The 4 Great Blogging Apps For The iPhone

Blogging is still an extremely popular hobby and profession, one which many of the MakeUseOf editors and writers are quite fond of. It’s a way to express our opinions on matters not very well covered in the media or to just have a good moan about whatever it is that annoys us.

In many regards, blogging is rapidly replacing the traditional personal diary. So powerful is the medium that jobs have been lost and people oppressed in countries such as Iran and China are arrested just for blogging.

But blogging at your PC can be a pain. Sure it was fine a few years ago but now things are much better when condensed into the palm of your hand, ready to tell the world about your love of old films or your hatred of Christmas shopping in October. The iPhone, pretty much epitomizing the smart phone, is a great tool for the blogger when he/she has the right apps.

Below is a list of my favourite blogging apps for the iPhone that I use for my own blogs.

Shozu

This app is what I would call an “˜all-rounder’. The developers have gone around to each blogging cake, removed all the frosting and thrown it together into this sweet little app.

As you can see from the screenshot it supports multiple blogging platforms which many of us bloggers use. These include Google’s “˜Blogger’, along with different social-networking and sharing services such as Flickr and Facebook. Furthermore, you can add similiar services to your list.

While Shozu is primarily targeted at photo and video sharing its blogging capabilities cannot go unnoticed and it’s a must download for any blogger who perhaps likes a touch of photography. It is available for downloaded here.

LifeCast

When this app first came out a good while ago I dismissed it as lacking in many features ““ you couldn’t even post to a BlogSpot account! However, they have released a good few updates with the most recent one filling the void left by Google’s refusal to develop a BlogSpot app.

Its interface is quite good as you can see from the screenshot and it’s easy to use. The “˜New Post’ function allows you to add images and text at the same time into the one post which is something lacking or “˜buggy’ in a lot of other competitor apps.

The bad part is that it doesn’t get up close and personal with Blogspot itself which would have angered Google ““ nobody likes people getting up close and personal with their services. As a result, once you make a post you can’t edit or delete it unless you log in on your computer and do so. However, to compensate you can save the post as a draft and decide when to publish it.

LifeCast is available here.

WordPress

Without a doubt this is the most “˜compatible’ of all the apps here, simply because it comes from the most popular blogging platform and software provider; WordPress. You get what you’d expect from this app.

All the shiny features such as adding images, links, changing the text size and font are included. You can have multiple blogs on the go at the same time and you can add as many blogs as you see fit.

However, while this is nice, you can do all of this on the other apps. What makes the WordPress app stand out from the crowd is that you can effectively manage your blog from your iPhone. This includes moderating comments, editing and deleting posts, scheduling and pretty much everything your get in the WordPress admin screen of your blog.  If you have any blog that uses WordPress or you host your own blog and use the WordPress platform then this one is worth a look.

It can be downloaded here.

TypePad

The best way I can describe TypePad is a toned down version of the WordPress app. It’s not for the power user; rather the guy who blogs on his way to work on the bus or relaxing on the couch. No need to worry about managing their blog as though it was a football team before the final.

It’s easy to use. You can view comments and indeed moderate them, but the main function of this app is posting and formatting that post. You can choose which kind of line breaks you want and how to align the text. All other features such as images and links come as standard.

A nice app if you fancy telling the world why you listen to ABBA every morning in the car to work, without having to moderate all the astounded and hateful comments later!

TypePad can be found here.

So there you have it. For all our iPhone users, these apps should put an end to your ‘blog by email’ days once and for all. Enjoy being able to create great looking blog spots when you’re miles away from your PC.

Once quick word of advice however:

While blogging from your iPhone can be easy and seem like the best thing since sliced bread it can really damage your hand. Ever heard of Blackberry thumb? The name comes from people who blogged, e-mailed and transcribed the Old Testament on their phones ““ the same applies for the touch screen iPhone. You have been warned!

What blogging apps for the iPhone  do you use?   Let us know in the comments.