Swipe Swipe

If you haven't upgraded to iOS 7, there's a small feature that I have found hugely beneficial: it's easy to unlock with your nose!  If you're like me and haven't forked out the cash for a pair of touchscreen gloves to use your iPhone while wearing gloves, you're stuck with two options...

Square

This may seem like a no brainer, but if you're not setup to use Square in your youth ministry, do it now!   Square is a simple way to take credit cards for youth trips, candy from your snack shack, and everything in between.  It's also a great way to send parents a receipt for cash or checks they may give you for their teens.  Think about adding credit card payments to your next car wash!  This concept is huge.

Edit Office Docs On Your iPad For Free

Check out this new app in the AppStore called CloudOn.  It is a free app and links into your DropBox account, which is also free, and let's you edit any of your Microsoft Office documents.  It also has an autosave feature so you don't have to worry about saving.  One more nice feature is a connection status to verify that you are connected online and your doc is saving correctly.

Review: Group Text App for iPhone

Have you ever needed to message a consistent group of people but at some point accidentally failed to message 1 person in the group? Yeah, me too.  Sometimes online services just aren't handy enough. I, and many of you, need something in our hands.

A friend and fellow youth pastor and iPhone user had a need expressed to me the other day.  He needed a group messaging app that would allow him to overcome AT&T's 10 contact per message barrier.  Basically, he needed a simple way to make groups (lists) of students and people so that he could send out a single text message to them.  Maybe for an announcement, maybe for a reminder, maybe for a "snow day" notice...the sky is the limit.

I admitted that I didn't currently use such an app because up until now I've been paying for a text blast service through Simply Youth Ministry.  My service plan, their lowest, costs my budget $10 each month and is a bit of a hassle because I either have to use their web interface that isn't mobile friendly at all, or have the right email for the particular list I was wanting to message. Due to budget issues, this wasn't an option for my friend.  He already has unlimited texting on his cell plan, and he wanted his students to see that the messages come from him, not from some proxy service.

So what does a guy do? I did a little searching on iTunes and made a suggestion, Group Text ($2.99) by Redbits.  I didn't know much about it, but the description seemed to match his needs and the images that were provided seemed like it might be adequate for his needs.  So I sent my friend a link and offered that this might be a decent solution.

It didn't take long for him to declare this as his favorite and most useful app.  So, I've jumped and am trying it.  He's right, it does for a total of $2.99 what my $10/month plan did.

Here are the features:

• universal app (works on iPod, iPhone, or iPad)
• allows an unlimited number of groups (ie...parents, students, sr. high, jr. high, volunteers, certain schools)
• easily uses either your contacts from your phone, CSV (comma separated value) list, or just manual entry into each list to build your groups
• you can build templates for your messages
• and create 1-time custom groupings easily as well
• and so much more.

Nothing is perfect though.  Right now with iOS 5 you have to turn off iMessages and group messaging that is build natively into iOS when you need to use the app.  They are aware of the problem and are working on a solution.  Another thing my friend noticed, and it wouldn't be long until I did as well, is that when you update a contact in your Contacts on your iPhone it doesn't automatically update the number in your list within the app, a bit of an inconvenience. 

Over all, I can highly recommend this app. At only $2.99, it's a bargain (compared to some services) for those of us who are on the front lines of student ministry and want to keep in touch, send reminders, and keep communication lines open.  At this point it looks like I may be canceling my online service and saving $10/month to take some students out for a Coke or coffee. Check it out and let us know your thoughts or if you have another suggestion in the comments.

The World of Apple just got better!

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At the 2011 WWDC today the world of Apple seriously got an revolutionary bump.

If you have multiple devices from Apple, your world just got a huge bump of easiness.

• Basic features of contact, calendar, and mail went free for syncing between ALL your devices. (MobileMe is no more)
• iCloud syncs and backs up all your devices automatically, apps, documents, and even photos and makes them all available easily within your devices.
• You no longer have to have a computer to use a iDevice, the cord has been cut.
• Wireless syncing has been introduced for all your iDevices with iTunes
• purchase a song on any device within iTunes and it is automatically downloaded to your iDevice
• Take a photo on your iDevice and it is automatically stored (up to a 1000 photos for 30 days), and synced with your other devices, and automatically downloads to your computer for permanent storage.
• Play a game on one device and your save state is automatically uploaded to the cloud and synced between your other devices....(personally love this for angry birds)

So much more too, that's just a quick snapshot of the iOS portion of the presentation! Let me know your thoughts.

Worship Band with GarageBand

Let's face it, music instrument apps are cool as is.  Students love to play them and bands that have them are that much cooler.  But is there a better reason to add some iPads on your worship team besides the coolness?  YES!

One obvious reason is you may be cramped on space.  Maybe your stage is tiny or it's big but loaded with tons of stuff.  Either way, having an entire drum kit fit on your lap is a huge space saver!

An even better reason than space is smart instruments.  With the new GarageBand app for the iPad comes a new feature called smart instruments.  It makes playing the guitar, base, keyboard, and drums as simple as pressing one button for every chord change.  It makes music accessible to people who aren't musical!  There are a couple downsides to the app.  The smart drums may be too difficult to control for a live band unless you start out the song with them and then let them run.  You also may have to be creative with the chords as there is a limited number of them.

Bottom-line, this app is definitely worth the $5 they charge and can really help a small youth group worship band add key players without finding musical geniuses!

ARTICLE: The Best Facebook Apps for iPad

Here's an article for you iPad users who surf FB connecting with teens!

Best Facebook Apps for iPad

Flash on iPad

I just recently heard about a new app (currently free and on the iOS app store) that will allow you to browse and view websites with flash.  It's called iSwifter. I haven't had a chance to play with it yet, but if you need to occasionally view flash on your iPad this may be a great option for you.

Let us know what you think.

Olive Tree Sale

We have mentioned Olive Tree's Bible app for your iPhone and iPad before. It's among the best you can buy and it's on sale this weekend. In fact, everything is on sale for 20% off this weekend. Go to www.olivetree.com!

Olive Tree BibleReader Update

Didn't know if everyone knew this, but OliveTree put out a fairly significant update (upgrade) to its BibleReader app for the iOS platform. They released Version 5 for your iOS devices just before the new year.  It has several changes such as the look and feel and how you navigate around.

For me the biggest and best part of the update is that it enabled syncing of your notes, highlights, and bookmarks between all your iOS devices.  Something that I've been desiring ever since I got my iPad.

Check it out and let us know your thoughts & opinions.

AirPrint from iOS 4.2

For some simple instructions on how to enable AirPrint on your Windows Machine, the gracious guys at The iPhone Blog (TIBP) have given out some simple instructions and links to the files you need, click here for the instructions.

If you are running a OS 10.6 you can get your AirPrint on by visiting this link.

Once you follow your instructions, enjoy printing wirelessly from your iPhone, iPad or iPod.