The combination of iPhone 4 and iOS 4 can help you stay connected, on time, informed and of course entertained all day long.
Every new iPhone has allowed new and amazing ways to improve your life (or is that, your i-life). The amazing combination of iPhone 4 and iOS 4 can deliver a vast set of utilities and features. With the introduction of high resolution Retina display, FaceTime video calls and multitasking, the iPhone 4 is more than ever far from just a powerful phone or web-surfing device. Th iPhone has become a true life-enhancing accessory.
With the built-in features and the hundreds of thousands Apps, tools and games in the Apple App Store along with new cool accessories arriving everyday, the iPhone 4 can be adapted to fit your needs. Whether planning a daily commute, knocking out items on a to-do list, or simply wanting to try a new restaurant, the iPhone 4 and iOS 4 have the pwer to get you where you want to go. Here are the 40 great ways the iPone can improfve/enhance your life.
1. The simple wake up with Alarm.
Normal alarm clocks are a thing of the past! Use the built-in Clock app on your iPhone to set different alarms and then customize them to suit you. Choose the sound (including custom ringtones) and label the alarm, as well as decide whether or not to tap the screen for snooze and if the alarm should repeat everyday. Nobody likes waking up, but at least you can do it in style.
2. Should we talk about the weather?
Many people depond on the weather forcast, or at least like to plan thier days by it. Sure you can look out the window, but for a better forcast you'll want to use your iPhone. The iPhone has a built-in Weather app which offers localized results. For a more in-depth forecast, you can grab The Weather Channel app (free, pictured), WeatherBug (free), or one of several regional-focused options.
3. Commuters log
If you use public transit to get to and from work each weekday, you've experienced the uncertain wait for trains and buses. No more! Lots of transit systems have apps that give time estimates on buses and/or trains, like MuniApp 2 ($0.99) or Buster ($0.99, pictured) for Chicago and BART Live Arrivals (free) for the Bay Area. Knowledge is power and you iPhone might just be able to give you the power to get to wherever your going on time and a little bit less stressed.
4. Catch up on your blog reading
Almost all blogs and websites have RSS feeds, makeing it easy to catch up on all your favorite posts all in one place. Many great RSS readers are available on iPhone, like NewsRack ($4.99), Reeder ($2.99, pictured) and Byline ($4.99). The easiest way is to creat Google Reader profile and using that login, but many iPhone apps also let you add RSS feeds directly.
5. Talk control
Want to make a call or pull up an album or playlist on your iPhone while driving to work? The Voice Control feature in iOS 4 will help. Your iPhone uses speech recognition technology to follow your commands. Just hold the home button for a few seconds to trigger the feature, and then say a command like “Dial [Name]” or “Previous Track” and watch the magic happen. You should probably not bother in noisey environments or where you'll simply look dumb yelling command at your iPhone.
6. Have your Inbox read outload
An app called Text’n Drive ($9.99), will allow you to keep your eyes on the road (or hands on the wheel). To hear your latest emails, just connect the app to your email account and leave it running. The iPhone will tehn read out the text of your latest emails. The free version reads the first 45 words of an email message which might be enough for most. The Pro version however reads much more and can even let you speak out a reply.
7. Your Car, Your iPhone
Many great accessories are there to make it easy for you to safely use your iPhone 4 when driving. Griffin’s WindowSeat HandsFree ($39.99, griffintechnology.com) is one that does everything at once is. It mounts the iPhone in an apparatus that sticks to windshield or dashboard, giving easy access to the iPhone for Google Maps or GPS applications. Also, the stand has a hands-free mic for calls and voice commands, and an aditional auxiliary cable to plug into your car’s speaker system.
8. Internet Radio
Internet streaming radio stations have been on iPhone since the launch of the Apple App Store, but now with the iPhones iOS 4 multitasking feature, you can play music in the background while you play games, surf the web and use other apps. One of the best is Spotify (pictured). If your lucky enough to live in a country with the Spotify music service (spotify) then you should get the app. It allows you to wireslessly update your mp3s, as well as your streaming music links and you can control the audio volume from you headphone controls. Another is Pandora Radio its artist recommendation system builds stations around your favorite bands. Last.fm (free) is another similar option, and Clear Channel’s iheart radio (free) delivers hundreds of over-the-air stations.
9. Get your Game on.
The best way to kill a commute is to play one of the iPhone’s thousands of available games. Here are a few to start you off:
- faux-Scrabble favorite, Words With Friends ($2.99)
- zombie-bashing lawn protection sim, Plants vs. Zombies ($2.99)
- fowl-flinging, structure-toppling hit Angry Birds ($0.99)
- crumbling-rooftop escape adventure, Canabalt ($2.99)
- and platform-hopping pick, Doodle Jump ($0.99, pictured).
10. Read your Newspaper Digitally
Save money and trees by reading the digital version of top newspapers on your iPhone, including the New York Times (pictured), USA Today, The Guardian, and The Wall Street Journal. BBC News (free) is another great app, especially for those looking for worldwide updates. Apps like NPR News (free) and Discovery News (free) offer other ways to find news updates. Impress your coworkers by spitting out the top headlines straight from your iPhone.
11. Your iPhone, your Agenda
The iPhone’s Calendar app is a no hasstle way to keep track of meetings and appointments. It’s very easy to create events and customize them to alert you. Better yet, you can sync your Outlook calendar via iTunes, or a Google Calendar account through the Exchange email settings. If you need a more robust calendar app, try CalenGoo (pictured, $6.99), which also syncs up with Google Reader.
12. iPhone Facetime
A imprtant addition to the iPhone 4 is the front-facing camera. It makes video calls a reality on the iPhone via the FaceTime feature (included). Now you can see the person you’re talking to, assuming he/she has an iPhone 4 of course. Imagine calling your brother afer the birth of his first child and sharing the smiles from the happy parents, catching up with your children when they are on camp or sharing images and ideas with your team. With many more iPhones selling every day, you'll get new few FaceTime partners quickly!
13. Social Networking the iPhone way
Posting comments and interacting with friends on social networks has never been easier. But you don’t need to be at a computer to share the experience. Your iPhone has got you coverered. Be it Twitter (pictured)? Facebook? or MySpace? All have free official apps which bring each site's functionality to the iPhone.
14. Something (ahem) additional.
Wwhen you need to solve a quick equation on the go, what do you do? You fire up the iPhones built-in Calculator app. It's a breeze to use, and turning the iPhone sideways reveals a wide array of symbols and more advanced applications. Need a little more? The awesome WolframAlpha ($1.99, pictured) app uses a powerful calculation engine to solve complex equations, a and also offer facts and stats on the numbers your pushing.
15. Follow the action
Being at work doesn’t mean you should go without the latest sports scores, or even streaming audio and video. MLB At Bat 2010 ($14.99, pictured) is a perfect example of a killer sports app, as it offers streaming radio and TV game feeds, detailed scoring and recaps plus a whole lot more. NBA has a solid free app that is constantly updated during basketball season. You can also check out apps like ESPN ScoreCenter and Sportacular (both free) for scores for just about any sports league.
16. Song recognition on the iPhone
Heard a great song at work, in the club? Need to know what it is? Apps like SoundHound (free) and Shazam (free, pictured) will do it for you! Both apps allow you iPhon to 'listen' to a few seconds of a song and then tell you the artist and song title. SoundHound will even let you hum a song with quite good results. Both apps will then point you to the iTunes Store to purchase the track in question.
17. Find you way iPhone style
When you need to hit the road to run some errands, don’t bother wasteing time and paper printing out directions. Fire up your iPhon and use the built-in Google Maps (pictured) app, have it find your current location, and let it work its magic with detailed step-by-step directions to help you find your way. If you’re looking for something more advanced (particularly for driving), both TomTom U.S.A. ($39.99) and CoPilot Live USA ($4.99) are also worthwhile iPhone apps.
18. Watch what you eat
These days it is easy to lose track of how many food your stuffing in muth and how calories you’re taking in over the course of a day. Th iPhone can help you watch what you eat with apps like the LiveStrong Calorie Tracker ($2.99, pictured) and FitClick ($3.99), both offer massive lists of food and easy-to-understand interfaces. By knowing your calorie intake, you’ll be less likely to grab that 4 p.m. snack. Well, hopefully.
19. Take note!
Great idea strikes without warning. The iPhone’s built-in Voice Memo and Notes features offer you an easy way to save your insirations. Aven better options are: Evernote (free, pictured) and Simplenote (free)--perfect for storing notes and files and transferring them between devices like your computer and iPad. Now you are able to carry essential notes wherever you go even without a laptop or briefcase.
20. Accessories FTW
A few great accessories can make your iPhone 4 experience much more enjoyable. Apple’s own iPhone 4 dock ($29) is a smart way to keep your phone constantly charged. You could also try out the Scosche reviveLITE II ($29.99), which allows you to dock your phone directly to a wall outlet without cables. The Pogo Stylus ($14.95) from Ten One Design saves your iPhone 4 Retina display from dirty fingerprints and other muck.
21. Restaurant finding a la iPhone
Already eaten everything on offer at your local hangout? Try somewhere else with your iPhone 4’s help. The iPhone app store sports lots of great restaurant-finding apps. Yelp! (free, pictured) is a popular option, it offers up user reviews and other tastey details (see what I did there?) for nearby places, or leave it up to chance with UrbanSpoon (free) which serves (I'm at it again) different recommendations everytime you shake yourt iPhone. LocalEats ($0.99) is also a great option, it delivers a listing of the 100 top places in major cities.
22. Burn the fat dammit!
Trust Nike+iPod Sport Kit to help runners keep track of their progress and stay motivated. The iPhone 4 and 3GS come pre-loaded with the app (pictured) required to interact with the sensor you place in your shoe ($19, apple.com). lower-cost options like RunKeeper Pro ($9.99) and iMapMyRun+ ($4.99) just use GPS to track distance and estimate stats. Whichever way you run an iPhone 4 armband is sure to help too.
23.Flickr for iPhone app
The iPhone 4 sport a new front-facing camera and the back camera has snaps at 5 megapixels, allowing for larger and sharper photos than ever before. Send them to friends via email or SMS messages if you want, but the pros use Flickr.com to share them with the world. Flickr’s free iPhone app (pictured) lets you upload and organize photos and view friends’ photos and albums with ease.
24. Show your mad trivia skills
You’re at dinner with friends and some movie, song, athlete, or other miscellaneous thing comes up that everyone sort of remembers but cannot name. No drama! Use whatever info you’ve got and check Wikipedia Mobile (free), the app version of the poular web encyclopedia. The Internet Movie Database (IMDb) app (free, pictured) might also help. Of course you've also got Google....
25. Couch potato planning
Planning an evening watching television? The iPhone will help. The iPhone has apps to get the most from your TV watching. i.TV (free, pictured) has comprehensive channel listings for your area and can also double as a remote control for some DVRs / Roku boxes. DirecTV subscribers can have the deluxe treatment, with their own app (free) containing listings and remote scheduling function means you can make DVR recordings from almost anywhere.
26. Finance iPhone smart
Prefer to live it up with an evening of wining and dining? Keep you dinero in check with a helpful iPhone app. Major institutions like Bank of America, Citibank, and Chase allow you check your balances via free apps. Now you can check your funds before you hit an ATM. For a more comprehensive look at your finances, consider the Mint.com (free, pictured) app, which stores all your accounts and investment info in one secure, readily updated location.
27. Now lets spend....
Got something to buy? Do it from your couch. Many notable shopping websites have quality iPhone apps which let you find what you need and order it straight from the app. Amazon Mobile (free, pictured) serves up its inventory with easy fingertip browsing and ordering, while the eBay Mobile (free) app allows you place bids and track auctions in a heartbeat.
28. Cheaper calls
Beyond all these great features and apps, Apples iPhone is still a phone after all. Don’t hesitate to store loads of contacts and use your plan’s minute, but for international calls, consider good old Skype (free, pictured). You can make calls over Wi-Fi or 3G, and rates for calls abroad are very reasonable, typically alot cheaper than AT&T. And now with multitasking in iOS 4, you can leave Skype running in the background and receive incomming calls!
29. Read with Ease
With the addition of the Retina display, the iPhone 4 has become a top phone. Apple’s own iBooks (free) app offers thousands of books to preview and purchase. You can also sync your bookmarks and pick up on the iPad without losing your spot! Amazon’s Kindle app (free, pictured) is also a great option. With both, you can swap to a white-on-black display for easier night reading without subjecting your significant other to a sleep-disrupting lamp.
30. Charge with Class
Heavy iPhone 4 users might find themselves charging the device every night, but you don’t have to have a stray cord lying by the bed. Several smart docks are available, including Sony’s compact Dream Machine ($69.99, sonystyle.com), which doubles as an AM/FM clock radio and has a retractable iPhone/iPod dock for charging and playing music through the speakers. Many other options are available in various shapes, sizes, and price levels, so shop around for the one that best fits your needs!
31. iHpne apps for finding Movies
Thanks the Fandango iPhone app (free, pictured) you can see movie listings for a lot of theaters, many of which let you purchase tickets directly from the app. Tthe iPhone can even tell you the best times during the movie to run to the bathroom using the free RunPee Mobile app for suggestions!
32. Look after your Pet
Hitting the town but don’t want to leave your beloved canine companion at home? No probs. the Fido Factor iPhone app (free, pictured) spotlights dog-friendly stores and restaurants with user reviews in tow. Also immensely helpful for pet owners is the free Dog Park Finder app. It lists thousands of parks in the U.S. with detailed information, and will also allow you see nearby parks on a map.
33. Time to check In
Foursquare is a social networking craze for mobile phones/iPhones. It imbues your everyday travels and errands with the sense of playing one big game with all your friends and neighbors. Just check in at any store, restaurant, or other venue with the official Foursquare iPhone app (free, pictured), and you get badges to compare with your friends. Some businesses will even offer discounts to Foursquare users! It’s pretty frivolous, sure, but also free and surprisingly fun!
34. Get out Hiking
Leave your iPhone in your pocket as much as possible while on a hike. But should you get lost or need a guide, the iPhone 4 and 3GS comes with a built-in Compass (pictured) app that’ll get you back on track. Also Google Maps will help. More adventurous explorers might consider geocaching, sort of a treasure hunt for intentionally hidden items. Groundspeak’s Geocaching ($9.99) app provides clues and locations to get you started!
35. Get away from work
Turn off your email for the weekend with only swish of the er, fingers. Hit the Settings, navigate into the Mail, Contacts, Calendars option, and click into your Exchange account. Jus switch your Mail to off and your iPhone inbox will go quiet until you turn it back on. But don’t fret all your precious emails will be waiting for youwhen you come back.
36. Share a video
The iPhone 4 is a great video creation and uploading device. You can shoot video clips (from both cameras), edit them in iMovie ($4.99) and transfer them straight to YouTube.com. Home movies, viral videos, concerts, kids short films the iPhone 4 will handle them all without needing a computer and unleash it onto the web.
37. Get Everything Done
Little in life gives you greater satisfaction than crossing off items on an epic to-do list. The iPhone has lots of available apps to help you get all your errands and chores done. Things ($9.99), an easy-to-use task manager that lets you add events and even manage larger projects, complete with deadlines and notes. Then strike them off the list with a tap of the you digit.
38. Get your videos streaming
What about all of those videos, movies, TV episodes and video clicps you have on your computer? Air Video ($2.99) makes it easy to stream videos to the iPhone 4 from your Mac (or PC) with a free companion server program. Air Video even converts the files mid-stream, and can be accessed from a Wi-Fi hotspot, just as long as the server is running on your computer back home!
39. The internet never leave your <iPhone> side.
If you need to use a laptop while on the go, you may not need to find a WiFi hotspot. Check with you iPhone carrier to see if your data plan can be expanded to allow for Internet tethering, which lets you take other devices online through your iPhone. It might cost a bit more on top of the usual data rates, but if you travel a lot, it sure beats the rates many hotels charge for a day of sluggish Wi-Fi access.
40. Accessorize Your Weekend
If you’re going to be out and about all weekend with your iPhone 4, consider getting some tiny speakers to bring to the park or beach. CP Audio’s Chill Pill speakers ($49.99) would suit, but there are loads of different options are out there. And if you’ll be away from a wall outlet for a couple days you may want to get a charger case with a built-in battery for extra life. With so many of such devices comming out daily (and the fact that I'm quite tired) we'll let you search for those :P
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