Chealion's LJ

05:44 pm - Invisible Shield

Originally published at Chealion.ca. Please leave any comments there.

When I got my iPhone I went looking for a case that ideally would not make the iPhone much more thicker than necessary, protected the screen from fingerprints and scratches and generally didn’t suck. It took a while but after reading reviews I settled on using the Invisible Shield by Zagg.

Good

The Invisible Shield protects my iPhone quite well against scratches against keys and well near anything that doesn’t actually slice the material itself. While often the scratch will be visible, running your thumb over the scratch or just giving the material time will have the scratch disappear like it never existed. It’s remarkably resilient to scuffs as well as often wiping away the offending scuff will cause it to disappear, or if dirty a little bit of water will work as well.

It’s also exceptionally thin and clear leaving the screen of the iPhone easy to see underneath it’s protective layer. Additionally dirt, dust, and other cosmetic annoyances can be easily washes or wiped off the screen just like the glass screen on the iPhone.

I prefer the slightly more tactile feel of the material (and if applied to the back as well if applied) as it gives a better sense of tactile feedback on the touch screen. It feels like you’re moving your finger across the screen a certain amount - much akin to using a scroll wheel on a mouse with grooves versus one that was completely smooth. The additional traction also makes the iPhone easier to hold - especially with your finger tips.

Bad

The suckers are hard to apply - compared to just slipping your iPhone into a case the initial time investment is pretty steep. However if you spend the 5 minutes reading the instructions and/or watching the video instructions on their website and then take your time applying it on the iPhone you’ll avoid the major issues of dust, air bubbles and streaks.

Between all the Invisible Shield’s I’ve installed I’ve seen all 3 major issues and all were my fault and thankfully if you’re paying attention can be avoided by taking the screen off and restarting the procedure over before it has time to start to set (according to the instructions). Having air bubbles or dust under the screen is really distracting but I find the streaks the most annoying if only because they aren’t obvious until you’re looking intently at the screen by watching a movie, reading text or something similar. I’ve found they happen when you pull the shield too taunt and are different then the streaks you get after installation.

After installation you will notice there are streaks on the screen that take a couple days to go away. These are normal and I’ve found will go in the direction that you used the squeegee to push out the excess liquid. So for the first couple days they can be a bit annoying as the streaks will distort the colour of some pixels making it seem as if there are razor thin lines of green or red at certain points. Thankfully after a while for the iPhone and the shield to get used to each other it disappears. I’ve also noticed that until this happens as well the quality of the iPhone screen will appear slightly fuzzy - not bad but as if the anti-alias filter was set a notch or two off optimum.

I’ve found that over time the screen likes to grab and hold onto oil and dust requiring wiping. The slight fuzzy appearance of elements on the iPhone comes back as well because of the oil but after cleaning it’s back to where it should be.

The biggest downside I’ve found is that they are not realistically reusable. For example each time I’ve had my iPhone replaced I’ve had to take the old one off and it would stick to itself creating a nice ball of Invisible Shield destined for the garbage requiring me to shell out another $25-$30 CAD for a new one. Be prepared to buy a new one if you have to replace your device.

Conclusion

So of all the faults with the Invisible Shield (which I find are more caveats than faults) I heartily recommend it because it’s unobtrusive and works exceptionally well. After having purchased 4 of them and applying them on 4 different iPhones I’ve still come back to the Invisible Shield every time.

04:57 pm - iPhone Restoration : Restoring Home Screen Layout (Pre 3.0)

Originally published at Chealion.ca. Please leave any comments there.

After having gone through 3 iPhones and countless restores of different iPhones and iPod touches I had to get to the bottom of how to restore my layout of my apps on my home screens.

The Cause

When you restore your iPhone / iPod touch to it’s factory defaults the device is not connected to an iTunes account. When you restore it from your backup (to put your apps and info back on) it will load anything that does not require authorization through the iTunes store (with the exception of free apps - though purchased from the iTunes Store they seem to get loaded anyway). So when you finish a Restore From Backup the first time around it will not load any paid apps or music until it’s authorized. It does it’s authorizations seemingly right after you’ve restored it as it accesses the iTunes Store as if it was just plugged in. Why that has no effect on purchased music I’ve no idea.

In the end you’re left with a phone / iPod that has only part of the data it had on it before and requires you to press Sync again to put your paid applications and purchased music on to it. The biggest issue here is that if you have any data stored in that application, like say Things, or high scores from a game, or just find reorganizing your home layout frustrating you’re out of luck. The paid apps are installed anew, and placed one at a time into the earliest empty spot on your home screens. Frustrating. Thankfully there is a workaround.

The Workaround

1. Perform a backup before you restore.
2. After restoring your Phone to the whichever OS version
3. Restore from your backup (you can cancel syncing music when this part finishes - it will start up again after the next step)
4. Restore once more - you may see two backups to choose from as it would have created a backup after the restoring. Choose the one that would have a timestamp just before you do the restore.

Annoying because a restore from backup may take as long as 5 or 6 minutes but at least you aren’t stuck reorganizing your applications the way you wanted them again.

EDIT: From what I can gather 3.0 has fixed this issue.

01:27 am - iPhone After Two Months

Originally published at Chealion.ca. Please leave any comments there.

After seeing D’arcy’s post today I felt the motivation to get off my butt and finish my iPhone review / showcase of my increasingly cluttered screens. First my screen setup followed up by short reviews of each application.

My first screen is my main screen which I reserve for applications I use most or are what I deem critical to the phone.

My second screen was originally influenced that on my iPod touch I placed all Internet using appliations on the second page. However with the iPhone this has changed significantly, and the second screen is roughly my photography/utility/Web screen.

My third screen is relatively simple and is exclusively devoted to games.

My fourth screen is a catchall screen for apps I use very infrequently and web bookmarks I really should delete.

On my layout I try and keep the bottom row clear if possible - it feels considerably cleaner and swiping with my digit doesn’t blot out any information (say a badge on an icon). The information in question doesn’t actually matter but I am not a fan of blotting out my viewing window unless necessary. The bottom row gives me a safe place to swipe without fear of opening an app. (Had this happen with 1.1.4 on my iPod touch but not since 2.0.)

“Home Row”

Phone: I like the app and keep it here because double taping my home button takes me to the iPod application. Biggest complaint was fixed in 2.1 as the contacts lag was fixed.

Calendar: I’ve got the time at the top, and the date at the bottom. I don’t use the calendar a lot but appreciate having the date visible at all times. It does it job and gets out of your way.

Safari: Best mobile browser availble. Only wish is that I could use newer versions of Webkit. Don’t miss not having flash ads all over the place. I never really use Java anyway.

Settings: Easy access to turn WiFi on or off among other things. It means I don’t have to go digging when wanting to change a setting.

“Screen 0”

iPod: No review needed. In 2.1 much nicer than 2.0.

Mail: For what I want Mail is an excellent Mail application reading and composing my email. Biggest annoyance is that I can’t mark items as unread. Having used POP accounts on my iPod touch I must say IMAP or death - I will archive older mail on my desktop to keep my mailbox down in size.

Maps: The GPS built into the iPhone 3G makes using this app even more enjoyable. It just works and works well.

Weather: A bookmark to Environment Canada’s website on the weather for Calgary. I like the view of Apple’s provided application but the accuracy is even more atrocious than Environment Canada. I’ll take the lesser but uliet if two evils.

Contacts: No review needed.

Notes: Useless because it can’t sync with anything but good for when you need to jot something down temporarily.

Calculator: No review needed. It works.

NetNewsWire: The first third party application on my iPhone - is very, very well designed and syncs with a subset of my NewsGator feeds. Excellent way to stay informed when killing time on an hour long commute on public transit.

SMS: It works. No review needed.

Spend: I have fallen out of using this application (which thankfully now has a non ugly logo) due to issues in iPhone OS 2.0.2. I lost data twice and had the iPhone uninstall everything once as well. Now after 2.1 as someone who hates to keep receipts it makes recording transactions easy so I can input them into Quicken at home.

Twitterrific Premium: Hands down one of the best designed applications on the App Store. It just works, allows you to view webpages without leaving the application, and with the premium version gives a version I find much more readable. It’s light, fast and exceptionally well designed. Best Twitter client IMNSHO.

Things: This application rivals Twitterrific for best design in an iPhone application. With 1.1 they introcued syncing allowing me to keep snippets of what needed to be done with me wherever I was. Super highly recommended as it’s super intuative - if you like the desktop version you’ll LOVE the phone version as well.

1Password: The latest addition to my iPhone I am presently trying out using a passwrd manager and need access to a subset of passwords on the go. Won’t be stating on the front page as I don’t use it all that often.

“Screen 2”

There is no screen one.

Camera: It works and the quality is what you would expect from such a small camera.

Photos: Dont use this as often as I should. But it dies the dusplay of photos exceptionally well.

Exposure Premium: Also one of the first applications I installed on my iPhone - this would be akin to Photos but for Flickr with more features. My favourite feature is the Near Me feature that will use the location services to show pictures taken close to your location.

WordPress: Used to type the large majority of this post, it’s a great little piece of software to create posts from your iPhone. Not perfect but faster and more screen friendly than using the WP-admin UI in Safari.

Remote: One of Apple’s add on programs - it’s awesome controlling your computer that is downstairs to play to the Airport Express in the room beside you so you can have some music playing without having to navigate floors.

iTunes: No review needed but my credit card is quite fit. Only wish it wasn’t WiFi only.

App Store: Like the iTunes store, no review needed but my credit card is quite fit.

Shazam: While my personal use for this application has been limited and when it first hit the App Store a couple songs I threw at it were spotty it’s a great tool to have around. I can never remember the names of songs and it’s works very nicely all things considered.

PhotoCalc: An application I use quite infrequently but very much worth the money I spent for it the times I do have to use the program. The reference, sunrise, sunset, and moon phase section is worth it’s weight in gold. (At least for me)

Seismometer: This is a recent application. It was recommended to me and for $0.99 it’s very much entertaining for seeing how much vibration and such is occurring. As I type this section on my iMac, I can see the seismometer jiggle as I type faster and harder versus softer and/or slower.

pTerm: This was the first shh client available for the iPhone, and it works well enough. When it first came out there were some serious issues: namely no arrow keys, escape key, etc. making some commands impossible. However in a pinch when I need to log onto one of my servers to check the status of something it does work. Personally I’d rather get to a computer if possible, but it does handle a regular sized Terminal window well on the iPhone screen (allows moving it like a webpage) despite the keyboard consuming the majority of the screen.

Mocha VNC: I had first tried the light version and was impressed that it worked causing me to pay for the full version to support the development of a VNC application for the iPhone. Very much like pTerm - it’s great in a pinch and all that’s available but if I could I’d rather get onto a computer as scrolling around a large screen gets very cumbersome very fast. (But is the best solution to showing a large screen on a small screen and making it actually usable).

“Screen 3”

reMovem free: I was recommended this application as well but have yet to get around to playing it.

Koi Pond: The water effects are amazing, and if anything the application is perfect for showing off what the iPhone can do. It’s mostly useless but fun and entertaining in brief short 30-60 seconds stints.

Cro-Mag Rally: One of the first applications I got for my iPhone - the game brings back many of the memories I had of playing Cro-Mag Rally back in OS 9. The super loose controls, the decent and entertaining graphics, and the sheer amount of hate I forgot about because of said controls. While I don’t play the game anymore I know several people who don’t mind it. It’s the only application I regret buying on the App Store.

Aurora Feint: A highly popular free game - the puzzles have been very entertaining but I have not devoted enough time to actually delve into the game deeper and start exploring much past the first 5 minutes. A shame really because it’s a very well designed game.

3-Tuple: Doesn’t seem to be available on the store anymore - but another app I was recommended but have yet to play.

Sudoku Unlimited: One of the only games I actually play with some regularity (say once a week). I like the inputs and how well it’s put together. Of course there are 9 million other Sudoku games on the AppStore but I like this one best.

Othello: It’s the game of Othello and I forgot just how out of shape I was on this game as the computer is schooling me even on easy mode. Fun game however.

Tris: No longer on the App Store because of a Cease and Desist - but it’s Tetris and it’s great. It has some bugs but I like it a lot more than the official Tetris game by EA (which is just bloat - I want to get to my game fast not 2 minutes later).

Spinner Free: Another game I have to show off what the iPhone can do - it’s easy and I don’t play it often but it shows off the accelerometer well as you just have to rotate the phone (landscape) around your arrow to lead it to the goal. Easy, and a great casual game for killing time.

Spore: Owning Spore itself, the cell stage was a lot of fun and I wasn’t sure how closely it would resemble it when looking at the screenshots and reviews. It’s not much like it at all in terms of gameplay. You tilt to control your character and I must say it’s a lot of fun and thankfully is nice and casual allowing me to get to my game and out real quickly if I need to.

CarriesDots: Another free game. Simple, casual, fun. That’s all I wanted and it’s perfect. It is a two player game however.

Brain Challenge: Like Brain Age but for the iPhone with more games. It’s fun although the loading times are a bit frustrating at times. Don’t regret buying this application one bit.

“Screen 4”

Empire: Bookmark to CalgaryMovies.com for the Empire Studio 16 theatre. HORRIBLE theatre, but it’s close.

Chinook: Another bookmark to CalgaryMovies.com but for Chinook.

Flickr: A holdout from my iPod touch this is just a link to my Flickr page - I really just use Exposure or flip to Safari instead from now on. I should get around to removing it.

YouTube: Only use it when people send me links to YouTube. It plays Rick Astley very nicely.

Stocks: Never use it.

Weather: Pretty but a PITA. See why I have the Environment Canada bookmark on my front page.

Clock: I never use the other features in Clock, so the time in the bar up top works great.

Banner Free: Scrolls words across your iPhone screen as if it was a large LED sign. Fun to send small messages by showing it off.

Instapaper: I use Instapaper on my desktops quite a bit, but the iPhone version leaves me wanting quite a bit. It’s slow - since I understand it caches a text version on the iPhone itself - but it’s not apparent it does it. It only lists 10 items at a time and requires you to update it which is a 60-120 second operation to get the next 10 items. I like to be able to flip through my Instapaper items (which number about 200) to see which things that had interested me I’d like to read and see if they’re actually worth bookmarking. I won’t be upgrading to the pro version.

Flixshop: “Grocery Gadget” in the iTunes Store. Flixshop on the iPhone? Huh? Glad I didn’t pay for it - I haven’t got around to trying it out yet.

Air Sharing: Another application waiting to be tried given I got it for free during the big buzz that it’s a great application.

Bible: It just works. ‘Nuff said.

Last.fm: I don’t use this often but the couple of times I’ve used it, it means I can listen to radio on the go at times. It’s been spotty for me on cell service however - and since my iPhone has music I want I don’t pay it much heed.

Conclusion

So after two months I still have to say the iPhone is the best phone I’ve owned by FAR. Except for some hiccups under 2.0.2, namely when I switched computers it decided to nuke items, and the occasional requirement to restart it every couple of days which still exists under 2.1 I have enjoyed using my iPhone tremendously. My data usage is also considerably lower than I expected. When Rogers announced the 400MB data on the lowest plan I thought I’d blow past that amount very easily - in reality the first month was 198 MB whereas the second month increased to 240.5MB, whereas this month I’m only on track to use 300MB.

12:00 am - The Case to Remove Twinkle

Originally published at Chealion.ca. Please leave any comments there.

Today I removed Twinkle from my iPhone and given that it has sit on my front screen since launch day I feel a review of Twinkle and it’s subsequent banishment are worth expounding upon.

For those who don’t know Twinkle is a program available for the iPhone created by Tapulous. The program is both a competitor and client application for Twitter, offering an experience similar to Twitterrific on your iPhone. The difference is that Twinkle as far as I can tell and have read caches your tweets on their server meaning you talk entirely to Tapulous - avoiding the not as present Fail Whale and being required to create a Tapulous account. However it also allows them to set up new features such as the Nearby feature.

The nearby feature hands down is the sole reason I opened Twinkle the last few weeks - getting local tweets was both interesting and informative. The feature allows you to specify how close a tweet should be to you to display.

What killed Twinkle for me was the silent failures to push my tweets in the application to Twitter, the hard limit of 140 characters in the textbox and a seeming penchance to be down (or giving server errors that eat tweets) when I wanted to use it most. It wasn’t a regular repeatable offence but that it kept happening made the advantage of the application near nil when I also had Twitterrific.

An aside reason for removing other Tapulous applications have been the quotes from the CEO about their (managements) approach to applications. Yes it has all been ibthe wake of Mike Lee’s departure but when the focus isn’t on quality applications and not just using it as a necessary marketing buzzword I’ll vote with my feet and wallet. The effect may be limited but it stands as an attempt to live by some code of ethics. (I’m not perfect and have changed my opinions completely from one year to the next).

06:27 pm - iPhone oddities : Bug 001

Originally published at Chealion.ca. Please leave any comments there.

I discovered a rather odd bug today on my iPhone (running 2.0.2 and would assume it has been around since 1.1.3) that exists because of the ability to change home screens. The bug will result in a home screen like this:

The steps to create this are:

1. Open an application - doesn’t matter which one.

2. During the opening animation flick either left or right with your finger and in the diminishing space of the opening animation you will see your home screen changing.

3. Close application and see that the home screen was unable to finish the transition to the left or right screen.

4. Swipe even slightly on your home screen to being it back to normal.