I kicked off a trend at work after I got my iPhone, so I’m putting this handy little guide together for all the new iPhone owners out there so that you don’t have to go downloading every crappy free app to try. I already did that!
So, here is my list of top apps in a wide range of categories. I’ll keep it updated as I add or delete things.
And if anyone has suggestions for other really great free apps, let me know and I’ll give them a try. Leave the name, description, and link to the app in the comments. (To get the link to an app, look it up in iTunes, then right click on the Apps icon on the top left.)
News, Sports and Weather
- AP News – The greatest News app ever. Has replaced the paper completely.
- Pro Football Live! – Need the latest NFL scores to keep up at the office? Here you go.
- The Weather Channel – Um. You know what this is.
Music
- Shazam – Just hold this up to the radio and it’ll tell you whatever song is playing!
- Pandora Radio – If you enjoy randomly selected music, Pandora will deliver.
- AOL Radio – Listen to any Web broadcast radio station.
- Ringtone Recorder – Record custom ringtones for everyone in your address book.
Communication
Travel and Entertainment
- Google Mobile – Search everything… even with your voice!
- Google Earth – Explore and map the planet.
- Local Picks by TripAdvisor
- Nearby – Notes, pictures and stories about places nearby.
- Restaurant Nutrition – View nutritional info about restaurant menus and track your calories.
- Showtimes – Shows you every nearby theatre, and what is playing along with movie trailers.
- Tiggits – Concert, sports and theater tickets on demand.
- Travelocity – Book airfare, hotels and rental cars right from your iPhone.
- Urbanspoon – Shake your iPhone and Urbanspoon will pick a restaurant for you.
- Yelp – Find places to eat, shop, drink, relax and play. A personal favorite!
Social Networking
- Tweetie – Awesome Twitter client. This one costs $3. It’s one of only 2 apps I’ve paid for. And glad I did.
- Twitterfon – Another great Twitter client. Works if you only have on Twitter account.
- Twitterific – Still another free Twitter client.
- Facebook – If you are a regular user, you can’t miss this. Well done.
- LinkedIn – Access your LinkedIn connections on the go.
- MySpace Mobile – Stay connected with your MySpace friends everywhere.
- Loopt – Find things nearby, see where friends are, find recommendations.
Misc.
- BubbleWrap – Completely useless, but amazingly entertaining.
- Freebird – A digital lighter so you can stop burning your finger at concerts.
- iPhunny Jokes – Jokes and quotes from late night comedians.
- Lose It! – Fantastic exercise and weight loss tracker. Everyone should have this!!!
- Remote – Control music on your computer or Apple TV from the iPhone.
- Ruler Plus – Hey, sometimes you just gotta measure things.
- 1Password – The best Password app for iPhone and Mac. Matches the desktop app.
Media
- Joost – Watch videos, music, TV, movies and more.
- Kindle for iPhone – Read Amazon.com’s Kindle books on the iPhone. Works great!
- PixUp – Upload photos to Facebook, Flickr, and Picasa.
Notes and Memos
- EasyWriter – In case you need something a little better than the built in Memo function.
- Evernote – Organize text, audio and photo notes anywhere you go. Works with desktop version nicely.
Shopping
- Craigsphone – Shop Craig’s List from your iPhone for local items for sale.
- Yowza!! – Find local coupons in your area and use them from the iPhone!
- eBay Mobile – It’s eBay. Only… mobile. Enjoy!
- GasBag – Find the cheapest gas in your area thanks to social price sharing.
- Trulia Real Estate Search – Find homes for sale nearby and even get maps to take you right to them.
Finance
- Bank of America Mobile Banking – Pretty self explanatory.
- PayPal – Access to the main PayPal account functions from your iPhone.
Network and Web Tools
- Domain Scout – Search for domain names and get registrant info.
- DomainPro Another Domain search tool that includes registration.
- FreePing – Simple tool to ping a server and see if it’s up.
- Network Ping Lite – A great tool to scan a network, ping an IP, Traceroute, Telnet, or check your iPhone IP.
- Speedtest.net Speed Test
Well, that’s is for now. Later I’ll publish a list of my favorite games for iPhone. Stay tuned!
{ 11 comments… read them below or add one }
John, thanks for sharing! Very usefull info!
Oh no, not another Apple fan. John, what is in the Apple iPhone, that you like so much. There are so many better phones available, why Apple, why? Americans just love Apple, don’t they?
Well first of all Apple is better than microsoft dont have this tons of virus as microsoft have but to tell you the true, the iphone is not the best phone the best phone rigth now on market is the T-mobile G1 (G1 stands for Google 1) this is the first cell phone that googles made is rocking have sofware of microsoft and mac so is the best cell ever until the moment….
Shazam is mind boggling. What a brilliant idea.
Ahh! Thanks!
Thanks for the list. Now I can be less productive (busy with iphone) when I should be ding other things. Thanks!
Thanks for helping find some great apps. Classical Music Lovers should note however-Shazam doesn’t recognize any classical music on the radio-bummer!
Thanks for helpful article-if you find an app that recognizes something other than the usual pop and rock music on radio, let us know
If wasn’t the apliccations maybe the iphone will not make the success that are now.
And the big enterprises still try to block the free open source, like the Sony.
Hi John, thanks for the list of apps for my iPhone! BubbleFREE should keep me occupied for hours! Ha, ha!
Wow….this is great list of Iphone’s apps. Thanks for sharing this article and finally i can found interested apps for my iphone..Good luck :)