Five Favourite iPhone Apps
By Izzy Muses, on August 10th, 2010
- Sky+ If you’re a Sky subscriber, this app lets you remote record programmes – very handy when someone in the office mentions that a programme is on and you’re not going to make it home in time to see it. You will need a Sky user name and password so make sure you have set up your account online before trying to use this app. You need to select the programme you want to record at least half an hour before the start of the show.
- Starwalk For me, this is the most amazing app on my iPhone. If you’ve ever looked up in awe on a starry night, then Starwalk will appeal to you. It’s a fun educational app that’s really lovely to look at. I like how it names the constellations. On Christmas Eve Starwalk added a whole new element of magic for my nephew who spotted Santa in his sled with reindeer dashing across the night sky. No wonder Santa can cover the entire world in a single day if this is how he travels!
- JotNot A simple idea that uses the iPhone’s camera to turn your phone into a document scanner. I actually used this to scan corrected proofs of a document so that I could email them back to the office. Handy indeed if you don’t have a scanner in the house.
- Words with Friends A user-friendly Scrabble-type game that is potentially addictive. You can choose to play against random opponents, or invite friends. You can also opt to ‘pass and play’. Good fun for Scrabble fans.
- Shazam Everyone knows about Shazam but I have to mention it because it never ceases to amaze me. Point it at the TV when you hear a tune you can’t name, and Shazam will analyse it and give you back the name in seconds. I’ve used this for songs on the TV, in a taxi, in a pub. I’ve even used it to find the name of piece I was playing from memory on the keyboard – mind you, it gave me a different answer twice so perhaps my playing is not as good as I’d like to think!
Shazam sounds brilliant! I would really like an app that can listen to a few disjointed words about, say, a film and then tell you what it is. You know those situations where you say, “oh, you know the one where this young couple drive up to an asylum and they end up being boiled alive in the shower” and everyone looks blank? Also an app that will recognise people from descriptions such as “You remember – she was German, blonde hair? She was in a film with Claire Bloom, it was set in Vienna. I think it was Vienna. After the war…” etc etc
The older I get, the more I find myself in need of such things!