I’m spending the holiday weekend in Ohio with my in-laws. Which means 14 hours of round-trip driving. Which, for me, means a whole lot of time to knit in the car. Was it overkill to throw three half-finished projects in my knitting bag? Probably. But better safe than sorry, for a knitter. And with that mantra in mind, I decided to check out the Knitting and Yarn Shop Locator app. Because what if I arrived in Ohio and forgot my size 3 circular needles or grabbed the wrong size crochet hook? The horror! The app, which costs $2.99, lets you type in a location or opt to use your phone’s GPS …

If you’re a runner—or know one well—you know it’s all about the numbers. Lots and lots of numbers: miles run, pace per mile, mile time, 5K personal record, heart rate, miles per week, miles per month, miles per hour.    Today, runners can track just about anything with a variety of personal devices—from expensive Garmin navigational devices to your basic iPhone app. This week, I tested two apps in particular, Fitnio ($4.99) and iMapMyRun (free), to see what they offer when it comes to running the numbers. Related: App Hunter: Best Mobile Games 2011 I picked Fitnio because it came highly …

This week: A couple of quick hits on Chicagoland apps, starting with… Downtown Oak Park: I don’t know why more suburbs don’t have their own apps. This one, released by Evanston-based SweetPerk, was commissioned by a downtown business group to offer shoppers events listings, attractions, deals and business listings. The good news: It’s simple to use and looks great. The bad: The content is underdeveloped. A few days  ago, there were no events lists and thus far, only one attraction: The Frank Lloyd Wright Home & Studio. Given time, though, this could be a killer app. Right now, the …

This job takes me to a ton of coffee shops. Mobile journalism means mobile offices, and for me, that mean local cafes and caffeine dens. Oftentimes, I find myself at Starbucks locations for hours on end, which is why I was excited to try out the Starbucks iPhone App. What does it do? For starters, the mapping function allows you to not only find the Starbucks near you, but also their hours, which is handy for us suburban nighthawks. You can also buy drinks by scanning your phone, which deducts money from gift cards you've stored in there. And you can keep a log on your phone of your favorite …

Imagine this: Walking into your local library and finding an advertisement for an app that allows you to checkout ebooks and audiobooks on your mobile device! Inside, you yell, "Genius! Why hasn't this existed before?" That's exactly what happened to me with the OverDrive Media Console app. OverDrive has so much promise, so many tantalising possibilities that you can't help but like it. Earlier: A Review of Panoramic Photos by the Pano App.  In my case, I really, really wanted to like it. But the experience speaks for itself. I tried this app out a year ago but was frustrated by its limited …

Last week, I collected a roundup of photo apps – but did not nearly get to test all the cool photography-related apps I wanted. So, I devoted this week to Pano ($1.99), an app for the iPhone and Android that builds a string of photos into a detailed panorama.  In short: There's a lot to love. Developed by Debacle Software, Pano is simple, intuitive and almost disaster-proof, in terms of its user experience. Now, there are a few drawbacks. Unlike other programs, you cannot go back and stitch together photos taken outside the app to create a panorama. Instead, you have take all the photos in …

This week, I did an interview with author Neal Stephenson (Cryptonomicon, Snow Crash) for Patch. The problem? His press only provided us with one photo. So, between the preview piece (he’s speaking in Oak Park), the actual interview and reader questions, we only had one photo. The solution? Photo illustration. Camera+ ($0.99)I’ve long ago substituted this app for the regular camera program that comes with the iPhone. Camera+ essentially endows your point-and-shoot with SLR functionality. Example: Touch the screen for the specific area you’d like to focus on. Double bonus: Turn on the “burst” …

I’m on the road this week, giving a speech about Patch in Champaign-Urbana, so I thought this would be an excellent chance to try out Enjoy Illinois, the official app of the Illinois Department of Tourism. Right now, as I type this from the Illini Union, this free app tells me that nearby “Top Attractions” include the Tanger Outlet Center (22.44 miles away) and the Kickapoo State Park (26.10 miles away). So, if I want to hike in brand-new surplus sneakers, I’m set. It also lists more than 25 restaurants and hotels within a mile radius. The app allows me to filter and refresh these results by …

I used to have a huge key ring. Huge. Not only did it have keys—but also a ton of rewards cards, those little bar-coded plastic money savers, bulking up my key ring. Putting it in my pocket was impossible. So, when I got an iPhone, one of the first apps I downloaded was CardStar. The app allows a user to keep his/her loyalty numbers in one place with an interactive library of bar codes that can be scanned at checkout. Related: Patch's Favorite Northbrook Apps Good-bye unwieldy key ring. Not only that, but I started using it for off-label uses, like storing my Society of Professional …

It’s a cliché and a punchline now, but that doesn’t make it any less true: “There’s an app for that.”  And iPhone apps no longer cater to just urbanites. Whether it's food, services, maps or guides, mobile apps are increasingly catering to the suburbs. With that in mind, here are some of my recent favorite iPhone apps for Northbrook. 1. Walgreens (free) Even though I’m largely a CVS shopper (it’s closer to my house and I prefer its customer service)—Walgreens has the best iPhone app. Why? Not only can you renew your prescriptions (something that at least three competing CVS apps allow) but …