iPhone Apps
Now that Grimmbear has joined the ranks of the Cult of Job, I provide a list of some of the stuff what I use. Note that MOST of this stuff was free...or $0.99.
1) The Essentials:
These are the biggies, the ones that I use all the time.
Facebook, Tweetdeck, Livejournal, Wikipanion, Slacker, Google
The FB app is pretty sweet. The LJ app is great for posting and such, but useless for FOLLOWING LJ, regrettably. Wikipanion is free, but I'd pay money for it if it wasn't: it's an iPhone specific interface to Wikipedia that Just Works. Tweetdeck is a twitter app, but I've yet to find a truly great one of these. Slacker is basically internet radio, but it's darned good. Some folks prefer it's competitor, Pandora, but I find Slacker has better playlists. Google is a direct interface to Google and it's apps. That doesn't sound that impressive...but you can enter queries BY SPEAKING THEM. You will feel like one of Kirby's New Gods with a mother box.
2) The Damned Usefuls:
These are the ones I use regularly, but are nice to haves.
Wootwatch, Twitvid, Stanza, Shazam, Snaptell, Tunewiki, PhoneFlicks, Flixster, Barnes & Noble, myWireless, Google Earth, WMMR app
Wootwatch is an iphone interface to all the Woot! websites. Twitvid allows you to post videos to twitter, straight from your phone. Stanza is an e-book reader that can download directly from Project Gutenberg. Shazam will listen to a piece of music, analyze and identify it for you (and provide links to youtube, itunes and elsewhere). Snaptell does the same thing, but from a picture of a book, cd or dvd. Tunewiki will display the lyrics for music you play on your iphone, if it can find some. Phoneflicks lets you manage your Netflix account. Flixster gives movie times and ratings. B&N is like Snaptell, just for B&N, and lets you search B&Ns inventory. MyWIreless is AT&T's app to monitor your phone account. Google Earth is an iPhone version of that web app. The WMMR app lets you listen to the station over the net (and links to their podcasts).
3) The Fun Stuff
These are the games and goofy fun apps. Most of these were purchased on sale for $0.99 or were free. A few I would buy for more than that.
MachDice, Moxie, Peggle, FlightControl, TriniTower, MotionX PokerQuest, IDigIt, Renier Knizia's Robot Master, Paper Toss, Bejewled 2, Azkend, Bookworm, Galactic Gunner, Underworlds, Hero of Sparta, WordFu, UniWar, Return to the Mysterious Island
I won't go into too much detail here. Most iPhone games are good for bite-size fun, but lack depth. Some buck this trend and some are by design. Paper Toss is free and meant to be a trifle. Return to the Mysterious Island is as good a point-and-click adventure as I've seen in years. Azkend is a great 'match 3' game with more play value than most. Galactic Gunner and Hero of Sparta are pretty. WordFu and Moxie make excellent word games (the former a speed game, the latter a nice quiet thinker). The PopCap games are exactly what you think they are. MachDice is the 3D dice-roller program.
Overall, I find good iPhone apps are either clever synergies of the devices abilities (like Shazam, which I nearly listed as an essential) or potato chips that you'll enjoy until they go stale. I haven't played Azkend since I beat it, but for the two+ weeks or so that I WAS playing it, I played it a LOT.
Places I visit for reviews include ilounge.com and appslappy.com.
1) The Essentials:
These are the biggies, the ones that I use all the time.
Facebook, Tweetdeck, Livejournal, Wikipanion, Slacker, Google
The FB app is pretty sweet. The LJ app is great for posting and such, but useless for FOLLOWING LJ, regrettably. Wikipanion is free, but I'd pay money for it if it wasn't: it's an iPhone specific interface to Wikipedia that Just Works. Tweetdeck is a twitter app, but I've yet to find a truly great one of these. Slacker is basically internet radio, but it's darned good. Some folks prefer it's competitor, Pandora, but I find Slacker has better playlists. Google is a direct interface to Google and it's apps. That doesn't sound that impressive...but you can enter queries BY SPEAKING THEM. You will feel like one of Kirby's New Gods with a mother box.
2) The Damned Usefuls:
These are the ones I use regularly, but are nice to haves.
Wootwatch, Twitvid, Stanza, Shazam, Snaptell, Tunewiki, PhoneFlicks, Flixster, Barnes & Noble, myWireless, Google Earth, WMMR app
Wootwatch is an iphone interface to all the Woot! websites. Twitvid allows you to post videos to twitter, straight from your phone. Stanza is an e-book reader that can download directly from Project Gutenberg. Shazam will listen to a piece of music, analyze and identify it for you (and provide links to youtube, itunes and elsewhere). Snaptell does the same thing, but from a picture of a book, cd or dvd. Tunewiki will display the lyrics for music you play on your iphone, if it can find some. Phoneflicks lets you manage your Netflix account. Flixster gives movie times and ratings. B&N is like Snaptell, just for B&N, and lets you search B&Ns inventory. MyWIreless is AT&T's app to monitor your phone account. Google Earth is an iPhone version of that web app. The WMMR app lets you listen to the station over the net (and links to their podcasts).
3) The Fun Stuff
These are the games and goofy fun apps. Most of these were purchased on sale for $0.99 or were free. A few I would buy for more than that.
MachDice, Moxie, Peggle, FlightControl, TriniTower, MotionX PokerQuest, IDigIt, Renier Knizia's Robot Master, Paper Toss, Bejewled 2, Azkend, Bookworm, Galactic Gunner, Underworlds, Hero of Sparta, WordFu, UniWar, Return to the Mysterious Island
I won't go into too much detail here. Most iPhone games are good for bite-size fun, but lack depth. Some buck this trend and some are by design. Paper Toss is free and meant to be a trifle. Return to the Mysterious Island is as good a point-and-click adventure as I've seen in years. Azkend is a great 'match 3' game with more play value than most. Galactic Gunner and Hero of Sparta are pretty. WordFu and Moxie make excellent word games (the former a speed game, the latter a nice quiet thinker). The PopCap games are exactly what you think they are. MachDice is the 3D dice-roller program.
Overall, I find good iPhone apps are either clever synergies of the devices abilities (like Shazam, which I nearly listed as an essential) or potato chips that you'll enjoy until they go stale. I haven't played Azkend since I beat it, but for the two+ weeks or so that I WAS playing it, I played it a LOT.
Places I visit for reviews include ilounge.com and appslappy.com.