Rants and raves of the Apple Fanboy in me

A Tale of backup and restore

2013-02-05T19:21:00.001-08:00

When Apple released the iPhone 5, I got myself a 16GB CDMA version. I knew this space limitation meant that I have to rethink several of my on-device data concepts and strategies. Later on that. This article is talking about something else.

My strategies of managing with the 16GB limitation worked out pretty well for the past 6 months or so, but recently I noticed that I am hitting free space left in MB's. More in the last month because of the wonderful Appgratis™, which was sending out great deals everyday. If you haven't checked it, read my previous article here.

Now I was facing the worst crunch of space. I considered deleting a few heavyweight apps or removing all of the music from the device. But then I remembered an article which talks about ~~gaining~~ reclaiming space on iOS devices via a backup & restore. Time to try that out :)

Holy moly!!! I seriously did not think the approach will give me any space, so I did not measure what the free space was before the operation. But I am pretty damn sure it was only about 150MB's. Now I have close to 3.6 GB available for me. That's some serious gunk that has been removed. I repeat - No apps were removed, no music was deleted, no animals were hurt in the process, nothing was lost. Even the pictures and videos were back in the photos library which I think would have parted me [I forgot to backup a small set of recent pictures from the photos app ;)]

<Warning: Strong winds and extremely hot temperatures ahead>

I expect you reading this meant you did not take heed of my warning above. Good. That was a joke. Anyhow I advise you to backup pictures or any valuable data that you have on the device manually - either to iPhoto or your desktop or anywhere you think it is safe. The whole process is time consuming so make sure you do this when @ home, when you have free time and when you have a backup phone to receive calls. The whole process took me about 2 hours, not bad since you can watch a movie meanwhile.

Steps

1. Connect your device to iTunes

2. Right click on the device and do 'Transfer purchases'

3. Right click on the device and do 'Sync'

4. If you are backing up to iCloud, temporary change that to backup to this computer.

5. Right click on the device again in iTunes, and this time select 'Back up'. This should be done in about 5 minutes.

6. Right click for the last time, and this time select 'Restore from Backup'. It will show you a pop up where you can select the last backup you made, a few minutes before. Select that and hit continue.

7. Pray to god, cross your fingers, go watch a movie :)

8. Your device will reset to factory condition, all the data, apps and music will be copied back and you will have the device restored to previous state in a matter of hours.

9. A few apps might need to be logged into, but most of the apps even retain that info.

Enjoy the reclaimed space!!!

Must have app for iOS Owners - Appgratis

2013-01-30T10:01:00.000-08:00

Not every app is free in the app store. This doesn't mean that they are paid for ever. There are days when the developers decide to make them free for a limited time, or some third party encourages the developers to do so so that the app gains fame really fast. There are also 'bundles' once a while (Android/Mac/PC apps), but I haven't seen that in the iOS world yet.

I discovered Appgratis™ recently and that really changed a whole lot of this equation. The agenda is simple
- The developers behind Appgratis™ talk to other developers, arranging for one paid app to be made free for 1 day. Appgratis™ has an excellently and minimally designed app which pushes new free app notifications to you everyday and you can read about the free app before going into buy it (I honestly mean get it FREE!!!). That's it. You can also look at the past deals section and see all the wonderful deals they had bucketed before.

So if you own an iOS device, either and iPhone, iPod or iPad, go get Appgratis™ now. Free.

Here scan this QR code if you feel lazy to search for it :)

Slice : Package Tracker Xtreme

2012-03-09T14:36:00.001-08:00

Want an automated package tracker that can track your purchases by just scanning your emails?
Wondered how much online shopping you have done till date?
Don't remember what product X cost you a few years back?
Want a system to manage and view your online order receipts?
Want to be notified when the price drops for one of your purchases?
Want to be notified when a product gets delivered at your door step?
Want to see your product on its way in a Map view?

If you answered 'Yes' for at least one of the above, go get an app called Slice from the iTunes Store/Android market.

Once you setup Slice to scan your email (only Gmail and Yahoo Mail is supported currently) it will automagically scan and find all your online order receipts and neatly display them in a summary view which tells you a total count of purchases and dollar total. From there you can easily drill into all orders, open orders, on the way and more. From there on wards, any new digital order receipt on its way to your email will be added to Slice and you can forget about manual package tracking forever.

Slice has taken over my number 1 package tracking software till date - Delivery Status, but I guess I will still use Delivery status because it can still send me notifications to my Mac desktop. So don't wait anymore...Go get Slice >>> iTunes Store Google Play [previously Android Market]

PS: This is a secret tip for the more curious. Slice also has a website at https://www.goslice.com/

If you login to your account (you could skip account creation if you used oauth using Google of Facebook) you can manage more properties of your account, filter by stores, unsubscribe from newsletter and do a lot more. Also if you think Slice missed one of your email order receipts due to a non supported vendor or some other reason, you could forward your emails to orders@goslice.com and Slice will take care of it.

What all apps do you have?

2011-12-25T19:37:00.000-08:00

Well....these are what I have... :)

The list is dynamic and when newer and better apps arrive some of these get replaced by me. But I will come back and update this list once a while so don't forget to check back later. Do leave if a comment if you have any interesting or useful app I have not listed down here.

Let me also warn you - I have gazillions of apps. I am a app junkie/evangelist and so many of my apps may not interest you. Also having so many apps does not mean that I use them day to day. They stay in my repository either for evaluation or because I am undecided whether to keep them or not. It is up to you to decide and discern if you need it or not. A one liner about each is provided for convenience but I am not mentioning the price so that you can go and have a look and decide if it worth purchase or not. Most are free so you don't have to worry :). I am also categorizing apps based on how I have arranged them in folders. It may not be the app store category but how I have done categorizing based on my use. I hope it helps
in forming your own folders.

Apple - Stock apps from Apple

Find my iPhone - Locate or notify lost/misplaced iDevices and Mac using this tool
Reminders - Key in reminders and get notified without fail.
Notes - Take notes and sync them to iCloud.
Find Friends - Find your friends in real time maps and Get directions
Contacts - Sync to iCloud/Google and have all your contacts in one place
iTunes - Find new and popular music from Apple's own store
Cards - Send Snail mail post cards the older way, after designing it here. The advantage - you only have to design. Apple does the dirty work of creating, stamping and mailing for you.
Airport Utility - Again from Apple, lets you scan your Wifi and configure you Airport extreme/express devices as well as gives a lot of info about the network.
Game Center - Track your progress amongst games, find friends and play against them
Stocks - Not some thing I use, but I know this will be a stock brokers primary app.

Books Apps - Apps to read books/comics

Kindle - Book reader from Amazon (free & paid books available)
iBooks - Apple's stock boom reader (free & paid books available)
Google Books - Google's version of book store (free & paid books available)
Stanza - A really good book reader app with sources such as Project Gutenberg.
GoodReader - Carry your books, PDF's and docs anywhere using this
Marvel - Comics from Marvel
DC Comics - Another good comic reader
Comics by comiXology - Has several sources; marvel, dc and more.

Browser Apps - Different browsers I like with niche capabilities

Dolphin - Gesture based navigation, Tabs, Download manager and a lot more
Opera Mini - Tabs, Speed dial, Sharing and more
360 Browser - Gestures, Plugins, Firefox sync, Tabs and more
Atomic Web - Tabs, User agent simulation, Downloads and more.

Camera Apps - Apps that take pictures and allow basic editing

Stock Camera App that comes with iOS
Camera+ - The best camera app I have came across yet with lot of controls and editing
GifVid - Make animated Gif Images using short video capture
Instagram - One of the best sharing and vintage editing tools
Photosynth - Build 360 degree panoramas
WEcam - Photobooth looks, effects

Chat Apps - Keep in touch with friends

Facetime - Video chat client from Apple
iMessage - Messaging client from Apple
eBuddy/eBuddy Pro - Messenger client; Connects to multiple services simultaneously (GTalk, Facebook, Yahoo, MSN, ICQ etc)
Facebook Messenger - chat with your Facebook friends
Skype - The best multi platform video chat client
Google Voice - Call/Text/Voicemail from Google
Yahoo Messenger - Trusty ol' video/chat client
Tango - A newer kid of the breed. Lets you video chat multi platform.

Connectivity Apps - Apps that help to connect virtually

iTeleport Connect - If you want to remotely control your PC/Mac, this is a really good app which uses Google Authentication. Once setup remote login is a breeze.
TeamViewer - Another app I use mostly to remote login to my dad/sister's PC and fix stuff. Also can be used to troubleshoot any user who has Teamviewer app installed on their PC/Mac by letting you know the randomly generated authorization code
Citrix - Remote login to office desktop
Roku - Control your Roku device and use this as an extended remote
Remote - This one is from Apple and can be used to control iTunes using a wifi network.
Webex - Join Webex meetings and join remote presentations
GoToMeeting - Similar to Webex above
Bump - Transfer contacts info, pictures, files, links to Music and Apps, calendar events, Social network info etc just by bumping your devices together
Sony MediaRemote - If you have a Sony blu-ray player, TV or home theater, this app can control them (newer models)
Tune.Remote - Remote control another iDevice running same app to play songs of your like.

Data Storage Apps - Online storage services

Dropbox - The best online sync and storage app available out there. Thousands of apps out there have the facility to sync to Dropbox and there are clients for Windows and Mac, which brings your data to the tip of your fingers. 2 GB free and upgradeable.
Pogoplug - A new comer in this field but with a twist - in addition to the free storage they provide, you could buy a device they offer which converts your external hard disks into cloud servers giving you access to Gigabytes and Terabytes of data
Box.net - Storage/Sync service which can automatically upload photos from your camera roll to the cloud as well as provide a cool 5 GB of free storage [upgradeable].
Microsoft SkyDrive - This one is from the big guys at Redmond and offers 25GB free.

Entertainment Apps - Enjoy you free time playing around these

Talking Tom - Entertain the kids using this funny accented cat which repeats everything you say in its accent and does some funny tricks.
Epic Citadel - You need at least an A4 processor to get this running fluidly. Roam around an ancient and fantasy land of Infinity blade. The graphics are jaw dropping.
HoloToy - Get your share of 3D with Holotoy. It comprises of a few 3D games and Effects. No glasses required.
OuttaMyWay - Love the Cop cars? Then get this one at least as the cars they use will never get in your hands unless you are a cop. Jokes apart, create fancy lights which matches what they use and make the same noises as in a car chase/emergency.
Talking News - Tom the cat is back with his buddy Talking Ben. Whatever you say, these two guys will repeat in their own style. Also make them fight, make pranks at each other and play news recorded by others.
FluidFX - Play around making some awesome fluid transitions like you see in movies to any background picture. Let the Hollywood studios cower in fear.

Finance Apps - Plan and manage finances

Mint.com - The best portfolio management app/site out there which can link to all your financial institutions like banks, credit cards etc and give you an overall picture of your finances, lets you create budgets as well as brings you a plethora of graphs to explore trends.
Paypal - Manage money style with Paypal. Its secure and helps you send or receive money, drop checks without going to the bank and do a lot of other finance management.
CardStar - This one is for saving all the store cards you have. Just have the app scan your store card bar code, and this will save it in a bar code or numeric format for you so the next time you get somewhere like Fred Mayer or Library, just flash out the virtual card in your app and have it scanned. Easy as that!
Square - This one helps you if you are in the market selling either products or services. Square sends you a free credit card reader dongle which you can attach to your iDevice's music port and collect money for your services.
BofA - This app will be useful to manage your account with Bank of America to check balances, transfer money and more.

Health Apps - manage your health, insurance and services

Walgreens - Create a free Walgreens account from this app and it lets you refill your prescriptions, get medical advice and a lot more.
Aetna - If your health insurance is with Aetna in the US, this app lets you view and manage your account, get medicine costs and more.
iTriage - Get information on symptoms, doctors, facilities, diseases, medications and a lot more using this pocket Doctor.

Instrument Apps - Apps that make music or help managing music

djay - Be the local DJ. One of the best DJing apps out there. With a feature set which matches professional DJ-ing software, this is the go to app if you are into this.
Tap DJ - Another DJ app with lot of vocal effects you can push in during play
Bebot - This one is a funny creature making sounds of Organs and a lot other techno instruments. Fun to play around.
PocketGuitar - The guitar in your pocket. Amazing effects and reverbs.
Zoozbeat - Make sound effects, loop them and save for later
Virtuoso Piano - This one for the piano junkies. Awesome replica of a live piano.

Movie Apps - Apps related to movies, video playback and TV

iMovie - iMovie by Apple lets you create awesome videos, edit and add effects and upload to several service like Youtube, Facebook, camera roll etc.
Videos - Stock video player app in iOS.
Youtube - Stock YouTube player.
Netflix - Stream movies, manage your instant queue and search for new movies.
Trailers - This app from Apple lets you stream new trailers, view schedules, theater info, calendar of release and more.
Flixster - Stream trailers, see ratings from rotten tomatoes, view theater info and more.
IMDb - View trailers, cast, movie info and more from IMBb.
Fandango - Buy tickets, view reviews, see ratings, theater info, rate movies and more.
VLC - Another alternative player for iOS which can play more video formats than the stock player.
Vevo - Music videos from vevo.com.
HBO - View Schedules, watch trailers, get access to HBO Go and more.
YuppTV

Music Apps - Apps related to music, managing music and radio

Binaural Beat - Hear soothing voices in immersion 3D. Helps you concentrate, relax or focus based on the soundtrack being played. You could even create custom pleasing sounds.
MyTunes - This one is from SRS labs, world leaders in audio technologies. MyTunes is basically a music player app which you can substitute for the stock music player app with heavy audio effects and synthesis. This has actually replaced the stock music player for me.
amp - Dynamic queueing, transitions and some effects.
TuneIn Radio - The best radio application out there which can tune into local radio stations via Internet stations. Has around 40,000+ radio stations in its arsenal so you will definitely find your local station here.
Pandora - Pandora is famed than most other radio stations because of the customizations you can make and the channels/filters you can create.
iHeart Radio - Like TuneIn radio above, your gateway to a lot of local and international radio stations.
RangDe - Indian radio stations app.
Desi Beat - Indian radio stations app.
Desi Radio - Indian radio stations app.
Savn - Indian radio stations app.
Last.fm - Famous, lots of channels and customizations and availability of all new songs.

News/Magazine Apps - Read the latest headlines

Flipboard - The really good feed reader for the iPad, this is one application which is intuitive as well as the leader when it comes to content aggregation. Easy to browse and fun to read.
Reeder - The 'Best' RSS reader out there. If you are using Google reader, this is the best front end to it in an iOS device. The usability and innovation of this needs more praise than what is described here.
Instapaper - Save articles for offline reading
Pulse News - Really good graphical feed reader with default feeds and configurability
Zinio - A magazine rack for you to get digital issues of all latest magazines
BBC News - iOS app of the famous news channel
Google Currents - The newest player in content aggregation and from Google, this one brings down content for offline reading.
Flud News - Another promising content aggregator. This one aggregates and displays based on topic so it is easier to manage.
Zite - Acclaimed content aggregator Zite also is one of the best in the breed with autolearning and more.

Photo Apps - Apps to edit and enhance photos

Snapseed - A lot of effects, localized healing and more. The defacto photo editing and tweaking app.
SketchBook - If you are into drawing, editing photos and want precision editing with a multitude of tools, pencils and brushes, this one is for you.
Photoshop Express - Simple and quick levels, brightness adjustment and more.
Best Camera - An awesome array of filters to suit any occasion.
ColorCanvas - If black and white photos with a tinge of color or smart colored areas are your favorite, this is your go to app.
My Sketch - Convert your photos into pencil sketches
Juxtaposer - Overlay images and erase or un-erase to bring features you like. Good one to overlay two faces and play around.
Morph123Lite - Morph one image to another in this classic morph app.
Squeeze it - Squeeze and distort images to your will

Productivity Apps - Be a master of efficiency

Evernote - Note taking app par excellence. Syncs to web and has a desktop app too. My ultimate note taker for anything and everything. Please see my complete end to end article on Evernote here!.
ToDo - This app from Appigo is my "Go to" app for reminders. I have the 'absent minded professor' syndrome :) and so any reminder to get stuff done helps. Jokes apart, with iCloud syncing and a gazillion features, this will be an app you wont forget.
Writepad - Convert your hand written texts to digital notes with this app. It will convert written english into typed using some magnificent OCR capabilities and also syncs back to Evernote.
Numbers - This app from Apple is almost a replacement for Microsoft Excel if you can get away with some limitations it has. Documents sync to cloud and are available everywhere. I would call it the pocket Excel :)
Voice memos - If you are the Auditory kind of note taker, then this app from Apple is for you. Record hour long voice memos for your perusal later.
Dragon Dictation - Dictate in voice and copy the transcribed text anywhere in the system.
Mindjet - This app is for the visual people. A mind mapping tool in which you can plot out ideas logically.
JotNot Pro - Scan your documents into PDF/Evernote accounts using the build in camera. Has excellent OCR capabilities
Zendre - Set targets and increment/track them using this tracking tool.

Reference Apps - Apps for reference

Dictionary - A classic dictionary app with offline dictionary access.
Wikipedia - Access wikipedia in this miniature wiki app.
HSW - If you are the curios kind, this app helps you find the background workings of different stuff.
CoolFacts - A fun facts app to kill some free time.
Nikon L&E - Even if you don't have a Nikon Camera, it is good to have this app as it teaches you photography basics and acts as a quick reference.
WTFact - Another fun facts app to kill some free time.

Social Apps - Stay up to date with social networks

Facebook - The best social networking client from the best network :)
Google+ - Rising star among social networks. Has the capability called Huddle by which you can video chat up to 10 participants at a time.
Twitter - Client for Twitter, by Twitter. Very well designed.
LinkedIn - Business social networks from LinkedIn
Forsquare - Location based social networking and deal finder
Latitude - Location based social network, friend finder
Google - An all in one tool, with voice search, image search via google goggles and quick access to google's apps. Worthy of the dock. What I like most is the goggles, by which you can use the inbuilt camera and take a picture of anything and it will search of similar images, color, products, as well as do OCR search for you.
Translate - Google translate engine at your finger tips
Flickr - Image sharing app from Flickr
Gmail - Gmail official client. If you like features like Priority inbox, starring, labelling etc of Gmail web interface, and miss it in the default iOS mail client, this app is for you.

Store Apps - Online market place apps

App Store - Apple's market place to get new apps and updates and more.
Living Social - Deals from Livingsocial.com
Groupon - Deals from Groupon.com
Amazon - Amazon shopper, market place
Google Shopper - Search by scan, speech and more in google shopping and get daily offers.
Red Laser - Scan barcodes and search the price in several shops at one time.
Apple Store - Get your Apple hardware/software/genius bar appointments and even make purchases using this app.
Saveology - Deals from Saveology.com

System Apps - Apps that display system, network speed

System - Display a lot details about your iDevice. Background tasks, System memory usage, CPU usage and more.
Speed Test - If you ever want to test the speed of Wifi/3G connections for upstream and downstream speeds, you nee this app.

Travel Apps - Apps that help you in planning/during travel

TripIt - Plan your trip in detail, save itineraries, Save flight details, view gate info, get flight delay info and more with this travel planner. Also syncs to TripIt.com
TripDeck - Similar to TripIt above, can be upgraded to do a lot more.
HotelPal - Locate and get reviews and pricing on hotels in any part of US. Features maps and sorting by distance, price and more.
GateGuru - Track flights, view airport maps and more.
Weather - Default weather app with iOS.
Maps - Default maps app in iOS.
TWC - More detailed weather tracking with layers and more.
Goby - Find interesting places and stuff to do locally or around places.
Places - Google places helps you locate restaurants, bars, ATM's, Gas stations and more as well as rate them.
MapQuest - An alternate to Google Maps. Easily find amenities like Hotels, Shopping centers, Coffee, Parking, Banks, Rest Areas and more while you are travelling.
Google Earth - Zoom into a Hi-def earth using this.
Yelp - An App to access Yelp.com faster.
Taxi Magic - Book Taxi services, Locate a driver nearby and locate the cab coming for you easily in participating cities and services.
Truck Stops USA - Locate stops, rest areas, weighing stations and more.

Utility Apps - Apps that help you getting stuff done

Deliveries - Track deliveries with interactive Maps and push alerts using this beautifully designed delivery tracker.
Prey - If ever your device gets lost, Prey helps you to track it down, take photos of the thief and more.
AppBox Pro - 100+ tools stuffed into this single tool
Sleep Cycle - Analyze and organize your sleep pattern and wake up refreshingly everyday using this app.
Dual Level - A classic two way bubble level. Find levels using your iDevice.
Word Lens - Convert info boards, pictures of language and more on the fly from one language to another on the fly. Useful when travelling to foreign land.
Fake A Call - Fake a call helps you to fake it, as it suggests if you have to get out of not so important meetings/discussions pretending you got a call.

In addition to all the above, there are some apps that I have which stay out of folders and on my home screen/dock for quick access. Here are those.

Apps on HomeScreen - Apps used most often

Clock - Stock clock app from Apple.
Calendar - Stock calendar app from Apple.
Calculator - Stock Calculator app from Apple.
SoundHound - A music reverse search engine par excellence. Let it hear a clip of music or hum to it and it finds the music played in couple of seconds. Most useful when you hear that new hip track that you want to find.
Dragon Go! - A speech synthesized search app that lets your search several places [Google, Wikipedia, Fandango, Youtube etc] in one shot.

Apps on Dock - Apps available on all home screens for quick access

Mail - Stock mail client from Apple.
Safari - Stock web browser from Apple.
Music - Stock music player from Apple.
Settings - Manage your device settings from here.

Blackest Night...

2011-10-06T15:15:00.000-07:00

Steve Jobs was more than a revolutionary innovator. He was the driving force who brought back Apple computers back from the ruins. Without Steve, I can only imagine where Apple would have been the present day.

I came to know of Steve really late. It might be in the late 2000'ds time frame that I came to know his name. Then he was just the CEO of Apple for me, like many other CEO's. Apple computers meant high end for me and Windows was my playground. But the first iPod I purchased out of curiosity changed it all. The innovation, the technology, the user friendliness....All that from a small music player i never expected from...My Story with Apple began there...My Macbook pro, iPad and other iDevices bonded this devotion like rock. That is when I had a second look at the man who started it all. A great visionary, leader and change maker. Several of his iQuotes moved me just like it did the rest of the world. The radical change he brought to the Apple line of products revolutionized the whole industry and gave way to the rise of several new ideas and products. For jobs, perfect was not perfect. Every nook and cranny had to be perfect for the product to be perfect. His detail for perfection was well known and respected too.

Here's my ode to the crazy one....

Evernote Update!

2011-09-07T11:49:00.000-07:00

Yippee!!!

Last week I posted an article about the advantages of Evernote and how to use it. This weeks addition brings in more juice to the already existing features...

Evernote Corporation just announced a feature for the Free users of Evernote which was available only to the premium users till now. Free users can now save any kind of file into Evernote. Previously it was restricted to text, audio, images and PDF's. This adds a lot more functionality to your already trusted repository of information storage.

Dont get run out of quota though!!!....Free users have a monthly allowance of 60MB where as premium users have 1GB upload limit. Also free users can have only 25MB per note where as premium users can have 50MB.

Anyhow I am really excited....Are you? :)

Remember Everything - Evernote

2011-09-05T16:29:00.000-07:00

One of my top favorites, and most used apps is Evernote. It is basically an information repository and manager where you can store bits and pieces of information and a lot more and later find them easily using search and tagging functionality. Most important of all its free [premium upgrade available with a lot of additional features] and syncs to the web so that you can access the data anywhere. Now isn't that worth a look? :)

It’s easy as creating a free account and installing the application in your desktop or Smartphone. Versions for iOS, Android, BB, Windows Phone, Windows, Mac etc are available and you can use multiple simultaneously and be ultra productive. In my case I use it on my iPod Touch, iPad, Web, Windows Computer as well as Macbook Pro. This kind of omnipresence makes it a companion you will never forget, and if even forgotten you might have one or the other device near you to get into it. Evernote has public API's which other developers can use to integrate it into their applications. For common people, this means you can use multiple apps that integrate into Evernote and act as your information repository.

Evernote has a lot of cool features you will like and I can speak volumes about each. Here is a short intro into some I use the most.

Tags - These are the most used feature by me and I encourage everyone to use them too. And use them wisely. This is because for a beginner coming from a Hierarchical file system usage where you keep your documents inside folders, tagging opens up a new world which will initially cause frenzy, and then a slowdown and sometimes even an aversion. The world is moving and new technologies arrive, pushing behind some of the older concepts. Even this topic of folders and their arrangement is a big topic to discuss, sometime later. But for now let’s just concentrate on one subject - using tags. I would advice not to use the folders and folder stacks in Evernote (which everyone might not agree) and use tags instead. For example if you have some financial document which and there needs to be something done with it as well? Do you keep it in folder 'Financial' in your file system or in the folder 'Todo'? Add in some more attributes which are related and you are in a distress. Now with Tagging, you can place all your docs into one location and assign multiple tags to them. This makes finding them easy as you might remember one or the other tags (which are essentially text strings). Voila. It takes some time to settle into this system and develop your tagging methodologies, but I assure you this will be really helpful once you are comfortable in this.

Saved searches - One another killer feature, this lets you save your searches for future. So let’s say you search for the keyword 'Auto' every now and then and then have to filter notes with 1 or 2 tags from it you are interested in. If you create a saved search with all these attributes, it makes your life really easier. Evernote has published how to use search keywords and sample uses in their website which you can look at. I will create a different posting on my tagging and saved searches system.

Tables and Lists - You can create tables and bulleted lists in Evernote. These come in handy when you want some kind of organization in your notes. Support for paragraphs, indentation etc is also there. The table support is rudimentary but the basic function of Evernote is not spreadsheet so the current table related features are enough as per me. Your miles may vary.

Optical Character Recognition – Evernote goes through any picture that you upload and scans for text. This means if your pictures had something written on them, Evernote will convert it into searchable text for you. This is a really useful feature when you use a scanner and add it to Evernote because it makes your scanned documents searchable. Bingo!!

How I use it mostly? I use Evernote everywhere.

As a To-Do list - One of the beauties of Evernote is the ability to integrate checklists that you can mark as done by touching checkboxes. These come in handy whenever you need to save something for latter and mark as complete when done. Shopping carts/errands/stuff for future - you name it and you can make it.
As a repository of all my important documents - Now this one may be not for the paranoids. I store my certificates, scanned copies of credit cards, copy of drivers license, lease agreements, medical records etc in Evernote. This gives me instant access to such documents when in need. No more hunting for such stuff when in NEED!
As a starting point of articles for the Blog - Now that one is easy. The availability of Evernote makes writing and updating easy wherever I am. I might write something from home, and while I am away, remember something and add/update it from one of the other devices. No need to hunt around for that one random whatever.txt file that I might have stored 5 levels deep in the file system of my computer which is shutdown
As a place to save random stuff from the web - Living in this era means you will have a lot of information/articles in the internet you might be interested in/stumble upon accidentally that you might want to save. Evernote has plug-in for most major browsers and email clients like outlook. These are called clippers, and help you extract either a whole page or a portion you are interested into Evernote. Find some article you like and just press the web clipper button and zoooooom....there you have it. Article saved and ready for search/future use.

Evernote has blended into my DNA so much that I can't even think of a minute without it. Go get Evernote Here!

What are your Top 10 iPhone Apps?

2011-08-26T16:15:00.000-07:00

Everyone has a hotlist of preferred apps that they use most often. This differs from person to person depending on their needs, how often they use the device and other criteria. This makes suggesting new apps for people difficult too. But there are always some common apps that every individual could benefit.

Here is my list, not in order of preference but just listing my top 10. You can add yours in the comments if you wish to and this helps in finding out good apps for everyone.

Evernote
Dropbox
ToDo
Reeder
Instapaper
Facebook for iPhone
Soundhound
Flixster
TeamViewer
The Weather Channel

I could have chosen more, but I wanted to restrict it to 10, so these made it there. I would be writing a series of posts about each of these and how useful these are, and about many more too, so stay tuned. Meanwhile I encourage you to add any of yours favorites in the comments section below :)