The new iphone WordPress app
I saw the WordPress iPhone app come up on the iPhone applications unofficial feed. I grabbed it right away and started this post. Setting up a new blog is easy, you just add the URL and username and password. Once setup, you can see the last 30 posts (configurable), or create a new one. Each post has tags, categories, the title, and the content. All HTML had to be entered manually, so you definitely won’t be doing anything too complicated. Maybe there are plans for some tag shortcuts in the future. And with no cut an paste on the iPhone, you will be doing all the typing in your post.
The preview function works great. I also tried the picture link and took a new picture using the built in camera. The app then crashed, but the post was still intact in the drafts folder. Of course I’ve had lots of apps crashing with the new 2.0 firmware, so who knows whose fault that is.
The big benefit over using your browser is the fact you can now create posts offline, which should encourage more writing. You do this by saving it as a local draft. Once it is moved to draft, it shows up in your blog interface.
This app is also a quicker way to do a quick edit of an existing post because of the simple interface and lower data transfer needed. Best of all, it’s open source just like WordPress. Get it now.
iPhone 2.0
Like many iPhone owners I couldn’t wait to try the new 2.0 firmware. So when macrumors reported it was available early, I downloaded and installed it against my better judgment. You have to download the file separately and then use option click on the “Check for update” button in iTunes to install the firmware.
First, I thought I bricked my iPhone when it wouldn’t install. iTunes then recognized the iPhone was in recovery mode, but a restore failed with the error “iphone could not be restored (20)”. Turns out you can also use option click on the “Restore” button to get another attempt to install the firmware. The second try worked.
The new firmware is great - the app store is nice. I put twitterific, facebook, and a few more apps on right away. Now I’m finding my first synch will not get past the “Syncing contacts” step. This may be an adventure.
I think a lot of geeks will be pretty worthless at work tomorrow.