There's not yet an app for that canal trip

iphonappfreelancer.com is a marketplace for iPhone apps.  If you want an iPhone app for your business you can advertise the fact, and iPhone programmers can write in and tell you how much they'd charge.

What's this got to do with the waterways?  Well, a guy called Ken Paterson wants to commission an iPhone app for the waterways: 

Waterways App:

This App will allow people to navigate their way along the many British waterways allowing them to rate the various eating establishments along the way this App is designed for holiday makers who rent a river cruiser for a holiday.

Sounds a bit 'niche' to me.  Firstly, it assumes that many of the holidaymakers are going to have iPhones; secondly that they are going to be keen enough to submit their ratings; and thirdly that the information is somehow going to be different from general reviews elsewhere, for example the ones you pickup when you search for a place on Google Maps. 

I'm looking forward to a smartphone app of CanalPlan - now that's something I'd pay for!   I already use CanalPlan on the iPhone, but as a web application - and it's small and fiddly that way, like all web browsing on the iPhone.

It's possible to publish your blog or news feed automatically as an iPhone app, using a tool/program/website called AppMakr.  It costs a bit - from $199 upwards, but it allows people to read your stuff offline. 

It looks cool and makes reading a blog very easy. 

Why would you pay to publish your blog as an app?  Because you could charge people to download the app, or you could put advertising in it and collect commission from the advertisers.  (See 'Monetizing an app'.)

(Why people would want to pay to read blogs I don't know.)

AppMakr lets you logon for free and see what your own blog would look like as an app.

[Update: Halfie commented below that my original link didn't work - thanks.]

Comments

[Katie Robinson]

I would definitely use an app for the canals and would like to rate some great and not so great places that we have visited en route.

[Jess]

get an N900 like me - no need for apps the browser is the same as on a monitor - its wonderful!

[Colin]

I'm not an iPhone user myself, but there is a site which allows building your own app from $99. http://ubuildapp.com/

[Ira]

There are already iPhone apps for both Typepad and Wordpress blogs.
See, http://www.typepad.com/features/blog-iphone.html and http://iphone.wordpress.org/ and save yourself some coding. Canalplan on the iPhone would be fantastic, I have looked at the code for Canalplan and it would need a complete rewrite for the iPhone

[Halfie]

Clicking on the "See Granny Buttons as an iPhone app" link requires registering with appmakr, so very few people will see ... /app_manager/edit_app/mashup/26694/artwork/

[Steve]

There are plans to create a mobile template for Canalplan so that it can be used on a mobile device such as an iPhone or an Android based handset. Its just a matter of working out what is needed and what is "fluff" and then creating the template to support it.

OR someone could write an application that is basically a set of wrapped calls to the canalplan website...... hmmmm maybe I should look into that!