Anyone who has an iPhone (or is looking for an excuse to get an iPhone) has spent a bit of time in the App Store on iTunes looking through the thousands of iPhone apps that are available. However, it can be challenging to separate the best from the rest on the App Store, as even some of the worst apps can get loads of downloads and attention.
To keep you from having to wade through all of the biggest wasters of time and money, here are 10 very useful apps in the iTunes App Store:
10. Yelp!
Yelp! is the perfect iPhone companion to help you find whatever you need close by. The Yelp! application determines your location using the iPhone’s built-in location services, and searches within a short distance from your location for whatever type of establishment you’re looking for. You can then look at business hours, contact information, reviews, and maps to the location. This app can be a lifesaver in a pinch.
9. Kindle/Stanza
Kindle and Stanza are among the many apps that allow you to read full books on the iPhone. Stanza users can download many books for free or cheap, and Kindle connects to Amazon.com to download books from an even greater selection of authors. Use one of these to keep learning, or just to pass the time when riding on public transportation, waiting for an appointment, or enjoying a quiet evening at home with a good book.
8. AT&T Easy Wi-Fi
The built-in Wi-Fi on the Apple iPhone comes with access to AT&T wireless hotspots all over the country. The interface for using the AT&T Wi-Fi service can be overly confusing and difficult if you aren’t particularly savvy, and can waste a lot of time if you don’t know what you are doing.
The AT&T Easy Wi-Fi app makes this process much easier. Simply install the app, complete the registration once, and from then on when you are in range of an AT&T Wi-Fi hotspot you will have one-click internet access. This app gives the Staples “Easy Button” some significant competition.
7. Free Memory
The iPhone does a TON of work all the time. Running email, sending and receiving texts, maintaining phone service, syncing online calendars, playing games, and a host of other processes can put a huge strain on any smart phone. While the iPhone does a fantastic job of keeping up with all of these processes, even it cannot keep up with everything it tries to do 100% of the time.
Enter the Free Memory app for iPhone. The Free Memory program taps into the running process list and instantly frees up 20 MB of active memory, preventing the iPhone from freezing up and dropping its functions. Free Memory will streamline the work that your iPhone does with a single tap, allowing you to keep doing what you’re doing without a hiccup.
6. WeatherBug Elite
The pay version of the WeatherBug application does exactly the same thing, only without ads. WeatherBug Elite is the best weather-reporting application currently available. WeatherBug provides reporting video, 7-day outlook, radar maps, and even National Weather Service alerts direct to your phone for multiple user-chosen locations. Perfect for planning your picnic or your trip to New York.
5. I Can Has Cheezeburger
No iPhone App list would be complete without at least one fun functionality. I Can Has Cheezeburger links your iPhone to the online Cheezeburger Network sites such as FailBlog, Totally Looks Like, LOLCats and LOLDogs, Engrish Funny, and others- providing endless humor wherever you are.
4. ZenBe
Zenbe is a list making application that is most useful with multiple iPods or iPhones and the Internet. ZenBe’s special brand of usefulness comes from its ability to connect and synchronize with other ZenBe apps and the ZenBe online interface. What this means is that mom can make a grocery list from \her home computer and sync it with dad, who can then go buy the items. Dad can then make a list of chores from his iPhone for his son to receive on his iPod Touch, and keep track of progress as each item on the list is checked off throughout the day. The potential uses for this app are almost limitless. (Funny example pictured above: iphoneappreviews.net.)
3. Road Trip
Very few people know what they should do to care for their cars, and even fewer actually care for their cars the way they should. Keeping track of your automobile’s health is important, and there are many iPhone apps that do much to make tracking the status of your car easier and more exact. Use the Road Trip app to track your car expenses such as gas efficiency, travel statistics, miles since last service, and even cost per mile to plan trips.
2. Wikipanion
Wikipedia has become this generation’s first instinct when it comes to acquiring desired information, to the point that “wiki” has become a verb in the English language. Now the iPhone gives the ability to wiki anything anywhere via one of the many Wikipedia linked apps in the App Store. Of the Wikipedia apps, two stand a cut above: Wikipanion and Wikiamo. Wikipanion makes it to the list because of its attractive interface and ease of use.
1. Things
Things is the most useful app in the App Store to increase your productivity. Another listing app, Things actually helps to organize and prioritize your to-do’s by due date, searchable tags, and a “today” screen which lists the most urgent to-do’s in an easy-access location. The most urgent “things” also appear as a red number on the Things icon on the iPhone home screen.
The Things app stands out among all other apps because of the amount of work its creators have put into making it as easy to use as possible. The Things iPhone app links to the Mac version of Things to create a complete to-do system, and through manipulation of the inner workings of Apple computers,l makes organizing and prioritizing your to-do’s a seamless and painless affair.
