Slowly recovering from the cold, I hope. I feel like I can write
again.
I really hate the feeling when I am looking for an app to do something and I can't find a site that isn't about the top 10 something or other. And then, by chance, somebody mentions a good app on fedi and it's great. I guess I want to bring recommendation pages back.
I expect to be adding to this page.
What I won't be adding: The banking apps, the
Now, there are some apps that are only interesting if you're in Switzerland:
SBB Mobile is for the train tables and for buying tickets online. Basically a must-have if you don't have a car.
=> SBB Mobile
Swisstopo is for the Swiss maps, my the Swiss Federal Office of Topography. ❤️
=> Swisstopo | Federal Office of Topography
SwitzerlandMobility is useful because it has the same official maps plus it interfaces with the Swiss Tourism site so all the big hiking tours have descriptions and pictures.
SWIplus is the alternative to visiting the swissinfo site. No real benefit. News for the Swiss abroad, or conversely, for the foreigners staring back.
SRF News is the alternative to visiting the SRF News site. No real benefit, either. News
Play SRF is the alternative to visiting the national TV or Radio sites. Useful if you want to look up older stuff. Or listen to an episode of Sounds! without subscribing to the podcast.
In the same vein, there's an app for Swiss Jazz, Swiss Classic and Swiss Pop – digital radio stations that just play music, by SRG SSR. That is to say, sponsored by the state.
=> Swiss Jazz | Swiss Classic | Swiss Pop | SRG SSR
CH info is the alternative to visiting the CH Info site. No real benefit, again. Learn the absolute basics about Switzerland's political system, administration and judicial authorities – i.e., the Federal Administration.
VoteInfo is the alternative to reading all the news about all the elections, votes, referendums and initiatives, all in one place. Pretty interesting every handful of months.
=> VoteInfo
=> Compendium | Dosierungen
OsmAnd Maps Travel & Navigate is the Open Street Map (OSM) app that lets me download maps for offline use. Extremely useful for travelling abroad since Switzerland is not in the European Union and therefore roaming is extremely expensive for us and for foreigners in Switzerland… we need to be part of the European Union roaming regulations. The user interface is complex with different sets of settings depending on what you want to use the app for, and so it can be endlessly confusing at first. My wife hates it. Just be prepared for that.
=> OsmAnd Maps Travel & Navigate | European Union roaming regulations
PeakFinder is an app to identify mountain peaks. The older men here in Switzerland pride themselves in knowing all the peaks and the app is my only way of keeping up.
=> PeakFinder
iCatcher! is my podcast app. A user interface that's easy to understand and it removes many ads. Great stuff! ❤️
=> iCatcher!
Doppler MP3 & FLAC Player is a music player for offline use. ❤️
Stylophone is a client for a Music Player Daemon (MPD) server running somewhere on your home network, connected to some speakers. Before this app I used MaximumMPD. ❤️
=> Stylophone | Music Player Daemon | MaximumMPD
Animoog is the synthesizer that got me spending a lot of time before going to bed doodling. So entrancing! ❤️
=> Animoog
Animoog Z is the follow-up app for the one above, but I haven't used it as much.
=> Animoog Z
Minimoog Model D Synthesizer is the emulation of a popular synthesizer and it is the one that made me buy actual Moog synthesizer hardware, later. ❤️
=> Minimoog Model D Synthesizer
All this Moog music app fiddling did pay off for them. I bought a DFAM, Subharmonicon, Matriarch and Theremin from Moog…
Model 15 is the emulation of their modular system, which isn't Eurorack so I won't ever buy anything about it. But I did like their tutorial!
=> Model 15
Klankwelle is a bare bones looking modular synthesizer. It comes with an online tutorial.
=> Klankwelle | online tutorial
AudioKit Synth One is a synthesizer that doesn't emulate anything. The people behind this one have a whole range of related apps that I own but don't actually use that much: Retro Piano, Bass 808, 909 Drums, King of FM, Digital D1, FM Player 2. I think my main issue is that they're either too simple or too complicated for my use. Also, they make me want to buy a Moog Subsequent 25.
=> AudioKit Synth One | Retro Piano | Bass 808 | 909 Drums | King of FM | Digital D1 | FM Player 2 | Moog Subsequent 25
GarageBand is great for the World instruments to doodle before going to bed: Pipa, Erhu, Koto and Guzheng. My favourite is the Erhu. I don't use any of the gazillion other features.
=> GarageBand
iVCS3 is an emulator of the VCS3, machine created in 1969 by Peter Zinovieff's EMS company. Apparently it was the first portable commercially available synthesizer. You can use the original manual to learn how to use it! ❤️
=> iVCS3
PixiTracker is a tracker that's intuitive to use: edit patterns, arrange patterns into songs, load different sounds, it all works like a charm, and it looks charming. ❤️
=> PixiTracker
I used to be all about those weird retro cameras. I should have listened to the few that kept saying that people like me would regret this one day.
These days I just use the regular camera and sometimes I increase exposure or increase contrast and some cropping and that’s it.
Procreate seems to be the standard app. Everybody loves it. I don't know. I never got far with it.
=> Procreate
Zen Brush 2 and Zen Brush 3 are the apps that had me spend hours with the Apple pencil, drawing stuff. I love that this app tries really hard to do ink wash paintings or sumi-e and nothing else. ❤️
=> Zen Brush 2 | Zen Brush 3
Art Set was the app that amazed me with the realistic looking oil colours. Amazing! But then I didn't draw much using the app.
=> Art Set
iA Writer is the offline text editor I use when I need one. I rarely do, though.
=> iA Writer
Kanji Teacher is an app to learn Japanese Kanji by a friend of mine. Check out the manual (PDF, EPUB).
=> Kanji Teacher | PDF | EPUB
Flora Incognita uses artificial intelligence to identify plants. I love it and take a ton of pictures with it. ❤️
Merlin Bird ID uses artificial intelligence to identify birds by song. I love it and use it a lot when out and about. ❤️
Firefox is my browser. ❤️
=> Firefox
Firefox Focus is my default browser app so that links from elsewhere always open in there. It also acts as my content blocker for Safari (Settings → Safari → Extensions). ❤️
Gopher is Gopher client. Gopher is the real world wide web precursor. It's still around, and this is a client for it. I don't use it often.
=> Gopher
Lagrange is a Gemini client. Gemini is a kind of retro alternative to the world wide web. Less features than the web but more features than Gopher. It feels like the very early web. It's full of nerds and nobody else. I don't use it often.
=> Lagrange
Signal is an instant messenger that's free but tied to your phone number. ❤️
=> Signal
Threema is an instant messenger that isn't free but gives you random accounts. ❤️
=> Threema
Delta Chat looks like an instant messenger but uses encrypted email in the background. ❤️
=> Delta Chat
Colloquy is an IRC client that I no longer use. These days I have an installation of The Lounge on a server of mine that I use via "Add to Home Screen". It's always connected so I never miss a thing.
=> Colloquy | The Lounge
Toot! is a Mastodon client that works for any fedi server that implements the Mastodon Client Protocol. I use it with my GoToSocial server and it works great. ❤️
=> Toot!
Discord is where I find my gaming buddies. I don't want to like it, but I was unable to find people elsewhere. So Discord it is. I even pay them money.
=> Discord
#iOS #iPhone #iPad
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