Jason PercivalTechnology Enthusiast

App Review: Grocery IQFiled Under: Apple, Cell Phones, Review, Software, iPhone

Last week I was looking for an app to make my grocery shopping a lot easier. I had read an article on TUAW taking a look at Grocery IQ(Opens in iTunes).

After reading the review I decided that it was worth the $4.99 and purchased the app. If you are reading this review on Thursday October 9th you can get the app on-sale for only $1.99 that’s 60% off.

I decided to check out all the options, and see how the app worked. I found that it’s quite simple really. You search the database of 130,000 items to find the one you want, then click a button to add it to your list. You can also add the items to your favorites for easy retrieval later.

Grocery IQ Search

Grocery IQ Search

Grocery IQ List

Grocery IQ Favorites

The program will also give you a history of what you’ve purchased just in case you don’t remember if you bought something recently.

Grocery IQ History

You can also arrange the aisles list to represent the way your store is laid out. This helps you to make sure you get everything on your list in the most efficient manor.

Grocery IQ Aisles

You can also e-mail your list to someone in the settings menu. I think this feature is a little hidden, but I was able to uncover it after doing a little searching.

Grocery IQ Settings

Now I’m not saying this app is perfect. It is missing a few features that I would like to see. For all I know they could be working on a new version with these features.

Multiple Stores
Ability to enter prices and keep an average, so you know an approximate cost of your list.
A way for someone else to add an item to your list. Say my wife realizes we need milk and I’m at work, she could text or call me. But imagine if she could send an e-mail to a special address and add items to my list, kind of like how you can email photos to Flickr or twitpic with a special e-mail address.
I’m sure there are more things I will think of in the future, but so far I have to say that I am loving this program and use it daily. It has even taken a place on the coveted iPhone home screen.

Invisible ShieldFiled Under: Review

As everybody possibly knows I bought the iPhone 3G recently. It was an upgrade to my original iPhone. Now I have to admit I was harsh on my original iPhone, but I figured it was metal and it would hold up well. I was partially correct. The metal held up well, but got scratched up, the screen which was said to be unscratchable was anything but. I have two scratches and a pin size hold in my original iPhone screen.

So that leads us to the new iPhone 3G which I ordered on launch day, I figured I would take better care of this bad boy since it is now plastic and not metal on the back. After doing some research I decided to purchase an invisible shield from zagg. I purchased the screen protector locally. I installed it on my second attempt, the first one was a little crooked (hint: apply a good amount of spray, that way the cover slides around).

After putting the screen protector through it’s paces, I have to say I love it. In fact I love it so much, I ordered the full body protector online. This will also help keep the plastic back from getting all scratched up. Now here is the best part. After browsing the website I found that they sell protectors for over 2,500 items. This includes Apple laptops. I plan on picking one up for my MacBook Pro once I purchase it within the next few months.

So in closing, all I can say is if you have an electronic device that you want to keep protected, I highly recommend picking up an invisible shield by zagg.  Besides iLounge.com seems to think very highly of it as well, so don’t just take my word for it.