IT Services - iPhone Apps

Essential FREE apps for your iPhone, with links to the Appstore.

The AppStore provides iPhone users with an extraordinary choice of apps to download. Whatever it is you need to do, as they say in the TV advert, "there's an app for that". Despite all the promotion I've been more than a little surprised to discover that many users, even after months of owning an iPhone, neglect to download anything. With that in mind I've put together a list of FREE apps to get started with. Bear in mind that these free apps are as good or in most cases better than many commercial equivalents.

Apps marked with the ‡ symbol are built for the iPad as well as the iPhone.

Dictionary? ‡ from WordWeb - I experimented with a number of different dictionaries before settling upon this one, my favourite by a long measure. A great app to get started.

Shazam ‡ - Identify music playing on any sound system. Great for finding out the names of tunes playing in public places. For instance, identify the artists playing the rubbish you are forced to listen to in TK Maxx. The free version has a limit to the amount of queries you can make per month.

Soundhound ‡ - Similar to Shazam, Soundhound identifies music playing on any sound system. I was so impressed with Soundhound I bought the commercial version. Despite that I still keep a copy of Shazam because Soundhound cannot always identify less well known progressive trance tunes.

Around Me - Discover the nearest public services around you such as gas stations, restaurants, banks, cinemas and so forth. Using geographic positioning, "Around Me" connects your iPhone to service databases on the Internet and also elegantly integrates this info with your Address Book and Maps app.

Draw Something ‡ - A popular social drawing and guessing game, kind of like "Pictionery".

Scanit - Moblico's Scanit is one of a growing number of "Quick Response" or "QR" code readers available for smartphones. Website URLs, email addresses, contact information, SMS messages and more can be condensed into square panels that look like crossword puzzles. If you're equipped with a QR code reader you can rapidly collect information and frequently take advantage of promotions or special offers. Scanit's simple yet elegant design won my vote as best scanner software. It's easy to use, scans well, looks good and provides all the flexibility needed for you to deal with information collected. Does not display adverts.

Pic2shop - Scan the barcode of a product with the iPhone camera and Pic2Shop will compare the price with thousands of others online and provide you with cheaper alternatives. A very useful money saver. I really like this app but am saddened that the developers of Pic2shop no longer seem to support the iPhone 3G which has a lower resolution camera. Shame, it used to work on my 3G but can no longer since it has been transferred to a new user. That said it does work best with the iPhone 4.

Photoshop.com - There are several apps available for editing the photos you take with your iPhone's camera, most of them you need to pay for. This offering from Adobe is free and in my view an essential item in the iPhone toolkit. Crop, tint, adjust contrast and much more.

Units - from The MacBox. Convert units of weight, length, volume, speed etc. This app has a plain and simple interface but does it's job well. There are many alternative commercial apps with snazzier appearances but they don't convert units with any greater accuracy or speed. Another free unit converter worth a look is "Converter Plus". Converter Plus has a smarter interface but is supported by advertising (to be fair, the ads are discreet).

Met Office Weather - To be honest, the iPhone's native weather app doesn't amount to much. If you require something with more detail both in your local area and around the UK, this is the weather app for you - providing of course, you believe the weatherman in the first place.

TV Guide ‡ - There are only a couple of free TV guides that I think are worth trying, this one and "TV Guide UK". I chose "TV Guide" because there's an iPad version as well which provides a pleasing harmony if you own both devices. Well designed, looks good and does it's job well. Recently my wife discovered this app can be used as a TV remote control with Samsung Internet enabled sets and Virgin Tivo boxes.

Twitter ‡ - There are many many Twitter browsing apps from which to choose. Some are free and others commercial but my recommendation today is Twitter's own product, simply called "Twitter". A clear innovative interface, made for both iPhone and iPad and it's free. Until this came along I used the "paid for" version of Twitterific (£2.99). That has now been assigned to the wilderness.

Facebook - I confess I'm not the world's biggest Facebook fan but I admit, I do have an account. If you need to keep connected to Mr Zuckerberg's social network from your iPhone, I cannot imagine another app that will better this one.

Errands - Lee did all the trials on free organisers and "to-do list" apps. After exhaustive testing she gives Errands the thumbs up. I have to agree with her choice, this app "ticks all the boxes" you'd hope for with this type of app. Errands is simple to use and looks pretty good too.

Dropbox ‡ - The simplest way to keep your important files accessible at all times. Dropbox is a "cloud" app which works with a counterpart app on your computer that creates a "Dropbox Folder". Anything you put into the Dropbox folder on your PC or Mac will automatically become available to you on any other computer or mobile device you use. You get 2Gb free storage.

Evernote ‡ - Another "cloud" app, similar to Dropbox but seemingly with more whistles and bells. Looks good but takes a little more time to configure and understand. I like simplicity.

Amazon UK - Instead of using Safari to browse Amazon, use this specialist app which makes life even easier. Very useful.

Ebay ‡ - Keep up to the moment with all your Ebay dealings. Of course this is only useful if you use Ebay a lot.

IMdB ‡ - Custom app improves the experience of browsing the world's largest movie database compared with an iPhone web browser. Watch trailers, browse photo galleries, find out the name of the actor who played Fredo Corleone in the Godfather.

Telegraph - I have randomly selected one of a growing number of free iPhone news apps. Others include - ITN, Sky, New York Times, London Evening Standard, World Mobile News (BBC), The Independent. I cannot attest to their worthiness, that will be up to you.

Handy Level Free - The paid for version of this app includes a plumb-line and rule. In my opinion none are seriously useful tools but they are certainly fun and beautifully made. This free spirit level gives you the best of the set.

Scramble 2 - A Boggle type word game. An addictive time waster - great for waiting rooms or airports.

All Recipes.com Dinner Spinner - Search a huge database of recipes supplied and rated by other users.

Mercury - Lite ‡ - Apple's Mobile Safari is a solid browser, it displays web pages just about as well as can be expected on a small screen. However, if you would like to browse the web using full screen, use tabs and have a "homepage", then consider trying this free alternative. Mercury provides all the whistles and bells you may be familiar with on your computer but are missing from mobile Safari. The latest edition of this browser is really quite impressive, I especially like using it on the iPad. In fact after using the free version for only a few minutes I upgraded to the pro edition. [Dec 2010]
It is worth bearing in mind that unless you have a Jailbroken device you cannot easily change the iPhone's default browser from Safari to any other. This means when you click on a hyper-link within another app such as Mail, the browser activated will always be Safari. Mercury has a setting which cleverly places a permanent link within Safari to enable you to switch browser to Mercury.

TOP