Gavi Schneider

Thirst for iOS

Thu, 02 Aug 2012 17:24:00 -0400

Thirst for iOS is a Twitter client that’s trying to make it easier to find interesting news, by grouping together Tweets from the people you follow into different categories separated by topic.

The “Newspaper”, as Thirst calls it, is where you’ll find all the different categories that your Tweets have been sorted into. Instead of going through your regular timeline, you can go to the Newspaper and pick a specific topic to read about, which will only contain Tweets by the people you follow. This is great for those times when you only have a few minutes to spare, and don’t want to waste them reading about something that doesn’t interest you.

While Thirst does contain most of the features you’d expect from a basic Twitter app, it won’t become my default Twitter client for two reasons: one, it’s a tad slow, and two, many of the features that I’ve come to rely on in my current Twitter client (Tweetbot) are not included. Therefore, I’ll be using Thirst in addition to my regular Twitter app, as a tool to find news surrounding topics the people I follow talk about the most.

Thirst for iOS

Gmail 1.3 for iOS

Wed, 01 Aug 2012 17:18:00 -0400

Gmail 1.3 for iOS adds the ability to save picture attachments to your photo library - touch and hold an image to save it, as well as smoother animations and scrolling on iPhone and iPod touch.

This should have been added months ago. I want to see an update that adds Sparrow features already.

Gmail for iOS

Microsoft Launches Outlook.com

Tue, 31 Jul 2012 17:33:23 -0400

Wow. An email product that’s actually social. I’m Really looking forward to trying this out.

Showyou 3.3 for iPhone

Sun, 29 Jul 2012 17:29:06 -0400

The iPhone version of Showyou has been completely rebuilt, and it looks fantastic. Still my favorite app for consuming video on iPhone.

Showyou for iOS

Kwaga Acquires Boxcar

Thu, 26 Jul 2012 14:52:58 -0400

Before iOS 5, Boxcar was one of my favorite iPhone apps, but once Notification Center arrived I uninstalled it because it became redundant. I’m curious to see what Kwaga’s planning on doing with Boxcar, and I hope they add some new useful features to it (or completely revamp it for that matter), because I’d love to have a reason to use it again.

Path 2.5 for iPhone

Thu, 26 Jul 2012 12:19:43 -0400

Path has been updated to version 2.5, which adds many new features including movies and books sharing, a completely redesigned notifications section, new ways to edit your photos (as well as the option to take square and landscape ones), and the ability to “Nudge” your friends, which is similar to the Facebook Poke.

I think we’ve all come to expect fantastic updates from the company that brought us “Path 2.0”, and 2.5 is no exception. People, if you want to know how to do mobile, just take a look at Path.

Path for iPhone

RebelMouse Now Optimized for Mobile

Thu, 26 Jul 2012 11:02:53 -0400

RebelMouse, a web service that curates your posts from various social networks and displays them in a Pinterest styled collage, is now optimized for mobile web browsers. Yet another reason why you should stop reading this and go open an account immediately.

Viber for iPhone Updated, Adds Group Messaging and Better Call Quality

Wed, 25 Jul 2012 17:19:24 -0400

Viber for iPhone has been updated to version 2.2, which adds group messaging, photos in the contacts list, UI enhancements and better call quality.

Interestingly enough, Viber for Android and BlackBerry were updated to 2.2 at the same time that the iPhone app was. You don’t see that every day.

Viber for iPhone

Smartr Contacts for iPhone Updated, Adds iCloud and Facebook Message Support

Sun, 22 Jul 2012 13:32:00 -0400

Smartr Contacts, one of my favorite contacts manager apps for iPhone has been updated to version 1.6, which introduces many new features, bug fixes and improvements. One feature that I’m particularly exited about is the new Facebook messages support.

Until now, when viewing one of your contacts information you were able to see all of the email the two of you exchanged. Now, Facebook has been more deeply integrated into the app so that you can also see the Facebook messages the two of you sent each other.

In one word, this new feature is “Huge”. Email and Facebook are arguably the two most used social platforms in the world, and Smartr Contacts will now show you when you used them in regards to any of your contacts. I’m hoping that sometime in the near future they also add the ability to see tweets and DM’s you’ve sent to your contacts, because I use Twitter considerably more than I use Facebook. Then again, why stop at Twitter. If Smartr Contacts was to integrate with all the major social networks so that when you viewed one of your contacts you’d be able to see every message you’ve sent to that person, regardless of which platform it was sent on, Smartr would become THE way to keep track of your contacts on iPhone. All the cyber conversations you’ve ever had with someone, right under their contact info. Something to think about.

1.6 also adds iCloud mail support, which means Smartr Contacts can now index mail from your me.com and mac.com email accounts. I think the iCloud mail support was meant to be the highlight of the update, but to me, Facebook message support just seems so much more useful.

Smartr Contacts for iPhone

Google Acquires Sparrow

Sat, 21 Jul 2012 14:49:51 -0400

I’m having mixed feelings about Googles latest acquisition. On one hand, the Sparrow team will be sent to work on Gmail, so we may finally see a half decent Gmail app for iOS. On the other hand, Sparrow will no longer be receiving any new features (although it will continue to be supported), which means we’re stuck with the current version indefinitely.

Gmail on iOS sucks. Gmail on OS X is nonexistent. Acquiring Sparrow, the best mail client available for iOS and OS X was definitely a smart move on Googles part. If the Sparrow team is able to fix the Gmail app (not an easy task), as well as add new features that compete with Sparrows’, I’ll consider switching over. Until then, I’ll continue to use Sparrow even though no new features will be added, because I still prefer the current version over Mail.app, and certainly over Gmail.

If only Google had waited until after push notifications were added…

A Busy Week for the Social Video Space

Thu, 19 Jul 2012 18:11:00 -0400

First Socialcam gets acquired by Autodesk, and then Vyclone and ptch are released.

Brewster is the Social Address Book We've All Been Waiting for

Mon, 16 Jul 2012 16:10:00 -0400

The iPhone desperately needs a new address book. It’s 2012, and like everything else, the address book needs to be social. It needs to integrate with your social networks, match your phone contacts with your network buddies, show you all the possible ways that you can contact an individual, and provide you with a stream of updates so you know what’s going on with the people in your life.

This is exactly what Brewster is trying to accomplish. Brewster is a photo-centric address book that aggregates all of your contacts from multiple services. You connect your iPhone contacts, Gmail, Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn and Foursquare accounts, and Brewster connects the dots, matching profiles from different networks, making smart lists, and showing you all the different ways you’re connected to your contacts.

Brewster is not a social network, it is a tool to help you efficiently keep track of all your contacts. That being said, the “Updates” tab that Brewster offers is the closest thing your address book will get to being a social network. The Updates tab is where you’ll find all the latest information about your contacts, including birthdays, new jobs, etc. Kind of like Everyme, before the big pivot.

One feature that Brewster’s missing Is the ability to contact people via social networks, like sending your friend a Facebook message or tweet without leaving the app. It also never hurts to add a few more networks, like Instagram and Google+. Aside from that, Brewster is an amazing app, and is the best third party address book the App Store has to offer. Recommended to anyone who has contacts spread out across multiple social networks, and can afford an app that will cost them a whopping total of FREE.

Brewster for iPhone

Reeder for iPhone Updated, Adds Facebook Integration

Sun, 15 Jul 2012 07:30:33 -0400

You can once again share articles to Facebook, a feature that’s been missing since the 3.0 update.

Reeder for iPhone

Twitter 4.3 for iPhone

Thu, 12 Jul 2012 08:59:00 -0400

While Expanded Tweets, push notifications for Tweets, ambient notifications, improvements to search autocomplete and a new icon are all very nice, I just don’t see these features convincing people to start using the Twitter app over third party clients such as Tweetbot. Also, the ability to see which client was used to send a tweet has been removed, which could mean bad news for third party clients is on its way.

Twitter for iPhone

Dunno 1.3 for iOS

Wed, 04 Jul 2012 17:14:00 -0400

In my review of Dunno for iOS, I wrote “Dunno for iOS is trying to rethink the way we take notes and do research, by cutting out the process of looking things up”.

Dunno has been updated to version 1.3, and it just got a whole lot easier to use the app for research. Now when you’re browsing through results, you can mark them as “relevant” by tapping on the little circle button next to them. Click on the circle button at the top of the screen to view all of the results you marked as relevant, stripped away from all the clutter. When you go to the main menu, you can see how many results you’ve marked as relevant under each note.

I’ve been testing out this new feature all day, and I can already see Dunno becoming my number one app for any kind of research.

Dunno for iOS

The new Google Currents icon. I personally like the old one...

Wed, 04 Jul 2012 07:02:00 -0400

The new Google Currents icon. I personally like the old one better.

Dunno for iOS

Tue, 03 Jul 2012 17:59:11 -0400

Dunno for iOS is trying to rethink the way we take notes and do research, by cutting out the process of looking things up. Open the app, write down your note, then go about your business. Dunno then searches the web and brings you all kinds of information that’s relevant to your note, including photos, blogs, news and more. A little while later, you’ll receive a notification to check out what Dunno has compiled for you. Notes can be synced across your iPhone, iPad and Mac, so you can take notes on the go and do the reading at home on a larger screen.

I really like this idea, and can see this kind of app taking off. Imagine you’re in a class or meeting, and all you have to do is open the app and enter several topical points, so that when it’s over, you’ll have information on each one of those topics already waiting for you. Smart, no?

Dunno for iOS

Cheddar for iOS

Sun, 01 Jul 2012 10:39:03 -0400

Cheddar is a new GTD app that’s built around making lists. It’s minimalistic design may remind you of Clear, but Cheddar is the more feature-rich of the two, offering features such as web syncing, Markdown support, and the ability to add tags. Cheddar’s also a universal app, and available on the web, so you’re able to access your lists everywhere. The free version limits you to two lists, but by signing up for Cheddar Plus, which is $1.99 a month or $19.99 a year, you’re able to create an unlimited amount of lists.

If Clear wasn’t enough for you, you may want to give Cheddar a try.

Cheddar for iOS

The Thing About Chrome for iOS

Fri, 29 Jun 2012 11:17:37 -0400

While I really want to make Chrome my full time browser on iOS, I just don’t see it happening anytime soon, what with all the restrictions Apple’s put on third party browsers. It’s not even the lack of speed that bothers me so much, it’s the not being able to set Chrome as my default browser.

Here’s the thing: I click on a lot of links. A lot. When I click on those links, I’m going to be sent to Safari no matter what browser is on my dock, and just the thought of having to go back and forth between Safari and Chrome over and over again is enough to make me want to uninstall Chrome and never look back.

Still, Google’s not at fault here. They did a terrific job with what they had to work with, and if it weren’t for Apple’s restrictions, I’d switch to Chrome in a heartbeat. But until those restrictions are lifted (and it’s unlikely that they ever will be) Safari will just have to do.

Reeder for iPhone Updated, Now Allows You to Remove Readability

Fri, 29 Jun 2012 08:25:02 -0400

Reeder 3.0.2 adds the much requested feature of removing Readability as the default mobilizer in the in-app browser. Once disabled, you will no longer see the Readability icon on the bottom bar. Additionally, Instapaper and Google have been added to the list of mobilizers that Reeder supports.

I know several people that refused to use Reeder simply because they felt it was pushing Readability on them. They’ll be happy to know that they can now use the best RSS reader for iPhone without having Readability thrown in their faces.

Reeder for iPhone