Archive | Reviews RSS feed for this section

Type Faster on Your iPad or iPhone with TextExpander

By Matthew Guay on February 17, 2011 in Featured, iOS Apps

After recently teaching in a classroom that had an old manual typewriter with upraised rows of keys, I marveled at how much typing has changed over the past century. We went from typing in QWERTY to keep from jamming keys on original typewriters to pounding out text messages with our thumbs on small slates of metal and glass. How times change! Back then, typing was a purely manual exercise. Today, however, we’re usually typing on smart devices, younger cousins of IBM Watson. Seems like it should be easier and quicker to type today than it was back then, doesn’t it?

Turns out, there is a way to put the computing power of your device to work. TextExpander is a great app that lets your device remember the things you need to type the most so you won’t have to manually type them every time. Instead, you can just enter a short snippet of text, such as aadr, and your full text, such as your address, will be entered automatically. And once you’ve got it installed, you can use this power in many of your favorite apps, including many we’ve reviewed here at Techinch.com. Sound good? Let’s take a closer look at what TextExpander offers.

Getting Started

TextExpander Touch is one of the more interesting apps available in the App Store for several reasons. First, its one of the few ways that you can truly speed up your typing on iOS. Second, it integrates seamlessly with so many other apps, it seems like it should just be an included tool in iOS itself. To get started, just purchase and install the universal app from the App Store. Seconds later, you’ll be ready to create and edit Snippets, use these snippets to create quick notes, and find more apps to work with TextExpander Touch.

The Snippets section is the most important. Here you can create and edit snippets, which include a short abbreviation as well as the long content you want the abbreviation to expand into. There are several popular ones included in the app by default, so you can just edit the content on these to include your own personal signature, address, telephone number, and more. You can also create new ones quickly. Just make sure that your abbreviation isn’t a standard word, or you won’t be able to just enter that word in a TextExpander enabled app without it expanding to include your content. I’ve found it best to make abbreviations start with a period, such as .lorem which I use to expand into a full paragraph of lorem ipsum filler text. The sky’s the limit on what you can use snippets for; from complicated to type words to text you have to enter all the time like your address to long paragraphs you commonly include in emails, you can make tons of typing tasks faster with snippets that work best for you.

One of the best features is the wide arrange of snippets that you can add to TextExpander without typing them all in. Tap the plus button on the Snippet Groups page to add snippets from the TextExpander server. These include common misspelled words for AutoCorrect, standard HTML and CSS code snippets, and accented words that take longer to type correctly. This is an easily overlooked feature that can be a true timesaver once you’re using TextExpander all the time. Also, if you’ve been using TextExpander for Mac, you can also sync your existing snippets from your Mac to your iOS devices.

Putting TextExpander to Work

Now that you’ve got snippets of your most important info and frequently used text saved, it’s time to put it to use. You can use TextExpander as a notebook to create emails and plain text notes using TextExpander snippets. That’s what the Notes feature is for. Here you can type in full text notes like you might in SimpleNote or PlainText; this time though, you’re able to type faster thanks to the TextExpander snippets you’ve added. Just type your snippet, and it will automatically expand to the full text you’ve saved. I can now enter sig1, for example, and my full standard signature will be added to the end of an email. Once you’re finished, you can copy all of the text to your clipboard and paste it into another app, or send the message as an email or tweet immediately.

Integrating TextExpander with Other Apps

While TextExpander is useful on its own, the biggest reason to use it is because it integrates with dozens of apps you likely already use. From Twitter for iOS to the excellent Express for WordPress to PlainText, my favorite app for jotting down plain text notes, you’ll discover more places to use TextExpander than you’d ever imagine. First, though, open the Settings menu in TextExpander and turn on snippet sharing to make all of your snippets available to other apps that integrate with TextExpander.

Now you’re ready to add it to your favorite apps. Check put the link below to see all the apps that integrate with TextExpander, then check your apps settings to make sure your TextExpander support is enabled. Once it is, you can enter your TextExpander snippets and they’ll automatically expand just like they did in the TextExpander app.

If you need more help, you can browse the TextExpander online help file right inside the app. Unfortunately, the help files aren’t available offline, so you’ll have to get buy with the example snippets if you don’t have an internet connection.

The only bad thing is, none of Apple’s apps, including the iPad iWork apps, work with TextExpander. Also, it doesn’t work with WordPress for iOS, so if you want to use TextExpander to make it easier to blog from your iOS device, you’ll need to type your posts up in another app that works with it and then past it into the WordPress app.

Conclusion

Whether you’d like to make less spelling mistakes when texting from your iPhone or want to pound out essays and emails from your iPad quicker than ever, TextExpander is one of the few apps that can really help you do it. Not only does it do a great job at creating and expanding snippets, but it’s already integrated into so many apps that it will make the apps you already love and use even better. Typing on a glass screen isn’t nearly as bad as many would have guessed years ago, but it is still slower than a traditional keyboard. Once you get used to typing with TextExpander, you just might be able to increase your typing speed again. And, since it’s a universal app, you can use it on any iOS device you own.

I personally use my iPad for writing most of the time, and am now trying to integrate TextExpander snippets even further into my typing routine. If you’ve already used it, or if you try it out after this, let us know how you like it in the comments below!

Our Rating: 8/10

Download TextExpander Touch from the App Store | $4.99 – universal

TextExpander’s Official Site

Find apps compatable with TextExpander Touch

Comments { 3 }

FluffyApp | CloudApp Goodness for Windows

By Matthew Guay on February 1, 2011 in Featured, PC Software

Lately it seems like all the cool new apps are Mac only. After years of Windows having more programs than Macs, the tables are now turned. Thankfully, though, there are still some developers bringing some of the neatest new apps from OS X to Windows. We recently looked at windroplr, which brings Droplr’s goodness to Windows 7. Today we’re going to look at FluffyApp, a similar app that incorporates the popular CloudApp service into your Windows 7 taskbar beautifully.

What is CloudApp?

CloudApp is an increasingly popular tool for quick file sharing on Macs. You’ve likely seen http://cl.ly/something links on Twitter recently; CloudApp’s where they came from. It’s drop-dead simple to use: just drag and drop a file onto the cloud icon, and seconds later you’ll have a short URL to share your file with the world. The only problem is, CloudApp’s official app is only for Mac OS X.

And then there’s FluffyApp…

FluffyApp is a great app for Windows that brings all of CloudApp’s features and makes it just as easy to upload files from your PC. Head over to FluffyApp’s site to download the app, the install it as normal.

Once it’s installed, you’ll be prompted to sign in to your CloudApp account. If you’ve already used CloudApp on a Mac, then just sign in with the account you already have. Otherwise, click the link in the app to signup for a new account for free.

Once you’ve activated your account, you’ll be ready to start uploading pictures or other small files to share online. CloudApp lets you upload up to 10 files per day that are each up to 25 Mb with a free account; if that ends up not being enough for your needs, you can upgrade your account for unlimited uploads from your online CloudApp account.

To upload a file, just drag and drop it to the cloud icon you’ll see in your system taskbar. If it’s not there, just click the arrow button to open the hidden icons and drag it to your taskbar. You’ll then see the upload progress as the cloud icon fills up with white.

Once the file is uploaded, you’ll see a notification in your taskbar and a short link to the file will automatically be added to your clipboard. Just paste it into your social network status updates to share files without taking up too many characters! Here’s an example CloudApp upload … the one uploaded in these screenshots: http://cl.ly/4Jke.

CloudApp’s not only good for files. You can also use it to bookmark sites you don’t want to forget. When you visit a site that you want to bookmark, just select the address and drag it to your FluffyApp icon. Seconds later, it’ll be bookmarked so you’ll never lose it.

You can always find your uploads, bookmarks, and more from your online CloudApp account, and can even upload files or shorten URLs directly from the webapp. No matter where you are, you’ll have an easy way to share the files and links you want.

CloudApp versus Droplr

Now that there’s two great ways to share files easily on Windows and Macs from your system tray, which one’s better? On Windows, I personally find CloudApp (or rather FluffyApp since that’s the Windows version) to be easier to use. That’s only because of one thing: I like having the icon only in the system tray. With windroplr, you have to have a drop target open to upload files, which makes your desktop a bit more cluttered. Additionally, CloudApp seems to have a more stable business plan with free and pro accounts, and it’s always nice to know that your favorite service is more likely to stay around.

That said, I overall like Droplr’s service better, and find their webapp to be more aesthetically pleasing. It also doesn’t have a daily upload limit, so you can share more pictures per day for free. Plus, Droplr’s iPhone app is great, so if you’re sharing files from an iOS device, that’s definitely an advantage. In the end, it comes down to your preference. They’re both free, so give them each a try and let us know what you think about them both in the comments!

Download FluffyApp – CloudApp for Windows

Signup for CloudApp

Learn more about windroplr – Droplr for Windows

Comments { 5 }

Turn iPad into a Perfect Writing Machine with iA Writer

By Matthew Guay on January 25, 2011 in Featured, iOS Apps, Reviews

Sometimes, the simplest tool can be the best for a job. iA Writer is an elegant text editor for iPad that proves this. With a monospaced font and no configurable options, it’d seem like it wouldn’t be the most useful app. The rave reviews it’s received from writers, bloggers, and more would make you think otherwise. It turns out, iA Writer’s developers paid attention to all the things that make writing fun and focused, and left out everything else. We’re going to dive in and see what iA Writer offers, and whether it truly does make writing easier. Best of all, iA Writer is on sale for just $0.99 today only (Edit: The original sale is over, but it’s still on an extended sale for $1.99 until a desktop version of iA Writer is released!), so it’s a great chance to check it out.

Simple, Redefined

When you first launch iA Writer, you’ll see a document open describing how the app works and the inspiration behind it. The app includes a very clean interface with several nice touches. On the top right, you’ll see a timer with an estimate of how long it would take to read the document, while underneath it you’ll see a word count. Swipe up or down to scroll as normal, but if you swipe on the far sides of the document, it won’t scroll. This makes it easier to read without accidentally losing your place.

Tap anywhere in the text to start editing. You’ll immediately notice that the keyboard includes an extra row of keys, each of which are a pleasant addition to the iOS keyboard. The |word buttons take you to the beginning or end of the next or last word, respectively, while the arrow keys let you switch to the previous or next character as you’d expect. Sure, you could just tap on the screen to change where you are, but the buttons make it much quicker and keep you focused on your writing. The extra key row also includes other common symbols that are slow to find on the iOS keyboard, and once you’re used to it, you’ll likely find that it makes it quicker for you to write.

Best of all, iA Writer includes a focus mode that forces you to focus on your text and nothing else. Tap the padlock icon in the corner to activate it, and your toolbars will disappear, leaving you with your text and the keyboard. The text other than the three lines near the one you’re editing will be greyed out, and autocorrect and spelling check are disabled as well. You can’t even drag the text to scroll, though you can go back with the arrow buttons on the keyboard.

When you really want to be productive, though, and don’t want anything to distract you, it’s surprising how powerful the focus mode can be. It turns your über-modern slate of metal and glass into a 21^stcentury typewriter. For many things, that’s not actually a bad thing! Distractions can break your train of thought too easily, so the focus mode forces you to concentrate and really get your writing done.

Files and Syncing

iA Writer doesn’t limit you to one file, though. From the top right corner, you can create a new document from the plus button, or open other files you’ve saved in it from the folder button. You can also make sure you’ll be able to locate what you’re writing easily later by changing the title of your document. To do this, tap the title and just type in what you want. Finally, you can email a copy of your text, or just copy and past the text into any app you want. iA Writer’s a great too to get your writing finished, and then copy it over to another more busy app to finish your letter, post, or anything else you’re writing.

Want to backup your documents, or access them from your computer or other devices? Just link your Dropbox account from the Documents menu, and everything you’ve written in iA Writer will be synced to a /Writer folder in your Dropbox. Do note that iA Writer doesn’t currently sync automatically, so you’ll need to remember to tap the sync button whenever you need your content elsewhere.

The only thing really missing here is support for folders and an option to choose your iA Writer sync folder. The developers have, however, promised that folder support will come in a future update, as well as automatic sync so you won’t have to remember to hit the sync button.

Conclusion

Obviously, everyone won’t have the same needs from a writing app. That’s why I think iA Writer is the perfect companion app for using along with Pages, WordPress for iOS, or other Office apps. iA Writer lets you focus on your writing, and then when you need to add more formatting and get documents or blog posts ready to share, you can copy and paste your text into other apps.

iA Writer isn’t the only focused and elegant text editor on iOS. I’m still split between it and PlainText, my current favorite for writing notes and plain text. Even Pages makes a really nice writing environment, especially when you minimize the toolbar. For iA Writer to tempt me at all is amazing, and I was pleasantly surprised at how much the extra buttons and the focus mode made writing nicer. It was easy to see why iA Writer has been so highly reviewed; it really does make writing simpler. And it’s even a nice way to read plain text eBooks; the monospaced Nitti Light font and clean interface makes easy on your eyes. At today’s special price, it’s a great chance to grab it and see if iA Writer makes writing and reading more pleasurable on the iPad for you, too.

Our Rating: 8/10

Download iA Writer for iPad from the App Store | $1.99 (current special price – normally $4.99)

iA Writer’s Official Site

Have more questions about iA Writer? Check out the FAQ

Comments { 6 }

The Calculator That Should have Shipped with iPad – Calcbot

By Matthew Guay on January 18, 2011 in Featured, iOS Apps

One of the first things I noticed on my iPad was the lack of a calculator app. Not like there’s not half a dozen gadgets around that also have a calculator built in, but somehow it just seemed odd to not have one built in. Apple did a great job making Notes, Calendar, and Contacts look awesome on iPad, why not Calculator (and Voice Memos, Stocks, Clock, and Weather)?

At the same time, even on the iPhone or iPod Touch, the calculator app could be improved. In general, the iPhone Calculator app is good enough, and for a basic calculator with standard and scientific mode, it’s about as simple as they come. But still, wouldn’t you like to have calculator history, be able to see your expression’s result as you’re typing, and more?

Calcbot from Tapbots is a great solution to both of these problems. It’s an elegant universal calculator app that makes it simple to do any calculation you need on your iPhone, iPod Touch, or iPad. This app was designed to make doing math take even less time on your devices. Is this even possible? Let’s take a peek under the hood and see if you really do need a new calculator app for iOS.

Calculating with a Robot

Calcbot describes itself as a “simple, yet intelligent calculator”, and I definitely found it to live up to its name while reviewing it. You’ll see a quick Getting Started guide when you first launch the app that will help you get up to speed on how to get the most from Calcbot. Whether you load it on your iPhone, iPod Touch, or iPad, you’ll get the same great features.

The main interface looks much like you’d expect. You’ll see standard calculator features on the main screen, but swipe to the left to see advanced, scientific mode features such as sin, square roots, and more. Tap the orange Shift key to see the inverse of the functions of the light blue buttons, such as sin^-1. Best thing is, you can find any root or raise a number to any power you need. For example, if you need to calculate 7⁴, enter 7, then swipe left and press y^x, then swipe right and tap 4. With that, you’ll find the answer is 2,041, and you’ll still see the equation underneath in light blue!

Calcbot automatically computes your equation as you’re entering it, so you can see everything in light blue underneath your solution at the top. If you make a mistake, swipe left over the calculator screen on the top or press the red delete button on the bottom to delete the last thing you pressed. No more blindly pressing C or MC anymore; who could even remember what they did, anyhow?

Once you’re finished, press the equal button on the bottom to save your answer. Everything you enter is saved in Calcbot’s history, so you can easily jump back and see everything you’ve calculated by pulling down on the top of the app. This will open a history tape that remembers both the answer and the equation you’d entered, much like many scientific calculators such as the popular TI-30X. That calculator saved me in highschool, and I don’t know how much time I saved by being able to go back and grab something from the history. It’s every bit as helpful in Calcbot, and once you’ve used it, you’ll wonder how you lived without it.

Supersize Me

As mentioned at the beginning of this review, Calcbot is a universal app and works great on iPad, too. In Landscape mode, you can get the same great calculation features on the left with your history tape on the right. This makes it quick and easy to run a ton of calculations and quickly jump between the ones you need. Whether you’re a student in math class or are getting ready for tax season (oh my…), the history on the side is incredibly handy. Just tap one of the entries to use the result or equation again, or to email the problem to your professor, accountant, or archrival! You can even send the entire tape history as an email or copy it to your clipboard from the gear button in the top right.

Want the largest calculator you’ve ever used (well, at least the largest one that still looks stylish…)? Just turn your iPad to portrait mode, and Calcbot will fill your iPad screen. Oddly enough, you can’t access history this way, but just turn your device to the side to see your history as before. Everything else works the same … swipe left to see extra functions, or tap the i button to change settings and get info about the app. Somehow, this reminds me of a cash register, though if that’s what you’re actually using your iPad for, you’d likely be better off with Square

Conclusion

It’s hard not to love Calcbot. Tapbots did a great job integrating beautiful design with advanced functionality that just makes it easier to check out a quick calculation. You’ll never have to second-guess if you entered your equation correctly, since it shows up right up under the answer, and you can always go back and check it in the history. It still doesn’t give your iPad or iPhone all the features of, say, a TI-89, but it does give you most of the features of a standard scientific calculator such as the TI-30X, including History mode. Finally, it’s a universal app, so you won’t have to purchase a different app for each of your devices. If you’re looking for a great calculator for your iPad, and wouldn’t mind getting a better iPhone one at the same time, this is the calculator app to get.

Our Rating: 9/10

Download Calcbot from the App Store | $1.99 (universal | iPad, iPhone, iPod Touch)

Calcbot’s Official Site

Comments { 0 }

Giveaway: CSS3Machine – Web Creativity on iPad

By Matthew Guay on January 17, 2011 in Featured, iOS Apps, Techinch

Even though the iPad was released almost a year ago, the jury’s still out on whether it’s a device for consumption or creation. I personally feel it’s a great creative app, and even find it great for writing in Pages or PlainText. Today we’re going to look at an exciting app, CSS3Machine, that can take your creativity on the iPad to new levels and let you design animated sites all in native CSS3. We’ve even got 5 free licenses for a giveaway, so keep reading to find out how to enter.

Getting Started

CSS3Machine starts with a site selector hovering over the main screen. You can pick from 2 impressive premade demo sites to try out, or tap the plus icon to create a new site. If you want to copy a site to your computer, press the arrow button to email it to yourself.

Alternately, tap the gears icon to see CSS3Machine’s settings. You’ll notice a web address listed; this lets you access your CSS stylesheet from your desktop browser. You can also set a default email address to send templates to, or get more info about the app.

Flash? Who Needs Flash?

Let’s dive in and see what you can do in CSS3Machine. Once you’ve opened the template you want to play with, you can immediately see the impressive animated transitions built in, or start tweaking the code to get it to work like you want. Each property is listed on the left, and all of its functions are on the right where you can quickly tweak them as you like. As soon as you tweak a property, the preview on the bottom will update to reflect your changes.

Tap the plus icon in the properties list to add a new property to your site. There’s tons to explore here, and with time, you can make some truly impressive animations powered only by CSS3.

The preview box only shows a static copy of your rendered code, so if you want to see the animated CSS in action, tap the Animations button on the bottom of the left pane. Now tap the play button at the top of the preview window to see your CSS animation fully rendered on your device. If you’d like to see a video of it in action, check out the CSS3Machine official site.

Not Just Fancy Animation

If you’re not trying to create the most amazing CSS animations and effects, CSS3Machine is still for you. You can create a new basic style, and then add your own text CSS to tweak as you want. Here I’m tweaking the H2 style on the default text used on document samples in CSS3Machine.

Drag sliders and tap color swaths to find the perfect look for your shadows, colors, background gradients, and more. The great thing is, you can try out so many different options and then immediately see what it creates in the preview on the bottom. I’ve never seen a web editor that works like this on a PC; it’s a fun and creative way to make your code look just like you want!

CSS3Machine is also a great way to learn more about CSS. Just tap the i icon in the top right of any property editing screen to find out more about that CSS property. You’ll get a quick overview of its history and what it does, as well as which browsers currently support that property.

Want to switch to your own text or change something else about the base document? Tap the arrow button in the bottom left corner of the site preview box to open the HTML template editor. The editor includes common HTML characters and snippets so you can type in what you want without shuffling between iPad keyboard layouts. You can then copy the text to your clipboard from the top arrow button if you wish, or just save the changes to CSS3Machine.

Get Your CSS on Your PC

Now, to put your code into use, browse to the address in the settings screen we saw before from your desktop browser while CSS3Machine is running on your iPad. You can then copy the code directly to your favorite code editor, WordPress Dashboard, or whatever you use to manage your site. From a touch interface to standards-compliant code, CSS3Machine is a pretty awesome tool. The app did crash on me a couple times while I was testing it, but other than that, it was a very cool way to try out all of what CSS3 has to offer on my iPad!

Enter the CSS3Machine Giveaway

Edit: Giveaway now closed. Thanks everyone who entered!

If you’d like to win a free copy of CSS3Machine for iPad, just leave a comment below with a valid email address. The contest closes at Midnight EST, Thursday, January 20th, so make sure to leave a comment before then. If you don’t have an iPad but want to comment, please state so in the comments so we’ll be sure to pick someone that can actually use the app. Want another shot at winning? Tweet the following (or something similar with a link to this post), then leave a second comment with the link to your tweet.

Win a free copy of CSS3Machine for iPad from @techinch! http://bit.ly/e1LYuX

If you don’t win, don’t worry … you can still pick up a copy from the App Store for $4.99. It’s a great way to explore what CSS3 has to offer while learning what each property does. If you create some awesome web art or a new site using CSS3Machine, be sure to let us know in the comments … we’d love to see it!

Purchase CSS3Machine from the App Store ($4.99 – iPad Only)

Get more info about CSS3Machine from its official site (Numerosign.com)

Comments { 3 }