Writers iPhone4

<This was originally posted in January 2012 - when I added labels it updated the date.  I plan on writing a more current post regarding the apps I use now and most often>

I've had an iPhone now for just over a year. Before that my previous mobile allowed me to make and take calls and send and recieve text messages. The iPhone was a long over due upgrade. I always said I couldn't see point of buying an expensive mobile that didn't do everything I wanted but the iPhone4 sounded like the handheld PC that I'd always dreams of. My passion is my writing so I really hoped I could get an app on my phone for writing and this brief list are some of my favourites: Dictionary.com This app comes with word of the day. Today's word in Profluent (flowing smoothly or abundently forth). You can email, twitter of facebook the word if you like or star it to add to your favourites. There are other daily news articles about the English language. Then there is the whole point I downloaded this app in the first place - the dictonary (gives the meaning of the word and how to pronouce it). It also has a Theasauraus that suggest more words for you. Wikipedia Basically, exactly the same as the website. The app has a daily featured article. Today's article is The Battle of Barrosa. This app is handy for research or inspiration. My Writing Allows you to colour code writing projects and edit chapters. The work is backed up online so you can work from your PC or your mobile. It has a very plain enterface, however, it is free. SkyDrive If you have a hotmail or live account, then you can upload documents to your skydrive to work on at another PC. Having the app on your iPhone only allows you to read and email the document as an attachment - you cannot edit on your phone. Maybe if I bought the Microsft Word for iPhone package I would be able to but its quite pricey and I worried it would take up to much room on my phone.

Dictionary App

This is one the applications on my mobile that I frequently use.  Every writer should have a dictionary app on their phone and there is no excuse not to as there are loads of free options to download.  The version I have is by Dictionary.com.  This was the website I generally used before when working at my PC but now I have the site with me when I am on the go. My app is on the iPhone but I just checked their website and it is now available for iPad and Android mobiles too.

Word Search

On my bookshelf I do have a dictionary and a thesaurus but I must admit I lazily enjoy just tapping my phone and typing a search word in to find what I'm looking for, rather than going upstairs to retrieve a large book and flicking through pages.  I like that the app remembers all the words I've previously looked up in the past where as with a manual book, I'd have to fold down a page and I hate doing that.  

In addition, you can save your Favourite words and you can retrieve your list at the click of a button (profluent, pachyderm, paramour) and if you want to check the meaning of a word on your list just tap it.  

You can check "Trends" to see what words other people are searching on today (meta, diocese, postpone), the overall most popular words searched for (decorum, egregious, austerity).  You should be able to see what people nearby are searching on.  For some reason the app thinks I'm in Oakland, USA which I'm sure is a lovely place but I'm nowhere near there - I feel like a ninja that's dropped off their radar, he he.  

Articles

Every day, I get an alert for 'Word of the Day'.  The little prompt helps increase your vocabulary and consider words you've forgotten on never knew about.  The words can prompt your imagination, for example, today's word is Matrilineal (inheriting or determining descent through the female line) which has got me thinking about a world where procreation has became a problem and wars break out to protect fertile women, treated like goddesses, caused by the break out of a matrilineal virus.  I'm not sure why but there is always a 'Spanish Word of the Day' too. 

The app has a sporadic article (appears roughly every other day).  Today's article is about the meanings behind flowers.  The articles are varied, informative and always well written.  You can read back past articles too.  There is a daily questions "What is the origin of grinder, as in sandwich?" and then the answer.   The daily questions are usually about where words or phrases have originated from.

Thesaurus

At the top of each page, you can switch to thesaurus and get a choice of other words and then you can switch back to dictionary to check their meaning is what you want.

Links
http://dictionary.reference.com/