iPhone :: Favorite Apps and Games
Submitted by TheRedOwl on Fri, 12/19/2008 - 10:51pm.
This is sort of a master list of my favorite iPhone applications and games. This list will be updated as it needs it, and as time allows.
How does an app or game make the list? Well, it's quite simple really. I own an iPhone 3G, so good, useful, fun apps and games that I have used will be added to the list with a thumbnail and a short description.
The apps and games will be broken down into 2 sections, and 2 sub-categories. Naturally, apps and games will be the 2 sections. The sub-categories will be Free, and Paid. The only ones that will have a price listing will obviously be the paid ones.
I hope you enjoy this list, and if you discover a useful one not on the list don't hesitate to contribute! I'd actually prefer if this list wasn't just my own preference. To be fair, though, some apps/games on this list are not on my iPhone, but I leave on there because they are quite useful to others.
The only way an app or game gets removed is by being discovered to be overly buggy, or just plain not useful.
Apps
Free
Browse, bid, the whole of eBay- right from your iPhone.
The social networks.
1337pwn- the easiest app by far for putting your XBL friends list on your iPhone, so you can easily tell who is on or not.
Fring- Skype, MSN, Yahoo, AIM, ICQ, GTalk, all rolled into one app.
Twitterific- The definitive Twitter app in my opinion. It's made me much more active on Twitter than I used to be.
BrightKite for me is the meeting of Twitter and facebook. It's something you really have to experience. I know, I know, one more social network- but it's worth it. It plugs into your Twitter, and facebook status so when you post BrightKite updates it goes to your other online social presences. I prefer this over Loopt because the interface seems a bit more condensed, cohesive, and organized. Plus I have more friends on BrightKite. The privacy settings are exactly what I want, and need. Definitely recommended.
The U.S. Constitution- Those of you who know my politics probably saw this one coming :-) I couldn't find the pic, but I also have the Declaration of Independence
Stanza- An eBook reader, it is the number one app under Books>Free, and for good reason. Stanza is probably my favorite app I wasn't expecting to like. I've been skeptical of eBook readers on my computer....never really liked them. Something about Stanza on the iPhone just felt...right. I think it was also the plethora of amazing books for free download they had, too. They had classics ranging from Thomas Paine's "Common Sense" to Jules Verne's "20,000 Leagues Under the Sea." There are several "stores" within the app to choose from, some books for pay, some not. Here's hoping this app continues development.
"Now Playing" is the definitive movie app, even though Flixter is number 1 on the download charts. I prefer "Now Playing" due to several things. "Now Playing" gives you quite a few choices in who to get your movie reviews from, one being Rotten Tomatoes which is fantastic, being I trust that the most(though like most, I disregard critics a lot). It's a solid app which has a much more cohesive and organized interface. That's not to say Flixter sucks- it's just not my bag.
iCookbook Lite- Exactly what I want out of a cookbook app- the ability to just put your recipes in, keep them organized, and schedule meals on it. It's beauty is in its simplicity. There is a free version and a paid version.
NPR Mobile- For those of you who enjoy any of NPR's shows, get this app for some NPR on the go.
GasBag- helps you discover the best gas prices for your area.
Shazam- Don't know what song you're listening to? Shazam can help! It listens to a portion of the song, sends the clip off to its servers, and tells you what you are listening to. Great in the car.
CraigSearch- A good Craigslist app.
Holy Bible[from Lifechurch.tv]- Free, and in more translations than you'll ever need.
iTalk Recorder- A simple, easy to use voice recorder
Remote- Through your home WiFi network, control the iTunes of your computer, using the iPhone as a remote.
Amazon Mobile- Great app for shopping all things in the Amazon store.
SnapTell- Snap a picture of the cover of any book, DVD, CD, or video game and within seconds get a rating, description, best price, etc.
Wired has a great app for its product reviews.
Google Mobile- Do a voice search so you don't risk a car accident
Google Earth- the iPhone version. Runs pretty good!
Urbanspoon- Urbanspoon is a fantastic app, hands down. What you do is let it locate you, then shake your phone. Like a slot machine at a casino, but instead of funny fruit and numbers it shows you a nearby city, type of food, and restaurant. It's alerted me to great nearby places I didn't know existed! You can write reviews on restaurants, add them too. A Food Wikipedia of sorts, but better.
I only mention the Weather Channel's app because of how well done it is. It even has video forecasts for your state/local area.
HP iPrint
Print your photos from your iPhone wirelessly over WiFi to your HP Printer. Very easy to setup and use, great free app
Some other notables are the LinkedIn app, Watchmen App, and a Currency Converter. Yes....there is even a LOLCats app. Good for lulz on the go.
Games
Free
Space Deadbeef
This game is basically touch the screen on your enemies to fire missiles, and you touch/drag to dodge their fire. Pretty fun!
Spore: Origins LE
The controversial game, on the iPhone. There is a free and paid version.
CannonGame
This game is basically an exercise in artillery fire at mostly stationary targets. Gets progressively harder, but it can get boring.
Reign of Swords
An RTS medieval type game. Works well, plays well, and is fun.
Mad Shells Lite
The game puts white marbles under coconut shells, and shuffles them around. Keep your eye on them to win!
iBowl
A Wii-esque bowling game that is remarkably accurate and a ton of fun. It's Wii-esque in that you must mimic the "bowling motion" for it to bowl the ball.
Virtual Pool 3D Lite
One of the few games to have CUTSCENES. Yeah, on the iPhone. It's as cheesy as it sounds, but its nostalgic in that it reminds me of the 90's.
FS5 Hockey
Tabletop Hockey that is a load of fun.
Labyrinth LE
Tip the "table" and maneuver the marble to the end of each level without falling through any of the black holes! Pretty fun.
Tap Tap Revenge
Tap Tap Revenge is a Guitar Hero inspired app that has A LOT of users, and for good reason. It's a fun game that merges Guitar Hero with the iPhone, in great fashion. Free tracks surprised me, and are readily available, from some great bands! Highly recommend this one. There are some paid tracks for download, and some "track packs" you can buy as well.
Notables: Solitaire, Tic Tac Toe, Sudoku, Hangman, Brain Teasers
I think I've about tapped out the potential of the free apps....time to start paying up, I guess. It's been great though- and is already changing how I operate on the go.
EDIT: List updated 12/23/08. Added pics for some apps, added some apps. Categorized things a bit better, redid some descriptions. Broke down apps into 2 sections, paid and free. The Paid part has not been made yet because I haven't paid for any apps yet. I will edit this more as time progresses.
Looks like a solid list. I'm surprised some of those are free! The Snap Tell app sounds like something straight out of the future. Well, I guess this is the future!
At the risk of sounding anti-Apple (which I'm not), I'm looking forward to seeing what phones in general can do when my contract expires!
At the very least, we can all agree the iPhone and it's developers have considerably "upped the ante" as far as what a phone can do, and expectations on phone makers in general.
Hell yes they have. Hopefully that'll cause a lot of people to step up, creating some competition. Competition = better products = better for the consumer.
I was playing with a friend's iPhone last night, and he had an app called MiniPiano. It was a lot of fun to mess around with that.
Facebook and Twitteriffic are my most used apps.
My third most used app is the New York Times app. It's great when waiting in any line. Instead of wasting my time I can read news or op-ed.
I use the Ebay app in spurts.
Amazon app is great for quickly and easily checking prices on anything you find in a store.
US Constitution app is clutch the one time a month you need it.
I no longer bring a hard bound Bible to Sojourn anymore; I just use the Holy Bible app.
Slate poll tracker was really neat during the election. On any day I could access state by state polls and electoral college predictions in seconds.
Weatherbug is great for live doppler radar.
Wiki-panion also gives quick access to wikipedia.
The cool thing about all these apps is not new functionality. Phones with browsers have been able to do this stuff for a while. The cool factor is how easy and fast the customized apps make everyday tasks. Large buttons, streamlined interface, only the most common functions--all this makes for a very efficient mobile computing experience (for me).
True that, Midnight. Twitteriffic has given me a real reason to use Twitter- I always felt odd using it on my laptop or normal computer. Now Twitterific gives me a lot of reasons and a lot of my apps like Brightkite and Twitterific feed into my Twitter, which now feeds into my facebook...it's all very awesome :-)
You're right- it's not so much that everything they are offering is new and incredibly mind blowing in terms of originality- it's the great user experience and speed at which everything happens. Like you said- "Large buttons, streamlined interface, only the most common functions--all this makes for a very efficient mobile computing experience (for me)."
It's really made for a mobile computing experience unlike any other. I've never been down with the idea of mobile computing- I wasn't convinced it could be done right. That was a few years ago, though. Things have changed a lot, for the better.
My dad has a Ipod and I like to play Tap Tap Revenge, a free guitar hero remake.
I'll try that out, Nobody.
Also, list updated. What I changed is at the bottom of my first post. I see this being updated by me(hopefully those with iPhone's and moderating powers, eh?) as long as I have an iPhone...which will be at least 2 years, contractually speaking.
A few things change with the iPhone and I'll have two.
Was just checking out the 1337pwn website: http://1337pwn.gameriot.com
Looks like they've got some cool apps from all kinds of phones. I'm going to setup my XBL friends list on the phone. iPhone users on this site will probably like it.
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