Actually, I'm here to tell you why USAA is the world's coolest bank. And while you might think that this has absolutely nothing to do with the iPhone, I am here to tell you that you are just flat out wrong. Lots of banks are developing iPhone apps to serve their on-the-go customers, but none that I know of have what USAA is offering.

"What is Deposit@Mobile?" you ask? Well, I'll tell you. Through this special magic portal, you are able to take a picture of the front and back of a check and USAA will deposit that money immediately into your bank account. [enter sounds of trumpets playing triumphantly] Right now, USAA is the only bank in the iTunes store offering this fantastic technology.

That, my dears, is why why my bank is better than your bank. And that is also why you should rush right out and get yourself a USAA account too (eligibility requirements may apply). And without further ado, I will show you exactly how easy it is to deposit a check via your mobile phone. Here's what you'll need:

• an iPhone with the USAA [iTunes store link, free] installed.
• a valid check (yes, I said valid... I'm not condoning any kind of funny business here)
• a dark unreflective surface (flip that mouspad over!)

Now, first thing you do is log open the USAA app, and volia! there's a perfect little button for Deposit@Mobile. You'll be asked to log in to your account and away we go! Click on the thumbnails below for a full tour!!

(Click on the thumbnails to see larger images)

Alright, alright, I'll stay away from the potential Jay and Silent Bob jokes that I can make. But you'll have to admit that the iPhone has been rocketed into cult media iconography. I mean, how could it not? It's so cute, it's so geeky, it's so... so... the iPhone!

Part of my morning ritual is to wake up and hit the snooze bar as many times as absolutely possible. And then when I think that it can't be possible to procrastinate my day any more I'll roll over and grab my iPhone off of my nightstand and check my email and my Twitterfeed while still lying in bed pretending that I am no longer procrastinating. This morning, I happened across a Tweet from @mashable that lead me to a post on their page talking about the newest craze on Etsy....

iPhone Soap

Can you believe it? A company that goes by the name "Two Eggplants Company" is producing soap in the shape of little iPhones. It's gloriously cool. And you can even get it in a the black or white variety iPhone with various scents (including Macintosh Apple scented). Two Eggplants Company's iPhone soap retails for just $7.99 (less than you might pay for some apps, and guaranteed to not need an update from Apple to keep your hands clean)!

What will they think of next?

P.S. You'll have to forgive Two Eggplants for also producing the Palm Pre and Blackberry soap. After all, it's hard to please the masses. Their iPhone soap is still the coolest.

iPhonespazzes who happened to be Windows users have no other option but to use GEDCOM viewers. None of the Windows-based genealogy applications have produced a companion iPhone app. Keep on them, iPhonespazzes, eventually they'll have to listen to the masses!

Software Linked Apps

Originally, I was going to write this review like I did the GEDCOM Viewer review and lump all the apps into one gigantic review. But then I realized I had quite a bit more to say about each of these apps. So, in order to avoid the risk of information overload, I'll split this one up and discuss each app individually. But first a quick little bit about these apps in general.

The benefit of an iPhone application that is linked to desktop software is that information can be synced between the desktop and the iPhone, giving the user more control and a wider feature set. Rather than lugging your laptop along on research trips, the footprint of your research tools are greatly diminished. Suddenly, what began as an ordeal complete with bags and bags of items, you only have to remember one thing! And who are we kidding, if you're an iPhonespaz you're not going to forget your iPhone. And let me be perfectly clear, since these are not VIEWER apps, but actually fully functional apps you can sync your information between your iPhone and your desktop. That means you can make changes to the stuff in your iPhone and then sync it up to your computer!!! YES!!!! This is possible!!!! Now let's get right to it.

LeisterPro Reunion for iPhone

First, I gotta say that these guys have amazing customer service. When I started this review I had the original release of their app but I had already upgraded to iPhone 3.0 (I mean, who didn't rush out and upgrade the moment it was released with all those cool new features?). But I immediately ran into problems. When I was trying to take screenshots of their software to share with you guys I kept having issues with crashing. So I sent a quick email to their Reunion iPhone support team and within minutes I received a response!! They'd been working on the 3.0 compatibilty upgrade, but Apple had yet to release it on the App Store (we all know how that can be). But in order for me to finish my review in a timely manner, they were so kind as to offer several different solutions for me. I ended up receiving a developer's version so that I could continue my testing and get everything out to you guys. It was simple to install and they kept in close contact with me the whole way. And I'm proud to announce that the upgrade is available on the App Store now, so if you're so compelled to go out and purchase it and you've upgraded to 3.0 you can rest assured that you won't have any compatibility issues.

Right off the bat, before I even get into the features I'm gonna give them four stars for customer service!

I should mention that I'm completely addicted to Reunion 9 for the Mac. I love it, love it, love it. And I waited and waited and waited for the iPhone version to come out.

Clearly it pays to be patient, because their iPhone app is just jam-packed with features! LeisterPro finally released their iPhone version that works with Reunion 9.09 and later. LeisterPro Reunion for iPhone [iTunes link] retails for a whopping $14.99. And yes, I kind of feel like that's an exorbitant amount for an app. If I wasn't so attached to my Reunion software I might have passed it up because of the price. But because I'm so attached to their desktop software, the moment I received my email from LeisterPro I ran out and purchased it.

And was I disappointed? Not in the least! The Reunion iPhone interface looks quite a bit like the desktop application, a pseudo-family group sheet view that begins with your home person. On the outside it looks like a watered-down version of the desktop app, but click the wrench in the top right corner and you'll find that Reunion iPhone isn't at all watered down.

The "Wrench" Menu

From that little "wrench" menu you have the ability to sync with your desktop program, search for family members, access your family tree bookmarks (people within your family), see your treetops, view sources, and more.

(Click on the thumbnails to see larger images)

I simply can't go into a full scale tutorial for every single feature of this app because we'd be here from here until eternity. And while I'd love to think that you're as interested in this app as I am, I'm sure you've got other things to do... like darn socks and remove squids from your manifolds. Anyway, I would like to touch on some highlights of some of those features I just showed you from the "Wrench" menu.

First, I'm floored by how much they've packed into that little menu. Second, I find it slightly annoying that when I finish with something in the Wrench Menu and I tap back, I am taken back to my Family Group Sheet screen and not back to the menu. I think it's a workflow issue for me, but I often have several things I want to do under that menu and I feel like intuitively it would be nice to return back to the menu I started from.

I like the overview feature, but I think it could be improved upon. I think that this is an excellent place that Leisterpro could use the iPhone's inherent "pinch" feature so that you can view more on your screen at one time. Instead, with the current version, you are only able to scroll back and forth and to a certain extent up and down.

I also really like the Bookmark feature, I use it quite a bit in my desktop application. But (in both versions) I wish that there was a way to remove individuals from bookmarks. It seems like once you stick them in there they stay for all eternity. Often I just want to put someone in there for a short period of time while I'm researching them, and then I don't ever need to quickly access them again.

The Treetop function is fantastic quick little overview of how far up the family tree goes... according to the specified "Home" person/family. You do have a little bit of wiggle room, because the app lets you choose the Treetops for either the husband or the wife from the home card.

Syncing with your desktop software

LeisterPro Reunion syncs both ways with its iPhone counterpart. Which means, if you're out doing genealogy on the fly you can enter some info into your iPhone tree and the come home later and sync with your desktop. Both programs use wifi syncing, so you have to be connected to the same wifi network as your desktop application before you can transfer the data. Unfortunately, the data transfer from desktop to iPhone can take awhile if you enable all the features (i.e., you add all the photos stored, all the sources, all the people in your tree, etc.), I clocked my last upload at 18 minutes (*gasp*)!!!! But, if you know that you want to take everything with you it's just a matter planning ahead to give yourself enough time to sync up before you head out for some research.

(Click on the thumbnails to see larger images)

Here's a video (yes, I said video) screenshot of what it looks like on your desktop while your Reunion data is uploading to your iPhone. And because it took 18 minutes the last time I did it, I thought it was only appropriate to use the Jeopardy music. Don't worry, it's not actually 18 minutes long... I cut to the good stuff.

Massive amounts of data!

I am just amazed at the amount of information that Reunion for iPhone stores. It's incredible. All my individuals have all the same info as on the desktop (vital stats, marriage info, children, pictures, sources)! And I can edit them all!! What's even better is that I've begun to get into the logs. At first I wasn't sure how to use them, but it's a terrific way to add on the fly when and where I've been to research, what I looked up, what sources panned out, and which fell flat. And since it's all stored in one easy to get to location I can quickly go back and see what I've done before so I don't repeat my research! I can also plan for future research trips. And with the ability to sync back and forth between the iPhone and the desktop software it's a breeze! Especially for those research locations that don't have a continual power source for my laptop.

These are screen shots of everything you can do from the main screen / individual screen. It's just amazing how much there is!
(Click on the thumbnails to see larger images)

Source Citations, The Lifeblood of Genealogy

So far, I haven't found an app that does this better than Reunion. I'll admit, Reunion's desktop app does have some pitfalls where source citations are concerned (including the very controversial topic of whether or not genealogists should subscribe to a particular style of citations), however their decision to integrate citations into their iPhone app was pure genius!

On any event or fact screen that you attached a citation to, you can view (and edit) the citation information! If you used one of Reunion's predefined templates then the information will appear in the source fields with the source type. If you chose to do freeform citations then you'll just see a block of text displaying what you typed in originally.

It's simple to add a citation too! If you're using Reunion while you're out researching you can add citations on the fly either directly to an event or via the "wrench menu" under "Sources."

These are screen shots of how Reunion for iPhone does Citations
(Click on the thumbnails to see larger images)

That Sums it Up!

There are tons of more features on Reunion... really there are. But in the interest of not making your eyes bleed from having to stare at a computer screen for the next millennium while I review each one, I'll stop my gushing here. I simply love, love, LOVE this app. There isn't a whole lot more that I would ask for (maybe faster uploading times on the initial upload). If you're passionate about genealogy and you're a Mac user with an iPhone it would be an absolute SIN if you didn't have this app in your library!

Jon also gave me a preview of JUFTi's new game, Cornhole All-Stars, which just went live last night! I have to say, this is one fun game. Amazing graphics and fun characters. It feels a lot like Cel Damage in the mix of cartoon-like fun and rockin' music. Of course, Cornhole (or Bags as it is known in some parts of the country) is one of those things best played with friends and Cornhole does not disappoint. The multiplayer is option is perfect.

A big thanks to Jon for hooking up for the interview!

The Jon Myers iPhonespaz Interview

Q: Let's kick it off! How many apps do you have on your iPhone and which are your favorites?

Jon: I have 8 pages of apps, basically the max. Picking a favorite is hard, but I'm really digging Real Racing from Firemint. I think it's an incredible game. They did a great job. I probably use Tweetie the most. It's a tight product. Beautiful app.

Q: What got you into doing iPhone development and how did you come to pick Cornhole?

Jon: I've always built digital products, and I saw the iPhone as the most efficient platform for distribution and monetizing social, casual games. We chose the game Cornhole because of the regional appeal, but we built it with an international roll-out in mind. Developing custom characters and environments.

Jamie: Cornhole All Stars is a beautiful game. Great work!

Jon: Yeah, it's a beast. Cornhole's been in production since January, but we're working on two more games as well.

Q: Your team is kind of virtual with people spread all over the country. How do you manage that?

Jon: We're in-touch daily, but then we're all used to working like this. Sometimes we pick a place and get together too.

Jamie: What's the wildest place you've been to work on this app?

Jon: Puerto Rico.

Jamie: Really?

Jon: It just worked out. We actually got a ton of work done on the game while we were there.

Ok, because this is iPhonespaz, I have to ask this question... What's the spazziest thing you've done with your iPhone?

Jon: I was stopped by a street reporter the other day and they asked me how do you stay cool in the summer? I said, "Well, with my iPhone of course. We're developing an app called iFan."

It was a joke. I didn't think they'd print it, but they did!

Jamie: Hey, that's journalism for you... Um, wait. Isn't that what I'm doing here?

If you're in Columbus, or just like to party with cool people, you ought to drop by the Cornhole launch party! Jon's crew is going to go down in history as the first company ever to use Columbus' replica of the Santa Maria as a successful marketing platform! Ha!

And don't forget to download Cornhole All-Stars. Great value for $0.99!

Of course, being me, I sent along a jaunty reply asking for an interview.... and he said yes!

I planned to write a long Fanboy devotional, but I already run a site called iPhonespaz. I think Fanboy is implied.

However, I do want to thank Guy for taking time out to answer my questions. He also surprised me by asking a question of his own - it's the last one. If you ever wondered, you can stop now: Guy Kawasaki is extremely cool.

The Guy Kawasaki iPhonespaz Interview

Q. OK! First thing's first... How many apps do you have on your iPhone and what's your favorite?

Guy: I have about 60 apps on my iPhone. I use Mail and Tweetie the most. I love that HearPlanet makes the whole world a museum with an audio guide. I also think that the Comcast app just kicks butt—who would have guessed Comcast could produce such a cool iPhone app.

Q. Alltop just released a new interface for iPhone and it rocks (read Guy's post about it). How does the rapid expansion of the iPhone impact your thinking about all the other web-based services you're involved in?

Guy: The iPhone’s impact is much larger than “just the numbers” would indicate because there are far more Nokia phones out there, but Apple is always about reality distortion. An iPhone-optimized site or an iPhone application—either will do—is a badge of coolness these days.

Q. Many iPhone shops are tiny, 1-3 person operations, killing themselves to hone and *ship* that one, perfect idea... What advice would you give these folks as they work through the process of boiling apps down to the essentials? What might they be missing?

Guy: My shipping philosophy is, “Don’t worry, be crappy.” Which is to say that when you have an app that pretty much “does the job,” it’s time to ship. Note that I didn’t say, “Ship crap.” I’m saying that you should ship cool apps that might have elements of crappiness to them.

Jamie: That's exactly the approach I took with WordFlipper. It's still a work in progress, but it shipped and people like it.

Q. Because we're iPhonespaz, I've got to ask this... What's the spazziest thing you've done with your iPhone? The thing that made people say, "You're totally going to tweet that, right? Cause if you don't I am..."

Guy: I hate to disappoint, but I’m not that cool. I did try to use Maps while standing on the deck of the USS Stennis, an aircraft carrier, in the middle of the Pacific to see if it could locate me. It couldn’t.

Jamie: Oh, don't sell yourself short. I think that's plenty spazzy and I'm tweeting it.

Q: What’s your ideal iPhone setup?

Guy: The ideal iPhone setup would be an iTouch with the new iPhone camera, a Sprint MiFI card for web access, and a cheap Verizon phone for calls. The fact that millions of people tolerate AT&T is proof that iPhones are great.

Jamie: Thanks again, Guy! Once more, you prove that you totally rocketh!!

Guy: Thanks for the exposure!

As a side note, I also went out and picked up Guy's Reality Check (see Amazon link below). Does the awesomeness never end?

Reality Check: The Irreverent Guide to Outsmarting, Outmanaging, and Outmarketing Your Competition

Big thanks to Dave and Steve for having me on the show! After they finished taping I had to ask them to share the spazziest thing they've ever done with their iPhones... As it turns out, this particular show represents the pinnacle of their iPhone geekery. Watch and see!

The App Show - Episode #29 from Coefficient Media on Vimeo.

I didn't even know he was writing the book on iPhone Games...

iPhone Games Projects from Apress officially launches today. I can't wait to get mine!

Seriously, I can't wait. Take a look at the lineup:

Chapters by:
Olivier Hennessy & Clayton Kane, Posimotion
Joachim Bondo, Cocoa Stuff
Richard Zito & Matthew Aitken, Swipe Interactive
Aaron Fothergill, Strange Flavour
Brian Greenstone, Pangea Software
Mike Kasprzak, Sykhronics Entertainment
Mike Lee, co-founder of Tapulous, now at Apple
PJ Cabrera, FoneGears Systems

I'm grateful that PJ was able to knock out this interview and pleased to rock it out to the masses!

The PJ Cabrera iPhonespaz Interview

JG: OK! First thing's first... How many apps do you have on your personal iPhone and what got you hooked on the platform?

PJ: I don't feel like counting them all, but on my iPhone there are 5 pages of games, and 2.5 pages of utility apps. Each page has 11 apps, so this adds up to something like 82 apps installed.

As for what got me hooked on the iPhone platform, I'm a gadget geek, plain and simple. I've owned PDAs and smartphones since 2000. When the iPhone was announced at Macworld 2007, I just had to have one because of my gadget lust. But since getting one, it's become more than just another device. While I like playing with gadgets, the iPhone is the first gadget I really love.

JG: Obviously, I can relate! iPhone Games Projects comes out on 6/22. As noted above, you have a rockstar lineup contributing... What was it like to work with all of those great developers? I'll bet you learned a ton!

PJ: My job on this book, besides writing 2 chapters, was to check my co-authors' chapters for technical accuracy. The book was written as a series of independent essays, we were all writing our chapters at the same time without direct input from each other. So I really didn't work with the other authors until they each submitted their first draft. That's when I got to find and point out any typos in the code, or incorrect statements in the text.

I've been programming games as a hobby since I first learned to program BASIC in the late 70s. In 2001, I learned to hack my Dreamcast and PS2, to run my own games on them, just for fun. But my co-authors are all established professionals, some of them with many years of game development experience on several platforms. I am humbled to be part of this book, and to be associated with such an amazing group of people.

There is a lot of info in this book I haven't seen anywhere else. Not to downplay the chapters by the other writers, but Aaron Fothergill and Mike Kasprzak went to town showing how to write iPhone games in OpenGL ES and plain ol' C. Console game developers afraid of Cocoa and Objective C should pick up the book just for those two chapters. The other chapters are great too, with everything from game design to performance tuning. Brian Greenstone's chapter, for example, is bordering on academic, and covers many performance tips and tricks.

JG: That last paragraph alone made me run out and pre-order the book. I think I have the whole Dave Mark boxed-set now! Dave owes me a Christmas card or something!

JG: Moving on to apps, what's your favorite iPhone app and why do you love it?

PJ: Gosh, there are just so many to choose as favorites. All the ones I have installed are great, or I would have removed them long ago.

For when I'm on the go, Mail, Nambu and Facebook apps get used a lot. They keep me in touch anywhere, any time. The Maps app gets me where I want to be without problems. While these apps are useful and I would be loath to do without them, I wouldn't necessarily say they are my favorites or that I love them.

That honor goes to Postage app by Rogue Sheep, and Flower Garden by Snappy Touch. These two apps have so much effort go into how they work, and have so many little flourishes and attention to detail, they're a pleasure to use. And they're not even utility apps, they're apps you get because you want to send people something nice in their email, like a bouquet of virtual flowers or a virtual postage card. What can be more lovely than to make someone's day with some flowers or a post card?

As for games, anything by NimbleBit is great for a bit of quick fun. Even my mom loves their games. Of course, she plays on my iPhone. I offered to get her Scoops and SkyBurger on her own iPod Touch for Mother's Day, but she declined because she was afraid she'd never put it down. I think that's a compliment for Ian's work!

One game that has me captivated lately is Slingshot, by Giraffe Lab. The graphics and sound are simplistic, but the gravity simulation is top notch. Fun in a brainiac kind of way.

JG: Sometimes the simplest games are best. I still place Trace with my kids. Let's get a little geeky here... Considering that you've written code in half a dozen languages, what's your take on developing for the iPhone vs. say... a website? Do you feel constrained or maybe a bit more free?

PJ: Native iPhone app programming in Objective-C and Cocoa Touch is a lot like Java and C# desktop app programming: there are pre-defined visual components to choose from when creating your screens, and documented APIs to work with those components. These components and APIs constrain you a little bit but they make development go faster than was possible in older environments.

Web development is in general freer, because you can almost place any component anywhere and you could code each and every URL in a different language and it would be your choice how to do that. Good luck figuring out major bugs if you were to choose different languages and to program recklessly with no separation of view, model and control code.

Native environments like Cocoa Touch constrain you to work within a limited set of languages and design patterns, but it's for your own good. But with experience, you can always bend the rules a bit.

JG: Without bending the rules it wouldn't be fun, right?! Since we're onto breaking rules, what's the spazziest thing you've done with your iPhone?

PJ: I don't know if these things merit me a restraining order, but I could see people's eyes bulging out as I did these things on my iPhone.

Last week, I was walking from my hotel to Moscone West, and at one point, a group of people stopped me to ask if I knew where a specific hotel was located. I didn't know, but I said that I could look it up. I pulled my iPhone out of my pocket, opened the Maps app and entered the name of the hotel. Then I asked for walking directions from my current location to the hotel. In less than 15 seconds, I had sent these people on their way to their destination.

My high school graduating class had a 20 year reunion last December. I was taking pictures with my iPhone using the Facebook app. After each picture, my friends got on my case because they thought I was fiddling with the phone instead of hanging with them. Until I mentioned it, it didn't occur to them that I wasn't just taking pictures with my phone. I was tagging people, writing captions and uploading the pictures as I took them. Once I mentioned this, each time I took a picture, people clustered around me to see how I tagged people, etc.

Everybody loves the iPhone, even if they don't have one.

JG: Ha! I was demonstrating my game in a bar the other night and the same thing happened! But in my case, people gathered around just in time to watch me knock over the drink special menu!

Thanks again, PJ! Best of luck with iPhone Games Projects!!

When I go off into the world of paper and archives I like to have my whole family tree with me. My whole family tree amounts to over 7,000 individuals at this juncture in my research. You can imagine the number of tour buses that I'd have to rent in order to cart all those relatives around. Lucky for me that developers have begun to release apps for the iPhone that allow me to just catalog their information! And yes, the birth dates, death dates, marriage dates, and where everyone lived at any point during their life span is totally necessary when I go do research! I can't tell you the number of times I've run across an ancestor that I wasn't researching and knew that we were related but just couldn't put my finger on how, or his birth date, or his first wife... or whether or not he was excommunicated from the church (long story). I've found that having all the info at my fingertips lets me do a quick query and know for certain if "John Doe" is really my John Doe or someone else's.

After I gave up on the tour bus idea, I used to carry my MacBook Pro around with me to every library. It was convenient, I could take notes on it and see my family tree data. But the problem I ran into was that often the libraries weren't as tech savvy as I was. I'd be lucky to find an open power outlet; and likely that open power outlet was in the deepest, darkest, dankest corner in the library.

Now that Genealogists are getting out there and starting to be more tech savvy there actually apps out there for the iPhone! It's been a long wait for people like me, but they've got some good solutions now; cheaper than tour buses and less power-draining than a MacBook Pro!

Types of Genealogy Apps

There are two major categories of genealogy apps. First, there are those apps that are GEDCOM viewers and importers. These apps let you import the standard genealogy database, a GEDCOM file, produced by most major genealogy desktop software providers. The good thing about these apps is that they seem to load quickly. The down side is that they are uneditable on the iPhone. Any changes you might want to make you'll need to make on a desktop application and then reupload the GEDCOM to your iPhone. You will need a wifi connection to up load your GEDCOM file from your computer to your iPhone.

Second are the apps that were created to be a mobile solution for actual desktop genealogy applications. These applications function with your desktop software and allow you to sync data back and forth between the iPhone app and your desktop. This means that you can jot quick information into your iPhone on the go and then be able to come home and via a wifi connection sync your new or changed data to your desktop software.

Unfortunately, the GEDCOM viewer is the only solution for our Windows PC iPhonespazzes. No developer has yet released an iPhone app that runs with a Windows based genealogy software product.

GEDCOM Viewers

FamViewer

FamViewer (iTunes Link, $14.99)
For a GEDCOM viewer, I was mostly impressed with FamViewer, it's load speed is phenomenal (both in uploading a GEDCOM file to the program as well as the program actually starting up). I was a little concerned about how easy it would be to load a GEDCOM file into the program because I've had some problems in the past using wifi to sync with iPhone programs, but the interface was nice, clean, and very simple. I took all of literally 1 minute to have my GEDCOM file loaded and ready to go, which is particularly impressive since the GEDCOM that I was working with is 2.5 MB!

(Click on the thumbnails to see larger images)

I can honestly say I had sticker shock when I downloaded this app. $14.99 for an app that I can't even edit the data I put in it?!? Not impressed. It does adequately display all the data that I need to do a quick search when I'm doing research, but I was terribly disappointed that there was no editor function at all in the app.

I was also disappointed that in the search window, you absolutely have to search by Lastname Firstname. When I tried to do a quick search for myself typing in only "Whitney" I came up with someone named Jennie Lulabelle Whitney. And while that person is hanging out in my family tree, I've got no idea who she is! I can see that as being a complete frustration if I just wanted to quickly search for someone. After all, the iPhone Contacts app allows you to search by any combination of names Firstname only, Lastname only, Lastname Firstname, Firstname Lastname. I think that this program should at least do that much.

Finally, the source citations. Between the two GEDCOM Viewer apps, FamViewer is a little better than Shrubs (which I'll discuss below). My genealogy desktop software has template forms that allow me to quickly create complete source citations that the program then parses into the right format for whatever document I'm creating. That info is stored in the GEDCOM file. However, it seems like these GEDCOM Viewers for the iPhone don't always know what to do with that info. FamViewer gives me the source number that corresponds to the source in my genealogy software (a totally arbitrary number that doesn't mean a whole lot in the grand scheme of things) and it also gives me anything that happened to be stored in the raw text field of my citation forms. However, for the citations that I derived from a printed source where there was a template that I used, all I get is the source citation number. Not particularly helpful if I don't have my MacBook Pro to quickly look up the citation source number and find out where I found the info.

(Click on the thumbnails to see larger images)

Over all, FamViewer gets a 2.5 spaz rating from me.

Shrubs

Shrubs (iTunes Link, $9.99)
Already, we're doing a little bit better with the price. $9.99 is still on the high end of iPhone apps, but it's a far cry from the $14.99 that FamViewer requires you to pay. And for $9.99 Shrubs is actually seems to give you more bang for your buck.

What you get in feature set, you do sacrifice a bit in speed. My 2.5 MB GEDCOM file loaded in just over 2 minutes (same wifi connection on the same day as when I loaded the GEDCOM into FamViewer). The interface was nearly identical to the one that I encountered in FamViewer, easy, quick, and no frills. The immediate difference between Shrubs and FamViewer, however, was that Shrubs gave me the option to review the GEDCOM file and approve it before the app officially adds the file to your iPhone.

(Click on the thumbnails to see larger images)

Speed and price tag set aside, I immediately liked Shrubs better than FamViewer (yet another reason why I think the App Store should offer some kind of trial run before you buy, that that's a different topic entirely). Why is Shrubs so much better you ask? I think the interface is more intuitive. You can tap anywhere on the person's listing instead of having to be dexterous enough to tap the person's name to get into their details. I may have tiny lady fingers, but there are probably a lot of men out there who do genealogy too. And I doubt that they're as skilled at micro-tapping as I am!

Next, I love that there is a "favorite" feature. Unfortunately, in this version you're only able to save one individual as a favorite. It's handy if you're working on someone's information but then need to go check another person back further in your family tree and want to get back quickly to the previous person. I think they missed their mark by not allowing multiple favorites and then adding another screen to access people selected as favorites.

But the most helpful feature that I think Shrubs has but FamViewer lacks is the ability to make notes for a person! In each person view, there's a little icon that looks like a little sheet of paper. Tapping this takes you to a text field where you can enter whatever notes or data you might want to remember in the future from your research session. This all but makes your paper / laptop obsolete for research trips. Suddenly those archives that you're not allowed to take even a pencil inside, let alone paper, you've got the ability to make notes right there.

Where Shrubs fell massively short was on citations. None of my citations from my GEDCOM file transferred, not even a little bit. Citations are so important for genealogists and to have an iPhone app that can't even import basic data from these fields is a complete disservice I think. I'd like to see Benoît Bosquet go back to the drawing board and rework this feature completely. Something's not translating right between the GEDCOM file and the app if none of my 250 sources transferred at all!

(Click on the thumbnails to see larger images)

Over all, Shrubs gets a 3.5 spaz rating from me.

Final Thoughts

I think that GEDCOM viewers will get you by, especially if you've got a Windows machine and are running Family Tree Maker or one of the other exclusively Windows programs. If you're running a Mac, you might be frustrated like me with these programs. I think the desktop software linked apps just take this to a whole different level without sacrificing too much on speed, performance, usability, and features.

Stay tuned next week for my review of the desktop software linked apps! You won't want to miss them!!

I contacted Jack about doing an iPhonespaz interview and he was pitch in even though his latest game Diabolotros was due for release.

If you haven't checked out Diabolotros yet, you should. Diabolotros is a Space Invaders-Galaxian-Galaga clone that uses the accelerometer to move the ship. Loads of fun!

The Jack Nutting iPhonespaz Interview

JG: Thanks for doing the interview, Jack! You've got a couple project brewing right now...

Jack: Yep! I'm currently writing a cocoa book for apress. I'm also close to releasing a new iPhone game (Diabolotros).

JG: Well, let's jump right into it! First thing's first... How many apps do you have on your personal iPhone and what got you hooked on the platform?

Jack: At the moment I've got 145, but I do occasionally hit the 148 maximum, and then I try to find a dozen or so to trim away. They're pretty well organized by page: 1 page of Apple-supplied apps, 2 pages of utility/"productivity" apps, 1 page of music-related apps, and the rest is all games. The only defense I can offer to explain the compulsive game-hoarding is that many of them I keep on there for the sake of my kids who love to play them, but really, I'm sure I'd keep it just as full even if I had no kids

The platform appealed to me immediately when its Mac OS X-like underpinnings were first described. Later, when Apple announced the official SDK and the App Store, I saw the future unfolding in front of me. I've been programming in Cocoa and its predecessors (the tools and frameworks included with NeXTStep and OpenStep) since 1994, so seeing these technologies deployed on a new platform, with a built-in marketplace, seemed like a great opportunity, and so far it's definitely working out well for me!

JG: I really, really wish I'd read "I Can't Believe I'm Not a Millionaire" before I uploaded my first app, but I have to thank you for it because it's been a big help since. Are there any other tricks/tips you've come across since putting together the presentation?

Jack: One new piece of data, for me, is that there is now "anecdotal evidence" that when Apple first sends you the "your app is now ready for sale" email message, you have a short window of time where you can actually change the release date of your app, including pulling it forward if the previous date was in the past; And this is supposed to work in some way for both new apps and updates. So, a first-timer who gets stuck in the spot I was stuck in (my first app didn't come out until a month after its "release date" thanks to Apple's "finalizing contracts" phase which kicks in after you submit your first app) may have a way to salvage their day-one App Store "new releases" positioning after all. So far I haven't had an opportunity or reason to test this out, this is just something that I've heard and read, but from enough sources that it seems likely to be true.

On another note, there are also companies popping up that are proposing new and exciting ways for game developers to monetize their free games, which do *not* involve advertising. I can't give you any specifics yet, but hopefully I'll have something available soon that will demonstrate this. The important thing as a developer is to keep an open mind, and look for synergies wherever you can find them!

JG: Absolutely! You have to keep a very open mind. What is your favorite iPhone app and why do you love it?

Jack: For the past couple weeks I've been playing a lot of FlightControl which I love, but really, my favorite app may seem like a really mundane choice: Safari. For me, having a real browser on the phone is one of the main things that really makes the iPhone a "game-changer". Being able to google things while out in the real world, instead of needing to wait until I'm back at my office or at home, is just enormous. This dawned on me just a few days after I got my iPhone. I saw a pair of speakers at a flea market, and wanted to see if the asking price was a good one. My first approach was to start Camera and take a picture including the manufacturer and model number to look up later, but just as I was taking the picture I realized, "hey, I can look this up right now!" I've had phones with 3G or at least GPRS for years, but the built-in browser is so abysmal on most phones. Opera Mini is a huge step up, but it still doesn't hold a candle to Safari.

JG: You noted that you're writing a book on Cocoa for apress. Will it be focused on general Cocoa development or something more specialized?

Jack: This book ("Learn Cocoa on the Mac") is really focused on getting developers who are new to Cocoa started on the right track, learning the basics of all the key technologies.

We're not aiming to provide an encyclopedic reference (Apple already provides that in digital form with their SDKs), but rather provide a clear path through the maze of available technologies, to help you learn the fundamentals that almost every application uses, so you can spend your time developing the unique features of your applications without getting stuck trying to figure out how to do the basics. I'm writing this together with Dave Mark and Jeff LaMarche, whose "Beginning iPhone Development" book has been hugely successful at getting new iPhone developers up and running; Hopefully "Learn Cocoa" will help a new generation of Mac developers start off on the right foot as well!

JG: Dave and Jeff are great. I'm hoping to get them here on iPhonespaz soon! Loved their book. Alright, let's wrap this up so you can get back to knocking out that book! What's the geekiest thing you've done with your iPhone? The thing that made people go, "Uh... right. Note to self: Restraining order."

Jack: Honestly, the geekiest thing is probably spending all those hours working on Scribattle! Especially for the people around me who couldn't quite understand what I was doing, or why I was so excited about it... Of course, after the fact, some of those people have changed their tunes! Maybe it's a thin line between geekiness and success, sometimes.

JG: Having just wrapped up my first game (WordFlipper) I know exactly what you mean!!!

A final thanks to Jack for doing this interview. You can find out more about Jack Nutting by visiting his blog at Nuthole.com or by dropping by his software company at rebisoft.

[Good luck with Diabolotros, Jack! ]

A special thanks to the iPhone dev community

Getting ready for an app launch is a crazy thing and both of our apps happened to launch on the same day. I also want to leave a word of thanks here for the general iPhone developer community. Interviewing all the wonderful people for this site is only part of the contact I've had with this great group of innovative and creative folks, and I really appreciate all the support and camaraderie.

"Have you checked your updates?"

"No, not yet."

"Is Red Ball on there?"

"You mean, Bounce On?"

"Red Ball. Desert Level!"

This is a typical exchange between me and my five-year old. He's addicted to what he calls "Red Ball", which is in fact Team Phobic's clearly-addictive Bounce On. The Desert Level my son is talking about is the teaser for the next episode of Bounce On and since I hear about it so much I thought I'd contact the folks at Team Phobic for an interview.

Brian Powers fielded my questions and I'm very grateful because it got me about 20 minutes of peace and quiet. Of course, the questions have started up again... Nothing lasts forever for a five-year old except maybe the wait for something they want dearly.

The Team Phobic iPhonespaz Interview

[JG] Thanks for agreeing to the interview, Brian. First thing's first... How many apps do you have on your personal iPhone and what got you hooked on the platform?

Team Phobic: Between all of our iPhones and iPod touches we have around 60 apps. What hooked us on the platform is that it is such a versatile device - from games to music to web browsing. It's nice to carry one device to do everything we need. Especially considering how connected we all are with the internet, it's great to have good mobile web access. Our first game, iTD (iPhone Tower Defense) was our first project and game on the appstore. It did well at the time but has since faded into the depths of the tower defense genre. That was ok because iTD was our warm up round; we knew what we needed know to make Bounce On. It has been a joy to work on a game that so many people enjoy and we can't wait for everyone to try out what's coming in World 4!

[JG] I gotta ask this one for my kids: Desert level... WHEN!? Actually, what else is in store for Bounce On?

Team Phobic: We have all of our development efforts focused on World 4 since we finished our newest game Micro Mahem. World 4 introduces several new features, including a speed powerup, doors with switches, several new enemies, and many other things we can't say yet. Beyond World 4 we'll be working on bringing the story to an exciting and fun conclusion.

After a few weeks of downtime, we've finally finished moving and setting up our new office. It's good to have development back in full swing!

[JG] Sweet!!!! What is your favorite iPhone app and why do you love it?

Team Phobic: Besides our own apps, we love iDracula. It brought good controls and a high level of polish that really impressed us. Another app we really love is GPS by MotionX. It lets us view maps of mountian biking trails and keeps track of speed and distance. We use it all the time since Boulder has beautiful mountains on its doorstep.

[JG] I love MotionX's GPS too. We don't have the mountains but it's fun and easy. The 3.0 OS is pretty much set in stone now, but if you could add one feature what would it be?

Team Phobic: One thing that would be great for games is if they added the ability for third party apps to make use of your iTunes account to store data (like XBOX Live). You could have achievements and settings stored in conjuction with your iTunes account, and it could auto- load your progress from any given game onto another iPod by signing in. You could have a centralized friends lists and see who else is online in multiplayer games.

[JG] Wouldn't that be nice! I'm in the process of building my own server app to house game data. Ok, time for our patented question: Because we're iPhonespaz, we've got to ask this... What's the geekiest thing you've done with your iPhone? The thing that made people go, "Uh... right. Note to self: Restraining order."

Team Phobic: Installed an ssh client on the iPhone and wrote some code in it, just because we could.

[JG] I did the same thing!!! LOL! Thanks again for doing the interview, Brian. Best of luck!

A special thanks to the crew at Team Phobic for answering my questions. They just moved offices when I contacted them and they were totally swamped!

Team Phobic's Website: teamphobic.com
Micro Mayhem (iTunes)
Red Ball, ahem Bounce On (iTunes)