Blogging on the iPhone

Technology

Apps We Love

Smartphones make updating Facebook and sending tweets a cinch but how about blogging?

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Once the darling of the Internet and adopted by countless users at the beginning of the decade, the phenomenon of blogging has seemed a bit old-fashioned ever since upstarts like Facebook and Twitter showed up. When blogging hit the mainstream, it seemed like everyone from punk rockers to Star Trek fans to family doctors had one. And while the popularity of keeping a blog has dwindled slightly, blogging is still a vital part of the Internet ecosystem – even if you don't maintain a blog yourself, chances are you read a few of them daily.

Considering the success of social networks on mobile platforms, it was only a matter of time before a blogging platform figured out a way to publish posts from a phone. Wordpress released its first iPhone app in July of last year, but the latest version, built in-house by the Wordpress team and released last week, represents nothing less than a complete overhaul. Among the changes are a revised user interface and mobile-friendly features like an auto-save function that works even without an Internet connection. In addition to writing and editing posts, you can also moderate or approve comments much like you would at your computer.

For the most part, the stripped-down mobile version is a joy to use, but there is one major omission that will bother experienced users: the rich text editor that lets you apply various types of formatting with ease isn't available on the mobile version. Instead, you can view and edit the raw HTML code, which isn't very fun on the iPhone's keyboard. Nevertheless, Wordpress for iPhone is one of the best ways available to publish your well-considered bon mots while you're out and about.

A fresh install of Windows is usually relatively spartan. Aside from a few basic essentials like a web browser and a media player, there are very few programs on a clean system – it's up to the user to purchase or download whatever other software packages they might want. To make it easier for new users to get started, PC manufacturers started loading additional programs on the computers they sold. But in recent years, this once-altruistic gesture has become more of a hindrance than a help. Turn on a new computer from a mass manufacturer for the first time, and you'll be greeted by a desktop loaded down with icons for free trial software, not to mention a system tray bulging with pre-installed applications that can bog down your system.

PC Decrapifier was created specifically to eliminate trialware and other uninvited guests from a brand new computer. It scans your hard drive for the presence of pre-installed applications and gives you the opportunity to pick and choose exactly what you want to delete. The commercial version, which gives you a single-user license to use on as many systems as you like, can even be automated to make the uninstall process that much easier.

Unfortunately, PC Decrapifier doesn't recognize everything; because it relies on a manually created blacklist, it misses newer software that manufacturers have only recently started to bundle with their systems. Sometimes it's not even clear to the user what should obviously be deleted and what might actually serve a purpose, such as the enhanced wireless connection utilities some PC makers offer; PC Decrapifier can only help so much in these cases. But short of a fresh reinstall using standard Windows discs, it's the easiest no-hassle solution for wiping out unwanted applications.

You might think you know what you need when you make a grocery run, but the forces that conspire against you are great. Before you even arrive, you're probably worrying about work or some other concern in your life–probably not how many bags of milk you need, or whether you've run out of pasta sauce. And then there's the supermarket itself, where everything from the arrangement of items on the shelf to the music they play is designed to compel you to buy that carton of ice cream you didn't need.

Groceries, an iPhone app that lets you create and manage grocery lists, may not convince those who write out their own grocery lists on paper to switch. But if you're open to the idea of keeping track of your shopping with your iPhone, there are advantages to the digital method. For example, Groceries has a massive database of grocery items built in, so instead of just “orange juice” you can select the brand you're looking for. Groceries can also track what quantities you like to purchase, as well as what items you commonly buy. You can then build lists faster by selecting items from your history.

One obvious missing feature is the ability to keep track of prices, though that functionality is promised for future editions. Another minor flaw is the items database, which isn't quite complete and misses out on a lot of homegrown products–candy brands available only in Canada, for example, tend not to show up. Luckily, you can add items to Groceries' database fairly easily. Overall, if much of your life already revolves around your iPhone, Groceries will help you maintain supermarket discipline.