What should we call you? Jonathan George, Josh Viney

What should we call your company? Boxcar (App Remix Corp.)

Where are you located? Wichita, KS and NYC

What's your website address? http://boxcar.io

What are your Twitter handles? @boxcar, @jdg, @joshviney

What apps do you make? Boxcar

What apps, other than your own, are currently among your favorites? Jonathan: iA Writer, Tumblr, Alien Blue (unofficial Reddit client), Instapaper, Calendar. Josh: Foursquare, Calculator, Netflix, Instagram, Words with Friends

How long have you been a developer? Jonathan: Developer / 16 years, Entrepreneur / born with it. . Josh: Product Manager / UX Designer 12 years

How long have you been an iOS developer? Jonathan/Josh: ~3 years

Do you develop for any other platform in addition to iOS? Jonathan/Josh: Web

What primary computer setup do you use for your iOS development? Josh: Macbook Air. Jonathan: MBP 15" + 27" Dell Monitor

What iOS device(s) do you personally use most often? Josh/Jonathan: iPhone 4 and iPad

What mobile devices, other than iOS, do you currently use? None.

What's your favorite thing about developing for iOS? Josh: Mobile interfaces that don't suck, and being able to reach a wide audience. Jonathan: Being able to immediately show (and relate what you're doing) to people you interact with everyday.

What's your least favorite thing about developing for iOS? Josh: It can be tough to QA and changes can't be made as quickly as on Web. Jonathan: Apple's draconian, yet understandable, policies around the app store.

What feature would you most like Apple to add to the iOS 5 SDK? Josh: Make call and sms data available via API. Jonathan: Greater flexibility around notifications

What feature would you most like Apple to add to the App Store? Josh: Better ways for people to tell their friends about their favorite apps. Jonathan: More insight and analytics into where your users are coming from.

If we were to eavesdrop on you while you were coding, what curse word would we hear you use the most? Josh: The usual, but louder and with more frequency. Jonathan: "What the f--k?"

What do you do when you're not coding iOS apps? Josh: Designing UX and thinking up new ways to get people to connect. Jonathan: Race motorcycles and practice putting my pants on.

What should we look for from you next? Jonathan: Boxcar 5. Just guess.

How do you use Boxcar? Josh: I use Boxcar for two things. For work, I use it to quickly reply to and manage customer service for Boxcar, and check out the newest Github commits. Socially, I use it as a replacement for RSS readers, and as a way to keep track of social happenings on Twitter and Foursquare

Jonathan: I use Boxcar to follow people. Using our Twitter @anyone service, I follow the people I care about, and know when they do something.

Thanks Josh and Jonathan

Use a Twitter app on your iPhone and wondering how to customize a balance between getting far too many push notifications, or none at all? Between your main timeline, @ replies/mentions, direct messages (DMs), list notifications, and trending topics - it can be a little overwhelming. There's been talk of Twitter being integrated into iOS 5, but until then, you've got a few options. We'll show them to you after the break!

We've already shown you how to turn notifications on or off in the Settings app, but what if you want something a little more granular? Several iPhone Twitter apps allow you to customize what notifications you get. Since there are far too many to explain every single one, we'll take a look at Twitter for iPhone, the official app and most popular, and Boxcar, which works in conjunction with many of the available iPhone Twitter applications.

Twitter for iPhone

The official Twitter for iPhone app is an extremely easy app to use. It also has wicked fast push notifications. But if you're receiving far too many (or none at all), there are a few settings to play with that allow you to customize what you get notified about.

1. Launch Twitter for iPhone and from your main timeline, tap Accounts in the upper left hand corner.

2. You'll see a list of all your Twitter accounts, in the bottom left corner, tap Settings.

3. Then tap Notifications under the account you'd like to adjust notifications for.

4. You can now choose to receive push notifications for direct messages and mentions. For mentions, you can choose to receive them from only people you follow, or from anyone. I typically choose from anyone. (That's how you find cool new followers!)
5. You're done! But as a side note, also make sure you have Twitter push enabled under Settings, Notifications in your iPhone's main settings as well.

Boxcar

While Twitter for iPhone has a great push notification system that's extremely reliable, it's still somewhat lacking when it comes to options. Enter apps like Boxcar. I use this in conjunction with Twitter for iPhone, which only allows me to receive notifications for mentions and direct messages. Boxcar supports the following notification types when it comes to Twitter:

• Timeline
• Mentions
• Retweets
• Direct messsages
• Favorites (when someone favorites a tweet of yours)
• New followers (when you gain a new follower)
• Added to list (when someone adds you to a list they created)

As you can see, Boxcar has a plethora of options. I personally use Boxcar to notify me when someone new starts following me, when a tweet gets marked as a favorite, or whenever I get added to a list. I let Twitter for iPhone take care of the rest. But if you choose, you can let Boxcar take care of everything. You can even use Boxcar to go into stalker mode and follow someone specific on Twitter. It will alert you every time they tweet if you want it to. Not to mention Boxcar has custom tones for those of you tired of the default tri-tone notification.

These are just the ways I choose to customize my Twitter notifications but there are tons of options out there. Since a lot of Twitter apps don't have native push, Boxcar is a great app to compliment them. How do you customize yours and what's your current favorite Twitter client? Let us know in the comments!

Thanks to @jdipane for the tip suggestion!

Tips of the day will range from beginner-level 101 to advanced-level ninjary. If you already know this tip, keep the link handy as a quick way to help a friend. If you have a tip of your own you'd like to suggest, add them to the comments or send them in to news@tipb.com. (If it's especially awesome and previously unknown to us, we'll even give ya a reward...)

Not a fan of the official Facebook for iPhone app, desperate for an alternative, but still need to get notifications? Join the club. I've never been a fan. Their cryptic "bug fix" updates never seem to improve anything and notifications are always so finicky. More often than not, I open my Facebook app to find several notifications that were never pushed to my iPhone. On top of that, the timeline can be choppy or jump randomly. And the whole "liking comments" just seems to decide on its own whether or not it's going to work that specific day.

If you feel the same way, hit the jump for some workarounds and alternative solutions to using the Facebook for iPhone application.

There's a few ways you can ditch the Facebook for iPhone application (and still receive notifications). Unfortunately, unlike Twitter there aren't any real alternative apps. However, these are the two solutions I found to be the best alternatives to using the official iPhone app.

Facebook web app + Boxcar

This is one thing I use as a fall back method when Facebook for iPhone app decides it doesn't want to push notifications to my device anymore. It works rather well. You can even route the Boxcar notifications to open the mobile site for Facebook. I actually prefer the layout and functionality of the mobile site. I'm not quite sure why Facebook has not just implemented a lot of this into the native app. They recently integrated liking comments but it hardly ever works or shows up. It always works in the mobile web version.

Simply download Boxcar from the app store, create a login and customize your Facebook notifications how you'd like them. And you can have a different sound other than tri-tone which may be a plus for those of you like me that have tons of friends that use tri-tone. I like my sounds to be unique so I know whether or not my iPhone is going off.

Facebook web app + Facebook native app

Another route is to keep the Facebook native app installed but use the web app. If notifications aren't a huge issue to you and you just want a more steady user experience, simply keep notifications active but use the mobile site instead. I simply turned off badges and hid the app in a folder. That way, I still get notifications for Facebook but I can choose to use the mobile web version instead.

The only downside to this method is if you open a Facebook notification, it will still bring it up in the native Facebook for iPhone app. I simply tap close and then launch the mobile web version. All the notifications will be right at the top of the web version. Not the best workaround but it's definitely a more stable user experience than the native app in my opinion.

Do any of you have a better way to use Facebook on your iPhone? Let us know in the comments!

Boxcar - Free

Tips of the day will range from beginner-level 101 to advanced-level ninjary. If you already know this tip, keep the link handy as a quick way to help a friend. If you have a tip of your own you'd like to suggest, add them to the comments or send them in to news@tipb.com. (If it's especially awesome and previously unknown to us, we'll even give ya a reward...)

TechCrunch has word that iOS 5 will include an all-new, completely revamped notification system with widget support to boot.

The other big news for iOS5 — and yes, I’ve completely buried the lede here, thanks for reading! — two things: completely revamped notifications and widgets.

We've previously heard that Apple was planning on giving iOS notifications a major face-lift, and Apple did hire the man responsible for webOS' elegant notification system, so this really could be the next generation improvement a lot of us have been hoping for.

Throwing cold water on those holding out for new iPhone hardware, however, they once again suggested Apple has no plans of bringing a new iPhone to the party at WWDC.

Apple is pushing for journalists to come to WWDC because the software announcements will be huge (and they likely know that journalists hearing there will be no iPhone 5 announcement may choose to stay home instead this year). And the changes will be vital for all developers in the Apple ecosystem(s) to know about.

In addition, rumors that Nuance technology would be fully baked into iOS 5 doesn't sound likely according to their sources, but they're still hearing iCloud will be in full effect at the announcement.

There are plenty of great iOS notification concepts floating around, but we'll have to wait for WWDC to get a real grasp on the new system and what kind of widget support will be included.

What do you think it could look like?

[TechCrunch]

Twitter for iPhone recently updated to include a rather annoying and intrusive Quick Bar that has outraged most of its users. So much so, that it has been coined as #dickbar. One solution is to jailbreak and install Twizzler, a tweek that'll remove the trending bar from the Twitter app. However, for those of us who are devout members of #TeamPure, we must look towards other Twitter apps.

Follow along for TiPb's top 5 Twitter apps (not including Twitter's official app)!

Twitterrific

Twitterrific is the very first Twitter application to ever hit the App Store. It is full-featured, award-winning client with a beautiful and intuitive UI. Twitterrific supports link shortening and tweet translation in addition to the ability to filter your timeline for specific tweet types & trends. As an extra bonus, Twitterrific is a universal app for iPhone and iPad.

Available as an in-app purchase for $4.99, you can upgrade to Twitterrific Premium which will remove ads and grant the feature of managing multiple accounts.

Twitterrific does not support push notifications.

[Free, with in-app purchases - iTunes link]

Twittelator

If you're looking for an overload of features, look no further than Twittelator. In addition to posting to Twitter, you can post to your Facebook wall. One of the unique features of Twittelator is the ability to create and share themes.

For an in-app purchase of $4.99, you can upgrade to Twittelator Pro and unlock over 45 additional features including support for multiple accounts, more customization, Geocoding, and the ability to upload to WordPress and Posterous.

Unfortunately, one of the hundreds of features that Twittelator has to offer is not push notifications.

[Free, with in-app purchases - iTunes link]

Echofon

Echofon is a full-featured twitter client with a very clean interface and support for push notifications. One of the unique features of Echofon is a mute option to squelch users, clients and hashtags. Additionally, Echofon previews media directly in your stream which helps you decide if it's something you're interested in. If so, a quick tap of the thumbnail will open the photo or video. Echofon is also a universal application for iPhone and iPad.

As an in-app purchase for $4.99, you can remove the ads and upgrade to Echofon Pro.

[Free, with in-app purchases - iTunes link]

Tweetings

Tweetings is an excellent Twitter app with a clutter-free UI. It let's you search who's nearby and find out what's trending at the moment or see who's around you with Augmented Reality. Tweetings also allows selective or automatic updates to Facebook as well as support for TwitLonger, Twtmore, and URL shortening.

Many of the big features, like push notifications, are stripped from the free version of Tweetings, but you can individually choose which features are important to you and purchase them for $0.99 or upgrade to the full version for $2.99.

[Free, with in-app purchases - iTunes link]

Tweetlist

Tweetlist offers an excellent way to view lists and quickly switch between them. The Tweetlists tab is quick to access and you simply swipe left and right to view different lists. This client is very snappy and has excellent Voice Over accessibility support. Tweetlists also offers support for Twitlonger, Instapaper, and Read it Later. Another fantastic feature of Tweetlist is that conversations open automatically - if a tweet is part of a conversation, the entire conversation will be displayed upon tapping on the tweet.

[$2.99 - iTunes link]

Bonus: Boxcar

Unfortunately, not all Twitter applications offer push notification support. That's where Boxcar comes to the rescue. Boxcar can send you push notifications for mentions, DMs, RTs, new followers, favorites, and whenever you're added to a list and you can choose from over 35 different clients to open automatically for Twitter, including the ones mentioned above.

The goodness doesn't stop there though. Boxcar also offers push notifications for Facebook, Email, RSS, Growl, Github, Google Voice, Google Buzz, App Recommendation, and more.

[Free, with in-app purchases - iTunes link]

Your top apps?

So there you have them, our top 5 best iPhone Twitter apps to get you going. Be sure to check out our Picks of the Week and iPhone App and Games Forum for more recommendations, and if we missed any of your favorites leave them in the comments below!

According to a Cult of Mac source, Apple might be buying an App Store app developer in order to improve iOS notifications. This... sounds a little strange. Notifications are certainly one of the weakest remaining elements in iOS, handled better by Android and far more elegantly by webOS. It took Apple until iOS 3 to get copy and paste and iOS 4 to get 3rd party multitasking so my assumption has been notifications were on the list for update but probably not until iOS 5. (Especially after Apple hired back the engineer who developed webOS' notification system.)

What is there in an iOS 5 notification system Apple can't build internally? Still, Cult of Mac says:

Our source, who asked to remain anonymous, didn’t know the identity of the company, except it already has an iPhone app in the App Store.

One candidate is Boxcar, a free app from Appremix that enables push notifications for Twitter, Facebook, and email. Boxcar’s system has been highly praised, especially the new iPad version.

Boxcar is fabulous -- I use it all the time -- but it's a third party solution, not something designed and integrated into the OS deeply, the way a new notification system would need to be. I just don't see it...

...unless this is another one of Apple's famous talent acquisitions -- more and better people to work on what will become iOS 5's new notification system. That I can see.

What do you think?

[Cult of Mac]

Switching from BlackBerry Storm, Bold, Tour, Curve, or Torch to iPhone -- maybe the new Verizon iPhone? -- and curious which are the best, most must-have apps you need to make yourself feel at home? Well read on for TiPb’s top 5 most recommended, most must-have apps to get your Android experience maximized on iPhone.

Google Sync (Push email, calendar, contacts)

While you're giving up BIS and BES, you don't have to give up your addiction to super fast push email, calendar, or contacts and since Google has licensed ActiveSync, you can even get it for free! If you already have a free Gmail or paid Google Account, you're good to go. Just set it up as an Exchange account on your iPhone and get your push on. If you don't already have Gmail, go grab an account and then set it up as Exchange. You can even forward your old account or have Gmail fetch it for you so your transition is smooth as silk. [Built-in - Gmail link]

Also check out:

• MobileMe is Apple's paid push email, calendar, and contacts service that also gives you iDisk cloud storage, photo galleries, and a host of Mac features. [$99/year - MobileMe link]
• Good for Enterprise is for those who want extra secure Exchange or Lotus email on their iPhone. (You'll need Good on your IT sever side as well.) [Free - iTunes link]
  

Kik (BBM)

BBM put the crack in CrackBerry and leaving it behind is hard to say the least. The good news is you're leaving a BlackBerry locking but now have access to cross-platform replacements like Kik. It gives you all the real-time sent, received, and read status you crave and if you get your friends onboard, you'll never miss BBM again -- and can probably save on SMS text messages as well. [$0.99 - iTunes link]

Also check out:

• WhatsApp Messenger is similar to to Kik and works on iPhone, Android, BlackBerry, and Nokia. [$0.99 - iTunes link]
• BeeJive isn't BBM but it is IM and if you'd rather use something more universal, that supports AIM/MobileMe, MSN/Windows Live, Yahoo!, GoogleTalk, Facebook, MySpace and Jabber [$9.99 - iTunes link]
  

Boxcar (Notifications)

While we can't turn the iPhone 4 LED flash into a notification light for you (yet!) a lot of apps come with built-in push notifications and local notifications that will give you popup alerts, badge number counts, and sounds. Boxcar takes this to the next level with push notifications for Twitter, Facebook, Email, RSS, Growl, Github, Google Voice, Google Buzz, App Recommendation, and more. [Free - iTunes link]

Reeder (RSS/News Feeds)

BlackBerry 6 includes feeds and while that's far from being a mainstream feature power users will want their RSS -- enter Reeder. It syncs with Google Reader accounts and it's lightning fast. Just tap the app open and start browsing, reading, and sharing your feeds. [$2.99 - iTunes link]

Also check out:

• NetNewsWire isn't as fast but it's widely popular and it's free! [Free - iTunes link]
• Twitter might sound crazy but many sites push their RSS to Twitter so you can follow them or makes lists of your favorite sites and get your news that way. [Free - iTunes link]
  

Jailbreak [Themes/settings]

The App Store has 350,000 apps but due to Apple's policies there are just some low-level, system-side things they just can't do. Jailbreak -- which "breaks" open the root "jail" and lets you install non-Apple approved apps is an option. With Jailbreak you have access to the Cydia Store, themes and customizations, notifications and easy settings access, and pretty much everything else you can think of and Apple would never approve. Check out our Jailbreak Starters Guide to get you going, our Top 5 Jailbreak apps and Top 5 Jailbreak themes for some of our favorites, and head on over to the Jailbreak Forum for expert help and discussion.

More iPhone apps and games

Once you've gotten that Google fix and you're ready for the best of the rest, check out TiPb's Top 10 iPhone apps where we list off some of the best, most must-have social networking, communications/IM, productivity, music/internet radio, photography, utility, and location apps, along with casual, time management, and hard core games. We've also got an ongoing series of top app lists in different categories and we're adding more all the time, so keep your eyes peeled!

Your top apps?

So there you have them, our top 5 best iPhone apps for Droid/Android switchers. Be sure to check out our Picks of the Week and iPhone App and Games Forum for more recommendations, and if we missed any of your favorites leave them in the comments below!

Big Google user and interested in getting a better Gmail experience on the iPhone? You can use IMAP or set up Gmail as Exchange via GoogleSync in the Mail app to cover the basics, but you won't get stars and labels. You can use Gmail.com to get stars and labels, but you won't get iPhone Contacts integration, attachment viewing, or easy access to multiple accounts. For that you have to get a little more... creative. We'll show you how after the break.

[Thanks to The Keith Newman for this tip!]

Putting Gmail.com in an app

Gmail.com is a great web app and, of course, really nails the Gmail experience. Since it's not a native app, however, it can't do everything a native app can. Enter Mailroom [iTunes link]. It wraps the iPhone-optimized version of Gmail in a native App Store app, creating a hybrid that's almost the best of both worlds. It does cost $2.99 but for hardcore Gmail users it's well worth the price.

While it does provide iPhone Contacts integration, attachment viewing, multiple account support, offline mode, labels, stars, threaded conversations, badging of total unread and new message counts, and everything else you'd expect, it doesn't -- yet -- support push notifications.

Getting Push Notifications

Google Mobile App

Google Mobile app [iTunes link] is free and does provide push notifications for your Gmail account (and Google Calendar), including the ability to turn off sound notifications during certain times (like when you're sleeping).

You can't make Mailroom your default mail client but you can see the badge on Google Mobile and then tap Mailroom instead.

Boxcar

Or you can use Boxcar [iTunes link] instead, also free and a push notification powerhouse, and set it to open Mailroom when you get a Gmail alert.

What would be better?

Sure, it's not the most straightforward or elegant solution, but until Apple provides more functionality in iOS Mail (like flags and mapping stars to flags!), or Google makes a native iOS Gmail app, it can be just the compromise you need to get more productive on your iPhone.

If you have any questions or any other Gmail tips to share, leave them in the comments!

Tips of the day will range from beginner-level 101 to advanced-level ninjary. If you already know this tip, keep the link handy as a quick way to help a friend. If you have a tip of your own you’d like to suggest, add them to the comments or send them in to dailytips@tipb.com. (If it’s especially awesome and previously unknown to us, we’ll even give ya a reward…)

Every week a few of us from team TiPb will bring you our current favorite, funnest, most useful App Store apps, WebApps, jailbreak apps, even the occasional accessory, web site, or desktop app if the mood strikes us. As long as they’re iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch related, they’re fair game.

To see what we picked this week, and to tell us your pick, follow on after the break!

Alli's pick: Boxcar

I've used Boxcar since it first came out. I'd pay for it again, but you can get it for free. If you use Twitter, Facebook, Google Voice, or a host of other social media services - you need Boxcar

Got a mention on Twitter? Boxcar pushes it to you. Voicemail on Google Voice? Boxcar pushes you your notification. I can't say enough about this latest 4.1 update - and on the iPhone 4's retina display it looks AMAZING.

Of course, Boxcar is thoughtful, and will let you set "quiet time" if you want. But during your non quiet time, you can have audible push notifications, badges, and/or pop-up notifications. It's only as intrusive as you want it to be.

[Free - iTunes link]

Ally's pick: Lego Harry Potter Years 1-4

Lego Harry Potter Years 1-4 allows you to enter the world of Harry as several different characters. You'll play through the story lines of the first 4 installments. As you complete different sections, you'll also open those areas up to free play. This allows you to roam more freely and discover other hidden secrets in the game.

The difficulty level increases at an even pace. There's tons to explore and plenty to keep you busy. It's available in the App Store for both iPhone and iPad as a universal binary. You can also check out our Lego Harry Potter Years 1-4 Review as well.

[$4.99 - iTunes Link]

Andrew's pick: PowerContact

PowerContact is a group management app with a lot of great features. With PowerContact you can group contacts with colors, icons and other customizations and also includes features like FaceTime and Skype call support. Of course you can do basic group contact functions like Group SMS (or mail) in addition to being able to call, SMS or mail any contact by simply tapping their name. Adding, editing or deleting contacts is now a far more simple process from what's built into iOS.

Other great features include sending group info to your email, which is nice if you need to import contact data to other apps or if you just like backing up your contacts in an organized fashion. Next to each contact you'll see a photo of the individual, which is pulled directly from your stored contacts in iOS. I've fully replaced the default way of getting to my contact info with PowerContact because of its simplicity, ease of use and aesthetic detail. Give it a try!

[$2.99 - iTunes link]

Brian's pick: Star Wars Arcade: Falcon Gunner

Star Wars Arcade: Falcon Gunner by THQ Wireless is probably one of the most entertaining and fun-filled games I have played recently. I'm not typically the Star Wars game kind of guy but once I saw what this game entails and the awesome features it posses I had to give it a shot and boy am I glad!

You are in the cockpit of the Millennium Falcon and the object of the game is to basically destroy TIE fighters, Star Destroyers and anything else that comes near you.. The graphics are gorgeous on the retina display and the game play can be switched from auto-aim which make it super easy to manual-aim which makes it a bit more challenging. There are around 20+ levels for you to work your way through and it even comes with Game Center and Facebook integration for you to challenge and beat-up on your friends.

Probably the most entertaining part of this game is the AR Mode that you can enable and disable in the options menu. Using your phone's camera, gyroscope/compass and accelerometer, Falcon Gunner turns your earthly surroundings into epic space battles and lets you control the action by steering your body in physical space. It's like nothing you've ever seen. I found that playing this way in a swiveling office chair makes the game play intense and amazing especially to show off to your friends and family.

All in all this game is great in delivering fun, stunning graphics and showing off the awesome capabilities of the iPhone 4 and the iPod Tough 4th generation.

[$4.99 - iTunes Link]

Chris O’s pick: LiveScore

LiveScore is a fantastic free app that provides real time sores from many sporting events around the world; with a particular emphasis on soccer scores. Every match in the UK league is covered along with most other countries. With this app you will know about goals, yellow cards, red cards, substitutions, you name it, seconds after they happen. There are no push notifications, whcih is a shame however the app does auto-refresh when open. The application comes directly from LiveScore Ltd., the inventors of real-time delivery of live sport data and owners of the no.1 ranked football / soccer web site globally.

[Free - iTunes link]

Chris V's pick: AppShopper

AppShopper is a popular website for tracking apps - popularity, price, updates, etc. Recently have come out with an app of their own - AppShopper. With this app (and a corresponding free account on their website) you can tag apps as on your wish list or as ones you own. Push notifications will alert you to and changes - updated, price changes, anything. You can also track changes, popularity, anything that is available on their website. It's a great way to monitor apps that you have and apps you might be interested in getting. It makes an almost unbeatable combination when used in conjunction with the App Store. I use it almost of a daily basis. Best of all, it is a universal binary and it's free!

[Free - iTunes link]

Leanna's pick: Smurfs' Village

Smurfs' Village is by far my favorite time management game. Sure, the ultimate goal of building the best village is just the same as other games, but Smurfs' Village also has a story line. After each level increase, there is a dialogue between Smurfs and they give you a quest. There are also mini games in Smurfs' Village that you can play to earn more experience. The graphics are great and the gameplay is smooth.

Smurfs' Village is free to download and play, but some items require smurfberries which are available as an in-app purchase. Smurfberries can also be used to speed up the growth of plants and building of buildings. Although smurfberries are great to have, they are not necessary in order to enjoy the game.

If you like time-management games, check this one out!

[Free - iTunes link]

Rene's pick: Due

Due is a fast and easy reminder app for iPhone. I've been using version1.2 since it was in beta and it quickly replaced Apple's built-in Clock App for simple time-based alarms, and even Calendar on occasion for things that weren't full-fledged events but still couldn't be forgotten. (Like remembering to send Leanna my pick of the week!)

New features I really liked include persistent reminders (you're not done until you tell Due you're done!), both auto and manual snooze, the ability to make alarms grow more annoying, er, powerful for things you absolutely positively cannot miss, and a bunch of other little tweaks that combine to make what was a good app really great.

If it takes too much time to set a reminder I just won't use it. I've been using Due and that's the best recommendation I can give any reminder app.

[$2.99 - iTunes link]

Your pick?

You’re part of the team as well, so jump into the comments and let us know your pick of the week!

Boxcar for iPhone, iPod touch, and iPad received a rather significant update over the weekend, adding Retina Display support and a slew of other great new features:

• Awesome new icons!
• Retina display support
• Centralized inbox
• Google Buzz, Google Voice, Github, App Recommendations, and more!
• More alert settings
• Reply and Retweet right from Boxcar
• Bug fixes

I've been using Boxcar for a few months for managing any notifications that come through on my iPhone and iPad, and have enjoyed it immensely. Keeping track of notifications on iOS is a dismal process, and Boxcar corrects that.

With this update, we're wondering how you'll be integrating the new features into your usage patterns?

[Free (in-app purchase to remove ads) - iTunes link]

Every week a few of us from team TiPb will bring you our current favorite, funnest, most useful App Store apps, WebApps, jailbreak apps, even the occasional accessory, web site, or desktop app if the mood strikes us. As long as they’re iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch related, they’re fair game.

To see what we picked this week, and to tell us your pick, follow on after the break!

Alli's pick: BiteSMS (Jailbreak)

Deserving of a truly in-depth app review, I'm going with Cydia's BiteSMS since I consistently list it as one of my three reasons for jailbreaking. BiteSMS replaces the messaging app, with tons of options (which is why it deserves more attention) including individual contact sms tones.

As you can see from the screenie, it gives you contact pics with the message list as well as on incoming message. Of course, the option I like best about BiteSMS is that it pops up on top of whatever you're doing, so that you don't have to exit a game or an email to respond to a text. And if you go back to your game or email (or whatever else you happen to be doing) and remember something you need to text, you can invoke BiteSMS without exiting the app.

You can trial BiteSMS for about 10 days. When the trial is up you'll be bombarded with adverts, or you can shell out $8.99 and buy it from Cydia. Well worth the cost if you are a textaholic!

Ally's pick: Display Recorder (Jailbreak)

Display Recorder is a wonderful jailbreak utility that allows you to record what is currently being displayed on your iPhone. It's great for bloggers or techies who want to post up tutorials or reviews. It can also be used to show someone how to do something. Another neat feature is connecting it to a web server. There is actually a live mode that will show on a computer screen what you are doing on your phone in real time. This is excellent for demonstration purposes as well.

The only downside to the app is that it doesn't currently have an option to record audio. I've been using the voice memos tool as a convenient way around this for now. It would be nice to see it in an update.

Display Recorder is available via Cydia for $4.99. You can also find out more about it on the Display Recorder website

Andrew's pick: NotifyMe 2

NotifyMe 2 is a great ToDo notification app that utilizes both cloud notifications as well as iOS 4 local notifications. You can input any type of notification you want, categorize (custom categories included) the notification and set a time & date. The customization level of each notification is very well thought out, and includes 9 different notification tones to choose from.

The great thing about this app is that it comes with a desktop web-based client as well (free), which allows you to set up or review any cloud notification on-the-fly if you're at a Mac or PC. NotifyMeCloud will sync any notifications made on the desktop to your iPhone or iPad app.

Speaking of the iPad, NotifyMe2 Control Center for iPad extends the functionality of the iPhone app even more! Or, you can use it as a standalone ToDo app with local and cloud notifications included.

NotifyMe 2 for iPhone is available in the App Store for $5.99, with its iPad counterpart selling for $9.99. Although these prices may seem a little high, the payoff is well worth it given the polish and functionality of this great app. Go grab it now!

[$5.99, iPhone - iTunes link]

[$9.99, iPad - iTunes link]

Brian's pick: Boxcar

Boxcar is the perfect app if you want push notifications for apps such as FaceBook, Twitter and E-Mails. As soon as you get a notification in FaceBook you will be made aware of it via a push notification from Boxcar. If you are a Twitter user, anytime someone mentions you or sends you a DM you will get a push notification informing you of the new message waiting for you. If you are using e-mail that doesn't have push you can use Boxcar to alert you right away of any new messages awaiting in your inbox. This is the perfect app to keep you informed instantly of whats happening in your online life. Best of all the app is free and they have pushed over 100,000,000 push notifications.

[Free - iTunes Link]

Farbod's pick: iFile

iFile is a file manager running under user root. It is available on Cydia ($4.99) for Jailbroken devices such as iPhone, iPod touch and the iPad.

It allows fast navigation through the iPhone file system. You can directly view and run files of various types, e.g. various movie files, sound, text, HTML, Microsoft Office files (doc, xml, etc.), PDFs, and various compressed formats. Files can be sent as email attachments. Text files and property lists can be edited. Folders and files can be bookmarked. ZIP packing and compressed file unpacking are also supported. In addition, files can be uploaded and downloaded from iFile's built-in web server.

George's pick: iTorch 4

iTorch 4 turns your iPhone 4’s LED-flash into a standard flash light. When you launch the app, the light turns on and to turn it off there is a single on-screen button. Thats it! Its an extremely simple, yet incredibly useful app. There is an option to shake your iPhone 4 to activate/deactivate as well. The best part about this app is: its FREE! (Warning: constant use of the flash will drain your battery).

[Free - iTunes link]

Georgia's pick: Bomberman

Ever since the Nintendo 64 I have loved Bomberman. Though I have to agree with most people that the controls are not extremely easy to use, it is still quite a fun game.

You are able to run around and bomb the ground in search of more power ups. If you have played and loved the Nintendo 64 version than this game is for you.

It is also enabled with Openfeint.

[$0.99 - iTunes Link]

Leanna's pick: Social for the iPad

Now that it has been confirmed that Facebook will not be making a Facebook app, you may be interested in a 3rd part option. One of my favorites is Social for the iPad. It has the same traditional Facebook look (without the ads) as well as the ability to chat and upload photos. The only thing I've found that Social doesn't allow, is tagging friends in a status update. But if you desire to send private messages, create groups, events, and pages, or check-in at Starbucks, you can do it all with Social. If Facebook on Safari leaves you desiring more, check out Social.

[$1.99 - iTunes link]

Rene's pick: 2010 MacBook Air

It's got to be the new 11-inch Macbook Air. We received one here at TiPb HQ just this week and we'll be putting it through it's paces and seeing just how well it stacks up against our hometown champ, the 9.7-inch iPad. At $999 the MacBook Air is twice the price (baseline models) for half the battery life and it's multitouch trackpad is just not the same as a full multitouch screen, but it has a full hardware keyboard and can run Mac OS X software.

Unlike the original Air it also has a high-density, higher resolution screen and 2 USB ports (and the 13-inch model even has an SD card reader). I used a second generation Air for most of 2009 and was extremely happy with it -- except the battery life and lack of ports. It's still the anti-netbook, with an okay CPU, good GPU, and amazing build quality, but that's just exactly what some people want in their ultra-portable.

Standard configurations come with slower CPU and 2GB of RAM but you can build-to-order with speed bumps and 4GB. And since there's no HD or SSD, only NAND Flash right on the board, it flies. The performance is much better than you'd expect and you often forget just how "small" a computer you're using.

If you want a Mac instead of an iPad and you're not going to be doing pro-level video or similar work, check out the 13-inch MacBook Air. If you don't mind sacrificing size for portability, check out the 11-inch. They're the sexist laptops in the world today and very likely a precursor of where Apple's entire laptop line is headed.

Your pick?

You’re part of the team as well, so jump into the comments and let us know your pick of the week!

Every week a few of us from team TiPb -- bloggers, forum crew, and occasional friends alike -- bring you our current favorite, funnest, most useful App Store apps, WebApps, jailbreak apps, even the occasional accessory, web site, or desktop app if the mood strikes us. As long as they're iPhone (or iPod touch) related, they're fair game. Well, as 2009 winds to a close, we figured it's time for the staff to bring you not just picks of the week but -- PICKS OF THE YEAR!

So who's on deck for the very best iPhone apps of 2009? What are our picks? Find out after the break!

Chad's Pick: N.O.V.A. -- Near Orbit Vanguard Alliance

This game demonstrates what is possible on the iPhone from a 3D shooter. This game has set the bar. [$6.99 - iTunes link]

Chris' Pick: Navigon MobileNavigator

Pick of the year, pick of the year...how do I choose a single app as my pick of the year? A game with which I have had lots of fun? A utility that I simply use all the time? A twitter app? After much debate and flip-flopping, I decided to go with Navigon as my pick of the year. Navigon (with the recent updates and improvements) is as close as I have seen to a turn by turn app done right. It has a plethora of features, has clear voice guided turn by turn directions, and really is one of the two or three utility apps that I use on a regular basis and gives the iPhone a feature that almost everyone was clamoring for from the beginning. [$59.99 until Jan. 11 - iTunes link]

Derrick's Pick: Simplytweet

Simplytweet is not only my Favorite app but its my app of the year also,. It's a great twitter app that has many features, including Multiple Accounts, Push Notifications, Photo Search, My favorite features are Landscape, retweet or quote tweets (via @theiphoneblog instead of RT @theiphoneblog), and Themes. [$4.99 - iTunes link]

Dieter, SPE Editor-in-Chief's Pick:

Since the iPhone has become my secondary device, I'm finding that my go-to apps on it have changed a bit. The one I use the most: the Kindle app. I love that I have my books with me all the time now and that I can read it in bed without a light. Amazon really nailed the 'just works' aspect with the way they have sync set up - just a few seconds of data access is enough to get myself synced up to the last page I was reading on my actual Kindle. [Free - iTunes link]

Georgia's Pick: Skype

Skype gives you the ability to call anyone else who uses Skype, anywhere in the world, for free. You can also call landline or cell phones for a small fee, and send out IMs. Anything that combines "call anyone" and "free" definitely gets my vote for app of the year. (And if the 4th generation iPhone gets a front-facing camera, maybe we will even be able to have two-way video calls next year). [Free - iTunes link]

Jeremy's Pick: Twitbit

Twitbit has been my Twitter app of choice for some time now. Is it perfect? No, but then again the perfect app does not exist. What really makes Twitbit stand out as my favorite app of 2009 is the hard work that goes into it and the frequent updates to the app (and the updates are free unlike some other over rated Twitter app who's name I won't mention because it would hurt Rene's feelings). The developer, High Order Bit, constantly is striving to improve this app and it has evolved very well. I highly recommend you check it out. [$2.99 - iTunes link]

Leanna's Pick: 1Password Pro

iPhone + Mac + 1Password for iPhone and Mac = best combination ever. Before my discovery of 1Password, I used the same 3 boring passwords for everything. Now I have a different randomly generated password for each login and 1Password makes this simple and hassle-free. When I first started using 1Password for iPhone, I was nervous that it was going to be a pain to have to launch 1Password to copy a password each time I needed it but the process is actually rather quick and worth it knowing that I have secure passwords. This combination is a serious must-have for iPhone and Mac users. [$7.99 - iTunes link]

Matt's Pick: Appigo Todo

Deciding which app I feel is my Pick of the Year was immensely hard. I immediately thought to myself "well it's my most used application..."but then I realized, that wouldn't be it. It had to be something that filled in the gap where the iPhone OS left out, revolutionize the way I worked on the iPhone. Was it easy to use? Could I customize it to fit my work? Finally I came upon the conclusion of - Appigo's Todo application. One of main things I missed coming from the Palm to the iPhone was a todo application. Appigo's Todo, goes above & beyond what the normal todo application should go. With several options to sync & push notification reminders, this is a killer app & an app worthy as a pick of the year [$9.99 - iTunes link]

Mickey, the Cell Phone Junkie's Pick: All-in-One WiFiRemote

WiFi Remote is one of the coolest apps I have. For $5, it allows me to control my Windows 7 media center that I have connected to my living room TV over my WiFi network without having to deal with a keyboard and mouse. It is like having a pocket control for the computer with me all the time. I can sit on the couch and either surf, or simply control the media I want to watch. The best part is that both my wife and I have it installed on our iPhones, so either of us can control it. [$4.99 - iTunes link]

Rene's Pick: Boxcar

And here's why -- iPhone 3.0 introduced a couple innovations to the iPhone app space, namely (and finally!) push-notifications and in-app purchases. Sure, augmented reality like Gunman is coming on strong, we're all looking forward to Unreal Engine 3 powered games, and one day we may see the fruits of app accessory access, but for today, for 2009, Boxcar is delivering. Not only is it an innovative example of push-notifcation and in-app purchase, it uses both fill gaps both in other apps (like the PNS-challenged Tweetie, Twitterrific, and yeah, Facebook), for Apple and Google who still haven't delivered push Gmail without taking up the lone ActiveSync slot on the iPhone (which GoogleSync requires), and in the latest version, for Growl and RSS notifications as well. Bottom line, Boxcar has leveraged iPhone 3.0 to make great apps and services better, and that makes it my pick of the year. [Free + in-app purchase - iTunes link]

Your Pick?

You're part of team TiPb too, so what's your pick of the year? In 2009, what was your most used, most eye-popping, most "this changes everything" iPhone app?

Boxcar just let us know Boxcar 2.2 [Free/in-app purchases - iTunes link] has been served up piping hot to the iPhone (and iPod touch) App Store. Here are some highlights:

• Push for RSS feeds (powered by Superfeedr)
• Push for Growl notifications
• Now supports TweetDeck and Natsulion
• Toggle off hidden Facebook and Twitter re-tweet API notifications
• All new inbox that brings the pretty and the function

Boxcar remains one of the most popular options for enabling push notifications when and where they're not natively supported in other apps. Once again, the first push service is free, and additional ones cost $0.99 via in-app purchase, so you can pay for just exactly what you want.

If you've been waiting to get your RSS or Growl on, or your Facebook or re-tweets off, and you give Boxcar 2.2 a try, let us know how it works for you.

Boxcar [$2.99 + In-App Purchases - iTunes link], a push-enabler for iPhone and iPod touch originally launched with support for a couple of Twitter clients. Then it added a bunch more. As several Twitter clients now offer support for push themselves, what's Boxcar to do for a 2.0 encore? Add Facebook and Email push, of course, as well as Twitter Search and Twitter Trends.

Okay, sure, some major Twitter clients like Tweetie and Twitterrific still haven't added push support, so if they're your go-to apps, Boxcar may still be a go-to middleapp. Likewise, while Google supports Gmail now via GoogleSync, Exchange users can't hand over their only ActiveSync slot, so email push-enablers still have their place. Lastly -- and it's a big lastly, while Facebook 3.0 for iPhone just launched, it did so without push support, and so if you don't want to wait for 3.1 to get your push on, well, here's your middleapp for that as well.

But... it comes with a price. The $2.99 app price comes with one service built in. If you want to add another, like Facebook, you need to make an additional $0.99 in-app purchase. Email, that's another $0.99. Twitter Trends and Twitter Search likewise. And since you can have multiple Twitter, Email, Twitter Search, etc. set up, you can go from that base $2.99 to $4.99, even $9.99 or more. Basically, you pay for what's valuable to you. If you're working customer service and being push-alerted when your company (or your competitor!) and the word "problem" hits Twitter, $0.99 is a steal. If you don't care about trends or searches, or Facebook for that matter, you get a cheaper entry price for the app.

So, whether this particular app is worth it to you, and whether or not the in-app purchase upgrades are worth it to you, we're liking options and being able to choose -- and pay for -- only what we find of value.

So, if you need push now and you decide to try Boxcar 2.0 out, let us know how it works for you, and what you think of the pricing model!

More screen shots after the break...

Boxcar [$1.99 - iTunes link] is almost more enabler than app. It only does one thing, but thus far it does it very, very well -- it sends Push Notifications for Twitter @mentions and Direct Messages (DMs) that then open in either Tweetie or Twitterrific.

Setup is straight forward; you log into your account through an in-app view of Twitter's website, and authorize Boxcar. You can select whether you want Push Notification for either @mentions, DMs, or both, and which of the aforementioned apps you want to open them in (hopefully support for more options will be forthcoming, such as Tweetdeck, Birdfeed, Twittelator Pro, etc.). You can also choose to automatically tweet them a shout out.

Like all Push-enabled apps, you can exit to the iPhone Settings to turn on or off Sounds, Alert (text boxes), and/or Badges.

That's it. Sit back and enjoy Push Notifications so you can immediately know when anyone talks to or about you on Twitter. Even when you're watching a movie on your iPhone. Or playing a game. Or writing an SMS. Or even taking a phone call -- if anyone still does that...

In other words, it works so well, you may have to learn to better manage your Twitter interruptions.

Now the crux: is a couple of bucks a lot to pay for an app that arguably only extends the usefulness of other apps that you already paid a few bucks (or more) for? Depends on how badly you want Push Notification for Twitter, whether you're willing to wait for full-on Twitter clients to add it themselves (however long that takes), and if you realize a couple of bucks is very little, and partly going to support the developers servers that are handling the Twitter calls and passing them on to Apple's notification servers.

I bought it without a second thought. You'll have to weigh the value (which is more important than cost) yourselves, and let me know what you think in the comments -- or @reneritchie and I'll get it right away via push

More pics after the break!