List of Adobe AIR Applications that you may or may not need...

Adobe AIR released its beta back in June 2007, but it was only yesterday that they finally launched their finished product. This must be important news for developers because according to Adobe - they can now use familiar tools such as Adobe Dreamweaver , Flex, Flash, or any text editor to build their applications and easily deliver a single application installer that works across operating systems. For those who don't develop (like me, for example), the most interesting part will be to wait and see what others will build with this upgraded technology.

Anyway, it looks like the perfect time to recommend some AIR applications that were already built with the beta version. Since there is quite a long list, I've gathered apps that I think are truly unique and worth the try. Moreover, I'm sure you can find some applications on the list that may come in handy especially if you use the Internet on a daily basis.


If I needed to choose the most impressive music service that I know of, Finetune would be it. When it's comes to personalized recommendations, it simply has it all: A web-based application, iTunes integration, Finetune for Facebook/Wii, and of course: A Finetune AIR application for your desktop. The AIR application syncs all your web playlists and allows you to hear your favorite music right on your desktop, even if the browser's closed. With one click you can switch from your Finetune favorite artists to your own music collection from iTunes. Most of Adobe AIR applications has this kinda shiny, clean look (like widgets) so it's very lovable, and the experience is just soo good. Finetune has one of the best 'AIR look' I saw.

Password Keeper is a light, yet powerful application that has the capability to save all your passwords in one place. When you select a data row the password for that row will automatically be copied to your clipboard and you can paste it anywhere. Download here.

Fotobooth is a fun application for people who love Flickr and themselves :-)
Users can quickly snap pictures using their webcam, then upload to Flickr right from their desktop. Moreover, FotoBooth comes with a great set of editing tools, which allow you to take a snapshot of yourself, edit it on the spot, and send your creation to your Flickr account. Very sweet.

The Google Analytics Reporting Suite brings Google Analytics to the desktop, with a host of features that help you understand how your website is performing and where you can improve it. From tracking your visitors, referrals and campaigns to viewing your AdWords ROI metrics. You can see the feature list and lots of screenshots by clicking here.

Usually, if you use Twitter, you prob. don’t use Pownce as well (and vice versa), so I'll just recommend them both, and you get to choose which one to install:

Pownce: You can send and receive notes from your desktop as if it was from the website itself.
Tweetr is a twitter client that allows you to send and receive twitter messages but has cool features including: Support for taking photos with your webcam , and sending files to your friends (up to 10MB),

Kuler is adobe's color scheme generator. It enables you to quickly search, create, and share color themes online. You can either do it from the web or from the desktop. You can also built an application yourself based on kuler APIs.

I had a bittersweet experience with the last application on my list. It's called Snippage and amazingly it allows you to cut interactive parts from any web page and place them on your desktop!
Why sweet? Because I can cut code from everywhere and see it live on my desktop. (except Flash). Why bitter? Data not saved when the application closed! And unfortunately links opens with IE...

Still, I think it's HOT! I just cut my Blogroll and place it on my desktop:

Be sure to check this DEMO for more (or just skip it, and click on the download button)


Even though I enjoyed playing with these AIR applications, I can't help myself from thinking that it actually feels like I'm going backwards. Over the last two years I've tried to avoid activities from my desktop, and frankly most of my work today is from the Web. Why would I want to go back?

I've just noticed a very relevant post on ReadWritWeb that worth your visit!

Click on the thumbnail to get adobe's pixel art, created by eboy!