Apps: Productivity
Monica (free) is a fun personal assistant that not only gives you voice control but also speaks. You can ask Monica to read aloud your email, news articles, horoscope, or Google Docs, or to access Facebook. You can also ask Monica questions, but you do have to enter text. Monica will, however, read the answer to you. A nice feature is that you don’t need to tap any buttons or anything; you get Monica’s attention by simply saying, “Monica,” and then Monica responds by giving you menu of options, from which you speak your choice.
I had the opportunity to see a demo of Phatware's Writepad at Macworld and was very impressed. It lets you simply write on the screen using your finger or a stylus pen rather than using the onscreen keyboard, and translates your writing into typed characters. You can then edit that text — copy, paste, insert characters, etc. — via simple gestures. The app has a ton of features, such as shorthand, which lets you enter just two characters to evoke frequently used words or phrases.
I've been using alternate browsers for some time, mainly because I wasn't at all satisfied with Safari's tabbed browsing. I've used iCab quite a bit on my iPad, and like it a lot. I've also been using a preview copy of 360 Web Browser ($0.99), with version 3.0 finally being released in the App Store yesterday. This version is optimized for the iPad.
I’m a To-Do List junkie. I think I own everyone out there. With each new one I get, I find something I like better about it than the previous one. Today, I want to tell you about Dropkick. Warning: You won’t like this app if you’re looking for a sophisticated organizer. Instead, I recommend Omni Focus. But for the rest of you, read on:
The views expressed herein are my own, and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of anyone else on the iPhone Life team. That said, I hope that readers will find this article informative and interesting, or at the very least thought-provoking.
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