After talking about it for months and months I’ve finally got an iPhone 4. Wohoo! So far I’m loving it! It almost feels like there’s nothing it can’t do.
Yeah, the reception issue isn’t great but once I get a case that I would have bought anyway… Although it’s not a great comparison when looking at these little bars (with different algorithms, it seems), reception seems much worse with the iPhone 4 than my C905 – even when not touching any part of it.
Which apps would you recommend I get started with? I was looking forward to all the Japanese related apps but apart from the ‘Kotoba’ dictionary you have to pay for most things. On the subject of Kotoba, its kanji animation feature beats my £200+ electronic dictionary!
Nice. Who knows, maybe even your first Apple product of many.
I can really recommend the (paid) ‘Japanese’ app as an alternative to Kotoba; easily my best purchase. My other recommendations to check out are: Calengoo (Google Calendar sync), Simplenote (over-the-air note sync), Reeder (Google Reader sync), National Rail, WeatherPro, Guardian app, Instapaper, 1Password, Dropbox, Amazon UK, Flixster, Shazam (music recognition), Tube Deluxe. Finally a mention for BigStopWatch, a beautiful free stopwatch app written by a Japanese developer.
Also it’s worth going for one of the free emoji-enabling apps on the store – assuming they still work with OS4. Basically they enable the Japanese-only emoji keyboard, enabling you to send and receive emoji in SMS to/from other iPhone users. Good fun.
Aside from Kotoba, I’ve had the following bookmarked:
http://www.codefromtokyo.com/japanese
http://www.monokakido.jp/iphone/daijirin.html
I don’t have an iPhone nor an iPod Touch so I’ve never tried them out. If you do try them, let me know how it is! I think I might get an iPod Touch when the new generation comes up.
Sorry about the slow response.
I’m sure the same can be said for many smart phones but the iPhone experience is really something else. The only problem is you end up playing with it at every opportunity. It’s a killer gadget!
Mark,
Thanks for the list of apps. I’m still in the process of getting a few to play with but AroundMe and Fruit Ninja are two of my favourites so far. I have downloaded BigStopWatch but haven’t tried it properly yet. I’m not sure how much typing I’ll be doing in Japanese but I’ll check out the e-moji apps. I didn’t realise they could integrate with existing iPhone functionality. I was surprised that the English mode didn’t have any built in smilies, actually.
Is ‘Japanese’ really that much more superior to ‘Kotoba’? If so, I will consider the purchase.
James,
I haven’t tried those apps yet so can’t comment but I’m a little reluctant to buy them when I shelled out so much on my denshi-jisho. We’ll see, though!
clocked in 100 hours this month playing Harbor Master. Thats not a recommendation…. more of a warning.
Anyway whats with this new “Darren Loves Apple” products thing going on here? Doesn’t seem right. Please don’t tell me that you have an Apple sticker on your suitcase now……..
So you got a replacement iPhone?
Habour Master? Yeah, I’m trying hard to stay away from games on the iPhone. Shame I’ve just got Street Fighter IV!
I’m not a total Apple convert, but you can’t knock the iPhone experience. Apart from…
I downloaded Harbour Master – the free version with one level – and it is entertaining for a few minutes. One up on Flight Control, the other game I have.
Darren, let me say this. Although I’m not at your level of Japanese ability (I only have 2kyuu) I can honestly tell you that ‘Japanese’ has completely replaced my expensive denshi jisho – I just don’t use it anymore, at all! I have the Casio EX-word XD-GW9600, and it just sits in its case.
Tried Kotoba, but I didn’t like it at all. Looked clumsy, and I didn’t need all the language translations. The custom vocab lists and flash-card testing of said lists are great in ‘Japanese’, as are the kanji combination lists. Best tenner I’ve spent! Can’t recommend it highly enough.
Is Harbour Master the one where you have to guide planes in to land on islands? I had a quick go on Angry Birds (Lite) last night. It’s a very polished little game but I’m not sure whether I could get hooked.
Yes, I’ve got ‘Japanese’ now and it does seem very good indeed. Like you say the vocab lists and flash-card tests are great. Though I haven’t used Kotoba and Japanese enough to really compare them I do like how Kotoba shows kanji stroke order animations without having to go to another screen. Then again, for complex kanji, having a whole screen dedicated to this might be better.