One of the reasons that I finally climbed on board the iPhone bandwagon after being a long-time Blackberry user was the number of applications available so you could personalize your mobile device any way you wanted.
After a few months of being an iPhone users, here’s a list of the apps I used on a regular basis:
1. The camera: Although not technically an app, it’s the iPhone’s “killer app”. For the most part, it eliminates the need to carry around a digital camera. Sure, I’d like to see a camera with more mega-pixels and a zoom but for everyday, on-the-go photography, the iPhone camera rules the day.
(Note: The popularity of the iPhone camera is one of the reasons why someone should buy TwitPics, which makes it easy to post photos on Twitter)
2. Byline: After waiting for Google to come out with an iPhone app for Google Reader, I was happy to learn about Bylines, an RSS reader that easily synchs with Google Reader so you can read blog posts on the fly. Many people contend the Web version of Google Reader on iPhone’s Safari browser works well but Byline is a superior experience, as well as a deal for $1.99.
3. Tweetdeck: Although a little buggy and prone to occasional crashes, Tweetdeck is a great way to use Twitter on an iPhone. For anyone who uses Tweetdeck on the desktop, the nice thing about the iPhone apps is it pretty much has the same look and feel.
I’m also a fan of Twitterific because you can easily manage multiple Twitter accounts. And I’m keen on Reportage, which gives you a different view by putting the focus on the people you follow as opposed to the never-ending update stream.
4. iDrive Lite: A valuable and easy way to backup, share and restore all your iPhone contacts.
5. CardStar: One of cooler applications that I’d like use more often, CardStar CardStar lets you easily store, manage and use your reward, club, and loyalty cards on your smart phone. It creates barcodes for each program so you can swipe your iPhone as opposed to having to swipe a card.
6. Evernote: I just started using Evernote again as a tool to clip Web sites and make notes – something invaluable for anyone who goes through a lot of online content, and needs a way to store and archive it.
For what it’s worth, here are some iPhone apps that I expected to use more:
1. Wordpress: Blogging from the iPhone can be a challenge given the iPhone’s keyboard is useful but not user-friendly. If I’m going to be publishing updates on the iPhone, it will be for Twitter rather than a blog.
2. Read It Later: On the desktop, Reader It Later is a great way to bookmark articles and blog posts for later. On the phone, it doesn’t have the same kind of utility.
3. Freshbooks: I love Freshbooks, an online invoicing service that has become a key part of how I run ME Consulting. On the iPhone, however, I want more than just a tool to track time.
What iPhone applications do you use regularly? Any must-have iPhone apps?
8 Comments
I agree that the camera is one of the iPhone's killer apps. It's exactly why we are releasing a social network enhanced camera app
I too love the RSS reader – in any form – to quickly and easily keep up with the latest content from my favourite sites.
The problem is when the feed only provides a snippet of the content – then you have to load each story you want to read through the browser. It's a drag, slows me down, reduces efficiency, and kind of defeats the purpose of even having an RSS reader.
Are you listening Mr. Evans?
My must have apps include:
- Twitterrific
- Tweet Push for push notifications
- ByLine for Google Reader – thinking about switching to Gazette though
- NotePad and Convert by Polar Bear Farm
- PCalc
Regarding your mention of FreshBooks, recently a company release MiniBooks which does more than just Time Tracking w/ the FreshBooks API. I haven't used it, but it looks promising – http://www.groovysquared.com/minibooks/
I'm wondering when you are changing the name of your blog to the "Iphone Gush 'n' Crush"? Dont get me wrong, it's a fun device, all the kids have them and sadly my BB Bold does'nt make Fart Noises, or distort the photos I take into droopy faces, but I can run my business from it
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Thanks for sharing your must have apps Mark. Here are some of mine:
- SnapTell: Allows you to take a picture of a book and then fetches its info/reviews and prices from different sources online
- File Sharing: This cost me $1.00 but it's the most convenient USB stick I've ever had.
- iCall: let's you make free phone calls to Canada & US if you're connected to a Wifi connection.
This is great – the iPhone is fast becoming synonymous with the entire 'hand held computer' market. Powerful marketing from Apple for a powerful little device. It's most often the first phone in peoples minds now-a-days.
I must admit that I too use CardStrar all of the time. Other oftenly used apps are:
– Bump – bump fist with another iphone and trade contact info
– Google Maps – Use it almost every day!
– check please – Calculates tip based on amount of bill and number of splits.
– Quicken – iPhone version
that is just a few that I use daily.
Thanks for the app recommendations. I'll definitely check out Bump.