if there’s a spot in your home where the iphone may have already set up shop, it’s your office. but do you know exactly how impactful that device can be? SO many options, so few pages. but browse ahead and uncover gems that may help you spend more time in those “beneficial” places in the home.
Should you decide in the midst of working that you need additional Apple gear—be it a new MacBook Air, a 64GB iPad, or a personally engraved iPod touch—don’t bother loading up a web browser or driving to the nearest Apple Store retail location. Simply access the free official Apple Store app, which loads in an instant and offers almost all of the features of the website, including purchasing items and selecting custom messages for the aforementioned engraving process. You can also reserve select products for in-store pickup, as well as schedule Genius Bar or One to One appointments and check in from the app once you reach the store.
Apple Store 1.2.1
Apple
apple.com
Free
We were immediately struck by this minimalist writing app, which introduces only a stark white screen with large black text in an effort to let writers spin their words without glaring distractions. And with the text focus mode, you’ll only see the last few lines of text and zero misspelling alerts, letting you focus entirely on committing words to digital paper. But iA Writer really earns its keep in our book thanks to the addition of an extra line of keyboard commands on the on-screen board, including arrow keys, quotation marks, the colon, and semi-colon. Add in easy Dropbox synchronization and this simple app becomes a must-have option for iPad-bound wordsmiths.
iA Writer 1.2.1
Information Architects
informationarchitects.jp
$0.99
If you have a Mac or Apple TV in your office you’ll definitely want to download Apple’s free Remote app, which turns your iPhone, iPod touch, or iPad into a remote control for iTunes music and video playback. Simply connect the devices over your Wi-Fi network using iTunes’ Home Sharing function and you can browse your library, change tunes, and adjust the volume whether you’re on the other side of the room or in another part of your home. Remote continuously syncs the content on your iDevice, so you’ll always see the current song and album cover when you’re not next to your computer, giving you constant and instant control over the action from afar.
If you’re balancing multiple bank accounts, credit cards, loans, and investment funds, it can be immensely difficult to manage all of your financial details without a heap of hassle. Luckily, Mint.com—owned by TurboTax/Quicken maker Intuit—makes organization much easier by aggregating all of your financial information and tracking transactions and balances, as well as suggesting more beneficial accounts and letting you set goals to better your financial standing. The service is free, as is the Mint.com Personal Finance app, which condenses all of that information into an easily accessible and portable resource for managing your money in a responsible and helpful manner.
Mint.com Personal Finance 1.7.2
Intuit
mint.com
Free
Whether you work from home or are simply playing catch-up on nights and weekends, it’s incredibly tough to stay focused and get everything done without compromising your social life and personal time. Luckily, the App Store is packed with helpful task managers, and Cultured Code’s Things is our favorite of the bunch. Things’ strength comes from its simplicity and ease of use, as you can quickly add new tasks to your to-do list and cross them off when complete, as well as add more complex, multi-step projects. And if you also use the Mac version of Things, you can sync tasks wirelessly between versions to truly master the art of getting things done.
Things 1.6.3
Cultured Code
culturedcode.com
$9.99
Apple’s built-in Calendar app can keep track of your myriad appointments, but if you’re looking for something a little faster, more robust, and—best of all—a hell of a lot sleeker, point your attention towards Calvetica. This stylish calendar app syncs with all your existing Google Calendar, Outlook, MobileMe, and Exchange calendars, but since you can add new events with only two taps, you may feel tempted to use Calvetica as your primary calendar going forward. The glossy interface shines on the iPhone 4 Retina Display, and you can easily swap between perspectives and divide events between multiple themed calendars.
Calvetica Calendar 3.4.1
Mysterious Trousers
calvetica.com
$2.99
Apple’s iOS 4.2 update added wireless printing capabilities using a select number of AirPrint-enabled printers, but what if you have an older Wi-Fi printer, or even a traditional wired one? Worry not—PrintCentral makes it easy to print from your iPhone and supports nearly any type of printer. PrintCentral can connect directly to most wireless printers for easy printing, while those with a hard-wired printer can use the free WePrint app for Mac or PC to print wirelessly from the iPhone. Beyond opening up printing to most users, PrintCentral contains several other features, including a built-in mail client and the ability to print text messages and map images.
PrintCentral 1.8.1
EuroSmartz
eurosmartz.com
$7.99
StockWatch is an all-in-one stock market tracking app for the iPhone that lets you input your favorite stocks—whether they’re ones you own or are simply considering—and view detailed information as well as full-screen charts on the fly. With dozens of international exchanges available, it’s easy to locate and follow an endless number of stocks and bonds (as well as futures and mutual funds), plus the app includes links to recent news stories from a variety of sources about each company in question. Information kept in StockWatch can also be imported or exported and shared with other versions of the app, such as the helpful StockWatch for iPad.
StockWatch 4.42
Toughturtle
toughturtle.com
$2.99
If you’re serious about building your office workspace around your iPad as the primary computing device, you’ll want to seriously consider Apple’s Keyboard Dock accessory, which pairs with the iPad to form a makeshift desktop. The Keyboard Dock not only props up your iPad at a readable angle, but also includes a full physical keyboard, which most should find a significant step up from typing out long emails and documents using the virtual board on the device. The Keyboard Dock is also flexible with attachments—you can plug in a power adapter to charge your iPad, or use the proper video and audio out cables to explore the iPad’s A/V possibilities.
Keyboard Dock for iPad
Apple
apple.com
$69.99
Creating and editing text documents on the iPhone often isn’t the most graceful mobile activity, but when you need to bust out a large chunk of words without cracking open a Macbook or desktop, turn to the Quickoffice Connect Mobile Suite. This handy productivity tool lets you spawn and alter Word documents and Excel spreadsheets, as well as view files in a large number of other file formats, including PDF, PPT, and HTML. Quickoffice includes a robust editing suite for full article creation, and completed files can be emailed, uploaded to a cloud-based service like Dropbox, MobileMe, or Google Docs, or transferred over Wi-Fi.
Quickoffice Connect
Mobile Suite 3.3.0
Quickoffice
quickoffice.com
$9.99
Dragon Dictation makes the leap from Mac to iOS with remarkable ease, making it easy to speak out text messages, emails, and lengthier documents in a fraction of the time it would take to use the virtual keyboard. Simply load up the app, hit record, and speak out your message; you’ll need to have 3G or Wi-Fi access to use the app, and it may take several seconds to convert your voice to text, but the app works surprisingly well—and it’s free! Converted text can be copied to the clipboard and pasted into other apps, or used directly for text messages and emails, as well as Twitter and Facebook posts. Never again need you tweet with your thumbs alone.
Dragon Dictation 2.0.7
Nuance Communications
dragonmobileapps.com
Free
Expand your workspace past the boundaries of your Mac or Windows computer monitor with Air Display, which transforms your iPad or iPhone into a supplementary screen, perfect for viewing Twitter updates, an RSS reader, or really anything of your choosing. Simply download the free partner program for your computer and Air Display quickly transforms your iOS device of choice into an extra screen, on which you can use your mouse or even utilize touch commands. Imagine using the iPad screen for Photoshop tools for graphic design work, or simply loading it up with all your extraneous (but totally essential) daily distractions. It’s well worth the $10 for all the extra real estate.
Air Display 1.2.2
Avatron Software
avatron.com
$9.99
The iPhone comes equipped with a couple of quick note-taking apps (in the form of Notes and Voice Memos), but if you need to track every bright idea that pops up and access them anywhere, the App Store offers more robust options. Simplenote is especially helpful for saving text-based missives, which automatically save to your web account and can be accessed from anywhere. Though Simplenote is free to download and use, the app does feature ads, which can be excised for a one-time fee ($4.99) or held at bay as part of the $11.99 yearly subscription, which also offers additional usage features.
For an even more robust note-saving experience, consider Evernote, which not only allows text blurbs, but also audio clips, photos, and essentially any other file type. Everything syncs to the cloud and is accessible from other devices, but the added file flexibility comes with a greater potential cost—the limited service is free, but you’ll pay $5 a month or $45 a year for the premium option. But if you’re looking to keep all your notes and files in the cloud, Evernote’s a great choice.
Many of the banking giants have seized upon the popularity of the iPhone to create customized mobile banking experiences for their customers, with apps like Bank of America – Mobile Banking, Citi Mobile, and Chase Mobile leading the charge. All three make it easy for account holders to check their balances, send online payments, transfer money between accounts, and locate nearby ATMs and branch offices.
But the Chase Mobile app really stands head and shoulders above its peers at this time, for its free account activity notifications and the ability to deposit checks from your phone. Indeed, that’s the feature seen in the absurd commercial where the newlyweds take to their marital bed…and start depositing checks. Simply take a snapshot of both sides of the check and send it along through the app’s QuickDeposit feature and your funds will appear in the account as scheduled.
Whatever your bank of choice, you’ll likely find a helpful app waiting in the App Store.
Getting productive on the iPad doesn’t require a lot of digging around the App Store for useful options or even getting used to new software: simply download Pages, Numbers, and Keynote, the three Apple productivity apps derived from the company’s popular iWork suite for Mac. Each app weighs in at $9.99 and serves a very distinct purpose—Pages is a fully featured word processing app and Numbers lets you open and create spreadsheets for varying purposes, while Keynote is used to design professional-looking presentations with relative ease.
All three apps take after their earlier Mac iterations, and are packed with polish and a variety of multi-touch gestures to enhance the user experience on iPad. Each app is loaded with templates to start from (if you’re so inclined), as well as tutorial screens that introduce the myriad features, and you can transfer the files via MobileMe or through iTunes file sharing. For less than $30, you’ll have a totally worthwhile mobile suite for tackling your next paper, spreadsheet, or presentation without a full computer.
