Mobile Git

I've used the Textastic source code editor iOS app on my phone and tablet for quite a while. I don't do a lot of heavy editing with it, but it's handy when I'm thinking about code and want to look at how something is implemented. (Textastic is also available on the Mac, but I've never tried that version. I have plenty of editors there, and I prefer ones that are also available on Windows.)

One of the limitations was that it wouldn't pull directly from Git. It does pull from Dropbox though, so I ended up keeping a copy of my source code there. But that had a few drawbacks. First, I had to remember to update the Dropbox copy of the code. Second to update the Textastic version I had to download the entire source, which could be slow depending on the connection.

Recently I discovered the Working Copy Git iOS app which lets you clone Git repos to your phone or tablet. You can even commit changes, although I generally wouldn't want to do that when I couldn't test the changes. It would be ok for documentation. It has its own editor, but even better it uses new iOS features to let you access the files from other editors, like Textastic.

Now, not only do I have easily updated offline access to my source code, I have offline access to my Git history.

One minor disappointment was that neither of these apps has syntax highlighting for TypeScript. I was a bit surprised because Typescript seems as popular as some of the other languages they include. Textastic does support Textmate bundles so in theory you could add it that way, but it didn't sound easy so I haven't bothered yet. It would be easier (for me!) if they just included it out of the box.

Unfortunately for Android users, both of these apps appear to be iOS only. If you know of good Android alternatives, let us know in the comments.

Jot! iPad App

I'm not a very visual person when it comes to software and I don't use a lot of diagrams, but occasionally I find them useful to visualize something complex.

I have a bunch of iPad drawing apps (which is a little odd because I don't draw). The one I like for doing quick diagrams is Jot! Whiteboard by Tabula Rasa. There are both paid and free versions. (I also use Google Docs drawing program for more "formal" diagrams.)

What I like best is that you can move/copy/delete things (or groups of things) after you've drawn them. That's hard or impossible with a lot of "paint" type programs.

You can also easily add text boxes, which is handy for the kind of diagrams I draw.

Here's a couple of examples (the meaning isn't important)

Creatorverse

I continue to be amazed by all the great phone and tablet apps. (Admittedly, amongst a lot of junk.) If only I had time to play with them all!

Linden Labs (makers of Second Life) has released an app called Creatorverse that looks like a drawing app, but is actually much more.

Are ten apps all you need?

Ten apps is all I need - (37signals)

I disagree. I regularly use a bunch of non-Apple apps e.g. offline Wikipedia, iBird, oMaps, Topo Maps, Evernote, MobileRSS, BlogPress, TripIt, Photoshop Express, Yelp, Facebook, Twitter, SmartGo. *

I agree no one needs hundreds of thousands of apps. But you need a large selection in order to find the ones you want - you need the long tail. It's the same problem when you try to reduce the number of features in software. Sure, no one person uses all the features, but different people use different features.

The popularity of the platform draws the developers that you need to get the apps you want.

One of the big things that would stop me from using another phone or tablet (e.g. Android) would be the availability of the apps that I want.

PS. I'd also disagree with listing the Weather app as one that Apple "nailed".  It's very basic and I don't find it very useful. I believe it's getting updated in IOS 5.

* A number of these I use because they work offline. Outside Canada, or even out of town, I don't have constant connectivity.

Apps

A couple of interesting free iPhone apps I've come across:

LeafSnap - take a picture of a leaf and get it identified. I haven't been able to test this much since we have no leaves yet! But I love the idea. Only some US trees so far but more promised.

Photosynth - helps you photograph panaramas, stitches them together, and lets you view them. From Microsoft.

A part of me would like to escape the Apple closed world, maybe buy an Android tablet instead of an iPad. But I really like the huge variety of apps. Some of them come out on Android as well, but not all of them.