By Leo Stiles
Ireland has always been a hotbed of quality software developers and with the explosion of interest in mobile apps; some good home grown applications are starting to emerge.JOE takes a look at five apps that are both great and green.
Extra! Extra!
€3.99
Available for iPhone and coming soon for iPad
This is a great little new aggregator that sources stories from over 800 newspapers around the world and so far has never failed to come up with something interesting to read on the bus home.
The app is location-aware so no matter where you happen to be in the word you can get a news feed that is relevant to you. The best feature is the random paper button which always throws up some random and interesting stories and is a great way to discover new and alternative content and writers.
Irish newspapers are included but there aren’t as many British papers as we would like see, despite the inclusion of The Guardian and The Times, leaving the app is dominated by American publications.
Caveats aside, Extra! Extra! is still one of the best of its kind and should satisfy your need for Nigerian news better than any other app.
Today FM
Free
Available for iPhone
There are a number of decent internet radio apps out there but if all you want to do is listen to the nation’s best radio station then this is the app for you.
The Today FM app live streams the station to your phone and thanks to iOS4 support, can run in the background while you use your iPhone for other apps. You can also access all the podcasts from all the station’s shows and the listings go further back than iTunes which tends to list the two most recent podcasts. This is especially handy for fans of Gift Grub who might not be up that early in the morning.
For those of you who like to listen to the unedited streams, the listen back feature has the complete audio of each show for the prior week.
Newstalk also has an app running on the same software if you fancy a little more talk and a lot less music.
EirText
Free or €3.99 for EirText Pro
Available for iPhone and Android
This was one of the first Irish apps to appear on the app store and continues to be one of the most popular applications on a regular basis.
EirText’s popularity is pretty easy to explain: it saves you money. It does this by tapping into your mobile operator account and allowing you to text people using your free monthly allowance of webtexts. All you need to start texting is to register your phone with your operator and set up a personal account.
The basic app is free and the more advanced pro version costs €3.99 and gives you extra functionality including delivery reports, landscape typing and message forwarding.
Georgina Campbell’s Ireland
Free
Available for iPhone
Built for tourists but perfect for the natives; Georgina Campbell’s Ireland app makes finding a decent pub or place to eat in Ireland a doddle. You can search by county; town and price with your results filtered using the stay, eat or drink labels.
The level of detail the listings carry is impressive and is regularly updated with things like drink promotions and early bird special offers with customer ratings and reviews allowing you to choose a place with confidence.
The only thing missing from the app is the ability to make a reservation, something that would make Campbell’s Ireland unbeatable, instead of just excellent.
Paddy Power
Free
Available for iPhone and coming soon for Android.
Anyone who fancies a flutter on the horses can now do so without getting out of their armchair with the excellent Paddy Power app. The app links into the bookmaker’s online service and brings you up to the minute information on every possible category; from football and GAA to water polo and beauty pageantry. Anything it seems can be bet on.
Any events that are happening live can be accessed through the live button and give you the current odds starting with the most common such as win or lose, all the way up to winning margins and goal scorer bets.
Placing a bet is as simple as logging into your PaddyPower.com account and choosing your event. Before you place a bet the app will calculate you winnings based on your stake and give you some alternatives before you commit to your bet.
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