When I first got my iPhone, my first week of use on it was pretty awesome. I checked out youtube, took photos, sent text messages, browsed the internet… oh yeah, and I used it as a phone once in a while. The novelty of it all sorta wears off after a little bit and it goes back to being “just a phone” with a nice interface.
That all changed with the release of the new software and the availability of the App Store. Now everybody and their brother can create applications that you can install on your phone and turn it in to the entertainment system it set out to be. Many of the apps are free. A great many of them are available for under a buck and then you’ll find another tier of apps that cost $4.99 or $9.99. After a couple months had gone by, I had only installed 1 or 2 apps. I figured it was about time to change that, so over the past couple weeks I’ve spent some time going through the App Store checking it all out. Here’s what my iPhone has on it currently:
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First thing you’ll probably notice is that I replaced the static iPod link along the bottom with Twitterrific. I rarely use the iPod feature, but I use Twitterrific several times each day.
Page 1:
SMS: Yeah, I feel like a 14 year old girl with the amount of text messaging I do. Sheesh.
FastContact: This app is fantastic for finding people in your contact book when you are trying to make a call.
Photos/Camera: The basics for taking snapshots with the phone. I don’t think these are the be-all-end-all for dealing with photos, but they work for now
Evernote: One of my new faves. Allows you to take voice/text/photo notes and syncs them up on your evernote.com account. They can now be accessed from your work/home computers or the iPhone, no matter where the notes originated from.
Notes: no longer used thanks to evernote. Need to move that icon eventually.
Wikipedia: Awesome resource. I use it several times a week.
JHU: Vanity link to my own website.
Google (web link): Quick access link to answer most any question…
Maps: I rarely use this. Needs to be moved to a 4th page, I think.
WordPress: I don’t use this for writing posts, but it’s nice to be able to go in and do minor tweaks to posts when needed. I think this tool will get more powerful in later versions.
Google: I use this for access to my Google Reader account. I read all my RSS feeds on the go this way. Quite handy.
Page 2:
(I use page 2 to store a bunch of the standard buttons that I don’t use all that often. Rather than list them all since you probably already know what they do, I’ll just list the stuff I’ve added.)
Flickup: This lets you take photos and upload them directly to your flickr.com account. I’m not a huge fan of the iPhone’s camera, so I haven’t used app this all that much.
Tip: This is a handy little tool that calculates the tip to leave your server. You enter the amount of the bill, scroll to the % you want to leave and also choose the number of people who are going to split the tip. It will show you how much each person needs to put in.
LinkedIn: Instant access to your LinkedIn account. I don’t use it a ton, but it’s convenient.
IMDB: Instant link to the Internet Movie Database website. The place to answer that age old question, “Who was that dude in that one movie with that chick?”
Page 3:
Facebook: Handy link to your facebook account.
MyLighter: This app is useless, unless you are going to a concert where you may need to hold up a lighter during the power ballad. Then, it’s genius!
Poker: This is the MotionX poker-dice game. Looking for mindless addictive fun? Found it. Love this app!!
AirMe: Lets you take photos on your iPhone and upload them to an airme.com account. I was going to use this instead of uploading my photos to Flickr, but haven’t really messed with it much… yet.
HoldEm: This is a fantastic poker game. Good graphics, decent game play and it lets you play against friends on their iPhones, though I haven’t tried that feature yet.
GarageBay: This is a pretty spiffy app that lets you search eBay, keep tabs on your watched items list and even place a bid directly from your iPhone. Quite handy for those with an addiction to buying goodies on eBay.
So there ya go. That’s what’s on my iPhone. What’s on yours?
Before I go, to answer the question “how did you get the screenshots?”, go to the page you want to take a snapshot of, hold down the home button and then press the power button up top. Your screen will flash and the photo will be saved in your Camera Roll. Super simple.
