Tag Archives: ipad

Technology

The Best Darn Apps Around, Vol. 2

With hundreds of thousands of apps in the Apple App Store, it’s easy to give up finding quality apps that turn your iPhone into a robot more powerful than Optimus Prime.

Finding new, useful apps is definitely a side hobby, and this curated list below is a dozen of my favorite apps. Please share your favorite apps in the comments so we can all have awesomer iPhones. $5 will get you the whole collection of apps below.

[To check out volume one of my favorite apps, click here.]

Mailbox

This app makes me want to read my email. It’s all about getting through your inbox so nothing remains when you finish. It has slick gesture controls and I love the overall feel of the app.

My favorite feature is the ability to delay email until later. Then, emails don’t sit in your inbox, staring you in the face, waiting for you to move. You can have emails reappear in your inbox when you need them like a perfectly timed ribbon-around-your-finger reminder. I use the delay feature to remind me of appointments or tasks I need to complete, but don’t need to do today.

You also get to see a new jaw-dropping photo hand-chosen from Instagram each day when you get to #InboxZero, which is at least half of my motivation for getting through my inbox.

A few downers: you must use Gmail or Google Apps and there’s no way to access labels from within the app. I understand, since it’s all about processing email, so I keep Sparrow around for when I need to search through labels. Also, you’ll have to get into a waiting line for access to the app, but download it today so you can start the timer.

mailbox-screenshots Continue reading →

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Technology

How to Save and Format iBooks and Kindle Highlights and Notes to Your Computer

I still prefer physical books to eBooks, but one thing I love about eBooks is having all of my notes and highlights already digitally documented.

Unfortunately, Amazon and Apple don’t make saving your notes in a clean format simple. Since I’m a fanatic when it comes to organization and digital hygiene, this is not acceptable (more on how to fix that later).

If you are just looking to get all of your notes and save them in a document, PDF or paper copy (because you hate trees and have filing cabinets from the 1980s) here’s the quick and dirty process.

Kindle and iBooks notes formatting

Continue reading →

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Technology

Save Your Fingers from Finger Fatigue: Using a Text Expander to Improve Your Productivity

Finger fatigue. It’s what you develop after answering a crap ton (more than a normal ton, for those of you who aren’t up on your international measurements) of emails after the holidays. Well, prepare your fingers to do a little happy dance of relief after this delightful world of text expansion is revealed to you.

There are certain things that you write frequently that are just a pain to keep typing out on your computer or smartphone. Things I’m always typing: my email for website logins, my address, bill payment information*, certain phrases at the end of emails i.e. “If you have any questions, please let me know”, etc.

You can probably think of a decent amount of similar things you’re constantly typing, and now you’re thinking, “What a waste of time! I need to get that 3 seconds of time back and spend it doing more important things like reading blogs.” Prepare to have your mind blown by the simplicity of using a text expander.

text expander explanation

A text expander magically transforms a shortcut or abbreviation into a longer word, phrase or giant block of text. You can also use it to auto-correct commonly misspelled words (like restaurant or maintenance that the computer doesn’t always auto-correct because yes, I’m that bad of a speller).

For example, you want to type your cell phone number send it to a stranger you met online friend via email. Instead of typing it, you would just type a shortcut like cpn (short for cell phone number) and then you press the spacebar and Boom! +1 (330) 555 5555 appears where cpn used to be!

Amazing, right? Well that’s just the beginning. If you are a bad speller, use canned email responses to reply to the same emails often, or you are sending out similar but individualized form emails, a text expander will be your new bff Boom! best friend forever!

Here’s some good news. If you have an iPhone or iPad or iTouch or iAnything Apple makes, you already have a free built-in text expander on your device.

To access it, tap Settings -> General -> Keyboard -> Shortcuts and then touch the + sign in the top right corner to add a new shortcut. Type in the full phrase next to where it says Phrase and then type whatever shortcut/abbrev you want to use to generate the expanded text next to Shortcut.

If you’re using a laptop or desktop computer (those are the things that have keyboards that don’t pop up on your screen) you’ll need to snag a text expander app.

If you’re a Mac user, rejoice, because I just found a sweet deal on TypeIt4Me–“the original text expander for Mac.” It’s normally $20, and it’s currently on sale for $5–or five licenses for $10!

Download the trial version of TypeIt4Me here. Once you purchase the code on the website you should receive an email within two days. [If you don’t receive the code right away, no sweat, you can use the trial version for free for up to 30 days while you wait for your code to prance into your inbox.]

If you use a PC, I’m so so sorry. I can’t recommend any specific tools because I don’t have a PC. LifeHacker recommends Texter. UPDATE: As Josh notes in the comments, Lifehacker actually recommends PhraseExpress. To make up for the fact that you’re using Windows, it’s free.

Now, here are a few of my favorite shortcuts:

cpn -> replaces with my cell phone number

jgm -> replaces with my gmail address [j as in Jordan’s gmail]

ngm -> replaces with Niki’s gmail address [n as in Niki’s gmail]

jcm -> replaces with my Cru email address

p28 -> our address [p is the first letter of the street, 28 is the street number]

fb -> Facebook

jjs -> replaces with my full name [my initials]

ljs -> Ljubljana, Slovenia [where we currently live]

wr -> we’re

mtg -> meeting

wknd -> weekend

sm -> =) [as in smiley]

ifq -> If you have any questions, please let me know.

$$ -> € [because I need to type the Euro sign regularly being in Slovenia]

esig -> puts in your email signature like “Hugs and kisses, Jordan”

dmy -> [short for day month year, European-style dating] types the date for you. The code for this is %e.%1m.%y and would appear as 2.1.13 for today’s date. There are lots of options for this in TypeIt4Me by clicking new shortcut and then using Insert for plopping in the date or time format of your choice. Unfortunately, it won’t work for your iWhatever.

Other ideas: adding unique URL endings for companies that have referal programs like Amazon, shortcuts for letters typed in a different language (like sss -> š for me, a character in Slovene), and full-blown emails I’ve used as a form to send out to people. If you are a programmer or write a lot of code, I can only imagine how much time a text expander would save you.

That’s all there is to it! Now hurry, get TypeIt4Me for a steal at $5 for a limited time or buy it for your whole family for only $10.

Do you use a text expander? What are your favorite shortcuts?

*I’m not endorsing you typing your credit card or bank information into this program, because if someone steals your computer they could also steal your banking information. But if you like to live life on the wild side, type in your SSN, Passport Number, bank information, and credit card info and expand away.

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Technology

The Best Darn Apps Around, Vol. 1

Some say clothes make the man. I say apps make the phone.

If you don’t have an iPod, iPhone, or iPad, you’ve effectively rejected consumerism or you’ve just spent your money on the wrong technology. [Totally kidding, but by now you’re offended and the rest of this post wouldn’t be helpful for you anyway.]

I love good apps, and as my closest companions know, I’m evangelistic about products and services I love, so it’s my pleasure to present to you…

Jordan Shirkman’s Best Darn Apps Around, Vol. I

Tweetbot ($2.99) – My most used app. I read nearly every tweet (which is a problem, I know), mostly because Tweetbot is beautiful, intuitive, and feature rich. I hate reading tweets on the Twitter website (#firstworldproblems, I know) because it lacks the features Tweetbot has. Swipe right for a conversation view if the tweet is a reply to someone, swipe left to see any replies to that tweet. Push notifications, profile editing, change lists easily,  and perhaps most importantly, awesome sound effects. You have to buy a separate version for the iPad and iPhone, so it’d set you back $5.98 for both, but it’s totally worth it.

Flipboard (Free) – Flipboard syncs with your RSS reader, Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, and tons of other websites and magazines. It’s great on the iPad, and just as good on the iPhone. It makes reading your friends boring status updates look pretty.

Fighter Verse ($2.99) – Niki and I have been memorizing scripture together, and this app will pay eternal dividends for the $3 investment. It has a weekly plan that gives you a new verse to memorize, you can add your own verses, it has quizzes for memorization, and you can even set your lock screen as the verse your working on memorizing. Oh, and John Piper uses it.

ESV Bible (Free) – Clean, simple, and a great interface. Search for passages, highlight, favorite, and share verses. It’s my go-to Bible app.

Wunderlist (Free) – Everyone needs a task manager, right? I use Wunderlist because it syncs to a web-version and desktop version (although the syncing is quite slow, so make sure you give it time to upload before you quit the app). You can star the most important tasks, set due dates, and create different lists.

Readability (Free) – I was a serious Instapaper fan (and Instapaper [$4.99] still has the edge in saving articles faster and more effectively and deserves a mention here), but Readability is a beauty when it comes to article saving apps. Tweetbot has Readability (and Instapaper) integration, so I can quickly save articles to read later, ad free. You can then archive or delete the articles you’ve read, and star your favorite articles. A number of font options to choose the one that’s easiest on your eyes is what moved me from Instapaper.

iA Writer ($0.99, for a limited time) – A simple, clean, and a non-distracting way to write on your iWhatever. Limited features and no formatting of text so nothing gets in the way of your brain getting text on the screen instead of just worrying about bolding and italicizing it.

Groupshot ($0.99, for a limited time) – This app does the most mindblowingly magical thing I’ve ever seen. Don’t you hate it that even after a few pictures of a group, Uncle George is blinking in the only one where everyone else is looking? This app will merge pictures together and allow you to swap the faces to make sure everyone is smiling. I’ll consider your mind blown.group shot example

Clear Record ($0.99) – The normal voice recorder on the iPhone picks up a TON of background noise, which is pretty sucky if you need a recording that isn’t totally worthless. Clear Record is a voice recording app that packs noise reduction, Dropbox syncing, Wi-Fi and iTunes syncing, file type selection, play speed selection, and the ability to automatically start once you open the app, which is great if you need to record a public talk and want to focus on speaking instead of recording.

Dropbox (Free) – If you’re not using Dropbox, you’re living under a rock or afraid of the cloud. A great desktop app that syncs your files online, and gives you access through the slick iPhone and iPad app. Save your precious storage space and leave your documents online in the mystical cloud.

Amazon Mobile (Free) – Lookup prices on Amazon by scanning bar codes or typing in your search, then add to your cart and check out. Boom. That. just. happened. You can’t buy Kindle books from it thanks to Apple’s restrictions, but you can buy everything else Amazon has to offer. It’s my go-to app for checking book prices.

Evernote (Free) – Store images, text, ideas, and files for easy lookup and reference. Syncs with a desktop app, and I’m beginning to use it more and more for storing addresses, numbers, and ideas by just taking a picture of something. It has handwriting recognition too, so that page of notes you just wrote doesn’t need to be transcribed, Evernote will make it searchable for you.

Chipotle (Free) –

Screen Shot 2013-01-13 at 11.50.17 AM

Order your burrito bowl, pay in the app, and walk to the front of that monster lunch line and pick up your burrito that literally has your name written on it. Then, they call and ask how things went and occasionally stores give you free burritos for being frequent customers (they once wrote welcome back on my bag after I hadn’t ordered in a while, and I can prove it). Awesome.

 

Jetpack Joyride (Free) – The only game that made the cut, but man, is it sick. You control a guy wearing a jetpack and you can buy a piggybank jetpack that propels you with money. Addicting in every way.

Desiring God (Free) – John Piper’s ministry is simply tremendous. The DG app has blog posts, sermons, and other resources as well. Piper is the man, and this app looks remarkable on the iPad.

Elevation App (Free) – Last and certainly not least. Another one of my favorite pastors’ ministry apps (and yes, you’re allowed to like both John Piper and Steven Furtick). Watch, listen to or download sermons.

If you purchased every app above, it’d set you back a whopping $9 (or $12 with both Tweetbot versions) + tax. I call that bang for your buck.

What are your favorite apps?

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