I was disappointed that the Calculator app only had a basic mode. I was hoping to get some more advanced functions in there. But this can easily be solved with some Web apps. Here is a scientific calculator in development. Even more useful is this large selection of unit conversions. They get bonus points for making an interface that is truly built for the iPhone.
So, you’d think there would be a good Web-based word processor out by now for the iPhone. We use Google Docs in the office a lot, and I hoped it would work on my iPhone. It kinda does. I can view small documents, but scrolling is not working completely. And I found I can edit documents if I switch to HTML mode.
A few companies say they have iPhone-compatible word processors. The one from Zoho is supposed to work, but I can only view documents, not edit them. There is one at gOffice that does work, but it quite a strange little app. Didn’t see much functionality, and it seems to assume that I want to type a business letter all the time.
Right now, the best option for word processing seems to be either email or the built-in Notes application. But I have a feeling that something will come along to fill this gap soon. I wouldn’t be surprised some custom apps sprung up for note-taking in meetings, and idea lists and such.
There are two sites I have been visiting to see what others are discovering. The first is iCali.tv, a spin-off site of Geek Brief, one of my favorite podcasts. They now have a podcast and blog dedicated to the iPhone.
Another site that has some interesting links is iPhoneAppr. This categorizes Web-based apps and provides a decent iPhone interface with the links.
While surfing the Web, looking for sites that work well with the iPhone, I found myself wishing there was a site that pointed out other iPhone-friendly sites and applications. So I decided to start a blog. But not just a normal blog. I customized a WordPress template so it looks good and is easy to read on the iPhone. I modified the comments code to only allow comments from iPhones. And, I’m going to try to blog mostly from my iPhone.
So, stay tuned for some great links to iPhone apps and sites.