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Sparrow for iPhone

Although it's been on the App Store for over a week, I've yet to formally announce Sparrow. So, here goes...

After a whirlwind development process, Sparrow — an iPhone location updater for Fire Eagle and Twitter — is now available on the iTunes App Store.

When I introduced my first OS X application last year, I wrote that "programmers are selfish. As a general rule we build applications that we want to use — not that we necessarily think will sell." That holds true for Sparrow. I built it because I'm in love with the promise of location aware services like Fire Eagle. I truly believe that as our digital lives creep further and further into the real world, it's going to become increasingly important for those services to know where we are. Not in a creepy Big Brother way but in a useful "Where's the nearest Chinese restaurant?" kind of way.

The best mobile apps do one thing, do it well, and then let you get on with your life. That was the goal of Sparrow. Tap the icon on your home screen, wait a few seconds, and you're done. That's it. Your location in Fire Eagle and Twitter are updated. I was worried that some users may clamor for more features, but, so far, the initial App Store reviews are positive.

Sparrow is a really simple piece of software designed to do nothing but update your location on Twitter and Fire Eagle. It succeeds admirably. It's a beautiful, high quality app and much recommended. —Tom Coates

And

I wish there were more apps like this one. Fast and easy to use.

Check it out in the App Store, and, as always, please send in any feedback.