Twyste

I tried out a new app this week and it filled a niche that surprisingly wasn’t already filled by the apps currently on my phone. I say “surprisingly” because I have what seems to me like an awful lot of apps. The other day I was looking at all of my little folders crammed with teeny little app icons and wondering how many apps I actually have on my phone. So, I counted.  There are over 200 of them! Really?!?  So, then I thought, surely I can get rid of some of these. The problem is they’re all really good.  And, despite the fact that I live 3000 miles from NYC, I may someday need that map of the New York subway again. The thing I tried to get myself to accept, though, as I pried the little apps out of my tightly gripped fingers, was that if I delete the app from my phone and do end up needing it later, I can just re-download it from my iTunes library. My fear of not having some app when I need it was somewhat abated by that realization.  So, I deleted it, then got all crazy and deleted a couple other apps too…just for good measure, you know.

Anyway, way off track there. The point was, this app today does something that none of my other apps do. It takes the pictures I want from my iPhone photo library and makes real prints in a variety of sizes and mails them to the address I designate. This may not seem like that big a deal.  I mean, why not just order the pictures online and pick them up during one of my 17 trips to the store each week? That’s what I do when I’m getting prints for myself, but if I want to get them for someone out of town it also involves a trip to the post office (and the cost of a mailer and postage).

This is where PostalPix comes in.  I want to be able send prints to my mother-in-law in a different town, but I don’t want her to have to download them, drive to get them, or pay to have them made.  I just want to tap on the pictures I want, choose the sizes, and tap on her address and have them go to her.  The end.  PostalPix does exactly that, and it does it simply.

Now, the cost.  If you just compare the cost per print at the local store to the cost if you’re using the app (15-20 cents per print at the store, versus 22-33 cents plus 99 cents shipping using the app), then it doesn’t look like a bargain.  But, you’re wrong (tough love); once I factor in the added costs at the post office and the bigger cost of my time, it definitely is worth it to me.  This last time when I used it, I sent 13 pictures to my mother-in-law and it cost me $4.83.  If I had gone to my local store and the post office, it would have cost me about $4.00 total.  I feel very good about the hour it saved me by using PostalPix- worth way more than the 83 cents difference.  And, the app is free, so there isn’t a lot of risk involved in trying it out.  So, go for it.  Download PostalPix and give it a try.  Let me know what you think or if you believe there’s a better option… or if you’d like to run my errands for me.

Side note:  If you’re interested in seeing other app reviews, click on Wires at the top of the computer page (in the menu if you’re on a mobile device).  You can also check out the Top Ten iPhone Apps post from December, which will link you to lots of cool apps (many of them are available on non-iPhones as well).  You can also sign up to Follow this blog and get the latest post delivered straight to your email box or “like” Twyste on Facebook (http://facebook.com/twyste) and it will show up in your newsfeed.  App Reviews (and other techy things like tutorials) are posted on Thursdays.