Tag Archives: Productivity Applications

PDF Productivity with iPhone and Dropbox

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iphone dropbox pdf productivityThis is the first guest post that I have had on DidIGetThingsDone.com and it is written by Chris Garrett, co-author of the ProBlogger Book, speaker at many blogging and new media conferences and a genuine good guy.

In this post, Chris is going to provide an overview of PDF Productivity with the Apple iPhone and Dropbox.

Since I bought my iPod touch, and more recently upgraded to an iPhone 3GS, I have been making better use of my time by reading PDF documents while out and about. You can see more about my iPhone software productivity obsession here.

It is amazing how much spare time you actually have in a day. Think of all the times you are just waiting.

  • Daily commute
  • Waiting in line
  • Sat at a restaurant table
  • Outside changing rooms while friend or family member tries on their 20th item
  • Before meetings
  • After calling a taxi
  • Airport lounges
  • Security lines

Rather than sit and stare into space or doodle on a napkin, I have been reading ebooks, memorizing from mindmaps, and generally trying to fill the time while filling my head.

Up to now I have been getting these documents onto my iPhone using various methods such as emailing them to myself, or using an app called Files that allows you to configure your iPhone as a mini file server. Now I have a better choice, which makes moving files to your iPhone AND enabling offline storage much easier.

Dropbox now has an iPhone application!

If you do not know Dropbox, you are in for a treat. It is a free online storage space (up to 2gb, then you start paying) that allows you to sync files between computers and your online storage. It’s like a hard disk that follows you around. Now with the iPhone app you can sync to your iPhone too. And when you make the file a favorite you have instant access to the file even without an internet connection.

Go to https://www.getdropbox.com and check it out and create an account, then install the appropriate desktop application for your computer type (windows, mac and linux). When you have done that, grab the iPhone app and get logged in. Now any files you drag on to your Dropbox will appear on your iPhone – easy!

Of course my wife is not happy that I have my head down tinkering with my iPhone all the time … as yet I haven’t found an app that can help with that particular speed bump …

Do you see the iPhone as a productivity boon or a productivity pain? Please let me know in the comments …

iZoho iPhone Application

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Zoho
Zoho is a popular project management program which has only been available for desktop and laptop usage up until last year.

The addition of the iZoho iPhone application is meant to branch the service out to smartphone users who require access to the organizational software while away from the computer.

The release of iZoho effectively boiled down the existing formula of the program in order to provide an optimized experience for mobile users.

This effort has resulted in the iPhone version hosting only document, presentation and spreadsheet access, something which is still fairly impressive but ultimately of lesser worth than competing programs.

Users are able to open, edit or create new Zoho documents and organize their data through this format but are forbidden write authorization for the other two categories.

While it may be useful to view presentation and spreadsheet information the document-only usage of iZoho cuts the service off from being of any real use past a simple convenience for pre-existing Zoho users.

Although there is certainly nothing wrong with iZoho it’s difficult to shake the feeling that there are better uses of your time and effort while perusing the software.

Taken as what it is, iZoho is sufficient as a somewhat limited productivity app but fails in holding itself up against the competition and it’s own, non-mobile renditions.

Do you have any experience with iZoho? Please leave a comment and share if you do.