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From 1997 through August of 2008, I used only Palm based handheld organizers then the Visor Phone, Palm Treo 300, Treo 600, and Treo 755p. I purchased an iPhone in August of 2008 because the iPhone proved itself in its short year of existence to be a valuable product, added the ability to allow third party applications, and gained access to the faster cellular networks. With very few exceptions, I couldn’t be happier and haven’t missed my old Palm products.
I use my iPhone for many more functions than just the phone. So almost a year later, I took the following screen shot of the additional software I have added to the iPhone (some of it free, some of it purchased). I added 42 applications to my iPhone so far. Of these 42, I use maybe 8 of them regularly, and the rest sparingly.
After looking over this list, most of my apps are free ones. That could mean I’m either one cheap SOB or there are some excellent free applications out there. The answer is probably somewhere in the middle.
Here’s the breakdown:
Most used iPhone Apps
| Application | What it does | Cost |
|---|---|---|
| Splash ID | Keeps track of passwords & account info | $9.99 |
| TwitterFon | Manages my Twitter account | Free |
| Google Mobile App | Search the web by voice | Free |
| Amazon Kindle | Read books, magazines, & newspapers | Free (books cost) |
| Flight Control | Puzzle game. Object is to land planes and helicopters | $1.99 |
| Five Dice | A Yahtzee clone...works better than the "real" Yahtzee game I bought | Free |
| Grocery Zen | Organizes my grocery shopping...I save at least 30% time and 25% money using it | $1.99 |
| Manages my Facebook account | Free | |
| Pandora | Free customized radio from Pandora.com. My newest favorite channel: Beau Jocque & The Zydeco Hi-Rollers | Free |
iPhone Apps I use for reference
| Application | What it does | Cost |
|---|---|---|
| Cambio | Converts all types of measurements including currency | Free |
| Dual Level | Fix crooked pictures and uneven restaurant tables. | Free |
| Free Translator | Translate language | Free |
| Google Earth | Same as desktop app...probably will take it off at some point. | Free |
| Hotels.com | Handy when traveling | Free |
| Now Playing | Look up movie times, release dates & watch trailers | Free |
| Ruler Plus | It's a ruler!! | Free |
| Save Benjis | Lookup online product prices while in a store to see if I need to haggle. | Free |
| Shazaam | Hum or hold up the iPhone to a radio to figure out what song it is | Free |
| SportsTap | Read sports news and check scores and stats | Free |
| WebMD | iPhone version of the popular medical web site | Free |
| WeDict | A complete dictionary & thesaraus | $5.99 |
| WootOn | Check the Woot of the day or track a Woot Off! | Free |
| Wikipanion | Portable Wikipedia...almost made my "most used" list | Free |
| Yelp | Wonderful travel application for finding and evaluating restaurants, hotels and attractions | Free |
| WordPress | Great app for managing my web site, posting info on the run, and respond to comments. | Free |
iPhone games I play 1/month or so
| Application | What it does | Cost |
|---|---|---|
| BlackJack Run Lite | Play 5 hands of Black Jack at a time and try to get a minimum score. Fun and fast | Free |
| Free Word Warp | Make as many words as possible from a scrambled list. Timed event...I'm not good at word games. | Free |
| Moto Chaser | A motorcycle racing game...didn't get into it at all. | $2.99 |
| reMovem | Line up like colored balls to try and clear board. Easy, fast when I need to kill a short amount of time. | Free |
| Scribble Lite | Technically not a game, but lets you draw and make handwritten notes | Free |
| Sudoku | You know this one right? | Free |
| Tris | Tetris for the iPhone...love it! | Free |
| Yahtzee Adventures | The "official" Yahtzee game. Slow, unexciting play. I haven't used it since I found 5 Dice | $2.99 |
iPhone Apps I will use someday
| Application | What it does | Cost |
|---|---|---|
| eBay Mobile | Have used it just a couple of times, but did come in handy | Free |
| Geocaching | Haven't used it yet, but hear it is great for spontaneous geocaching. Plus I love the activity and wanted to donate to the cause. | $9.99 |
| myLite Flashlight | Makes iPhone into a flashlight & emergency beacon | Free |
| Phone Flix | Manage my Netflix account on my phone. Works, but don't use it a lot | Free |
| Photogene | Impulse purchase. Can annotate and edit my iPhone photos. Works great, however. | $1.99 |
iPhone Apps I should delete
| Application | What it does | Cost |
|---|---|---|
| Easy Wif-Fi for AT&T | Supposed to help me jump on ATT wifi hotspots. Never use it | Free |
| Evernote | A web site, desktop and mobile app to help make "clips" and annotations of the web. Doesn't work for me. Thought it might. | Free |
| Goodrec | I honestly have no clue what it's for or why I got it. | Free |
| Midomi Ultra | Was supposed to do what Shazam does...but not as good. | Free |
What iPhone apps do you use and like? Any that you would recommend for me or other iPhone users?
Leave a comment below telling me which ones you like best or would recommend or just leave a comment about this article.
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HelpMeRick.com started as a monthly tip site for beginners in 1996, and now supports our popular call-in computer show, and hosts thousands of useful computer tips and links.
I.TV is a good (free) app for TV listings and movies. You can also add movies to your Netflix Queue and schedule recordings on your TiVo DVR. Fandango is another great free movie listing app.
Love the site! Keep up the great postings!
Good suggestions Jon. I think my wife has the ITV app. I have Dish Network and wish that they had a DVR app…bet that comes in handy! We use Fandango a lot on the desktop, need to check out the iPhone app. Thanks!
With iphone version 3.0, what site can I find these free applications you mention above? how do i load them?
They are all available in the iPhone app store either directly through your iPhone or iTunes on your computer.