Sponge

Oobah studio’s “Sponge” helps to bring all of your news and social networking needs together in one convenient app. Currently Sponge supports Facebook, GMail, Twitter, Flickr, YouTube, and RSS feeds from sites that you input. The app is extremely simple to use, just click to add a feed, insert the website, user name and email, or required information. Head back to the home screen, and refresh the page.

Between my regular day job, part time reviewing apps for 148apps.com, a fairly active social life, and a pregnant wife, my days are pretty full. Sponge is an app that helps alleviate some of the time constraints I face on a day to day basis. I like it because it allows me to one click update all of my most visited sites with any of the recent news articles, Twitter posts, status changes, and news information that I would otherwise have to spend time gathering myself.

I love using my iPod touch for social networking. The big limitation to iPods however, is their lack of 3G coverage. For those of you with constant wifi access, a 3G connection, etc., this app has even more to offer. The neat grouping of information makes navigating through the various accounts a breeze. Facebook and Twitter messages can be uploaded, emails sent back and forth, YouTube accounts of various users reviewed, and the most recent news stories retrieved, all from the comfort of one app. Find a news story you like? Post it directly into your Facebook or Twitter account without ever leaving Sponge.

Sponge is not without its flaws, however. This is especially true for iPod Touch owners. The first and most significant is the need for a wifi or 3G connection for updates. It is possible to check over information that’s been previously downloaded, while there isn’t a connection available. It certainly isn’t perfect, but it helps if you’re on the run and just need a quick update to check out later. The problem is that Sponge also continues to pop up network error messages when there is no connection available. Not a terrible problem for those with some semblance of patience, but a terror for those lacking this quality.

Sponge only updates on status, news, etc. You won’t be cycling through your friend’s list, changing settings on your accounts, or in my case, checking out the most recent web-comic strip from Ctrl-Alt-Del. You will however, find out what’s going on in your friend’s lives, exchange Twitter messages, and find out what Tim Buckley (Ctrl-Alt-Del’s writer) has been up to as of late through is news feed.

Sponge provides an excellent compact vehicle to collect all of a person’s important information into. For those people who like the convenience of having information available to them quickly and efficiently, Sponge is a solid app to achieve just that. This is a perfect app for those of you looking to speed up your surfing and sharing of content. At $2.99, it’s a cheap and easy way to stay updated.