When they first announced the App Store and the iPhone SDK I thought that a blogging tool might be something worth downloading. On the first day TypePad had their application but we had to wait until this week for the WordPress equivalent. On the plus side, WordPress for iPhone is both free and Open Source.

First impressions: it’s nice. Setting up a new blog is simple. Writing a new post is straightforward too, just press the “new” button, fill in the fields much as you would in the web interface and get typing. You can also add photos — either directly from the camera or from your photo library — but only to the end of your post.

So far so good.

I’ve found four real problems so far, mostly things outside the control of Automattic, the authors.

First is that I have not found a way to view drafts that have already been saved on the server. iPhone side drafts are visible — making it possible to work without cell tower reception — but I often have a dozen unfinished articles sitting on the server. I don’t want to write everything on the phone.

Secondly, if you use anything other than the standard picture uploader, you’re on your own. I usually use Photopress.

Next, I found that the “Preview” — useful feature incidentally — and “Photos” buttons at the bottom the screen occasionally go missing.

Finally, well, best to to by example. Go back to the start of this post and count the number of links.

Back? Presumably you found no links, not even to WordPress for iPhone itself. And that’s because there’s no way to get a URL from Safari into WordPress other than by remembering it or writing it down.

Of course, Apple failing to include cut and paste in their operating system is hardly Automattics fault.

Overall I like it. It’s failings are not great enough to put me off, especially considering the types of post I am most likely to write on the move. It’s certainly earnt a spot on my home screen.