24 Mar 2010

Designers can’t live without… iPhone apps

Designers can’t live without… iPhone apps

By Marnie B (@marnieb) in Creative » Resources & Freebies

I’ve been on a mission lately to find some new iPhone apps as the usual ones just aren’t keeping me interested anymore. Tweetdeck, Facebook and Foursquare get a workout, but the rest of my apps just aren’t useful enough in an everyday sense.

It got me thinking – what apps do other designers use most often? What apps could they absolutely not live without having on their iPhones? I asked around, and here’s what I ended up with.

Adelle Charles (@adellecharles) luvs Tweetie

“I could absolutely not live without Tweetie, I’m a huge Twitter fanatic and Tweetie is the best Twitter client app from a UI design perspective and the functionality outweighs its competitors.”

My verdict:

I was absolutely blown away by how great this Twitter app is. The interface is really sleek and intuitive. What I noticed straight away was how easy it is to identify the people you’re following with its large user pictures. What I loved the most was the DM screen – instead of one big chronological list of DMs, the messages are ordered by user and are shown in conversation format, just like the SMS’ on your iPhone! Coming from something like Tweetdeck, it was hard to get my head around the idea of just using one column/account at a time, but after using it for a few hours I think the way Tweetie handles multiple accounts is much better.

Anthony Hortin (@maddisondesigns) luvs Echofon

“The app that I couldn’t live without is Echofon (I’ve got the free version). I can’t go a day without getting my fix of Twitter, whether I’m sitting at my desk or out and about. I’ve found Echofon to be extremely user friendly and also very stable unlike some other apps that I wont mention *cough* Tweetdeck *cough*”

My verdict:

I tested both the free version and the paid version. From what I can tell, the only real difference is that the free version displays ads. For that reason alone, I’d say go for the paid version if you’re planning to use this app (ads in apps are annoying, don’t you think?). I can’t say I enjoyed using this app. Within 5 minutes of using Echofon, it crashed twice, and the interface just wasn’t as nicely laid out as I had hoped.

Andrew Turner (@andrewturner) luvs Color Expert

“Color Expert is rather useful when you’re sitting down designing, and want to note colors you’re using.”

My verdict:

I can see how this app is a must-have for any designer. With an interactive color wheel, a camera feature that allows you to take and analyze pictures and a huge Pantone library with a complete list of color values for each swatch, this app has to be one of the best of its kind on the market. Definitely worth forking out for, in my opinion.

Dani McDaniel (@dani) luvs Google Mobile and WordPress

“I just recently got an iPhone! So, to be honest, I haven’t really had a chance to figure out the absolute app for me but I definitely think the WordPress app is awesome for being able to jot down thoughts for blog posts as well as the Google Mobile app for quick access to the calendar and docs which is where I manage most of my projects.”

My verdict:

I downloaded the WordPress app a few weeks ago, and so far I haven’t been all that impressed. I think it’d be great for writing posts on the run, but adding images and HTML to your posts on the iPhone is a bit of a pain. Google Mobile however is a gem. The voice search function works fairly well, providing you’re looking for a term it can recognize, and it gives you easy access to your Google apps. My one beef with the app though is that the apps open up in Safari, rather than within the app.

Grace Smith (@gracesmith) luvs Byline

“Honestly I couldn’t live without Tweetie, Paypal or Ego but the app I find most useful would be Byline which allows me to use my Google Reader account to browse and keep track of my RSS Feeds. Rarely do I get the time to browse through my feeds on my Mac these days so this app helps me to keep up to date with industry news and interesting articles and resources.

You could ask why pay £2 for this when the Google Reader website is mobile optimised and free, but one of it’s main advantages is that it caches webpages that are linked in your reader, not just the summaries, making them available to read offline.

The interface is also much nicer and easier to use. It’s extremely responsive, with smooth scrolling, zooming and rotating and memory of page location.

It’s certainly not perfect (yet) but it takes the ‘chore’ out of reading RSS Feeds for me!”

My verdict:

I’m an app girl and I don’t like reading my RSS feeds in browsers, so I’m really thrilled with Byline. The interface does make reading your feeds a pleasure, but it isn’t as smooth as I’d like when you introduce posts with a lot of images.

Brian Hoff (@behoff) luvs Dropbox

“I love the Dropbox app as much as I love Dropbox. Makes it easy to send stuff to clients even if I’m out. Especially since I work directly off Dropbox for everything that relates to my business.”

My verdict:

The app is fast, lightweight and easy to use. I personally don’t use Dropbox so I don’t have much use for it, but if you’re using Dropbox and don’t have the iPhone app – go and download it! It’ll make sharing files a whole lot easier.

Jacob Cass (@justcreative) luvs Foursquare

“To be honest, I’m not really sure why I use it, it’s addictive I guess.”

My verdict:

I can vouch for that – Foursquare is completely addictive. For those of you that don’t use it, Foursquare is a location-based social network with some bits and pieces, like badges and becoming Mayor of different places, added in for fun. I try to check in almost everywhere I go, which makes it easy to keep my online and offline friends updated on what I’m doing.

I’m always on the hunt for a new app to download, so leave a comment and let me know what iPhone apps you use the most. We’re also looking at turning this into a bit of a series – things designers can’t live without – so if there’s something you’d like us to write about, let us know!

Marnie Bergan

By Marnie Bergan

Marnie B is a graphic designer based in Australia. She blogs about design when she's not designing or sleeping, and loves cupcakes, her iPhone and tweeting.

You can find out more about Marnie here or you can catch up with her online via Twitter or Facebook.

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