Opinion

10 Best iPhone Camera Apps

Written by Terry White
Feb 22, 2013
5 comments

10_camera_apps

I use my iPhone 5 as my point and shoot camera and while the built-in Camera app works fine there are other Apps that work even better. In most cases you’re either going to want more control while taking your shots or you’re going to want to do something with them immediately after shooting them. That’s where these 10 Best iPhone Camera Apps come into play.

Camera+

Camera+ 2.0

Let’s start with Camera+. This App aims to allow you to take better pictures in the 1st place by offering both tap for focus and tap for exposure lock as well as stabilization features for anti-camera shake. After take your shot you’ve got a ton of great scene modes, filters and adjustments to use.

Camera Awesome

CameraAwesome

Camera Awesome is by SmugMug and like Camera+ it aims to help you take better pics to start with by offering various composition features as well as tap to lock in focus and exposure. After you take the shot you’re one tap away from “awesome”. Just tap the Awesomize button to make your shot “awesome”. You can crop, apply effects and filters and of course share your shot on several social media sites including smugmug.com

True HDR

TrueHDR

I’ve tried several HDR Apps and hands down True HDR is the best IMHO. It just get’s the whole process right and results are stunning! You can shoot in auto mode or manual mode, merge your 3 shots together and then adjust the Warmth, Contrast, Saturation and Brightness as well as one tap effects.

Hogwartz Express

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Opinion

10 Must Have Apps That Support Apple’s Passbook

Written by Terry White
Jan 14, 2013
7 comments

passbook_iphone5

iOS 6 introduced a built-in App called Passbook on iPhone and iPod touch. However, simply launching the Passbook App really won’t do much for you. You either need Apps or websites that support Passbook so that you can add passes to it. I’m a fan of Passbook primarily because it supports “geofencing”. Geofencing means that these passes can automatically show up on my lock screen when I’m near an establishment that I have a pass for. I’ve been meaning to write this post for a while now, but I was waiting for my 10th App to do it with. Delta FINALLY updated their Fly Delta App with Passbook support (among other nice features) and now I have just about all the Apps I want supporting Passbook. So here are 10 Must have apps to get you going…

Fly Delta

delta_passbook_iphone5

If you fly on Delta Airlines you can now check in with their App and add your boarding pass to Passbook. However, if you don’t fly Delta, you can also do this with American Airlines, United Airlines, Air Canada and Lufthansa. If you’re a ground traveler, you can also do this with the Amtrak App. Cheers! Most of these Apps will display the up to date gate information on your pass as well.

Walgreens

walgreens_passbook_iphone5

Walgreens was one of the 1st Apps to support Passbook. You can have it bring up your Rewards Card when you’re near your favorite Walgreens Store. CVS what’s up? Where are you on this?

Starbucks

starbucks_passbook

This is probably the one that I use the most. I have a Starbucks Gold Card that I use to earn points towards free drinks and to actually pay for my drinks/food. The Starbucks App lets you configure up to 10 locations so that your Starbucks Passbook Card will show up when you’re closest to your favorite locations. The card also displays your current balance on the card.

AMC Theaters

AMC_Passbook_iPhone5

I frequent AMC Theaters and their Stubs Card can now be added to Passbook and show up automatically when you’re near your favorite theater. Now if we can only get you guys to totally move away from paper tickets, life would be great.

Target

target_iPhone5

Target was also early to the Passbook game. You can add their weekly coupons to your Passbook for quick access at the register.

SPG: Starwood Hotels & Resorts

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I’m more of a Hilton guy, but sometimes my travels take me to Starwood properties. You can add your SPG card to passbook so that when you’re checking in you can whip out your electronic card and get your points.

Fandango Movies

fandango_iphone5_passbook

Fandango takes it up a notch and not only allows you to buy tickets for your favorite movies, but also shows those tickets via Passbook. The only problem is that the theater has to support electronic tickets and sadly I haven’t been to one yet that does.

Gyft

Gyft is the ULTIMATE gift card manager for your iPhone. If you got some plastic gift cards (or electronic ones) lying around you can add them to your iPhone and Passbook via the Gyft App. I did this with my P.F. Chang’s Gift Card and it worked great. I just handed my iPhone to the waiter (keeping a close watch on him) and he was able to apply it to my bill via the card’s barcode displayed in Passbook.

Apple Store

Apple_Store_Passbook

Wait! Apple now supports their own Passbook App? Yep, I know it may be a shock – kidding. Although Apple was a little late to their own party, the Apple Store App now supports sending/receiving Apple Store gift cards AND adding the ones you receive to Passbook. Just show the card to the Apple Store rep when you’re ready to check out and they’ll apply the card to your purchase.

American Express

amex_passbook_iphone5

Oddly enough while American Express does support Passbook, they don’t support it via their App. Instead you go to amexpassbook.com on your iOS 6 device to setup your account(s) via Passbook. Once you do you can add your AMEX cards to Passbook and you’ll be able to see you balance at a glance and get push notifications anytime there’s a charge made to your card. I really like this because it helps me see if there are charges being made that I didn’t authorize or am curious about. Kudos to AMEX for offering this benefit.

Opinion

The 100 Best Apps of 2012

Written by Terry White
Jan 2, 2013
4 comments

As you know here at Best App Site we don’t review just any old App. In order to make it here it has to be one of the BEST Apps on the App Store. We’ve seen and reviewed hundreds of great Apps in 2012, but now it’s time to pick the BEST of the BEST! Erik Bernskiold, Jason Lykins and myself have narrowed down our favorites to provide this list of what we feel were the 100 BEST APPS of 2012!

BUSINESS

Automilez

automilez-tripend

Automilez is my favorite Mileage Tracking App for tax purposes. It not only can use your odometer reading, but also track you via GPS so that you see the route you took as well as the miles you drove. It will make tax time this year that much easier.

Facebook Pages Manager

FacebookPagesManager_iPad_iPhone

If you have a Facebook Fan Page or two this is the App for you. It lets you do more than the standard Facebook App and most importantly let’s you comment and respond to direct messages. It lets me stay in touch with my Facebook fans easier.

Invoice2go

invoice2go-ipad-iphonee

A friend of mine wanted to do invoices on her iPhone. I looked for an App to recommend. I found Inovice2go to be the best in terms of features and customization options. I use it myself now and love it.

Get it for iPhone

Get it for iPad

Parkmobile

parkmobile_iPhone4s

Parkmobile is an App that lets you pay for your parking without having to scrounge around for change or pull out a credit card. I’m seeing more and more meters in my area supporting this payment system. It’s fast, easy and convenient. Not to mention getting receipts for your parking is great for expense/taxes time.

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Opinion

10 Must Have Apps for the New iPhone or iPad User

Written by Terry White
Dec 26, 2012
3 comments

terrys_apps

If you just got a new iPhone, iPod touch or iPad this holiday season then you’re probably wanting to know which Apps you should download first. Any time there is a list like this there is always someone who says you missed “_________”. Yep, can’t fit every App in to a list of 10 or 20, etc. So these are “my” picks for the 10 Must Have Apps for the New iPhone or iPad user of 2012.

In no particular order….

Google Maps

google_maps_iphone5_2

Apple Maps is just not ready for prime time and while there are lots of good map/navigation Apps on the App Store, Google Maps is free and worth a download. It has one of if not the best sources for points of interest and this new version offers turn-by-turn voice navigation as well as street view. In many ways it puts Apple Maps to shame. Sadly at this point though it’s not native to iPad yet. It works, just at the smaller size. Hopefully it will become a Universal App soon. If you are looking for a full-featured Universal App check out Navigon USA.

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YouTube

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Apple removed YouTube from iOS in iOS 6 and once again Google has replaced the old built-in App with a better version. Grab this one and it’s Universal for both your iPhone and iPad.

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Facebook & Twitter

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Although iOS includes native support for Facebook and Twitter now it’s still nice to have the Apps installed as well to do the things that the OS can’t do like viewing your Facebook timeline for starters and looking at Tweets from others.

Facebook

Twitter

Google Search

google_search_iPhone5

Yes you can do Google Searches right in Safari and yes Siri can look stuff up too, but I find the Google Search App to be really useful. Also if you sign in with your Google/GMail account it will keep up with your search history. It also features a voice search that works well.

Skype

skype_on_iPad2

Use Facetime when you want to video chat with other iOS and Mac users, but if you want to video chat with the rest of the world including Android and Windows users Skype is the way to go. You can also use it to make low cost international calls to regular phones.

Skype for iPhone
Skype for iPad

Dropbox

dropbox-iphone4

More and more users are taking advantage of cloud storage for documents. Dropbox is the most popular service and it offers a free amount of storage to anyone who signs up. The Dropbox app will allow you to access those documents and share stuff. You can also enable the camera upload feature that will upload your photos as you take them to your Dropbox accounts so that they are accessible on all your device.

QR Reader

QRReader_iPhone5_iPad

You know those little barcodes you see everywhere that ask you to scan them with your smartphone? They’re called QR Codes and while they are everywhere, the iPhone doesn’t have a built-in QR Code Scanning App. Luckily there are a few of them now and QR Reader is free, simple and does exactly what you need. Not only can it scan QR codes but it can also create them for you too!

Get QR Reader for iPhone here

Get QR Reader for iPad here

Shazam

shazam_iPhone5

If you’re a music lover and you hear a song while you’re out and about and you want to know the name of it, artist and even buy it Shazam has you covered.

Photoshop Express and Snapseed

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The iPhone camera is great and even the iPad camera is now decent. However, there will be times you’ll want to adjust the photos you take and there are dozens if not hundreds of great photo editing Apps on the App Store. For the NEW user you’ll get the most out of Photoshop Express and Snapseed. Photoshop Express does basic editing and overall adjustments. Snapseed is great for making tonal adjustments to parts of your pictures. If you’re an iPad user you may also want to check out Photoshop Touch.

Evernote

evernote_iPhone5

I’m not an Evernote user. The built-in Notes App does everything I need. However, if I make one of these lists and don’t include Evernote people riot in the streets. You know who you are! Evernote is a great notes app with lots of cool features and cloud syncing.

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I could go on and on and that’s what we do here on BestAppSite.com. Just search for “Must Have Apps” to see our other lists.

Also don’t forget to check out 25 Fun Things to Ask Siri and 25 NEW Fun Things to Ask Siri.

Opinion

The 25 Apps That I Use The Most

Written by Terry White
Oct 8, 2012
10 comments

Last time I checked I have 425 Apps on my iPhone and 409 on my iPad. Wow! That’s a LOT of Apps. Do i need them all? Maybe, maybe not. Do I use them all? Yes. I constantly look through my Apps and delete ones that I never use. However, out of those 400+ Apps that I do use, there are some that I use pretty much daily. You can judge the “Best Apps” not only by what they do, but how much you rely on them. Here are the 25 Apps that I use practically every day:

Reeder

I don’t get the local newspaper delivered to me. I don’t go to any one site for news each day. However, I have a lot of sites that I follow via their RSS feed and Google Reader is my choice for keeping these feeds organized and the Reeder App for both iPhone and iPad is my go to App everyday throughout the day. It syncs with Google Reader and therefore I check my news feeds on any device at any time. Once I mark those stores as read they are marked read everywhere.

Reeder for iPhone

Reeder for iPad

1Password Pro

1Password is an App that I could not live without. I use it on my desktop/notebook, iPhone and iPad. I can look up the password for any site that I have an account on as well as credit card numbers, software serial numbers, etc. It syncs with Dropbox and is an ideal solution.

Tweetbot

The native Twitter client keeps getting better, but I still prefer the interface of Tweetbot on both my iPad and iPhone. Tweebot supports bit.ly links whereas Twitter does not.

Tweetbot for iPhone

Tweetbot for iPad

Facebook

If you’re a Facebook user then you will appreciate the newly found integration in iOS 6. However, you still need an App (or the regular site) to check out what your friends and family are up to. The latest version got a rewrite and big speed improvement that now I can actually use it again instead of the mobile site.

Instagram

I’m late the Instagram party and I really didn’t see a reason to be on yet another social network. However, what I like most about the Instagram App is that I can post images simultaneously to Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, Flickr, Email and check in to Foursquare.

Foursquare

While I do enjoy the social media networks to interact with friends and fans, I actually reserve check-ins on Foursquare to people I actually know (close friends and family). Foursquare is fun and it’s fun competing for these meaningless points just be ahead of your other Foursquare friends. I also like checking in to unusable places.

Starbucks

Believe it or not I never had a cup of coffee before 2 years ago. Always loved the smell, but hated the taste. I have grown to like lattes and since Starbucks is just about everywhere I go I can get a consistent experience/taste. The App lets me fuel my Starbucks card, find locations, and now with Passbook support I like it even more.

CheckPlease

Although I can usually figure out the tip amount in my head, I like the features of CheckPlease for figuring out the tip amount, minus the sales tax and taking into account for coupons and gift cards.

CheckPlease for iPhone

CheckPlease for iPad

Adobe Revel

My photo libraries all exist primarily in Adobe Lightroom and with the built-in Adobe Revel support I can sync my photos to the cloud and automatically to all my Macs and iOS devices. Revel has become the way that I easily take my photography with me and show it off even if I’m offline.

GV Mobile+

Google Voice is a good service that allows you to have a single phone number that can ring on any of your designated phones. You can send/receive SMS messages as well as get your Google Voice voicemail. I rely on GV Mobile+ to manage it all on my iPhone and iPad.

Google Chrome

I like Safari, but I use Chrome as my default browser on my Mac. Therefore, having Chrome on my iPhone and iPad syncing bookmarks, tabs and other settings is a must. If I could set Chrome as my default browser in iOS I would. I use it any time I want to go to a website directly.

FlghtTrack Pro

While I don’t fly every single day, i do fly often enough to depend on FlightTrack Pro to keep me updated on any last minute flight/gate changes. It has saved me on more than one occasion.

TripIt

TripIt for iPad

There is always an upcoming trip on my schedule and the TripIt App is my goto App for keeping track of my itineraries, reservation numbers and other vital information to my trips.

Delta

I live in a Delta hub city therefore I fly Delta pretty much 99% of the time. The Delta App provides me with my electronic boarding pass as well as gate info and even checked baggage tracking on those rare times that I check a bag. With the upcoming Passport support I’ll even be happier with it.

Automilez

Automilez is a new favorite of mine. I was losing out by not keeping better records of my business mileage each year. Now with this App I’m actually looking forward to handing over my electronic log book to my accountant at tax time. The interface is great and GPS tracking is awesome!

Cardstar

Passbook is going to be great, but for now Cardstar is my choice for holding all my loyalty cards and bringing them up at the checkout counter to have the barcode scanned.

Cardstar for iPhone

Cardstar for iPad

Dropbox

Dropbox is crucial to my day to day workflow and therefore having the Dropbox App on my iPhone and iPad means that I have access to all of my documents and other files, photos, etc. I now use the Camera Upload feature to automatically upload photos and screenshots that I take with my iOS devices to Dropbox and therefore my computer.

Delivery Status

It seems like I’m always either shipping something to someone or waiting for a shipment from someone. There is no better App to track all your deliveries from the various providers such as FedEx, UPS, USPS, DHL, etc.

PhotoSync

I’m always copying photos from my computer to my iPad or iPhone. PhotoSync is the easiest and fastest way to do it wirelessly. It also works with videos.

Presentation Clock

Whether I’m doing a live presentation, recording a tutorial or doing a webinar I use Presentation Clock to keep track of my time and more importantly how much over my time I am.

Facebook Pages Manager

The Facebook App is good for managing your personal Facebook page. However, if you have a Fan Page on Facebook, the Facebook fall short in many areas. The Facebook Pages Apps lets you manage your multiple Facebook Fan Pages and let’s you respond to comments, emails, and add photos.

Google+

Admitedly I use Facebook and Twitter a little more than Google+, However, I have more Google+ followers than I do on either Twitter or Facebook. Therefore I need to keep an eye on what’s going on on Google+ as well. The Google+ App had a beautiful user interface on both iPad and iPhone.

Shuttersnitch

When I’m out and about chances are I’m shooting with my Nikon D7000 (hopefully soon to be a D600) and I have an Eye-Fi card in it. Shuttersnitch is my preferred App for transferring those images wirelessly directly from the Camera to my iPad.

Flixster

I don’t get to the movies every day, but I’m always using this App to check movie times, ratings and add my rating after I watch a movie. Even if that movie was watched on-demand at home.

Easy Release

I use Easy Release for every single photo shoot that I do to have the model digitally sign and to send the PDF version to both myself and the model.

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