Buzz Andersen

http://log.scifihifi.com/

Buzz Andersen is the author of PodWorks, Cocoalicious, and other assorted Macintosh software. Before leaving to go indie, he worked on Mac OS X and Soundtrack Pro at Apple. He now lives in Williamsburg, Brooklyn, where he develops iPhone software. His latest project is Birdfeed, a very nice Twitter client for your iPhone.

I debated submitting my home screen here because I feel it’s a bit light on third party apps compared to a lot of other people’s phones.  A big reason for this is that I’m an adherent to the “empty bottom row” philosophy of Springboard organization.  I like this approach mainly because it’s easier for me to find stuff when my brain doesn’t have to process quite so many icons, but also because it’s nice having an empty space for swiping.

All of that said, I do think the four third party apps on my home screen say a lot about me.

First off, I’m sure it’s not surprising to see Birdfeed occupying a coveted dock position, since it’s my own app.  It’s also by far my most frequently used app, which is helpful, since I’m always running a bleeding edge build and if I’ve broken something or left a feature in an incomplete state, I’m punished by having to live with it until I fix it.

Number two on my frequently used list would have to be Foursquare.  I live in New York City, Foursquare’s birthplace and headquarters, and one of the best things about being here is access to one of the greatest food and drink cultures in the world.  The city is constantly changing, and consequently discovering (and bragging about) the latest and greatest experience is a bit of an obsession for New Yorkers.  I suspect that’s a big part of the reason Foursquare is gaining a lot of popularity here.  I think it says a lot about how integrated into my life Foursquare has become that I just spent two weeks in Hawaii (where there is no Foursquare) and had to constantly ignore my reflex to check in at restaurants.

The next app is another bit of what my friend Kellan and I call “New York-ware”: CityTransit, a nice NYC subway map app by my friends and fellow New York iPhone developers, Magnetism Studios.  It’s nicely designed, and easy to use with one hand when you’re carrying a grocery bag or holding onto a subway pole.

Lastly, we have Simplenote.  I find that the iPhone is an ideal note taking device, but I’m not a huge fan of its standard Notes app.  It’s mostly an aesthetic issue, I guess (I’m not such a fan of the Marker Felt font and the faux legal pad design), but Simplenote, with its unfussy, native design, just feels better to me.  Also, Simplenote does have one killer feature that is missing from Notes: synchronization of your notes to an equally simple-but-nice web service.  In the past I’ve tried other apps, such as Evernote, that provide a similar service, but found them all to be a bit heavy feeling and inelegant.  For my needs, Simplenote is just right (although, note to Birdhouse guys: if you were to make a general note-taking app like Birdhouse, I would buy it in a second).