handheld, but some are more

complex than they need to be. Enter

TaskPaper, a no-nonsense app for

quickly writing down things you need

to do. It organizes your reminders

into three categories: tasks, projects,

and notes. You can manage your lists

online at simpletext.ws, a free site that

stores and syncs TaskPaper notes (you

need a Google account to log in and

use it).

Get Things Done

3

WRITE ON: On the

main screen (shown

above), tap the note￾pad icon to enter your

thoughts on a goal in

a daily journal. You can

review diary entries

from specific days by

tapping the Select

Date button or by ad￾vancing (or retreating)

through the days with

the arrow buttons.

CONNECT THE DOTS:

Once you meet a goal

(or defeat one of your

vices), tap the chart

to “check it off.” Touch

Goal totals your daily

score at the bottom

of the chart. Tap the

buttons along the

bottom of the screen

to add new goals or to

see them entered on a

calendar.

Best App for Tracking Goals

Touch Goal

$3.99

Version 1.7.2 | Green Onion Software

For all iPhones and the iPod Touch

Setting goals—and working toward

them—is often easier if you can see

how you’re doing along the way. With

Touch Goal, you can enter as many

professional or personal ambitions as

you want—as well as bad habits you

want to break—and see your progress

mapped out on an easy-to-read graph.

To keep your spirits positive, Touch

Goal includes 250 inspirational quotes

and soothing background images.

4

For Work

Best App for Sketching Out Ideas

PAPER 2.0: With iNapkin, you don’t have

to worry about losing your scrap of an idea

since it’s right there on your iPhone or iPod

Touch. The app lets you pick one of three

napkin sizes to work with: 512 × 512 pixels,

768 × 1,024 pixels or 960 × 960 pixels.

You can email your virtual napkin to other

people right from the app or share it with

your friends via Facebook.

NAP TIME: iNapkin gives you three basic

tools: a five-color “pen” for writing, an

eraser for corrections, and a hand tool so

you can drag different parts of the napkin

to the center of your gadget’s screen.

Drawing efficiently on the 3.5-inch screen

may take a bit of experimentation to get

the right touch, but there’s plenty of nap￾kin to practice on.

iNapkin

$2.99

Version 1.3 | Luksor

For all iPhones and the iPod Touch

Inspiration can strike at any moment,

and cocktail napkins have historically

been pressed into service to sketch out

visual ideas or jot down quick bits of

information (when they’re not blotting

drink rings, that is). iNapkin brings the

same concept to the small screen for

people who hate typing on the iPhone’s

tiny keyboard or who just need to dash

off a drawing. Just tap open a fresh

napkin, grab your virtual pen, and let

your fingers do the talking.

Get Things Done

5

Best App for Sharing Big Files

ONLINE LOCKER: To see a file stored on

your Dropbox account, tap the My Drop￾box icon and tap the file you want to open.

You can read documents, view photos, and

watch videos stored there. Dropbox lets

you send links by email to others you want

to share your files with and you can store

photos and videos you capture on your

iPhone right in your online Dropbox.

Dropbox

Free

Version 1.2.4 | Evenflow Inc.

For all iPhones and the iPod Touch

Dropbox gives you a virtual online

hard drive you can tap into from

anywhere. To use it, sign up for a

Dropbox account (prices range from

free for 2GB of server space to $20 a

month for 100GB). To share files from

your desktop computer, install the

Dropbox software on your PC or Mac.

That puts a Dropbox folder, linked to

the Dropbox site, on your desktop.

Drag your desktop files into it and ac￾cess them via the iPhone app.

≠Honorabl e Mentio n

MobileMe iDisk

Free

Version 1.2 | Apple Inc.

For all iPhones and the iPod Touch

Apple’s free MobileMe iDisk has

many of the same great file-sharing

and storage features as Dropbox—

with one major difference. While

the MobileMe app itself is free,

you need a $99-a-year MobileMe

subscription to use it. Still, for

those with MobileMe accounts

(which work on Windows PCs as

well as Macs) who sync data and

store files online, the free app is a

nice perk. You can send download

links for big files to friends with

just a tap.