Consume or Create: either way the iPhone is a rockstar
I’ve heard a few people say that the iPad is for consumption rather than creation.  Something about this phrase both disgusts and intrigues me. It feels like the cheesy catchphrase of a generation, something that would be used on a VH1 special. When I was younger, I don’t remember us being so focused on hoarding content. There were collectors (comic books, baseball cards, etc) but these people were … well strange.  In the past few years though, products have emerged to satisfy a constantly connected and informed clientele.  We’re so design conscious and hip aren’t we?  We shouldn’t have to select the gems – give us everything…
Anyway, pushing my soapbox back under the bed, I have an iPhone and looking back at my activities for the last few weeks, I am struck by how little I’ve created with my new toy – it’s as if someone crammed every form of media into an all powerful demon in my front right pocket (the left pocket just doesn’t feel right after years of carrying my blackberry in my right). Â I figure that, rather than fighting these forces, I should embrace them. Â In that vein, here are my favorite apps on the iPhone, purposely split into groups, consumption and creation.
Consumption
1. MobileRSS is an application that I started using on my iPod touch. I’m sure that there are updated RSS readers, but this one does everything I want. I can sync to my google reader feeds, so that I only have to mark something read once. I can also tweet, save for later with ReadItLater, open in Safari etc. The real kicker of the app is the design, which is fluid and intuitive: swipe left or right to move between posts, pull the page down or up to load new posts.
There is a free version that is add supported, but if you’re consuming feeds through a firehouse, it’s worth the 3 dollars to have a cleaner experience.
2. ReadItLater is a way of bookmarking things that you want to (duh) read later. It’s pretty simple and their site walks you through the details of getting the app. I like the integration with MobileRSS, but I love how ReadItLater content is available via the web too. I can bookmark something on my computer and read it on my iPhone through the app or I can grab something on my phone (usually large videos) and read/watch from the comfort of my Mac.
There is a free version of this that suits me just fine, as I rarely share via Twitter or other outlets from the app itself.
3. Kindle for iPhone provides a remarkably comfortable reading experience. If you have a Kindle and have purchased content, you can download one of your books from the digital library and start reading (in seconds). I’ve forgotten my Kindle while traveling a few times and the iPhone/iPod Touch version allowed me to keep reading. You can also email passages of text, something that even my real kindle can’t handle.
The Kindle app is free as in beer and speech (but you can only access your paid content as far as I can tell).
4. Games, games, games… I don’t play games for long, but when I’m sitting on a runway, or waiting in line, it’s a great way to pass the time. I recommend: Collapse, Angry Birds, Ragdoll Blaster 1 & 2, Trenches, Finger Physics free, Unblock Me, Zen Bound 1 & 2, N.O.V.A (this last one is an action packed 1st person shooter, but the rest are simple puzzle games).
These apps may run you from 1 to 3 bucks…
5. Pandora, Last.FM and Grooveshark are all streaming music services that have iPhone apps. It has to be said: these crush your battery life. However, in a pinch, it can help relieve the boredom of your overplayed music collection.
Pandora and Last.FM are free. Grooveshark will require a pro account (worth it at 3 bucks a month) but you can listen to anything in their vast library.
6. This American Life and NPR are streaming radio. Again, the battery thing is a problem, but it’s sooooo worth it if you’re stuck in an airport and need to drown out the angry people on cell phones…
This American Life is paid but supports NPR. The NPR news app is free.
Creation
1. Twitter is what it is – love it or hate it, there is an app. Â Including Twitter proves that my definition of creation is not terribly strict. I like the official version of the app as it’s free and full-featured, but there are other clients out there that work just fine.
2. Evernote is the app form of the service Evernote.com that I’ve written about before. Their tagline is “remember everything” and that pretty much describes how I use the app. I take photos of whiteboards, notes during meetings, voice notes or meeting recordings, and even iPhone screenshots and upload all that to my Evernote account to work on later. It’s my memory dump for everything that isn’t a task and it’s the starting point for nearly every blog post I write (including this one).
Evernote is free, but you can get a pro account for a few extra features.
3. Remember the Milk, like Evernote, is the app form of a larger service. Remember the Milk (RTM) allows me to create and save tasks to my master task that I view on my computer, but it also allows me to mark tasks complete, set reminders, etc all from my iPhone. Like I said before, most of my content goes to Evernote, but if it’s a task (again loooooooose definition of creation) then I use RTM.
RTM requires that you have a Pro account, which runs $20 per year, but you can use the web interface for free.
4. Dragon Dictation is a natural language processing app for your phone that allows you to dictate text and then copy it into emails, text messages or anywhere else that you can hit paste. I was blown away when I first tried this, as the accuracy is freakishly good. You might be dubious about the benefits of an app for this, but try it out.  It’s fantastic.
Dragon Dictation is free.
5. Sketchbook is for drawing. I can barely draw a circle, but I love scribbling out rough ideas to return to later. I can save my images and then suck them up into Evernote for storage (see what I mean? Evernote is awesome).  It’s a one-trick-poney, but then again, how many tricks do you need your ponies to do?
Sketchbook is $2.99.
So the final score is 6/5 Consumption/Creation. I probably could have squeezed in another one or two on either side, but to be honest, consumption could have destroyed creation: I didn’t even include the “reference” part of the consumption family. Apps like Menupages, Google Maps, Yelp, and TripIt are also a huge part of my iPhone usage. I was nice to creation and drew the line closer to the middle…
What apps do you use to consume/create? Shout it out in the comments.
~ab
Note: I’ve written about the iPod touch and my apps before, but I think that this post shows off some of the iPhone specific functions (as well as things I’ve learned since my last post).
