I am always looking for new and easy ways to test websites I have created in all the modern browsers, and recently stumbled across ‘spoon‘.

In a nutshell spoon gives you the ability to run any app virtually, with no complex setup or install.  Simply download and install the spoon plug-in and you’re ready to run a huge selection of open source apps for free including web browsers, media editors, audio players, office suites and the list goes on.

Obviously this appealed to me and certainly seemed like a great way to test my web projects;  with its support for all major versions of IE, Firefox, Chrome, Safari and Opera it would make my life so much easier and bring a more consistent look to my designs across all platforms.  The great thing is that once you have downloaded and installed the plug-in you are only a few clicks away from running any open source app virtually, and for cross browser testing I have been hard pushed to find anything better.

As well as running free open source apps spoon does offer a premium service where developers are able to run and test their own applications.

However, as with most things there are always a few draw-backs.  spoon doesn’t support Mac; I made some inquiries regarding the development for this and was given the impression it would be quite some time before this was released, late 2011 was the advised date which is a shame for all those Mac based designers out there. Personally I do own a PC laptop, but this certainly doesn’t give me the best experience when viewing any of my sites.  I also found the service to be inconsistently slow for no reason but in its defence it is still far quicker than any of the alternatives such as browser shots.

spoon is certainly a step in the right direction for both app and cross-browser testing; I would just like to see the support for Mac hurried a little.

Since my iphone arrived way back in August I have had plenty of time to download and test a wide range of apps available.  So I thought it was high time I recommended a couple more excellent free options that you just wouldn’t want to be without.

MMS Photo Messaging

One of the main problems with the iphone has been the lack of built in MMS capability which the majority of other mobile phones have as standard.  Well just maybe that problem has been resolved for FREE, MMS Photo Messaging (by Ed Lea) is a great little app that allows your iphone to receive pictures directly without the need to visit that annoying 02 website. 

The way it works is simple, a four digit code is within the standard notification SMS that you receive when a picture has been sent, take this code along with your phone number and add it to the MMS application, once this has been added the app will happily download the images directly into your inbox at no charge.  Beware however, that sending messages is still a little expensive and you will need to purchase credit for this unless your contract already allows MMS.

There seems to be only one small problem with this app, every few weeks 02 change the four digit key that is required to download your pictures, so you have to remember to update this in the app which is more of an annoyance that a major issue.  Even with this small draw back I still think this has helped overcome my concerns regarding the iphone’s lack of MMS capability and I would recommend that you give it a go.

Social networking

As MMS Photo Messaging makes the iphone do a job it should have done all along, the next two add something extra that I personally can’t live without, I’m talking about Twitterrific and Facebook.  Twitterrific by The Iconfactory and Facebook are exactly what you would expect, great conduits into the social networking world.  Between them they offer everything you should need to keep up-to-date with friends and let your followers know what you are doing. 

As with most free apps there are a few draw back.  Twitterrific doesn’t seem to have the functionality to search for people or the abilility to clear the list for ease of navigation, but this is more than likely available through the premium edition if you are willing to pay £5.99.  Facebook on the other hand doesn’t have any obvious major flaws, although being able to have multiple accounts saved would be a nice addition.

There are many more apps that are worth a look, here is a short list of others I am using:-

• Remote – Allows you to control your Apple Mac itunes via a WI-FI connection
• Ustream – Watch live video broadcasts on you phone
• Seadragon Mobile – Microsoft’s high resolution gallery

I will post again soon with a detailed overview of the 3G iphone, and maybe some more apps that you should pick up.