7 Adobe AIR applications you should try

Posted on July 7, 2008 at 5:43 am

Why should you care about Adobe AIR?

Well AIR applications are more then just fancy widgets, and more even then just web services outside of the browser. Instead they give developers the opportunity to provide the traditional power and flexibility of desktop applications to web services.

The advantages are attractive, cross-browser applications which have low system resources requirements and are quick to develop. The biggest issue seems to be the ease in which developers can push out low quality and unfinished products, however here are some of the best ones I have found:

1) EBay

I’m sure you’ve heard of this app before and for good reason. It’s one of the best showcases of how AIR can be used to extend the online service on the desktop, rather then simply replicating it. For any Ebay user it’s a must-have and with real-time countdowns for auctions, speedier and more intuitive navigation as well as graphical analysis of sales what’s not to love?

Twhirl

Of the dozens of Twitter clients Twhirl holds its own as a great social media aggregator and desktop repository for your tweets. Use multiple Twitter and FriendFeed accounts as well as posting status updates to Pownce and Jaiku. Check out some of the other integrated services at the official site.

Guitar Scales V2

You may not play guitar but I couldn’t help putting this app in this list. It’s so simple but useful and you’ll love it. Find any scales from a whole variety of options. Has a very nice interface as well. Incidentally it’s very hard to find this functionality available elsewhere for free.

4) Klok

A time tracking utility. Work out how to best use it and increase your productivity but tracking exactly what you are working on for whom and for when. Some nice touches like exporting to excel and a mini-view to keep it out the way while working but still quickly accessible.

5) Xdrive Desktop Lite

If you’re still waiting for your invitation for Live Mesh then maybe till then try Xdrive Lite. You’ll need an Xdrive account, but after registering you can use the AIR app to directly upload files to your 5 gigabyte online hard drive. Sure beats navigating your way through a web interface.

6) ReadAIR

A nice in-progress version of Google Reader for the desktop. Still a lot of work to be done including keyboard shortcuts and offline access, but quite usable at the moment. Has the Mac OSX theme, so if you don’t like that then maybe try later when more are added.

7) Snackr

A lot of people have been saying how great this is lately, but I wasn’t convinced until I actually tried it myself. All Snackr does is scroll random posts from your feeds across your desktop (with thumbnails) but is surprisingly useful and has a great interface. I would very much recommend trying it before you dismiss it.