YouMail is a alternative to the iPhone's built-in visual voicemail. It lets you listen to your voicemail on any device, computer, or email account. It also has a much a more sophisticated caller ID that includes the caller's name and location.

The above mentioned features are available for free, but for a monthly fee, you can have your voicemails transcribed into text so that you can read them instead of listen to them. This transcription is human-powered, so it is extremely accurate.

If you were to ask me what I use my iPhone for, I'd spatter off at least ten different things I regularly do, but "to make calls" would not be on the list. Needless to say, I hate voicemail and would much rather someone text me than leave me a voicemail. In fact, I rarely actually listen my voicemail and instead just shoot the person a text asking what's up.

I need a YouMail subscription.

YouMail is more powerful and more fun than your iPhone visual voicemail.

• Scroll and play on any device: iPhone, iPod, iPad, computer, or e-mail account.
• Visual caller ID, shows caller photos, name, and city and state, even when they're not in your address book!
• Smart greetings wows callers, automatically greeting them by name.
• Total ownership of your voicemail. You can easily save important messages forever, neatly organized in folders, and easily forward them to others.
• Easy contact backup and sync with facebook! Access your contacts on any device.
• Read your voice mail within the app or by e-mail, without ever having to listen to it. (subscription required)

Giveaway

The good folks at YouMail have given us three subscriptions for a year of YouMail's basic service (a $100 value!) to giveaway to our awesome readers! For a chance to win, let us know about how many voicemails you get per day (or week) that you'd rather read than listen to.

YouMail is available on the iPhone for free.

[App Store link]

Have an app you'd love to see featured on TiPb? Email us at iosapps@tipb.com, tell us about your app (include an iTunes link), and we'll take a look.

We told you about YouMail's latest update on Monday, well now they've been so kind as to provide TiPb with ten (10) codes for YouMail Premium to pass on to... you!

YouMail is handier, faster, and more fun than your iPhone visual voicemail – and free! Scroll and play like before, but on any device: iPhone, iPod, iPad, computer, or e-mail account. Enjoy visual caller ID, showing caller photos, name, and city and state. Wow callers, automatically greeting them by name. Share important voicemail easily, and save it forever, neatly organized in folders. And, for a small monthly fee, you can save time by simply reading your voicemail within the app or by e-mail, without ever having to listen to it. YouMail requires iOS 4.2 or later.

Want one? Just download the free YouMail app to get a feel for it, then leave a comment telling us which person you'd most like to get a YouMail message from -- famous, fictitious or just plain funny! Make sure you include a real email address (we won't publish it but will use it to contact you if you win.) We'll pick 10 of you and give you the codes.)

Ready... set... go!

[Free - iTunes link]

Have a question about your iPhone? Email us with "Ask PD" in the subject line!

Patrick writes in:

I updated to 1.1.3 and love it but now I am being asked for my email [...] all the time when I click on mail and it isn’t storing it.. also it isn’t storing the voicemail password.. can you help me out please so I don’t have to go back to 1.1.2

Eep. Looks like you're one of the many to experience weirdness with 1.1.3, my sincere condolences.

When it comes to fixing weird bugs like this I am personally fond of the brute force methodology. Plug in your iPhone and sync it up. Next step, make sure you have all your email sitting safely on your desktop email client. Then, in iTunes, click that scary "Restore" button under your iPhone's "Summary" settings. This will erase everything (including your music) and then you can re-sync it. I'd then recommend setting it up as a "fresh device" instead of telling it was the previous device. You should then be able to re-set everything up, from your music to your contact list to your email.

If you're not fond of the "brute force" method above, the other thing to try is to just delete that email account on your iPhone and re-set it up. As for your voicemail, well, I guess I'd try to do the same. Honestly, though, I'm going to pitch this one to the Phone different community.

Somebody have a better fix for Patrick that doesn't involve a full restore?

(p.s. This is not strictly related to your question, but I'd also recommend maybe switching your email away from your current address to Gmail or Yahoo. The benefit is that you will be able to use that even if you switch ISPs. Yahoo will give you instant push, Gmail will give you sweet sweet IMAP support)

We already mentioned that Klausner is suing Apple over Visual Voicemail, to the tune of $360 million. Turns out there were plenty of other folks in on that suit - AT&T, Comcast, the list goes on. Well drop one off that list, SimulScribe. SimulScribe is basically the super-voicemail system for the non-iPhone set: offering both transcribed voicemails and something exactly like the iPhone's Visual Voicemail (SimulSays). Well they've dropped out of the case and settled with Klausner.

That basically leaves Apple as the biggest name not to settle - but Apple is also the most litigiously bull-headed corporation around. So expect a fun fight, but don't expect your Visual Voicemail to go away. Apple may not want to be forced into licensing agreement, but they definitely don't want to take our features away more. After all, Apple gave in to the very same company over the Newton way back in the day.

SimulScribe, LLC., a co-defendant with Apple, Inc.(APPL:NASDAQ) in the patent infringement lawsuit recently filed by Klausner Technologies, has settled the litigation and has licensed the Klausner Technologies visual voicemail patents. - Press Release