Australian Online Journalist

Smartphones are a mobile newsroom for every journalist. Read on for the apps every journo should have.

The smartphone has revolutionised the way journalists gather news. A journalist today who does not have a smartphone with at least 3G connectivity may as well be punching out copy on a Remington typewriter. Read on to find out the apps every journalist should have for their smartphone (iPhone and Android devices only, note these are suggested additional apps only, not the ones that come standard. Additional note, this article features a blatant iPhone bias).

Audioboo: social network for where sounds and recordings can be shared with friends and colleagues. A good resource for finding sound effects to embed in video and audio stories.
For: iPhone and Android devices.
Price: Free

WordPress: perfect for longer form text than the 140-character limitation by Twitter. Easy to upload multimedia to produce a comprehensive online piece on the phone.
For: iPhone and Android devices.
Price: Free

Twitter: an absolute must for any journalist. More than 500 million people are now on Twitter. Even if you don’t want to tweet yourself, at least follow some key media outlets and journalists; it’s amazing the stories you can find from international sources, researchers etc. that can be localised. Additionally, Twitter is one of the quickest ways to break news (though read my previous post on Twitter protocol here). There’s a number of apps available that can service Twitter but I’m partial to the original.
For: iPhone and Android devices.
Price: Free

UStream: a fantastic app that allows you to screen live pictures from an event. Perfect for breaking news or a live cross. Best if you have a tripod for your device (look around, there’s a couple about). In the age of convergence, every journalist should have the ability to go live.
For: iPhone and Android devices.
Price: Free

i-Prompt: worried to death about your live cross and forgetting your lines? (the trick to going live is to not have any lines, just remember your key points) well, there’s an app for that. Available for iPhone and iPad, i-Prompt is exactly what the name suggests, a tele-prompter or autocue for your device. While it can help in terms of showing you the text you wish to read, your eyeline will be off if you try and use it from the same device you’re streaming off. Still, some people need the security blanket.
For: iPhone
Price: Free

Facebook: possibly one of the glitchiest apps around. For a company that makes and is worth billions, Facebook has a dodgy app. At the time of writing people in South Yarra and Prahran were being geo-tagged as Cragieburn; pictures and comments never align and sometimes it’s impossible to search for anyone. Still, as Facebook becomes increasingly ubiquitous it remains a must-have app.
For: iPhone and Android devices
Price: Free

iMovie: an absolute must! The iMovie app is the easiest and fastest way to cut and voice a story from the field on the fly. This application comes with titles and the ability to lay music. Limited in terms of its audio editing, it remains none the less, hands down, the best video editing app around.
For: iPhone
Price: A$5.49 at time of writing

Pro HDR: a photography app that allows the user to shoot pictures in High Dynamic Range (a set of techniques that allows for the greater dynamic range between the lightest and darkest parts of a picture). The downside of this app is that it need to take two pictures to blend together to achieve this range. Best for static subjects like landscapes, Pro HDR is relatively hopeless to use when trying to grab a shot of people or anything moving. However, once the two pics have been mixed, you can play with saturation, exposure levels etc. and, typically, they look great.
For: iPhone
Price: A$1.99 at time of writing

Skype: the world’s leading internet calling service comes into its own on a mobile device. On the iPhone 4 or 4S the two-way camera allows you to see and be seen by your chat buddy. A great tool for reporting back to the newsroom from a breaking story to show pictures. Skype is also becoming commonplace as the replacement option for expensive satellite hookups. Hell, even Oprah used it to cross to viewers. If you’re on the ground when a situation goes pear-shaped, Skype can beam you live into a program.
For: iPhone and Android devices
Price: Free

TuneInRadio : this app is the business when it comes to listening to radio.You want to hear what BBC Nottingham has to say while you’re in a cafe n Melbourne? Easy. TuneInRadio streams literally thousands of radio stations from around metro and regional Australia as well as radio stations from around the world (and not just English speaking countries either). The other bonus, TuneInRadio also picks up internet only radio stations. By far and away the best app for accessing radio content.
For: iPhone and Android devices
Price: Free

LinkedIn: the leading social networking site for professionals comes with as an app. LinkedIn is invaluable in identifying potential sources for stories as it shows you each contact’s background, expertise, their occupation, skills. Imagine looking at an online form of someone’s curriculum vitae, that’s LinkedIn.
For: iPhone and Android devices
Price: Free

Tumblr: essentially a quirkier, longer form of Twitter, Tumblr has enjoyed spectacular growth in recent years, particularly among the younger set. Tumblr has also become the home for many a quirky site that can offer potentially more rewarding content that sad, tired old “Celebrity Tweets”. Apart from that, very little use for a journo, but interesting nonetheless.
For: iPhone and Android devices
Price: Free

YouSendIt and Dropbox: many a media outlet has an impossible firewall that will prohibit large files (think high res pics, video and audio) to come through. Rather than clog up a colleague’s email your best bet is to use YouSendIt or Dropbox. These apps allow you to upload your meg heavy content to the cloud and then fires through a link via email to your desired recipient.
For: iPhone and Android devices
Price: Free

Dragon Dictation: a voice activated dictation app. Yes. voice activated. It’s not amazing but it’s relatively good and ideal for taking quick notes on the run.
For: iPhone and Android devices
Price: Free

Scanner Free: a dodgy looking opening graphic makes it look like a game, but this app allows you to listen live to up to 53 emergency scanners in Australia. Listening to scanners in Victoria is limited in that you can’t monitor Victoria Police’s metro scanners. You can, however, listen to Ambulance Victoria, MFB, CFA and regional Victorian police scanners. The free version often pops up with advertisements that can be annoying. Upgrading to the premium service avoids interruptions. Has a breaking news function to report in an incident and also allows you to see where and when an incident is being serviced.
For: iPhone and Android devices
Price: Free, but US$1.99 for the premium service

Camera+: one of the best photographic apps available. Allows you to zoom in six times closer and offers stabilisation, grid to identify the Rule of Thirds with ease as well as a timer and burst function (shooting a series of shots in quick succession).
For: iPhone
Price: US$0.99

PhotoShop Express: Adobe’s marquee photo editing function trimmed down to an express version. This app allows to crop, change exposure/saturation/tint/go black and white and play with contrast levels. It also allows you to sketch, soften focus, sharpen the image and reduce noise (not on the free version) and add effects and borders.
For: iPhone and Android devices
Price: Free

Posterous: Need to post a pic or video immediately for fear of your phone being confiscated or rushing to get images in first, then this is your app. Set up your social media sharing functions and each time you snap, it uploads.
For: iPhone and Android devices
Price: Free

Hindeburg Field Recorder: is by far and away the best audio recording app but at US$29.99, it’s expensive. This is a non-linear audio editing app that allows you to edit with four tracks and works will with external microphones (always check to see if you can get a good mic that works with the headphone jack on the iPhone. Hindenburg records in WAV files with sample rates from 8kHz to 44.1kHz, stereo or mono, in 16-bit. All file formats can be simultaneously mixed and edited together. Excellent audio piece can be produced on the fly and uploaded swiftly through a 3G or wireless network (of course, always opt for wireless). Also allows you to place markers which makes for much easier editing
For: iPhone
Price: $US29.99

ISaidWhat?: one of the easiest, best and cheapest audio recording devices around. The app is a little limited in its ability (it can only edit pieces of VO into a one-track piece. Currently being used by the ABC to collect grabs and file straight back to the newsroom for inclusion in a package.
For: iPhone
Price: $US.99

CoverItLive: run your own live blogging session from your iPhone. Ideal for reporting from the field and opening a platform where multiple reporters and others can add content and experiences into one central hub. Run live commentary, upload videos and photos. Allows you to share events with an embed code. Perfect for sports reporters covering live matches or reporters at conferences, parliamentary hearings etc.
For: iPhone and Android devices
Price: Free

Tape Machine: an Android app for audio editing. Not as extensive as Hindenburg, Tape Machine is still a solid audio recorder and editing system with an excellent waveform display.
For: Android devices
Price: $US4.99

This is more no means an exhauastive list. Rather, it’s a work in progress. With more than 130,000 apps available through AppStore, more will be added to the list after they’ve ben identified and assessed for effectiveness in news gathering and dissmenination.