Getting his hands on the iPhone version of the feature for the first time, Ellis Hamburger of BusinessInsider noted back in November of this year that the version of the app which carried support for this feature was so good, it would “make you want to skip the desktop experience and just use Facebook on your iPhone.”

All you have to do is to go to Apple’s Facebook page, ‘like’ it, and get a promo code to redeem the app in the App Store…

Supplies are apparently limited, so hurry up!

As usual, this is US only.

Yes, it’s out. Go get it right now.

Many remote control apps require you to download some form of third-party installer for your desktop, but since TouchPad is dependent solely on OS X’s native Screen Sharing technology, you won’t find yourself in the familiar predicament of trying (often unsuccessfully) to get two apps to connect with each other.

TouchPad has just been handed a fairly major update by developer Edovia, bringing Siri integration for those fortunate iPhone 4s users amongst you.

Providing your iPhone 4S and Mac share a Wi-Fi network in common, you can now use TouchPad to send voice notes from your device which Siri will, as she does with aplomb, convert into text understandable to the Mac.

Here are the rather excitedly-written release notes from Edovia, emphasizing the time and effort put in to the app:

At last, TouchPad 4.0 is out with even more Lion Love! This version took more time than planned and most of the work was made deep down in the app, mostly in preparation of Screens 2.0, which uses the same VNC framework we’ve developed for the past years and had to be revamped. The result is a super solid app that won’t give up!

Some features, such as the dragging gesture, were changed so we recommend you take a look at the revamped help documentation, bundled in the app. However, there’s still many new features.

 

Of the App Store’s rather incredible 500,000+ applications, although some are good and some are bad – as you would expect, some are just lacking a little TLC. It’s refreshing to see Edovia, (who aren’t the only outfit to work tirelessly on app improvements) still consider the customer experience after the money has been banked. Developers of neglected apps should certainly heed the example set by Edovia.

As has been the case throughout the TouchPad release cycle, this version runs very smoothly, and as well as the Siri integration, the update freshens the interface of the modifier toolbar on the iPad version and adds support for the EyeTV media player, as well as the usual array of bug fixes.

You can download TouchPad 4.0 from Apple’s App Store via this link. It costs $4.99, and compared to many other apps we feature, the price may seem a touch on the high side. That said, the quality of the app is also higher than average, rendering it well worth the money.

You heard it right. This requires no jailbreaking because this app is available from the iTunes App Store. The app in question is called Icon Project by author Jae Hun Jeong. At the surface, Icon Project is an app that lets you create original icons in order to personalize your Home screen. But you can actually assign specific URL links to the custom icons you have created such as the call function, SMS/MMS, Facetime, Skype and so on. But how does this app have anything to do with the ever popular SBSettings tweak?

As it turns out, you can also assign shortcuts to your custom icons that links to certain Settings.app toggles. So just like with SBSettings, simply assign URLs for frequently accessed Settings toggles such as WiFi, Bluetooth, Brightness, Airplane Mode and so on. Now this isn’t exactly a full-on replacement for SBSettings because the functionality of this app is quite limited. Icon Project provides the shortcut directly to a specific Settings toggle rather than being able to configure the toggles on the fly like with SBSettings. But still, it’s a nice replacement for those who are looking to access their most frequently accessed toggles more quickly. And you can have it for only $0.99.

Here are the complete list of Settings.app Shortcuts:

About — prefs:root=General&path=About
Accessibility — prefs:root=General&path=ACCESSIBILITY
Airplane Mode On — prefs:root=AIRPLANE_MODE
Auto-Lock — prefs:root=General&path=AUTOLOCK
Brightness — prefs:root=Brightness
Bluetooth — prefs:root=General&path=Bluetooth
Date & Time — prefs:root=General&path=DATE_AND_TIME
FaceTime — prefs:root=FACETIME
General — prefs:root=General
Keyboard — prefs:root=General&path=Keyboard
iCloud — prefs:root=CASTLE
iCloud Storage & Backup — prefs:root=CASTLE&path=STORAGE_AND_BACKUP
International — prefs:root=General&path=INTERNATIONAL
Location Services — prefs:root=LOCATION_SERVICES
Music — prefs:root=MUSIC
Music Equalizer — prefs:root=MUSIC&path=EQ
Music Volume Limit — prefs:root=MUSIC&path=VolumeLimit
Network — prefs:root=General&path=Network
Nike + iPod — prefs:root=NIKE_PLUS_IPOD
Notes — prefs:root=NOTES
Notification — prefs:root=NOTIFICATIONS_ID
Phone — prefs:root=Phone
Photos — prefs:root=Photos
Profile — prefs:root=General&path=ManagedConfigurationList
Reset — prefs:root=General&path=Reset
Safari — prefs:root=Safari
Siri — prefs:root=General&path=Assistant
Sounds — prefs:root=Sounds
Software Update — prefs:root=General&path=SOFTWARE_UPDATE_LINK
Store — prefs:root=STORE
Twitter — prefs:root=TWITTER
Usage — prefs:root=General&path=USAGE
VPN — prefs:root=General&path=Network/VPN
Wallpaper — prefs:root=Wallpaper
Wi-Fi — prefs:root=WIFI

 

Buy Icon Project app from the iTunes App Store for $0.99. [via iDownloadBlog, pics via iPhoneAddict]

The iPhone’s official Mail.app is a fine email client, but it’s never played completely nice with Gmail. The Gmail app promises to give you the full email experience on the iPhone without hassling with the idiosyncrasies of marrying Mail.app with Gmail. Here’s the feature rundown:

• Push notifications and sounds give you alerts when new messages show up in your inbox (naturally). Unfortunately, there seems to be a bug in this initial release that’s preventing Gmail from working with notifications. If you see the no valide ‘aps-environment’ entitlement string error message when you launch Gmail the first time (which I did), you’re not going to see Gmail in your notifications options. Let’s assume they’re going to fix this, and we’ll keep our eyes open for any short-term fix we can find. (See update below.)
• Search your entire inbox from one universal search box. This seems like a no-brainer, but you couldn’t do that from Mail.app unless you headed to the All Mail label.
• Autocomplete from Gmail contacts or your iPhone’s address book means that if you’ve managed your contacts better in either place, you can choose whichever you prefer. (My iPhone contacts are synced to my iPhone anyway, so it’s a wash.)
• Upload attachments with an attachment upload button when you’re composing messages. Nothing terribly special about this, but it’s good to know attachments are an option. You still won’t be able to share directly from, say, the Gallery app. I wonder if copy/paste works?
• iPad has a fancy split view just like Mail.app and just about every other information-dense iPad app.

The app also supports the following Gmail-specific features:

• Priority inbox
• Threaded conversations: This is probably the most exciting things. Most Gmail users fell in love with threaded conversations a long time ago, and it’s the threaded conversations I most missed when I switched to the iPhone 4S from my Android phone.
• Archive, label, star, delete, report spam: You know, all the basics you use in Gmail but don’t have access to from just any email client.

The nice touchy elements include pull-to-refresh and swipe right to view labels (sort of like the left sidebar in Gmail on the web). Beyond that, it’s all like you’d expect. You can swipe left to archive a message (playing around with it, this gesture is actually a little buggy).

The bad: As far as I can tell, the app doesn’t currently support multiple Gmail accounts. Or offline caching of your email. Bummer. Also, the notifications bug mentioned above appears to mean that the app won’t do any notifying until Google gets an update out the door. Finally: The app has nice native elements, like swipe-right-to-view-labels, but the main interface isn’t all that native feeling. In fact, I’m pretty sure it’s just the web version wrapped in an app. That would be fine, except that when you try natural gestures, like swipe-left-to-archive, it’s jumpy and ugly—it doesn’t feel like the iPhone’s very satisfying native swipe-to-delete gesture, because it’s not. Hopefully Google will push it in better directions in subsequent updates.

Gmail for iPhone is a free download from the App Store, available now.

UPDATE: Looks like Google has pulled the Gmail app from the App Store, to be re-released once they’ve fixed the above-mentioned notifications bug:

The iOS app we launched today contained a bug which broke notifications and caused you to see an error message when first opening the app. We’ve removed the app while we correct the problem, and we’re working to bring you a new version soon. In the meantime, everyone who’s already installed the app can continue to use it.

We want to bring you a great Gmail experience, and we’re sorry we messed up here

Gmail for iPhone | iTunes App Store via Official Gmail Blog

GarageBand on the iPhone has been a long time coming, and now users will be able to create and playback tracks on the go from the iPhone.

Press release:

“Apple today announced that GarageBand®, its breakthrough music creation app, is now available for iPhone® and iPod touch® users. Introduced earlier this year on iPad®, GarageBand uses Apple’s revolutionary Multi-Touch™ interface to make it easy for anyone to create and record their own songs, even if they’ve never played an instrument before.

“GarageBand on iPad has been a big hit and we think customers will love using it on their iPhone or iPod touch”

“GarageBand on iPad has been a big hit and we think customers will love using it on their iPhone or iPod touch,” said Philip Schiller, Apple’s senior vice president of Worldwide Product Marketing. “The innovative Multi-Touch interface combined with Smart Instruments makes it easy to create great sounding music, even if you’ve never studied music or played an instrument before.”

GarageBand features a collection of fun Touch Instruments that sound great and make it easy for beginners or experienced musicians to play and record keyboards, guitars, drums and basses in a wide variety of styles. Smart Instruments now allow you to choose from an extensive new library of custom chords so you can play and strum along with your favorite songs.

You can plug your electric guitar into iPad, iPhone or iPod touch to play and record through classic amps and stompbox effects, or record your voice or any acoustic sound using the built-in microphone. GarageBand allows you to record and mix up to eight tracks and then share your finished song with friends or send it to your Mac® to keep working on it in GarageBand or Logic® Pro.”

The update is making its way to App Stores around the world, so keep refreshing if it isn’t available right away. GarageBand is available for $4.99 in the App Store. The update is free for existing users.

It makes sense from a technical standpoint, but that doesn’t help you if you need to get a video from one device to another. There’s syncing with iTunes, and doing the iPhoto jig in the hope that everything works as planned, but it’s a pain, and not always practical.

That’s where PhotoSync comes in…

Priced at a reasonable $1.99, PhotoSync fills in the gaps left by Photo Stream by allowing the sharing of video and photos between iOS devices, and even Macs and PCs, wirelessly.

Operation is about as easy as it gets. Set the receiving devices up to be able to accept connections via the app’s settings, and it will show up as a potential destination for others. You can even have PhotoSync send content to web-based services like Flickr and SmugMug, should you wish.

All transfers are done over your Wi-Fi connection, so keep that in mind when moving huge video files between iDevices. If you’re happy with Wi-Fi iTunes syncing, chances are you’ll be fine with this, too. Once you’ve initiated the transfer you can even close the app, with the files continuing to copy in the background.

There is certainly not a shortage of apps ready to take the social experience to the next level, either. Besides the official apps, there hare dozens of third party vendors bringing a different perspective to the social sphere. Some are highly recommended, delivering superb functionality (I’m looking at you, TweetBot), whilst others can make social network time consuming, often sapping the fun from interacting with friends, colleagues and relatives.

None, though, have managed to achieve the spectacular simplicity of InstaTweet, a new app for iOS 5 devices. It’s a no-frills, no-fuss app which concentrates on one thing and one thing alone – tweeting. When on the go, often is the case that users wish to broadcast a quick message or thoughts without the fuss of having to open an app and locate the necessary function to do so. InstaTweet takes advantage of  iOS5‘s Twitter integration, allowing users to initiate the Twitter pane, click the button and tweet away, as depicted below:

Ok, so it’s rather bland, and there are no extra bells and whistles such as animations. Moreover, you can’t check any part of your Twitter account such as direct messages, timeline or mentions. Then again, there’s an official twitter app for that, and although a pretty UI is often a deal make-or-breaker to many, perfect functionality is the key to productivity (although spending copious amounts of time on Twitter, is perhaps not).

Obviously, to enjoy instantaneous tweets via InstaTweet, you will need an iOS 5 device, as well as $0.99 to spare in your back pocket. If you’re an incessant tweeter, spending an unhealthy amount of time sharing your thoughts with the world, this app could turn out to be your perfect companion. It works for both iPhone and iPad, so whether you’re using tablet or smartphone, you can swiftly broadcast your thoughts, provided you can keep within the 140 character limit!

Download the app straight from Apple’s App Store via the following link, or just by launching the App Store app on your iPhone, iPad or iPod touch.