Apple Mac HQ

I love to cook. Unfortunately that also means I visit the grocery store on a weekly basis. My typical grocery store visit begins like so. I look through a few cookbooks, cooking magazines and MacGourmet to find the recipes I want to make. After I’ve found the recipes, I head to the kitchen to see what ingredients I have on hand and what I need to buy. As I go through each recipe I write down what I need to buy on a small sheet of paper. Once I’m done, I take the list with me and hit the store on the way home from work the following day.

This week my routine changed for the better. Instead of writing down my list, I decided to test out the Groceries iPhone App from Sophiestication Software.

The very first thing you’ll notice about Groceries is that the UI is beautiful. The App is very responsive and you can tell a lot of thought was put into the design. After opening the App, you immediately begin adding items from the extensive default database to a new shopping list. Items can be added via a search or browsing by aisle. If you don’t find an item, it’s a simple tap to add it to the database.

Groceries makes it very easy to customize your grocery list. You can add notes and amounts to each item with just a few taps. You can add frequently purchased items to your favorites list for quick access. You can even email your list with ease. The ability to email the list is a nice touch in the event that you need to send your spouse to the grocery store instead.

Perhaps the greatest feature of Groceries is how your grocery list is organized. When adding items to your list you’ll notice they are organized by aisles. This small design decision leads to a huge payoff. Within each list, you have the ability to reorder the presentation of aisles. Essentially you can match up the aisles within Groceries to the layout of the grocery store you shop at. This allows you to easily see when you have finished shopping on a particular aisle and can move to the next one. I no longer have to continually scan my shopping list to make sure I’ve crossed off every item. A quick glance at Groceries will confirm that I’m done with that aisle and can move on.

This App has a ton of other fine detail. The ability to keep the list at exactly the same spot even if I lock my iPhone is a nice touch. A quick tap will reduce my list to just the remaining items, useful for long lists. I can clear out a finished list easily as well.

If possible, I’d like to see some kind of integration with MacGourmet or MacGourmet touch. I’m not even sure if that’s possible or what integration I’d like, but I’d be willing to bet the developers are smart enough to think of something good. Comments in iTunes also mentioned some type of indicator for coupons and I concur that would be a good idea. Maybe a little coupon icon right beside the item name.

Groceries (iTunes link) will set you back $1.99 and is available now in the App Store. After my first grocery store visit using Groceries, I can’t see myself ever going back to pen and paper. This App saves me time in the grocery store and that fact alone is worth the small price of Groceries. In fact, I’d say that this app is the best $2 I’ve ever spent on “Groceries”.

Popularity: 2%

There are many moments in the day that I want to keep track of because they are special and memorable. A simple note taking app just will not cut it. That is where the diary app Momento, from d3i, comes in.

Momento helps record these “moments”. Moments can be described with text and/or images. Images can be from the Photo app or the iPhone camera. Any moment I enter into Momento can be tagged in numerous ways to make searching through them easier. These tags include people (which can be pulled from the Contacts app), places, events, and custom tags.

Some of my moments were not recorded in my Momento personal diary and instead were put on my social networking accounts. These “social moments” can be from Facebook, Flickr, Last.fm, and Twitter. Momento focuses on my life and experiences so it only includes my posts and excludes what my friends have posted.

Momento will not replace full-fledged Facebook, Flickr, Last.fm, and Twitter apps. This would make the app cluttered and it would lose its simplistic appeal. Momento does not allow tagging of social moments.

This app is very pretty. I am a sucker for a wood grain theme and Momento is filled with it. Each day of moments is viewed from a spiral notebook theme. A lot of attention went into the look of this app.

There were a few things I did not like about Momento. Only one of each type of account can be linked to Momento, so for instance I can only have one of my Twitter accounts. This probably will not be a problem for most since they do not have multiple accounts for each of these services. Also, moments that are deleted will only erase them from viewing in Momento, but it does not delete them from the social networking services. This is mainly because Momento is not meant to replace your main social networking apps. Other things I didn’t like include not being able to open URLs or enlarge photos to view them more easily.

Momento is a great diary app and I am excited to see what the future holds for it. Momento 1.0.2 is available now for $2.99 (iTunes link) and is compatible with iPhone OS 3.0 and above.

Popularity: 2%

If you’ve been reading Apple Mac HQ for a while, it should come as no surprise that I like cycling. The 2010 Pro Tour starts today with the Tour Down Under in Australia.

The event organization has made it easy to keep up with the Tour Down Under with the Santos Tour Down Under App (iTunes link). The App features the latest news, images, stage maps, and more. Since the race just began, content is a little light but that’s to be expected so early in the race.

If you enjoy cycling events, download the Santos Tour Down Under App now. The race is being held in Australia from January 17-24, 2010. The Santos Dour Down Under App is a free download.

Popularity: 1%

Transferring text and images between my iPhone and Mac has been a pain in the past. I have tried a combination of ways to get this done, including Simplenote, Dropbox, and e-mailing to myself. In this App Showdown, I will compare 2 clipboard iPhone apps, Syncopy and Pastebot, to figure out a better way to get this done.

Syncopy is from the Australian development company Syncode. Upon opening this app, the most recently copied text is shown. After choosing to upload the text to the Syncopy server, the Mac companion toolbar app receives the copied text automatically or by manually refreshing it and then copies it to your Mac clipboard. Syncing is usually quick. The iPhone app has a history section which shows all synced text when the companion app is open. There is no way to batch delete the history for the iPhone and Mac companion app unfortunately. They must be deleted individually. Previous copied text is shown in the companion app, but it only shows the past 7. Both versions show where the text came from (iPhone or Mac).

Pastebot, by Tapbots, works under the same premise as Syncopy. The most recently copied item in the clipboard appears and is automatically added to the history. iPhone images can be from the clipboard, camera, or photo library. Unlike Syncopy, Pastebot can handle both text and images. Pastebot’s Mac companion toolbar app does not show a history of synced items, nor are copied items automatically pushed to the Mac. Instead, the item is selected on the iPhone and then is chosen to be pasted on the Mac. It will then paste into whatever app is open (assuming it can accept a pasted item at the time). Copied text from the Mac will show up in Pastebot whenever both the iPhone and companion app are open.

Pastebot is a very pretty app, especially compared to Syncopy. It is just as beautiful as Weightbot and Convertbot, also made by Tapbots.

The history in Pastebot is far more functional because of folders, unlike Syncopy’s flat organization which only sorts in reverse chronological order based on when it was added to the history. Pastebot does not do batch delete as well.

The Pastebot Mac companion app and iPhone must be on the same network to work together. Syncopy syncs via the cloud, so this is not an issue.

Pastebot provides text filters and editing. The filters are very useful and include changing the case, find and replace, and encoding and decoding HTML entities. Image filters and cropping is also available. The image filtering is rather basic and includes altering brightness, saturation, and sepia. Syncopy does not offer any type of altering.

Outputted text from Pastebot can be used as a Google search query via Mobile Safari or e-mailed in app. Images can also be e-mailed, as well as saved to the iPhone’s Camera Roll. Syncopy cannot output in any of these ways. Both iPhone apps cannot send to a Twitter client like Birdhouse.

Pastebot wins this App Showdown. Though I do have some nitpicks with both apps, Pastebot has more features then Syncopy. Syncopy feels too barebones at this point to be recommended. Pastebot 1.0.5 (iTunes link) is available now for $2.99 for iPhone OS 3.0 and above, while Syncopy 1.0 (iTunes link) is available for iPhone OS 3.1.2 and above.

Popularity: 1%

For both 2007 and 2008, I listed a number of applications I couldn’t live without those year. It’s now time to release the same list for 2009. Some applications remain unchanged from 2008, but a few have dropped off the list all together and a few more have been added. I’d like to say “Thank You” to all the Mac developers out there who make beautiful Mac software. These are the applications I couldn’t live without in 2009, in no particular order.

1Password remains one of my favorite Mac applications. It makes managing your online passwords incredibly easy. I recently upgraded to 1Password 3 in advance of my move to Snow Leopard. 1Password 3 adds some nice features, including the ability to manage software license information. The 1Password iPhone App (iTunes link) gives you the ability to make your login information mobile.

I still write every AMHQ post with MarsEdit. Not much has changed over the last year with MarsEdit, but that’s not necessarily a bad thing. Blogging with MarsEdit makes blogging easier, so I’m going to continue to use it. Alas, MarsEdit still doesn’t have bullet and numbered list support. Maybe it will happen in 2010?

Read the rest of this entry »

Popularity: 2%

Happy 2010! The new year crept up on me with my birthday, Christmas, and my ongoing home renovation. As we move further into 2010, I wanted to take a quick look back at 2009 here at Apple Mac HQ. I combed through our Google Analytics logs to find the most popular posts written in 2009. Here are the top 5 posts written last year, in order of page views.

MacGourmet touch Released
I love to cook (and eat), but I was a little shocked to see this post about MacGourmet touch being released was the most popular post written in 2009. I use MacGourmet on Mac every week, but I never got around to purchasing MacGourmet touch. That will change in 2010 as I wished I had my recipe collection with me at the grocery store several times last year.

The Apple Table
I’ve featured three Apple Office Of The Month here at AMHQ, and this is my favorite. Horst Gumz created this amazing table to go with his iMac. I wish I had his craftsmanship skills.

MLB At Bat
To date, the MLB At Bat iPhone App is my most expensive App Store purchase. The news that live in game audio was coming must have been good news to many AMHQ listeners since this was the third most popular post in 2009. Too bad my Braves missed the playoffs again last year.

MacBundleBox
It’s no secret that Mac users love their software bundles. From MacHeist, MacUpdate, MacBundleBox, and more, Mac users have no shortage of software bundles to choose from. There will no doubt be more in 2010.

Applications I couldn’t Live Without in 2008
As I did in 2007, I also listed applications I couldn’t live without in 2008. I like to see similar lists on other Mac websites so it’s no surprise that the readers of AMHQ clicked this post often in 2009. My list for 2009 will be coming soon.

Popularity: 1%

My DVR will be working overtime this week as CNBC will be airing some great television programs for Apple fans.

“Welcome to Macintosh” is a 2008 documentary chronicling the history of Apple. Important figures in Apple’s past make appearances, including Guy Kawasaki, who was responsible for Macintosh marketing in 1984, as well as Andy Hertzfeld, who worked on the original Macintosh design team. Leander Kahney, the author of the popular Apple book “Cult of Mac,” is in the documentary also. “Welcome to Macintosh” will be airing on January 4th at 9:30 PM EST.

The 2009 documentary “MacHEADS” discusses Apple fans and the popularity of Apple products. There have not been any films in the past that have focused on the legions of fans that are devoted to Apple. “MacHEADS” will be airing January 5th at 10:00 PM EST.

“Planet of the Apps” discusses the phenomenon that is mobile phone apps. The popularity of these apps was fueled by Apple allowing third-party apps for sale for the iPhone and iPod touch starting in July 2008. Other companies have tried to mimic the App Store’s success by launching stores of their own, but have not been nearly as successful as Apple has. “Planet of the Apps” will be airing on January 7th at 10:00 PM EST.

I rarely watch movies so I have not seen either of the documentaries, but it will be exciting to watch them as well as “Planet of the Apps.”

Popularity: 1%