iPhone Apps

Updated – Gizmodo’s coolest iPhone app games of all. Pocket God and Doodle Jump.

Having been a lifelong Blackberry fanboy and recently making the tough switch to the iPhone, one of the big reasons was having the availability of the apps anywhere over 3G (well…when there is 3G). The Blackberry apps and app store just didn’t cut it.

Good link for more apps (click image) – includes paid and free aps. Updated: November List of Best iPhone Apps.

Updated: My favorite app of the fourth quarter 2009 – Dragon Search and Dragon Dictation

Here are a list of some of my favorites so far:

Update (New Apps Added)

Take Me To My Car - Great, free, app if you have as much trouble as I do remembering where you parked your car. Accurate to within a few hundred feet. Great when you’re out of town, so shut up it’s free.

Layar – more of a party trick, but somewhat useful – one of the first augmented reality apps..and its also free. Uses the camera to overlay local hotspots.

Zoom In – Camera Zoom v1.1 (.99 cents)

This app boosts the fairly lackluster capabilities of the iPhone camera by adding a zoom feature. A little puzzled why the iPhone doesn’t come with this, but for the price this app works fairly well and it’s much needed.

* * * stars out of 4

The Weather Channel (standard) – Free App

Faster than any browser based weather checking, and featuring live radars, videos, forecasts by the hour, day, week, and more, this is probably the best Free App on the iPhone. Runs fast, too. There’s a paid version, but not sure what else I’d want it to do besides what the free version does.

* * * * stars out of 4

Facebook – Free App

The Facebook app is by far the best social media app out there. I even prefer to use Facebook on this rather than the web based version. Strips out all the ads, uses easy finger slides and simple navigation to be able to check your Facebook anywhere. You can add pictures, tag pictures, change status, comment, and do almost everything the website can do. Only faster and less glitchy. Only thing it doesn’t seem to do is pokes.

* * * * out of four stars

Pandora Radio / Slacker Radio – Free Apps

There are many streaming radio apps on the iPhone (as well as most cell carriers) but the iPhone version is superior to them all. Loads fast, interface is great, and plugging it into your AUX input of your car turns it into a portable megastation that is better than any satellite radio.

* * * 1/2 out of 4 stars

ESPN Score Center – Free App

While the ESPN iPhone website is one of the best out there, and almost doesn’t need an app, for those of us sitting in College Football stadiums and needing to keep up with the rest of the games out there with thorough information and fast-loading score updates, this app is mind-blowing. Previous years I have used the Blackberry to check the ESPN mobile website and was happy with it, but this app is a quantum leap forward. All sports are included, you can customize which conferences or teams you need to see scores, detailed information is available, and the ESPN ticker even runs below. It’s going to be a good season, even if my team loses (they will) I still win.

* * * * out of four stars

Honorable Mentions:

PhoneFlicks - NetFlix management app – Free

AirMouse – wireless control of your computer, browser, iTunes, mouse, etc. – $2.99

Google Apps - Replicates the best functionality of Google Apps, but adds the GPS location capability. – Free

iConcert Cal - Matches up your iTunes playlists with bands playing and albums releasing. Great for those who can’t ever figure out what the venues are and the schedules in the area.