With hundreds of thousands of apps in the Apple App Store, it’s easy to give up finding quality apps that turn your iPhone into a robot more powerful than Optimus Prime.
Finding new, useful apps is definitely a side hobby, and this curated list below is a dozen of my favorite apps. Please share your favorite apps in the comments so we can all have awesomer iPhones. $5 will get you the whole collection of apps below.
[To check out volume one of my favorite apps, click here.]
Mailbox
This app makes me want to read my email. It’s all about getting through your inbox so nothing remains when you finish. It has slick gesture controls and I love the overall feel of the app.
My favorite feature is the ability to delay email until later. Then, emails don’t sit in your inbox, staring you in the face, waiting for you to move. You can have emails reappear in your inbox when you need them like a perfectly timed ribbon-around-your-finger reminder. I use the delay feature to remind me of appointments or tasks I need to complete, but don’t need to do today.
You also get to see a new jaw-dropping photo hand-chosen from Instagram each day when you get to #InboxZero, which is at least half of my motivation for getting through my inbox.
A few downers: you must use Gmail or Google Apps and there’s no way to access labels from within the app. I understand, since it’s all about processing email, so I keep Sparrow around for when I need to search through labels. Also, you’ll have to get into a waiting line for access to the app, but download it today so you can start the timer.
Feedly
It’s the new Flipboard. Syncs to your RSS feed, clean, simple interface with lots of viewing options, and access to your different folders of feeds from Google Reader. It packs sharing integration with the typical social networks, but also Instapaper and Buffer.
Seedio
Want to create a bumping networking of speakers without actually buying speakers? Have your friends download Seedio Free (which is, of course, free) onto their iOS devices at your party and create a network of speakers instantly that you control from the your iOS device. You’ll need to be connected to the same Wi-Fi network, but it’s awesome and sounds great. Free to receive with Seedio Free, $2.99 to seed to other devices.
Buffer
Schedule tweets so you don’t bombard your followers. Especially helpful for those of you living in a different timezone then the majority of your followers, because my wisdom flying onto Twitter at 4am EST is pretty much worthless. Free, with a companion site at bufferapp.com.
Letterpress
I was never a fan of Words with Friends because the game slow and ad-ridden (and I was too cheap to buy the ad-free version). Letterpress is flat-out the best word game you can play on iPhone with a beautiful, snappy interface and a simple way to play. Free download, $0.99 to play more than 2 games simultaneously (definitely worth the buck).
Google Maps
This is a no brainer. Apple Maps is still flawed, and doesn’t have transit schedules for those of you rocking the public transportation way of life. Free.
DuoLingo
Not everyone is learning a foreign language, but you’ll want to with this free service and app. The app is absolutely stunning, clean, simple and feature-rich. Dust off your high-school language skills and get busy getting bilingual.
Paper for iPad
This app is beautiful. It makes me want to learn how to draw with real paper. Draw, sketch, highlight, doodle. Add new notebooks, add pages, go crazy. A super fun and cool sketching and drawing app. Free to download, $8 for the entire kit of artistic tools (which I refuse to pay for).
Thinglist
A simple list to keep track of things you want to do, see, buy, visit, etc. A gloriously pretty interface and super simple to use. $0.99
Magic Jack
Essential for life overseas (or free calls in the US). Download the app, call any number in the states for free over cellular data (with spotty sound) or Wi-Fi (for best quality). Not the most intuitive or easy to use, but definitely very free.
Cue
When you can’t find what you’re looking for on your computer or email, Cue saves the day. It connects with practically every service you have–Google accounts, Dropbox, calendar, email, Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, contacts, and more (Evernote, Salesforce, the 37 Signals suite) if you pay for the $50/year premium price tag (I don’t).
You can search for a contact, email, document–whatever from one app and find exactly the information you need. It shows sunrise and sunset, current weather and your calendar on startup, and, now this is super cool (or scary)–it automatically guesses connections. So, if I put that it is John Doe’s birthday on my calendar, it connects his phone number to the birthday reminder event so I can give him a call and say happy birthday right from cue–how Big-Brother sweet is that?
Forecast
This is a bit different than the rest of the apps, because it’s not a native app you’ll find in the App Store. You install it by navigating to forecast.io and adding it to your homescreen–but you’d never know it’s not from of the app store. Awesome information about precipitation and weather, hour by hour, along with loads of nerdy weather data, a map with real-time and forecasted weather patterns. More info than you need (unless you’re a weather man) but beautifully packaged and free.
