what are some good iphone apps?

[propita]

Now that my iphone is working correctly (AT&T messed up and loaded the demo software), I want some apps.

Useful app suggestions and a description of what it does would be appreciated and maybe why this one is better than a similar app and/or the price. (Ooh, making ya work)

I'm not into that games for iphone, and don't need info about "69 different sex positions."

I am interested in the following: a decent GPS app; restaurant locator app; and apps for utilities, consumer help, and reference.

Thanks, guys and gals!

 

[Kataaran]

These are some of the apps I find useful. I've included the prices in pounds, don't know them in dollars but it should serve as a guide.

Twitter: Echofon Pro for Twitter (£2.99)
i use this one as it has built-in notifications for mentions and DMs.

Email: Mailroom (£1.79)
If you have several Gmail accounts this is definitely worth a look, saves you having to type in your login details repeatedly.

Google Docs (docs only): Awesome Note (£2.39)
I must have bought half the note apps in the appstore before settling on this one. Syncs with Gdocs and it has a facility for setting a note as a todo.

RSS feed reader: Byline (£2.99)
As far as I can see this is the only offline news reader that downloads the articles webpage along with the feed. Useful for sites that only put excerpts in their feeds. (There is a free ad supported version.)

Music control gestures: LeechTunes (59p)
If you use your iPhone/iPod in a car this is a much safer alternative to trying to hit the tiny iTunes buttons whilst driving. (There is a free version that doesn't have the customisable gestures.)

 

[kimc]

For restaurants I like Urbanspoon. It used your current location to recommend nearby restaurants (shake the phone for a random one) and also gives reviews. I also like Now Playing for movies. It gives everything playing close to your current location as well as reviews from rottentomatoes.com.

 

[Small White Car]

Boxcar
You set your e-mail program to forward a copy to Boxcar. Then, Boxcar sends you a push notice with the subject of the e-mail. Meaning: You can set your e-mail program to check 'Manually' which means it only checks when you open it.

Result: You save battery life (since the e-mail program isn't connected all the time) AND you get notices of new e-mails faster! What's not to love?

You can also have Boxcar send you notices about Twitter. So go ahead and just use the free 'Twitter for iPhone.' Once paired with Boxcar, it's fantastic.

E-Mail
Speaking of e-mail, what do you use? I can give advice on the best way to set it up, but it depends on what service you use.

Dropbox !!!!! <- A must!!!
1) Get a dropbox account
2) Download the dropbox software for your computer
3) Download the Dropbox app for your iPhone.

Now you have a folder on your computer that is always synced with a folder on your iPhone. Need to take a PDF with you? (Like, hotel reservations, maybe?) Drop it in that folder on your computer and suddenly it's on your iPhone!

A MUST HAVE!

Photogene
It's not free like the Photoshop app, but I love Photogene for editing pictures. It does more and was worth the price.

Remote
An Apple-made app that lets you control your computer's iTunes or an Apple TV over Wifi. Pretty handy sometimes.

Flickr, Facebook, Wordpress, Fandango, etc...
If you use something online, it probably has its own app. Get it.

myWireless
From AT&T. So you can see how many minutes you've used this month.

Mark the Spot
From AT&T. So you can report bad spots in their service.

Urbanspoon
Already mentioned, but it needs to be said again. This is for finding real restaurants. If you want an Applebees or McDonalds don't worry about an app. Just type it into Google maps and you'll find them quickly that way. Urbanspoon is for finding unique places you don't know the name of. Also, don't just use it to search. Create an account online and mark your favorite places in the app. It creates a handy list of places you like.

Friend: Remember that awesome place we ate at in Tampa Bay 3 years ago? My cousin is going...do you remember the name?

Me: Well, actually, I can give you the address and phone number if you like! <-- I've done this!

NYTimes
One of the best newspaper apps.

Web Bookmarks
You can add web bookmarks to the home screen. This can turn a website into an 'app' of sorts. If you use something all the time, put it out on your homescreen.

 

[gturner]

My old housemate was over last night and had a cute "augmented reality" ap on his iPhone which, as he panned around, would show the faces of the neighbors who were on Twitter at the moment. It also showed him where recent burglaries and other crimes had occured.

Not sure what it was called.

Another ap you definitely want is Scottie, which can notify the Enterprise to beam you aboard anytime a party is getting lame. I'm not sure how that one works, though.

 

[Kataaran]

^ That would possibly be Layar.

 

[kimc]

Dropbox !!!!! <- A must!!!
1) Get a dropbox account
2) Download the dropbox software for your computer
3) Download the Dropbox app for your iPhone.

Now you have a folder on your computer that is always synced with a folder on your iPhone. Need to take a PDF with you? (Like, hotel reservations, maybe?) Drop it in that folder on your computer and suddenly it's on your iPhone!

A MUST HAVE!

Another option is a MobileMe account which has the added bonus of being able to locate your iPhone via their website if it should get lost or stolen.

 

[propita]

These are some good suggestions! Thanks, especially for the reasons given by SWC.

 

[Small White Car]

Dropbox !!!!! <- A must!!!

Another option is a MobileMe account which has the added bonus of being able to locate your iPhone via their website if it should get lost or stolen.

MobileMe is good for Find-my-phone, bookmark/calendar/contact syncing, and online photo galleries.

I like MobileMe and I pay for it.

But its iDisk is not a good Dropbox replacement. It's terribly slow and a pain to use. I pay for MobileMe and I still use Dropbox instead of my iDisk drive. I don't know why Apple can't get it right, but iDisk is just not worth using.

 

[ManOnTheWave]

Brushes ($4.99) is a decent paint application for a small device.

Shazam (free) tags songs playing and tells you what they are and if they are available on itunes, youtube, etc.

Moviefone (free) for looking up movie times and theatre locations. (Okay, that was obvious.)

Facebook, Twit pro, Linkedin, Myspace for social networking of the go.

Opera Mini, Bing, and Yahoo for searches (The phone comes with Google though I find google more stable if I just open it in Safari rather than using the app.).

Stop Watch ($1.99) for... guess.

Currency (free) for looking up currency in multiple countries and converting amounts to and from dollars.

Convertor ($.99) for comparing various units of measurement (which I forgot once I left school).

Kindle (free) for reading my Kindle books without said device.

On This Day... (free) trivia about events in history occurring on today's date.

 

[kimc]

But its iDisk is not a good Dropbox replacement. It's terribly slow and a pain to use. I pay for MobileMe and I still use Dropbox instead of my iDisk drive. I don't know why Apple can't get it right, but iDisk is just not worth using.

I'll have to give it a shot.

 

[backstept]

TweetDeck - best twitter app, and it's free
Opera Mini - faster browser than Safari
Evernote - remember everything
Kindle - by far my most used app . . . perfect for reading a book while on break at work (free app, just buy books or get free ones at feedbooks.com)****whoops forgot that in order to get books from other places than amazon you need to be jailbroken and load them on through SSH****
Stanza - a Kindle alternative (arguably the better reader, not bound to amazon store)
Chorus - excellent app recommendation . . . umm, app
IMDB - beat your friends at trivia
NASA - keep up with the latest missions, view photos, track the ISS etc
NPR News - stream programs and any local NPR station!
ShakeItPhoto ($0.99) - take 'polaroids'
Wikipedia - beat your friends at more trivia
Pandora - stream music
Yowza!! - great coupons for stores near you!

^all these apps are free unless noted

 

[F. King Daniel]

This sounds weird, but I'd love something like a cross between Aliens and The Dark Knight, where you can track people by their phones. Stick a GPS map over the top and we're in Enemy of the State territory .

It would be amazing - wanna know where a friend is? One or two clicks and you know.

On the other hand, it could be a massive breach of privacy, and stalker heaven.

Maybe as an option you can turn on/off at will?

 

[Small White Car]

This sounds weird, but I'd love something like a cross between Aliens and The Dark Knight, where you can track people by their phones. Stick a GPS map over the top and we're in Enemy of the State territory .

It would be amazing - wanna know where a friend is? One or two clicks and you know.

On the other hand, it could be a massive breach of privacy, and stalker heaven.

Maybe as an option you can turn on/off at will?

You can absolutely do this now, but only on phones that are linked to your own Mobile Me account. So not strangers, but if you wanna track your kids in this way...go for it!

Opera Mini - faster browser than Safari

Did you just read about this one or do you actually use it? Because if you actually use it and like it you are literally the first person I've talked to who prefers it over Safari.

 

[Arrqh]

This sounds weird, but I'd love something like a cross between Aliens and The Dark Knight, where you can track people by their phones. Stick a GPS map over the top and we're in Enemy of the State territory .

It would be amazing - wanna know where a friend is? One or two clicks and you know.

On the other hand, it could be a massive breach of privacy, and stalker heaven.

Maybe as an option you can turn on/off at will?

You can absolutely do this now, but only on phones that are linked to your own Mobile Me account. So not strangers, but if you wanna track your kids in this way...go for it!

Isn't this also what things like Google Latitude and Foursquare do?

Of course, you have to be careful