Top Apple Applications
1. Dropbox Top iphone Apple applications
Dropbox 1.2.2
Evenflow, Inc., www.dropbox.com
I assume you have a lot of gadgets and computers. Dropbox lets you access your personal files on any of them. Dropbox gives you 2GB of file storage that can be accessed from any computer. On iPhone, iPod touch, and iPad, the app allows you to view documents, spreadsheets, presentations, and some videos and photos that you’ve put into your personal file space. Occasionally, we’ve seen some instances where it simply won’t work, but it’s useful enough that we’re willing to overlook a few glitches.
2. ESPN ScoreCenter
ESPN ScoreCenter 1.5.3
ESPN Inc.,www.espn.go.com
Sports fanatics with iPhones should download ESPN Scorecenter. It allows you to keep track of your favorite sports teams on a single page, read the latest analyses from ESPN, and provides push notifications when games start or teams score. Sportacular is also a smart sports app with similar score-tracking abilities, but we think ESPN’s design is a little cleaner.
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3. Evernote
Evernote 3.3.5
Evernote Corporation, www.evernote.com
If you’ve got a memory that’s more emu than elephant, then Evernote can help you out. The app provides you with several ways to keep notes—including text, voice, and photos—and it gives you a way to access them from any desktop or phone with Evernote’s software. The simple interface makes it easy to write down important to-dos, locations, phone numbers, or just about anything you might need to reference at any time.
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4. Facebook
Facebook 3.1.4
Facebook, www.facebook.com
If you’re an active social networker, you’re probably on Facebook. And if you have an iPhone as well, there’s no reason you shouldn’t be using this well-designed app. The home screen is a 3-by-3 grid that gives you access to almost everything Facebook has to offer. The app also integrates with the iPhone’s own features well, allowing you to call or text any friend who has publicly posted their number. This is a must-have app for iPhone users on Facebook.
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5. Fandango
Fandango 3.2.2
Fandango, www.fandango.com
Looking for movie times on the go? Fandango is your friend. It can show you movie times, help you buy tickets, and show you user reviews of the latest blockbusters and indie flicks. Since some theaters sell tickets through competitor Moviefone, you should also download Moviefone’s app if you want to be able to buy tickets anywhere you go.
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6. Flashlight
Flashlight. 2.1.1
John Haney Software, www.johnhaney.com/software
As simple (or dumb) as it sounds, having a flashlight app on your iPhone or iPod touch is never a bad thing. Turn up the iPhone screen’s brightness and you can use it as a reading light, or even as a backup on a camping trip. If you feel like starting a party on the go, the app can display a strobe light or other light effects.
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7. Foursquare
Foursquare 1.9.0
Foursquare, foursquare.com
Any modern social networker with an iPhone should be on Foursquare. It’s a hip, fun app where you check in to places you go physically and earn badges when you accomplish various things. It sounds a bit silly (and maybe it is), but there are rewards—being the person who checks in the most (called the “mayor”) at a restaurant can earn you a free meal, drink, or dessert.
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8. GOOGLE EARTH
Google Earth 3.0.0
Google, earth.google.com
Google Maps is fine and dandy, but Google Earth ups the ante and takes you to wherever you want in the world. You can digitally climb mountains, browse geo-tagged photos all over the word, check out city info with Google Local Search, and search in many languages. The latest version of Google Earth for iPhone includes road layers and native support for the iPad (which makes the app even cooler).
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9. Groupon
Groupon 1.1.0
Groupon, www.groupon.com
Groupon offers decent-to-great coupons on stuff to do, see, eat, and buy in 65 cities. There’s one deal a day and if not enough people sign up, the deal is cancelled (hence the name Groupon). It’s a smart system that makes sure users and businesses alike get something from the deal. It even has a little green cred because with it you no longer have to print out coupons.
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10. Kindle
Kindle 2.1.1
Amazon.com, Inc., www.amazon.com
While Apple’s iBooks app might be slightly flashier, Amazon Kindle’s library has been around longer, has more titles, and works with more devices. For those who want to read on the cheap, Kindle also has a lot more free books for download. The app allows users to read the beginning of any e-book, making it a good shopping tool.
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12. Mint.com Personal Finance
Mint.com Personal Finance 1.3
Mint.com, www.mint.com
Users of Mint.com know the site can help you keep detailed account of your finances. If you are new, just sign up and begin tracking your expenses. The iPhone app extends the experience, so users can keep track of their spending while on the go. Just enter a few data points in the iPhone, and you’ll be able to see your spending patterns as an easy-to-read chart. However, if your bank account is anemic, cool-looking animations probably won’t make you feel much better about it.
13. Pandora Radio
Pandora Radio 3.1.1
Pandora Media, Inc., www.pandora.com
For most of its existence, Pandora has been a smart, reliable choice for customized streaming radio. Pandora creates custom stations based on artists or songs you like. It uses elements from the song itself and the user’s preferences to pick new songs to listen to. You’re likely to hear some unfamiliar bands mixed in with a lot of bands you already know and like. Plus, if you use Pandora on your desktop, the iPhone account will sync your thumbs up or down on song selections.
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14. Photoshop Mobile
Photoshop.com Mobile 1.2.2
Adobe Systems, Inc., www.adobe.com
With the new iPhone 4’s 5-megapixel camera and better photo capabilities, there’s a good chance more users are going to use the iPhone’s camera. Naturally, they will need a photo editor if they want to maximize their photos. Photoshop.com Mobile doesn’t do everything, but it does allow you to crop, rotate, change exposure, and apply other effects to your iPhone photos. When you’re done editing your photos, you can upload your work to an account on Photoshop.com.
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15. Remote
Remote 1.3.3
Apple Inc., www.apple.com
Apple’s Remote app turns your iPhone or iPod touch into a remote control for music on your computer or Apple TV. While music is playing, album artwork is displayed on your phone and you can even edit playlists. The app only works over your home Wi-Fi connection, so you don’t have to worry about anyone else controlling your tunes—except other people in your house, of course.
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16. ShopSavvy Barcode Scanner
ShopSavvy Barcode Scanner 1.5
Big in Japan, www.biggu.com
Have you ever wanted to do a global price check on item at the store? There’s an app for that, and it’s called ShopSavvy. All you do is load up the app and then take a photo of any bar code to find out prices from online and local retailers. If you think a product is overpriced, you can simply buy it from someone else. If ShopSavvy doesn’t find what you need, check out pic2shop, another accurate barcode scanner.
17. Skype
Skype 2.0.0
Skpye Software S.a.r.l,
While the iPhone version of Skype doesn’t yet do video calls (you’ll have to stick to FaceTime on the iPhone 4 to do that), it finally does 3G VoIP voice calls, Wi-Fi Skype-to-Skype calls, and paid Skype-to-landline calls. Skype’s international rates are much lower than AT&T’s, and this app can be a real boon if you use it in a Wi-Fi zone while traveling. Skype promises to run in the background on iOS 4 devices soon, which will make it much easier to receive calls when you aren’t expecting them.
18. TweetDeck
TweetDeck for iPhone 1.3
Iain Dodsworth, www.tweetdeck.com
There is an unending debate about which free iPhone Twitter client is the best. Among TweetDeck, Twitteriffic, Twitter (formally Tweetie), and Echofon, our favorite is TweetDeck. You can sync to your TweetDeck account on the desktop and it has a depth of features (including multiple accounts) that’s unmatched by other free clients.
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19. Weather
The Weather Channel 2.82
The Weather Channel Interactive, www.weather.com
Just like Twitter clients, there are many, many free weather apps for the iPhone. The Weather Channel’s iPhone app is our favorite for its rich range of options. It displays current and extended forecasts, maps, severe weather alerts, pollen counts, videos, and more.
20. Surfacer
Surfacer 1.0.0
Lexis Numérique, www.lexis-games.com/
Half digital art project, half addictive game, Surfacer takes a very simple concept and makes it an enchanting showcase for arcade-like game design. The game is easy: Cover as much surface as you can with circles without hitting any of the moving balls. As you complete levels, more moving balls are added and it becomes harder to cover the surfaces with the allotted amount of circles. The fuzzy, sparse electronic music in the background works extremely well as a soundtrack.
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21. Tap Tap Revenge
Tap Tap Revenge 3.5
Tapulous, tapulous.com
It might not be the most innovative game, but at this point, Tap Tap Revenge is an undeniable touchstone in the iPhone app canon. For the uninitiated, TTR is a music-based game that has its users tap their fingers along with the beat of popular songs. Think of it as Guitar Hero for Dummies. TTR developer Tapulous has a bright future ahead of it because it was acquired by Disney in early July, so we’re hoping to see a lot more add-on packs and music for TTR in the future.
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22. TripIt
TripIt 1.6.1
TripIt, www.tripit.com
Mobile Managing Editor Sascha Segan—who’s also a travel writer—never hits the road without loading his information into TripIt. The app helps you keep track of all those annoying little confirmation numbers and flight statuses. It might seem like a simple thing, but when your flight is cancelled, it can save you precious minutes rebooking. On a related note, the similar app TripCase isn’t as good at importing your data, but it’s even better than TripIt at giving you updated gate and alternate flight information.
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23. Yellowpages
Yellow Pages 2.9.3
Avantar LLC, www.avantar.us/
Have you ever used Google Maps to look up an address and then gone to that location only to find the store is closed? It’s happened to me, and it’s very frustrating. While it isn’t the sharpest looking app, the latest version of Yellow Pages can help you solve that problem. Being tied to the extensive (and mostly accurate) Yellow Pages database for business queries means few wrong numbers or addresses. In our tests, we found Yellow Pages to be more accurate and complete than the competing YPMobile app.
24.Yelp
Yelp 4.3.0
Yelp, Inc., www.yelp.com
Looking for a good new restaurant in your neighborhood? Look no further than Yelp, which has an extensive database of restaurants, bars, coffee shops, movie theaters, and shops. The best part of Yelp is, arguably, the unusually high number of user reviews by average people. Thanks to Yelp’s large community, a consensus forms around the best places in each neighborhood, which can help keep you from not-so-great places. Yelp community members can use the iPhone app to write their own review or offer a tip about a venue. The competing Urbanspoon app, which features professional reviews, is also a fun addition if you’re a foodie on the lookout for good restaurants.
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