Utilities
When the iPad was first released it was described as a media consumption machine perfect for surfing the internet and mobile content. I remember my first thought was "I hope that the mobile browser is really good". unfortunately I was left wanting more out of the iPad than Safari. The biggest thing that was missing for me was tabbed browsing. Being a Firefox user for years I had grown accustomed to multiple tabs and the convenience they provide. Enter iChromy. iChromy is the mobile browser that Safari should have been. With a streamlined user interface, tabbed browsing, and speed, this browser really makes web surfing on the iPad fun and easy. Not developed by Google, iChromy still looks (and performs) very similar to the Chrome web browser.
Tabbed Browsing
Lets start with the reason that I went looking for a new mobile browser, tabs. Opening iChromy places you in the initial tab just like your favorite browser for your desktop. Pressing the familiar "+" sign opens a second tab placing the original tab and its content in the background. One of my favorite features of the tabs in iChromy verses other tabbed browsers available for the iPad is the auto hiding address bar. As you scroll down your page, the address bar disappears providing you with extra screen space. To make the bar reappear all you have to do is scroll to the top of the page.
Omnibox
Omnibox is iChromy's name for it's address/search field and is essentially the address bar and a search bar combined into one. In this bar you can type a traditional URL OR any search term. This isn't the first browser to incorporate search to the address bar, but it's definitely a must have for any quality web browser.
Offline Reading
Ever wish you could read your favorite web page while you're on that subway or flight that doesn't have wifi? With iChromy, you can. By simply tapping the eyeglass symbol next to the Omnibox you save the webpage and all of its content for later viewing. This is great for those of us that don't have 3g models and aren't always near Wifi.
Speed
While I don't have any hard numbers to share with you, like it's namesake iChromy just feels snappier. Pages load quickly, it seems to navigate around really fast and not bog down the iPad. Again I don't have any scientific proof of this, but it feels faster.
Some Changes
Just like any App there is room for improvement. The first thing that I would like to see is password saving. I really enjoy that feature on Firefox. I'd the option to be able to save my passwords for the next time that I visit a webpage. Not a problem for me, but there is no private browsing option. Some people like to browse without saving their history. Lastly unlike most Apps, tapping the top middle of the screen doesn't take you to the top of the page. This is important since the address bar disappears as you scroll down the page.
The Browser for you?
iChromy is a really good tabbed App for anyone used to the Google Chrome interface. With the smooth interface, quality tabbed system, and speed I can't recommend this App enough to everyone. I really enjoy this App and can't wait to see what they have in store for future updates.
You can get iChromy for the iPad from the iTunes store for free here: 
Every now and then at the end of my presentations we give away prizes. While we have a variety of ways of picking people at random, sometimes there's a need to pick a random number from say a range of ticket numbers. I've got a great App on my Mac called TicketDrum that shows the prizes and all, it's also nice to have the option on my iPhone or iPad. This is where Random Master comes in. This simple App allows you to enter a starting and ending number and then allows you to pick a random number within that range. It animates the picking of the number for a few seconds to add a little drama or suspense to the process. You can also pick a random letter or symbol. The randomness doesn't stop there. The app also allows you to create custom lists of names and randomize those as well. This universal App works on all iOS devices including iPhone, iPad and iPod touch.
While Random Master performs as advertised, the one feature that I'd like to see is the ability to import a tab/comma delimited list of names instead of having to add them manually on the device. This would be great for quickly adding a registration list to your random draw. Otherwise, it's great app for the price.
You can get Random Master for $0.99 here from the
A few weeks ago I reviewed Mr. Number a reverse number lookup App for the iPhone. The only real problem with that App was the number of free lookups you received. The first 20 were free, after that they were $.05. Since then I have found Number Guru. This is the App that I really wanted. Unlimited number of searches, great user interface, and a really great database of numbers to search from.
Interface is King!
I like smooth, easy to use, and easy to understand interfaces. Number Guru is a strait to the point App. launching it puts you right into the main tab ( and the main reason for using the App), the number lookup. Laid out just like the dial pad of the iPhone, you simply type the number you want to look up including the area code and hit GO. Number guru claims to have a 99% landline coverage, and 50% cell phone coverage. They make it a point to note that they don't have Verizon numbers in their database as Verizon doesn't give out customer numbers.
There are two other tabs available within the App. Support and History. History is just what it sounds like. Here you will find all of the numbers that you have previously looked up. Pretty strait forward. Support is more of a frequent asked questions section. It does offer the help email address if there is something that they haven't covered however the App so simple I can't imagine that there are many questions sent to that address.
I knew there was a catch…
So nothing is truly free. There are no Ads within the App, there is no limit to the free searches, and the App itself is free. Where's the catch? Every time the App is shut all of the way down, and started up again it asks you for to allow it to add your contacts and their numbers to the database. I'm not aware of any other use than just adding to the database, however I chose not to share my contacts numbers. My contacts are important to me and I don't share their numbers with anyone.
Conclusion
Need a reverse phone number App? Want it for Free? This is the App for you! Just be aware of what you're agreeing to share with the App.
UPDATE:
The day this review went live, Number Guru made an update to the App to remove the "add your contacts" feature. This was the feature that I most disliked.
You can get Number Guru for the iPhone from the iTunes store for free here:
While on my most recent international trip there was one App that I realized I didn't have for my iPad. I didn't have an iPad native currency converter. While I happily use Convertbot for all my unit conversion needs on the iPhone, they have yet to make an iPad native version. So I went in search of one for iPad. As you might expect there are several to choose from. Since there was one that caught my eye and it was free I decided to download it right there on the spot in the airport. The problem I have is that when I go to a country for the first time I may not even know what their currency symbol is. This usually means that I have to Google it first before I can even use Convertbot. Then I usually set the conversion to $100 US so that I'll know approximately how much walking around money I may need to withdraw from an ATM for taxis and such. XE Currency so far has fit my needs very nicely. Not only can it display 10 different currencies at once, you can search for the currencies that you wish to display by the name of the country. That ends my need to Google them. As you might expect the App automatically gets the current exchange rates automatically over the internet and you can refresh it as often as you like. You can also use the built-in calculator to figure something out before doing the conversions. You can tap on any of your displayed currencies and enter an amount in that currency and all the other currencies will reflect the conversion.
It's slick and it works! My only minor complaint about the app is one of aesthetics. One thing that bugs me is that while I don't mind the limit of 10 currencies displayed at a time, I do find it a little distracting that those 10 don't fill up the display. There is space left over that you could easily fill with 2 more currencies. This begs the question of either why is there a limit of 10 or why not design the UI so that those 10 take up the whole display? Like I said, it's a very minor complaint. Otherwise I LOVE using this App and best of all it's FREE! I didn't need to look any further. It does all that I needed.
You can get XE Currency for iPad for FREE here from the
You can also get XE Currency for iPhone/iPod touch for FREE here from the
You might have started noticing that when you look through many of today's popular magazines, you'll not only see the usual ads, but you'll also sometimes see a barcode.
These QR (Quick Response) codes are designed to be scanned by YOU! With an App on your device you can use the device's camera to scan the code and usually it will take you to the website embedded in the code so that you can find out more information about the product you're looking at. Perhaps its an article and they have a video on their website that's impossible to show you in print. There are lots of use cases for these codes and it sure beats writing down URLs.
Scan is Fast and Free
One of the first Apps that turned up in my search for a QR Barcode scanner for my iPhone was "Scan". Scan is a free app dedicated to doing one thing. It lets you use the camera on your iOS device (yes including the iPad 2) and quickly scan the code in front of you and fire up the link in the built-in browser. That's pretty much it! It works. You also have the option of sending the page over to Mobile Safari if you want more Safari options than the built-in browser gives you. Scanning of the code is FAST. Usually by the time the camera hits the code I hear a beep and it's firing up the page in the browser. It was so fast in some cases that it was hard to even capture a screen shot of it working.
While the App does exactly what it claims and it's hard to argue with Free, there is one thing I'd like to see added. If I see a code while flipping through a magazine I would think that in most cases I'm interested in the information but may not have the time in that moment to dig deeper. I'd really like to see integration with the "read it later" services like Instapaper and "Read It Later". On the plus side the App DOES have a Scan History. The only problem with it is that it shows the URL which is often a short URL like a bit.ly instead of the name of the site/ad. This could be improved. Otherwise there is no reason not to get this App. It works great!
You can get Scan for FREE here from the
Generate your own codes here.
When I first heard about the SafetyGrid App, I really didn't have much interest in it for myself. However, then i started thinking about my two teenagers and the light came on. As a parent we worry constantly when our kids are out and about on their own. We do our best to equip them not only with knowledge of right and wrong and what to do in certain situations, but we also equip them with technology whenever possible, like cellphones.
What is SafetyGrid?
SafetyGrid is an app that is designed to be a Panic Button on your iDevice. The concept is actually simple and brilliant. You setup the App with up to 5 different contacts. The App is location aware. It also comes with 5 alert credits. In case of an actual emergency you then fire it up and press one big button. Your 1-5 contacts will be called by the SafetyGrid system (not your iPhone). They will receive an automated message telling them that you are in trouble and then they will get a code number to key in on the SafetyGrid.net website. By keying in that number they will see a map display with your approximate location.
In addition to the actual phone call the system will also send an SMS Text message to your contact's mobile phone as well as an email message. Both the SMS and Emails have the link to the Map of where you are for faster access. Before you can ask the question, yes it can even update your Facebook status too, letting all your Facebook buddies know that you're in trouble. What no Tweets? 
They've thought of just about everything.
This is one of those Apps that you should probably have and hope that you never need. Like I said for me it would be more for my teens than for me personally. No security system is foolproof and 100%. SafetyGrid offers one more level security to all the things we're already doing to keep our loved ones safe.
You can get SafetyGrid for $1.99 here from the (5 alerts are included – after that you can buy more alerts starting at $1.99 for 5).
I do recording of my demos all the time for my Creative Suite Podcast. Worse case scenario is that if something goes wrong with the recording or audio, I'll have to re-record it. However, when I'm doing a live demo in front of an audience there is no second chance. It has happened more than once that something has gone wrong in the screen recording software and I lose part of the audio. I decided that I wanted to have a backup "audio" recording of my live presentations. While you can find several great hardware voice recorders out there I didn't want to have to carry around yet another device. The iPhone has a voice recording App built-in, but the iPad doesn't. I went in search of a voice recording App and found Voice Memos for iPad. It met my first requirement in that the recordings are only limited by your available storage space. This means that I can record for a couple of hours easily without a limit problem. The second requirement is that it has to keep recording when the App is in the background as I use my iPad for demos too. Lastly a great UI (user interface) is a must. Simple, big buttons to stop, start, pause the recording as well as a meter to let me know what the audio levels are. Voice Memos for iPad has all of this!
How well does it work?
I got a chance to try out this App at a workshop I was teaching last weekend. I wanted to have an audio recording of my 2 hour presentation as well as a co-presenter. It recorded the whole thing with zero problems. The iPad was lying flat on the table the whole time. As a matter of fact I was really impressed by the audio quality too since I was not directly in front of the iPad at all times. Seems like the iPad 2 has a better mic than it does speaker. After I got back to my room I wanted to transfer the recordings to my computer. This was when I realized that this App has a limit. For the $0.99 asking price you can record all you want and listen all you want on your iPad. However, if you want to transfer those recordings to your computer or to others via email you'll have to pony up for the additional $0.99 In App Purchase. I didn't have much of a choice at this point. So I paid the extra $0.99. With the In App Purchase you get the ability to transfer recordings to your computer via iTunes as well as the ability to email them out. You also get a trimming feature. While I don't have a problem paying $2 for a good App I kinda felt like had I known this up front I might have chosen one of several other Apps out there that do the same thing. Perhaps the In App Purchase should offer trimming and transfer of unlimited sized recordings. I think for the initial price of $0.99 you should have some ability to transfer the recording out of the App, even if it's limited to just email and a certain size. Nonetheless, I'm here now and $2 later I really like this App. It worked flawlessly for me. While you can't title your recordings in the App, you can assign labels to them such as "Lecture", "Podcast", "Interview", "Meeting", "Idea", etc.
The only operational ding I'll give it is that when I trimmed an audio clip it was a destructive trim. In other words it did it to the original clip without offering to make a copy first. That's a no no in my book! Luckily if you "Export" the audio file first, which puts it in the area of the App to be transferred then the trimmed version will be there too for export. Otherwise you're hosed.
I'd also like to see the ability give the audio files custom names. Labels are nice but I can't think of a single reason why you shouldn't be able to name the recordings whatever you want.
The recordings transfer over as .M4A files. You can check out a sample recording here to hear the quality.
You can get Voice Memos for iPad for $0.99 here from the
From time to time I host events that require registration, both for online events but also for in-person events. Instead of handling all this myself I have started to use an online service called Eventbrite. Since this is BestAppSite, I am not going to have a look at the service, but instead review their iPhone app which can be used as a help in checking people in at the doors.
This application integrates right into your Eventbrite account and is dependent on the information that you enter on there. When you launch the app you are presented with a list of your events that you can tap into (literally) and see the stats or start checking in people.
Since it syncs up to your account online, the information about which people you are checking in will be posted up there and by enabling their auto-sync feature, the app will be usable together with many iPhones at a multi-door event.
When it comes to checking in people, you can show the people in a list and tick off each person as they get there. This feature is great for smaller events. If you are putting on something bigger, the 2D barcodes that can be put onto the person’s ticket will help you check in people faster. Just use the built-in camera of the iPhone to scan the code and the person is checked in.
While the app does a very solid job at checking people in to a venue, I would like to see more options for editing your events, adding new attendees and managing everything from the app, compared to now being just a check-in app. As the world is becoming increasingly mobile, it is a shame that I must visit their website to change settings for my event. At least let me add or remove attendees from the app as a first step!
If you are using Eventbrite you should definitely download the app, seeing as it is free. The service itself (Eventbrite) is free for free events. For paid events, they take a slight cut out of each ticket as a processing fee.
I am a big fan of Audible for their amazing collection of great audiobooks. I go through about a book a month (saving a few for the summer when I go through many more). It has always worked fine to download the books on my laptop and then sync them over to my iPhone using iTunes. However, when Audible came out with their own app I just had to try it out.
To be honest my first reaction was that this might be rather useless. Why replace a method that is working perfectly fine for me? The reason is simplicity and mobility. With my Audible app I have access to the entire Audible store with their total collection of audiobooks, which is great for when you don't have the ability to sync with iTunes. Note though that the store takes you to Safari.
Sucker for stats
Here's the deal though, I am a sucker for stats. Part of the Audible app is giving you listening levels that you can reach depending on how many hours you have been listening. Since I listen a lot, this gives me the just the incentive I need to…yes, listen more! Sadly I cannot get all the hours I have listened to audiobooks from Audible on the iPod app in to the app, which means you are starting from zero.
Thinking of switching to a Verizon iPhone? Well now there's an App to help you see exactly who has the (stated) best coverage in the areas that you will be using your phone. CoverMe! does a clever job of allowing you to either use your current location or an address/zip code to compare the coverage maps of AT&T, Sprint, T-Mobile & Verizon. Of course actual coverage and cellular performance isn't as simple as the carrier's stated coverage, but this App can definitely give you a good idea of who has coverage where. For example, my grandma lived in the boonies in Georgia so I keyed in her zipcode (30635) for fun and it was clear that If I was living there I'd want a Verizon phone. However, in areas like NYC all the carriers state that they have great coverage according to their maps. So in that case take it for what it's worth. These are maps not actual experience/testing.
What about 3G/4G data?
This App only shows the coverage maps for voice, not data. That would be a really nice addition in the next update. If nothing else this is a fun app to play with.
Happy Friday!
You can get CoverMe! for FREE here from the
