Text-Expander is one of my “must-have” Mac utilities. The app quietly sits in the toolbar waiting for me to either make a common spelling mistake or to key in one of the shortcuts I have pre-programmed. When I do it quickly replaces it with the proper spelling or phrase. For example, when I type “ggd” TextExpander replaces it with “Gear Diary”. Honestly, I don’t know how I could do without this application.

Well, now they have released a version for the iPhone and iPod touch. I grabbed a copy as soon as it went live and am happy I did. They have done an excellent job in creating the iPhone app and, for the next few weeks, it is on sale for just $1.99.

The iPhone has become an increasingly powerful productivity tool. This moves it one notch higher!

The welcome screen explains the basics. Due to the limitation of the iPhone (As always… Thanks Apple!) documents created using TextExpander need to be created in the app itself.

From there you can export it to another app for emailing, Tweeting etc. If that app isn’t directly supported you can simply cut and paste the text. The simplicity of the interface makes this a painless process.

If you want to use it to send a Tweet you have to first set up your Twitter client. At this time only two are supported but since I use Twittelator Pro I’m quite satisfied.

The app starts you with some sample “snippets”- letter combos and the words that replace them when you type them- and lets you create new ones to personalize the app and make it useful for your style and needs. In all TextExpander has saved me from having to type over 74,000 characters in the last few months alone.

Again, they have made the setup and use quite easy.

Settings are abundant but not overwhelming. I like the auto-cap and the ability to share Groups over a local network. This is great if you have an iPhone AND touch or…

If you already use TextExpander. Yes, the new Mac version syncs with TE Touch so that within seconds your Mac shortcuts (snippets) can be on your  iPhone!

In all they have done a nice job bringing TE to the iPhone. While its usefulness would have been somewhat limited just a few moths ago, the addition of cut and paste with the recent iPhone 3.0 means that although the app can’t run in the background the way it does on a Mac, it can and wil make writing easier than ever in any app. Simply write what you want in TE Touch and then cut and paste the text where you need it.

The iPhone app is just $1.99 at the introductory price.

Plus, until September 9th the Mac application is 50% of at just $14.98.

Both are definitely worth a look.