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What are your top five journalism apps for smartphones?
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It’s getting to be that time of year and if your family is anything like mine, you’ll be bound to get at least one or two iTunes gift cards.
Instead of scraping a few ideas of what album to buy (anything Bruce Springsteen, mind) we here at Hacks are hoping to, with your help of course, to put together a top list of five apps that any reporter can’t do without on the job.
We had a great guest post last week about using the iPad on the job and the ability to operate as a mobile and digital journalist is becoming easier as the technology at our disposal improves.
Me personally, I’m still a bit of a pen and paper kind of guy, but I’ve been brainstorming a lot of different ways to use my iPhone more and more as far as reporting goes – whether that be Audioboos directly from the field or practical tools like an improved camera or the Tumblr app.
Before we start though, the Postgrad has kindly reminded me that not everyone out there has an iPhone, so let’s try to think of apps that can also be used on the Blackberry!
Here are my contributions to the list:
The 5-0 Police Scanner App - $1.99 – Pretty much the coolest app I’ve ever used. As someone starting their new job as a night cops/breaking news reporter, I could not have found this app at a better time. For $2 it’s an absolute steal and has many police and emergency broadcast frequencies pre-programmed already. Most of the United States is covered, but it also picks up frequencies in London too.
The AP Stylebook 2011 app - $24.99 – Okay, I know what you’re probably thinking. Who in their right mind would spend almost $25 on an app. I get that, truly. But to be honest, this app is incredible. Firstly, it’s the AP stylebook, which for journalists, is the most important book you can own – even more so than the Bible. It is our bible, actually, especially if you live in the US. Every newsroom’s style is derived from the AP. So if you’re an aspiring subbeditor or copyeditor – pick this up. It’s worth every penny and has some neat functions. It’s also available for Blackberries!
What are your top apps to use on the job fellow Hacks? What sort of apps do you want to see in 2012?
Ideally I’d love to put a list together to publish, or at least get the conversation going on Twitter so we all know what to blow our giftcards on!
Tweet us @wannabehacks with the hashtag #journoapps
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13 comments
@wannabehacks #journoapps SoundCloud, Codosaurus (for coding on the go!), Twitter, Flipboard, MindJet, Flickr, any camera app(!!) & DropBox
@wannabehacks vRecorder, Dropbox, ANDrecorder, Bambuser, Q-Reporter, ThinkFree Office Mobile, Evernote, Camera 360. #journoapps #android
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Have found TweetCaster for Android faster than Twitter native app and a smoother than Tweetdeck with plenty of options for sharing/managing found links and information
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Bambuser is easily the best mobile livestreaming app out there. Also, it's Swedish, which apparently makes it very fashionable at the moment.
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It's difficult to choose between the truly essential apps and those that are most impressive. For example, you could easily get to 5 apps by covering the basics of Twitter, a blog or two (Wordpress, Tumblr and Posterous all have their own apps, plus there are multi-blog apps like iBlogger), audio and video streaming.
So putting those to one side, I'd suggest some less obvious ones.
Firstly and secondly, then, VC Audio Pro and 1st Video - an audio editing and video editing app, both from Vericorder. These are incredibly powerful tools that allow you to do more with multimedia on the move. I still think Audioboo is going to be your first option most of the time, but if you're planning something richer then these apps are worth looking at.
Third: Twitcasting - it's a video streaming app with excellent Twitter integration so you can see tweets on screen - and post tweets - while you stream.
Fourth: Their Stories - another audio recording app which is designed for recording family stories, but I like the way that it includes tips on interviews, prompts (which you can add to), in-app editing, and integration with iTunes.
Finally, I'll go for Gorillacam, an old favourite that compensates for many of the limitations of the iPhone's camera, telling you when the camera is steady enough to shoot, allowing you to take a photo by touching the screen, adding grids for composition, multi-shooting, and a timer.
Oh, and by the way: I now use a Samsung S2 Android as my first choice phone - it's much easier to get media off, more open to customisation, has a better camera, and can generate a wifi hotspot for your out-of-favour iPhone if you need an app that's not yet on Android. ;)
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Feeddler RSS (syncs with Google Reader)
1stVideo
Tumblita
Dragon Dictation
RadioBOX
AutoStitch
ImageToText and/or JotNot Pro
All of DJBentley's suggestions, and finally the built-in voice recorder, which does a very good job (several professional radio reporters seem to use the built-in mic with Luci Live).
My favourite app for a BlackBerry is an iPhone – BB's might be better for typing copy and you might receive your emails 7 seconds sooner, but an expensive app store with a limited selection and awkward functionality means an iPhone or Android is your best bet. Would be interesting to be proved wrong and see what someone might already be achieving on a BB though...
@wannabehacks I've responded on the story. @SarahMarshall3 is a great person to ask because she researches apps all the time.
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I'm a big fan of Qik as a live stream video app. It integrates into Newsquest's CMS and works on a wide variety of smartphones.
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I'm a big fan of sound cloud, I'd also recommend having the relevant blogging apps Tumblr / Wordpress etc as they tend to be the most efficient way of getting content into your own personal space on the net.
I'd also steer clear of the default Twitter client - I'm a Tweetbot man and I also have hootsuite as well.
Dropbox and Evernote are also important to keep hold of information on the go and keep track of notes and research.
Soundcloud - because it has a better community, more features and a better app than Audioboo.
Google Maps
GMail
Contacts - duh!
Calendar
Camera!
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_JenniGraham on Finding a job in journalism: Which websites are the best?
kpedersen03 I wasn't sure how to answer your question, so I asked WH readers on Twitter what they would write in...kpedersen03 on Finding a job in journalism: Which websites are the best?
Yet another fantastic post there! What about journalism.co.uk - it's quite a labour-intensive registration process - so I would like...
