App Top List: My All Time Favorite Top 10 iPhone Apps

Time has past since I bought my iPhone actually two years this December, and one upgrade later so I thought an all time top 10 app post was over due. Even though some of these apps have been around for a while and some are pretty new I consider them my all time favorites as I use them all the time.

So let's get to it! The apps are in the order I use them the most being #1 the one I use the most and my all time favorite.

10. Gaggle Social Web Browser - Sounds like Google and it's pretty much the same. It's a search app that uses Google to find the information but with the ability to share the sites by tapping on the Share button. You can share on Facebook or Twitter or bookmark the site on your iPhone. Sharing with Tumblr, Digg and Delicious is coming soon. The app is very handy and it's free.

9. Shazam - Love this app and the fact that it's free is amazing to me. This app recognizes the music currently playing around you and gives you the artist and song name along with information on where you can buy the song and view the available videos.

8. Animoto - is a service that allows you to create free short videos by using your still life pictures. You can also create and download unlimited full-length videos for a minimal yearly fee which is well worth it when you see the professional job this service does with your pictures. You can add music, text, and highlight certain pictures and the services mixes it together to form a masterpiece. You can also access the videos you have created online via the app. Cost of the app, FREE.

7. CheckPlease - Tip Calculator - Ever been at a group dinner party and have to split the bill and no one has a calculator? This nifty app will add the bill amount plus tip, and then split it between the number of people you choose. You can also opt to not tip on taxes, apply a discount or coupon amount, round up or down on tip and total and best of all you can post the amount of the bill directly to PocketMoney. I have the paid version of the app which is $0.99 but they also offer a lite version for free.

6. PhotoArtist - The name implies it all Photo Art. You can select any of the photos in your library or take a new one and then apply any of the following six filters: cartoon, watercolor, illustration, halftone, mono, and pen and your photo is turned into art. It's not a photo editor likePhotogene, it converts your photo's into artwork as the name indicates and it does a great job at it. It's only $1.99 and I think it's well worth it.

5. Photofunia - There are lots of app that let you place your picture into a frame or even into a character but most of the work is done manually by you. With Photofunia all you do is select the photo from your camera roll or take a new one, select one of the 100 effects and this nifty free app recognizes the face in the photo and places the face where it goes. It's very neat, and the results look very professional.

4. Instapaper - This app let's you save articles and web sites for offline reading. You can categorize your articles by folders, star rate them, and share them on Twitter and Tumblr and if you have Echofon Pro it integrates with it. You can also browser the app's directory for more reading material or subscribe to some one's starred items and let them recommend more articles. I have the paid version which is $4.99 but they also have a free version available.

3. Facebook - After version 3.0 this app became amazing. Now you can see pretty much everything that goes on Facebook. The app is free and the only downside is that the videos do not play on the iPhone.

2. Echofon Pro - This app use to be TwitterFon Pro, a Twitter app and it goes for $4.99. You can manage multiple Twitter accounts, it has instapaper integration, push notification for mentions, Twitter search and trends, photo and video upload and so many other features. There is also a free version available.

1. Photogene - With Photogene you can crop, apply filters, color adjustment, exposure, and saturation. You can also enhance your photos with effects, captions, frames, borders, and even rotate the image. You have the option to edit photos from your library or taking a new one. Photogene brings photo editing to another level and it's just so simple to use. The app is $2.99 but it's well worth it. Some people prefer the new PhotoShop app but to me that app doesn't do half of the things Photogene does so I'll stick to this one for now.

Now of course these are only 10 out of 110 apps I have but these are the ones that make my life just a little easier.

What about you? What apps are your all time favorites?

How to create screen captures with highlighted areas on the iPhone

I've been asked the following question by my readers several times "How do you get screen captures from the iPhone and highlight some areas? So instead of just answering my readers individually I decided to write a post with the steps I take to accomplish it. This way everyone wins.

First of all, I have the Photogene app which is a really good photo editor. This app has a lot of really great editing tools, it's like having a mini version of PhotoShop on your iPhone. You can download it here.

After you download the app you need to get all the photos you want to use as screen captures. If you're writing about the iPhone and you need some screen captures, you can press the Home and sleep/wake button at the same time (see image to right). This takes a photo of your current screen and the photos are saved automatically in your Camera Roll.

OK, so now you have all the photos you need so let's get down to business.

1. Access the Photogene app.

2. Tap Edit new photo and then select the photo from your Camera Roll.

3. Tap the crop tool (scissors) and resize the box to cover the portion of the photo you want to keep and tap Crop. This will trim the photo to your liking.

4. Tap the symbols icon (star) and swipe the bottom toolbar to the left.

5. Drag the square figure onto the photo.

6. Double-tap the square figure to remove text and click Done.

7. Tap the outline tool and select yellow and tap the fill tool and select transparent. (Choose the outline color that will be more visible with the background color of your photo.)

8. Put your finger in the middle of the highlighted square figure and drag it to the area of the photo you want to highlight.

9. Use the circled corners to resize the square to fit the area you want to highlight.

10. Tap the Done icon (check mark) and tap Save.

All your photos will be stored in your Camera Roll. Now follow the same steps with all the photos you want to use as screen captures. At first this might seem to long of a process but it's not. Each step takes a second to do and after you do a couple of screen captures you'll be able to do this in your sleep :O)

By the way, all these screen caps with the exception of first full iPhone photo were taken following these steps. To me this is one of the most productive apps that I have. I recommend you play with it because this is just one of the ways you can use it but it does so much much more.

If you want to be more productive you can paste those photos into an e-mail and use them to write an article in your inbox, send it to Posterous, and your article will be live in no time in all your social media sites.

What other cool things do you do with Photogene or any other photo app?

App Top List: 3 More iPhone Photo Apps for your collection

If you're into photography I suggest you search the app store constantly because a lot of apps are being developed to enhance your photos. I've already reviewed my Top 5 iPhone Photo Apps back in January and now I review 3 more photos apps for your collection.

Photogene - wouldn't it be great to have PhotoShop available on your iPhone? Of course it would, well it's not available yet but Photogene is. With Photogene you can crop, apply filters, color adjustment, exposure, and saturation. You can also enhance your photos with effects, frames, borders, and even rotate the image. You have the option to edit photos from your library or taking a new one. Photogene brings photo editing to another level and it's just so simple to use. The app is $2.99 but it's well worth it.

Here are a couple of photo enhancements done with Photogene.

This photo was cropped, and a border was added.



Captions were added in seconds to explain to my friends something that was happening at the moment.


Check out the video from our friends at AppVee so you can see more features available.


Download Photogene.


ColorSplash - With this app, you can give your photos a dramatic black and white look while keeping the original color in certain areas. After the photo is converted to black and white you can use your fingers as a brush to bring back the original color in certain areas, you can even zoom in and out (using pinching) to make the process easier. You have the option to edit a photo from the library or take a new one as well. This app is only $1.99 but it's a great addition in your iPhone.

Here is an example of a photo enhanced with ColorSplash.



Check out this video from the App Store Reviewer to see more features available.


Download ColorSpash.


PhotoArtist - Most of the reviews I've seen on this app are not great but I think it's because the app is being confused with a photo editor and it's not. The name implies it all Photo Art. You can select any of the photos in your library or take a new one and then apply any of the following six filters: cartoon, watercolor, illustration, halftone, mono, and pen and your photo is turned into art. It's not a photo editor like Photoshop or like the Photogene app reviewed in this post. It converts your photo's into artwork as the name indicates and it does a great job at it. It's only $1.99 and I think it's well worth it. Your artwork is saved in your library or you can opt to share them on PhotoShare.


Here are a couple of examples:
Illustration filter:



Watercolor filter:



Pen filter:


Download PhotoArtist.

I hope this quick review is helpful to you. If you've use these apps let us know what you think or even better share your photos with us.