So, my 8 GB Verizon iPhone should be here tomorrow. I’ve been using a Blackberry for the past 2 years.
What apps should I think about downloading? Angry Birds and Words with Friends are two of my favorites. I’d like to find some casino games, such as video poker and black jack.
How does iCloud work? I’ve got a very large selection of music on iTunes, but most of it is ripped from CDs or downloaded from Amazon.
I got the ripoff insurance which I’ll keep for a few months at least. Are these phones really as fragile as I’ve heard.
Are there any other classical music stations that have their own iPhone app like WQXR and WFMT?
How bad is battery life? How often do I have to reboot the phone? Does the phone shut down whenever it wants to reboot, like my Blackberry does?
If you want to waste an infinite amount of time, get Angry Birds.
There are n a number of flashlight apps that use the LED flash of the camera. Much brighter than using the screen, but sucks battery like there’s no tomorrow.
My iPhone (a GSM iPhone 4 on the Fido network in Canada) generally needs charging once a day, though I can stretch that if I turn off 3G.
If you haven’t gotten a case for it, get one IMMEDIATELY. The iPhones aren’t incredibly fragile, but they can break. I’ve dropped mine several times without damage–but it’s always been cased. Hallgirl got hers, dropped it, and the screen cracked. (This was the first generation iPhone.) You don’t want to find out if yours will break the hard way. Assume it will and immediately put it in a case–before you download apps, or make a call, or play with all the cool features.
Now onto the fun apps. Depending on what you like to do, my favs (in addition to some of the ones listed above) are:
Craigslist (I’m a Craigslist junkie)
CheckPlease (lite is free)
Facebook
Sleepmaker (about the only app I’ve paid for)
Solitare
Epicurious
Talking John
NPR News
Zite
Gas Buddy
Handy Level
Flashlight (you may use this more than you think–a lot brighter than just your screen)
Check for your local radio station–I like WXPN (out of Philly) which I can sometimes get really clear on the radio, but sometimes not. I stream it through the app and it works perfectly every time.
Oh, pay the two bucks or whatever to upgrade to Words with Friends without the ads. Completely worth it.
I’ve never had to reboot, but I do periodically close out the apps. To do this, hit the round button twice. This will bring up your “open” apps along the bottom. Touch one (apply pressure) until they all shake and get the red negative sign on them. Then, hit the reg negative sign to “close” them. Hit the round button to bring your screen back to normal. Not sure if this really makes a difference, but Hallboy read somewhere I should do it periodically, so I do.
I’ve never had to reboot and never shut down my phone. I had an older generation iPhone before I bought the newest one and I would only reboot that one if it was running really slow.
8 GB? Can I ask why you didn’t get a 4S? Because of the subsidy that Verizon/AT&T/Sprint pay to Apple, the true cost of iPhones is hidden. You can sell an unlocked 4S on eBay or Craigslist for $500, then turn around and buy the 3GS or 4 (whichever you got) for $100 to $200, profiting a couple hundred bucks and end up with the same product.
It’s not worth the cost. If you wanted to do it, it would take a look at your collection, and allow you to download an iTunes version of all of your music they found a match for. It’s an okay service for those with a lot of iOS devices, or those with a huge collection that rotate through downloaded songs frequently. Otherwise, if you can fit them on your iPhone now, you’re fine. It is not a cloud-based streaming service, which seems to be the most common misunderstanding.
How often do you plan on dropping your phone? I don’t put mine in a case, because I like my phone’s asthetics and form function. I also don’t drop my phone, because I handle it like the $600 device that it is. I may get a thin case to go around the rim at a later date.
We have Dropbox on our phones (my Android, Typo Knig’s iPhone, and our iPod Touches) which makes sharing certain files easy. It also syncs them to the desktop computer and our two laptops. Some of its functionality may be overtaken by iCloud, I haven’t really looked at that.
A password vault is proving to be amazingly useful for us: we use 1Password, and it syncs to all our phones and to the desktop/laptops via Dropbox also. There are others (I’ve heard mSecure is good also). There’s a version of 1Password that runs as an add-on to Firefox / IE on the desktop, also, though I haven’t installed that. mSecure may have a similar add-on (and I think it works through Dropbox also).
Ereader apps: Kindle and Nook. There’s also Stanza which has a nice interface with Project Gutenberg among others.
Road Trip (tracks car expenses, there’s a free and a paid version).
Gas Buddy - helps you find gas prices near you (relies on “cloud-sourcing”, i.e. they encourage everyone to enter prices as they’re driving around).
Games:
Cut The Rope is cute and fun and at higher levels it’s VERY challenging (I’m currently stuck halfway through the Toolbox level).
My daughter just discovered Scribblenauts - I had downloaded it based on something someone said here, tried it, thought “meh”. She loves it. You are presented with a scenario and you have to try to add objects and use them to solve the usually-simple puzzle (e.g. what would you need to rob a bank - non-weapons only).
It’ll try to draw anything you type in even if it doesn’t meet the category suggested. Apparently, its dictionary includes bioweapons and nuclear missiles :eek:. Why yes, we do have her in therapy, why do you ask? ;).
The OP might also find it handy to have his (her?) calendar / address book synched to Google. We did this, because it makes it so easy to share a family calendar and contacts list. It wasn’t as out-of-the-box easy on the iPhone/iTouches as it was with my Android (which was designed for just that), but once we got it set up - took maybe 10 minutes - it’s worked flawlessly.
In general, having a smartphone opens up a lot of possiblities for features that can’t be handled by a standalone device. Such as the Dropbox / password synching, automated backups, etc. I know some of the grocery-shopping apps use cloud synching to link your list up to your spouse’s, for example.
I own an Android phone and tablet, but most of the games I play on that platform are available on (and in most cases were originally built for) the iPhone/iPad platform. If you’re into “sim”-type games, I’ve become addicted to the following (all are free downloads, but all offer in-app purchases that make winning the game much faster but can drain your wallet dry if you start making those purchases):
“Paradise Island” and “Rock the Vegas”, both by GameInsight
Pretty much any of the “… Story” games (like “City Story”) by TeamLava.
(I’m pretty cheap, and after hundreds if not thousands of hours playing the above games have made less than $20 in in-app purchases. And every one of those was optional on my part.)
I useGrocery IQ for my shopping lists. you can create separate stores, switch items from one to the other, scan the UPC code of items and it will add them to the list, and so on. I use it constantly.
