through the eyes of the iPhone

In which I share some favorites from my first week as a member of the elite iPhone user inner circle. We're going to skip right over my huge consumer guilt for owning such an extravagant piece of technology, and not talk about what smart phones and the internet are doing to the human brain, and all that really interesting intellectual stuff, and just get down to ooohing and aaaahing over the world's finest and most insanely practical conglomeration of every piece of technology you could ever hope to use in one convenient package. Can we agree to that?

In this edition: apps. In case the combo of phone, iPod, camera, video camera, GPS, compass, calendar, movie player, email and the internet in your pocket is not sufficient justification, then there are apps. I have barely skimmed the surface of the app library, but here are a few I've downloaded this week that have made me positively giddy with their utility.




1 - ShakeIt Photo - one of the main drives behind my desire for an iPhone all this time. The fake Polaroid (complete with sound & developing effects!).




2 - Cross Process - from the same developer as ShakeIt. Changes the color saturation and reminds me of Holga or Diana photos.

3 - 8mm Vintage Camera - old-timey video effects, like The Wonder Years-intro-amazing!
4 - Pocketbooth - photobooth in your pocket, with all the accoutrements.
5 - Whole Foods Market Recipes - basically what I've been dreaming of for years: you pick your dish category (Main Dish, Soups, etc.), prep preference (Quick & Easy, One Pot, etc.), and then choose from a whole bunch of dietary options (Vegetarian, Gluten Free, etc.) and voila! Recipes with photos! You pick the recipes you want, and bam! It makes you a grocery list. Change-my-life-amazing.
6 - Dirty Dozen - one of those handy little lists that tells you which fruits & veggies to buy organic and which are OK without. Easy peasy.
7 - NPR News - recent news at a glance, or my favorite feature: list of every NPR show, with the option to scroll through episodes & segments of any selected show and either stream them live or queue them up to listen to later. !!! I repeat, !!! Also can live stream any NPR station in the country.
8 - Google Earth - nothing new here, just portable. Sometimes nothing makes me happier than looking at places I've been and places I'd like to go on Google Earth.
9 - Angry Birds Lite - I'm not really into games, but I had to sample the craze. It's cute, the concept is ridiculous (and therefore the only type of game I can get behind), and the lite version is free. A win in my book.
10 - AllTrails - hiking trails, photos, and descriptions on-the-go. Can filter by trail type, difficulty, sort by popularity or distance, etc. Just looking near my house brought up plenty of options I'd never heard of and am excited to check out.

And some photos from the regular old camera phone:





So here's my question to you: do you have any app suggestions for me? I've found most of these either through reading blogs over the years and noting them as other people have shared their favorites, Top 10 lists on sites like the NY Times, or just searching for keywords I know I would use (like "vegetarian"). Outside of that, there are so many options, it can be very needle-in-a-haystack without the recommendation of someone who shares your taste. If you have an iPhone, which apps do you love that you think I would love as well? If you don't have an iPhone, are there any apps you know about that make you yearn for an iPhone (or was that just me??)

p.s. I know I might get some comments on the lack of the Hipstamatic on this list. I know it's extremely popular, and it's one of four trick-camera type apps I have saved on a wishlist. I will probably get it soon, but I figure the ShakeIt is going to be my favorite, and too many of a similar type of app might just be overkill. Can you convince me otherwise?