Random thought: An iPhone app that does it all

[by the way, this post was typed in an iPod, so forgive me of any typos]

Well, I was doing my routine iPod internet checking, going from Google Reader for my feeds, WeatherBug for the forecast, checking my mail for new messages, MySpace and Facebook for my social life, and Twitterific for everything else, in addition to anything else I may need to do. As productive as Apple's flagship touchscreen products are, one can't help but feel a little dragged-down by having to open another app every few minutes. Additionally, there are times one simply wants their information at a glance, with more than just the time and date on-screen. This is where my concept app takes over.

I challenge the App development community to program the all-in-one app for the all-in-one device. I'd like to be able to take my iPod out of my pocket, unlock it and see the time, the date, the stock market, my to-do list when it's going to rain, my RSS feeds, and my latest @replies, hopefully all cached in case there's no WiFi. I don't need every functionality in the book, just what I look at the most.

Lucky for you programmers, the power of the Internet is on your side, and the majority of this can be done through web feeds that do much of the work for you (The Weather Channel, Yahoo! Stocks, the Twitter API, ect.)

Now the big problem is the UI of the entire App. How will so much information be placed in such a small screen? One concept would be similar to that of the Home Screen, allowing you to slide your finger to go page by page of overflowing love. Of couse, you can always use the blah-inducing arbitrary touch menu. Or how about a number of user-selected screens with a toolbar at the top of the screen allowing you to navigate to your information? To be honest I see a number of flaws in all of these interfaces.

If I were programming this App, I'd go for the overgrown Safari web page way, which allows you to move around in a seemingly endless territory that allows for vertical and horizontal movement. Use two fingers to pinch-zoom in and out of your floating information. Double-tap on (for example) the the current temperature and chance of rain to zoom directly into it, and expanding the information to a 5 day forecast. Press a button on the bottom-left of the screen to go into editing mode, where the user can change the location of thee little info widgets.