I'm an iPod touch owner and as such don't have a mobile data option to fall back on when consuming information. I discovered Instapaper (via Dom I think) before I had an iPod Touch and long before the Apple App Store existed.

Instapaper is a simple service which allows the user to store a webpage to read later. No tagging, no date, just a list of articles to read. There is a handy javascript bookmarklet on their faq page to make the bookmarking process quicker. I used this quite often initially but then just didn't check to see what was there waiting for me for a while.



When the app store opened I spotted an Instapaper app and as it was free downloaded it for a look. Not only did it keep a handy list of everything I'd marked that I wanted to read at some point, but it made them available to be read offline - perfect. So, for instance, this weekend I've been away from wifi access but have been able to get through a backlog of interesting blog posts and articles. On the Instapaper iPod Touch/iPhone interface there is a refresh icon, selecting this sends Instapaper off to slurp down the latest content. Within the settings there is the option to render the articles as text, or as graphical pages - graphical pages takes longer, but is richer. I tend to use text only.

I often use the wifi properties of my iPod touch to catch up on my RSS feeds via google reader. This works fine, and occasionally I will come across something that is too long for casual browsing, and that I'd rather read later via Instapaper. The mobile google reader interface makes this a bit of a convoluted process.



Stage 1: When I spot an article I want to mark for reading later, I need to click on the See Original link



Stage 2: When the article opens up it will be still in a compact mobile style, so I need to scroll to the bottom of the page and click on the View in HTML link.



Stage 3: Finally the article opens up in its native format, and I can then use the Read Later bookmarklet to add this to my Instapaper collection. If I try and bookmarket it at Stage 2, then on the Instapaper main screen I see the title rendered in gray and if I click on it then it opens safari and browses straight to the google reader interpretation.

In summary, the only 2 areas of functionality that would make this app even better for me are

1. the ability to send a link to del.icio.us for archiving
2. the ability to tag articles so that I could decide whether I was in the mood for a photography related read, or something to do with running or maybe something .Net or SQL related.

Other than that it is an excellent app which I make a lot of use of.

Labels: instapaper, ipod touch, review

// posted by Jane @ 8:05 AM   

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When I first got my iPod touch and upgraded it, one of the applications I just couldn't work out the purpose of was notes. You can create a set of notes on your iPod/iPhone but these don't get sync'd back to your desktop. The only way to get notes off the iPod is by emailing it to yourself. There is no way to create a note from an email, or from a web page by any means of clipping or pasting which means you needed to type it in, on the iPod. So, I used it for writing temporary notes which I could email to myself - maybe notes at talks, journal style entries when on holiday, that kind of thing.



Then mac mail gained notes functionality, and for a brief moment I thought that would solve the issue. But, rather annoyingly, the two notes applications didn't synchronise.



Then a few weeks ago, Richard, pointed me towards the Appigo Notes application - he'd bought the Todo application from Appigo and was pleased with it so I thought I'd take a look. This is an offline notebook (meaning that even with no wifi connection you can make notes/refer to existing notes) which synchronises with toodledo - a free online service for notes and tasks - and has a search facility. The application costs £2.99 and so far has been worth its money.



So, all of this means that if you're at a computer with an internet connection, you can type, or paste, information into the toodledo notebook and know that next time you sync Appigo notes that information will appear on the iPod, which is a lot easier than having to retype it all on the iPod.



Having bought this application, and being happy with it, I followed Richard's lead and bought Todo as well. These are still my only 2 paid-for iPod applications.

Labels: ipod touch, review

// posted by Jane @ 7:25 AM   

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Ok, making progress after my previous post. I've updated my iPod Touch to be 1.1.3. I've followed the link for the January Software Upgrade, and attempted to buy it. Apparently I needed to update my version of iTunes to 7.6, so I've upgraded that. Now I'm attempting to buy the January Upgrade, but get this error displayed.

Sigh.

Labels: error, ipod touch, screenshot

// posted by Jane @ 10:20 PM   

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After the keynote at MacWorld today I thought I'd see if there was an update available for my iPod Touch yet.

No idea, just an error telling me that the update server could not be contacted. Hmm, either a genuine error or too many people trying the same thing?

I'm also planning on paying the £12.99 ($20) for the January Software Upgrade to make the most of the Mail application but I want to get the upgrade to 1.1.3 first.

I've been using my iPod Touch for 3 or so weeks now and really like it. The interface is great, the screen is lovely (shame I managed to scratch it (don't believe any of the "it's unscratchable" rumours) - at least I've got some nice screen protection now and a great rubberised case). One of the applications I'm really missing is an interface to Last fm so I'm hoping that when the developer kit gets released, an authorised application will be written.

Labels: error, ipod touch, screenshot

// posted by Jane @ 9:04 PM   

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