Quick Takes on Five Apps (No. 5)

I’m back with the latest installment of the Quick Takes series where I look at five apps.

ThinkUp App (free, web-server tool)

ThinkUp is a social media insight platform — this may be the most confusing name ever. Basically you can connect certain social media accounts, like Twitter, and ThinkUp will crawl through that data and present it in a meaningful way. For instance if I post a new link on Twitter I can see the retweets and replies to that tweet. I could also take that Tweet and embed the replies to it on any website I control — pretty neat. It is a free tool for now and is getting better all the time.

If you run a blog or are ever asking for feedback on Twitter this is worth your time to check out.

TouchPad (iOS universal)

TouchPad turns your iOS device into a trackpad that can control your Mac. I use it just about everyday to control an old Mac mini we have connected to our TV. It launches and connects very quickly and gives you a keyboard that also has modifier buttons (like CMD). It is a killer app for anybody who uses a Mac without a keyboard and mouse attached. Occasionally VNC clients fail to connect with my Mac mini, but I have never once had a single problem using TouchPad — I cannot recommend this app enough.

TestFlight (iOS Developer Tool)

If you have ever had to beta test an iOS app without TestFlight then you know how annoying it is. This may not be useful to many, but this service is a godsend for me and, frankly, I won’t test your app if you don’t use TestFlight.

MoneyWell (Mac OS X)

MoneyWell is a way to track your money. It is easy to use and easy to learn financial tracking and management. It is fast and cheap. Most importantly it has always made me feel like I am on control of not only the data, but of my finances. I love the way the app lumps charges into different buckets that you can define — thus allowing me to see just how much money I am spending on certain things (ahem — iOS apps). I used to be a big fan of iBank, but I have since switched to MoneyWell and I love it.

xScope (Mac OS X)

If you have ever tried to align something on you computer monitor then you have probably — at one time — pulled out a ruler and put it on your screen. It can be a pain and xScope luckily will solve all of that and much, much, more. I use the guides on a fairly regular basis to make sure that all the elements on the site are lining up just the way I want them to. What a handy little tool and on top of that the trail period is killer, it counts hours that you have used the app. Clever.

Note

One last thing, I am struggling to keep up with this series — so it would be a big help if you sent in any suggestions that you have for me to check out. Thanks!