Art of the iPhone

Every week, the staff at Art of the iPhone swipes through their home screens and picks out their favorite iPhone apps. Here are this week’s recommendations.

GPush

Alan: GPush ($1.99, iTunes link) adds push notifications for your Gmail account. Know instantly when an email lands in your Gmail account. Upcoming features include “quiet hours,” which will cease notifications during defined periods of the day.

ESPN ScoreCenter

John: ESPN ScoreCenter (free, review, iTunes link) is a slick and simple way to get up-to-date sports scores. A downside is that there’s no news articles. But it’s the best looking of all the iPhone sports scores apps, and maybe the quickest.

Kindle for iPhone

Tanya: Kindle for iPhone (free, iTunes link). I have yet to jump on the ebook craze, but the Kindle for iPhone app is pretty sweet. Most books from Amazon.com are $9.99, but you can read samples for free. I’m not quite ready to read full books on my iPhone, but I use the Kindle for iPhone app to identify books I might want to buy. I’ve killed lots of time reading samples (typically a full chapter) from books on the NY Times Bestsellers list. Text is large, crisp and easy to read.

ProCamera

Tim: ProCamera ($1.99, review, iTunes link). After reviewing this application the other week, it has become my go-to photography application. It waits till your hand is perfectly still before taking the shot, which has made all my photos come out that bit sharper and clearer. The only downside is the long time it takes to save the files.

Stay in Tune

Ben: Stay in Tune ($3.99, iTunes link) This instrument-tuning app can be used to tune any stringed instrument and supports tunings for Guitars, Drop-D tuned Guitars, Banjos, Violins, Violas, Cellos, Mandolins, and Ukuleles. The app has a very clear display and is much less expensive than buying a standalone electric tuner. In a nice touch, you can recalibrate the tuner so you can fine-tune your instrument to off-pitch tunings.