3. Adobe Photoshop Express
Digital photography editing has, until recently, been a task
best suited for desktop and laptop computers, but Adobe
proved that it could be done in the mobile space with
Photoshop Express, a free photo-editing application for
the iPhone and other iOS devices. Photoshop Express is a
powerhouse of a mobile app, and can even handle noise
reduction (getting rid of those extraneous particles that
show up on photos). All in all, Adobe Photoshop Express
is a solid tool for making light photo edits on your iPhone.
4. Airport Utility
The free AirPort Utility manager from Apple lets you
control your Wi-Fi network and AirPort base
stations, including AirPort Express, AirPort Extreme, and
Time Capsule, right from your iPhone. When you launch
the app, you'll see a pictorial representation of your
network and devices that will tell you what's connected to
what and how. You can change the network and Wi-Fi
settings, start or restore a base station, access networking
information (like DNS server, router address, IP
address), and more.
5. Brewster
The Brewster iPhone app may be one of the most visually
appealing contact managers you'll find, tapping into
multiple social networks for images of people you know. It
insists on having access to your iPhone Contacts and
either Twitter or Facebook to work, though.
6. Chrome
Chrome for iPhone is just Safari with a better interface
and a few more features, but it's a must-have app for
desktop Chrome users. Anyone who has fallen in love with
the "Omnibox," or combined URL address bar and search
bar, won't want to use anything else.
7. Dashlane
Dashlane is an elegant and secure app that acts as a digital
wallet backup, password manager, and more. It can
automatically save information from when you make
purchases online, so you don't have to keep track of them
via email confirmations. The data that Dashlane stores
remains encrypted until you unlock the app, and yet it
manages to sync all your important information across
multiple devices, including your iPhone. The app and
service are free, although if you like Dashlane, you might
consider upping your account to Premium ($4.99 per
month, or $39.99 per year, or "free" if you earn enough
points in the app for referring friends and completing
other challenges) to get even more automated
functionality out of the iPhone app.
8. Converter Plus
This all-in-one calculation app, Converter Plus, delivers
numbers on nearly everything, from currency conversions
to loan-interest figures. It converts metric to imperial
measurements for temperature, cooking
volumes, length, and more.
9. Draw Something Free
Draw Something Free, the latest app craze, pits both
iOS and Android users in simple gesture-based drawing
competitions. Pick a word from a list of three, draw it on
your screen with your finger using a variety of colors and
brushes, and then send it to your friend to guess what
you've drawn. You win coins if your friend guesses
correctly. It's very simple and, like Words With Friends,
the addiction lies in the robust social aspect.
10. Dropbox
If your files live all over the place—your office
computer, home desktop, laptop—having a dependable
syncing program is a must. Dropbox, the service and
productivity tool that lets you store your files in the cloud
and access them from anywhere you have a signal, fills
that role nicely with a Dropbox iPhone app. It has a simple
interface, easy uploading, and swift syncing across all
accounts.
11. Duolingo
Could your learning a new language somehow add value
to other people all over the world? It's a strange idea, but
one that's playing out when you use the free language
learning Web app Duolingo (4 stars), which now has an
iPhone app as well. As far as free, mobile apps for
language-learning go, the Duolingo iPhone app is easily
the best. A recent update makes your next lessons
available offline, so you can continue learning even when
you're not connected to the Internet.
12. EasilyDo
The free iPhone app EasilyDo works as a personal
assistant and automation machine. You connect the app to
a variety of online services, like your
email, calendar, Facebook account, and so forth, and then
EasilyDo looks for things it can help you get easily done.
For example, a notification might ask you if you'd like
EasilyDo to add the contact details of someone who has
recently emailed you to your address book. Or it might
spot an upcoming birthday of a friend and let you set up a
"happy birthday" post to their timeline in advance. It's an
amazing productivity app that helps you take care of a
variety of tasks quickly and efficiently.
14. ESPN Score Center
ESPN's free app lets you check the game quickly, and
discreetly when necessary (that is, with your phone under
the dinner table), for your favorite teams in more sports
than most other apps. It can pull game data from
baseball, basketball, American football, the sport the rest
of the world calls football (soccer, in the U.S.), ice
hockey, cricket, rugby, and more.
15. Evernote
Without the Evernote app for iPhone, I'd be a lot less
productive while I'm away from my desk. This
free, straightforward note-making app outrivals most
competing apps thanks to its strong search capabilities
and effortless organization. But the real key to its success
and popularity is that Evernote synchronizes all your files
by saving them to a cloud service, meaning anything you
create or alter from your iPhone will be there waiting for
you when you log into any other version of Evernote. I use
Evernote to write, take notes, and even snap pictures of
whiteboards and PowerPoint slides in meetings, so I can
remember details later.
16. Flipboard
Flipboard curates content from your social networks and
websites you like, from magazines to blogs, and turns
them into stunning magazine-like digital pages. Flipboard
absolutely shines on the iPad, where it first debuted
because it takes full advantage of all the possible swiping
gestures with both visual and interactive grace. On the
smaller iPhone, it's still quite elegant.
17. Flow Free
Puzzles make for the best kinds of mobile games, in my
opinion, because you can play them for 30 seconds or 30
minutes. Flow Free is one such game, with various modes
that let you solve puzzles in a timed speed test, or more
leisurely. You solve levels by connecting same-colored
dots by tracing your finger around a grid, without cross
lines and at the same time filing every square on the grid
with a line. It's addictive and great for players of all ages.
18. GAIN Fitness
The iPhone app GAIN Fitness acts as a total workout
buddy, coaching you through a fully customized exercise
routine as often (or seldom) as you want. The free app
comes preloaded with a variety of exercises for a complete
body workout, and it's more than enough to keep you
from getting bored week after week. Optional in-app
purchases can add special workouts, like yoga
19. GateGuru
No matter what app you use to book your travel
arrangements or manage your frequent flier miles, you'll
still want to pack GateGuru on your next trip to the
airport. The free app is chockfull of suggestions and
reviews pertaining to airports: food, retail, services, and
even the amount of time needed to travel between gates
and terminals. The next time you're stuck with a long
layover and no idea if you can make it to the cleaner
bathrooms by Gate B7, just consult GateGuru for some
advice.
20. Gmail
Speed, better search functions, and color-coded threading
make the standalone Gmail iPhone app preferable to the
built-in Mail app (where you can access Gmail). Google's
Gmail app gives users another choice for managing email.
It allows iPhone users to decide what they want in an
email app. Do you value search capability over text
displayed at readable sizes? Is it more important for your
various email accounts to be managed in one app, as Mail
arranges them, or would you rather have a dedicated app
just for Gmail that looks more like Gmail on the Web, with
color-coded threading? The Gmail app searches your
entire email so much easier and faster than the pre-
installed Mail app.
21. Google Search
Search giant Google has many excellent free apps (as
evidenced by the fact that more than one is on this very
list), but its namesake search app is the one closest to its
founding business, and thus, bursting with some pretty
intense features. You can search by typing keywords, or by
speaking, or by snapping a photo, as there's a toggle for
Google Goggles (in the settings), which lets you take
photos of books, landmarks, logos, artwork, barcodes, and
more, to find out more about them. You can also save
pictures you take, and the app will scan and read any text
that appears on them as well. The Google Search app does
a lot more than just search the Internet, making it well
worth the free download.
22. Google Translate
With more than 30 languages supported and delivering
impressively accurate results most of the time, the Google
Translate app is one of the most remarkable programs you
can load onto your iPhone. Most people probably won't
need it too often, except when traveling or studying a
language, but it can be amazingly useful in unexpected
circumstances.
23. iHeartRadio
With the free iHeartRadio app, you can choose any one of
1,500 live radio stations to stream, even if you're not
within the radio signal's reach (because it pulls from a
digital feed, rather than radio signal). The app has a
feature that lets you create customized "all-music"
stations based on a music group you like and music
similar to theirs. Charge your iPhone before a
storm, and, if the power goes out, you use the iHeartRadio
app to get updates from your local radio station.
25. IMDb Movies & TV
"What was the name of that movie… the one with Ally
Sheedy and Fisher Stevens?" The next time you can't
remember the name of an actor, television show, or film
(Short Circuit, by the way) IMDb saves the day. One of the
handiest reference websites on the planet, IMDb never
fails when it comes to looking up anything that has to do
with TV, film, or Hollywood. The IMDb Movies & TV app
also lets you find which movies are playing at your local
cinema, and even purchase tickets. With an IMDb account
(free or paid for Pro), the app provides even more
features, like the ability to create a watchlist of movies you
want to see.
26. Kayak
Much like the full website Kayak.com, the Kayak iPhone
app is one of the best travel search and booking apps
you'll find. Formerly, Kayak only performed searches
without letting you pre-pay for flight, hotel, and car
reservations—but no more. Now, you can book through
Kayak (or occasionally a partner, but still without leaving
the Kayak app), to get the best deals on airfare and many
other travel arrangements. For complex travel needs in
particular, Kayak is aces.
27. Kindle
Read books, magazines, and newspapers right on your
iPhone without ever buying an e-reader. From within the
Kindle app, you can buy or download for free hundreds of
thousands of books, and more than 100 different
newspapers and magazines.
28. LevelUp
LevelUp is an iPhone and Android app that lets you make
purchases using your credit card via QR codes that the
app displays. Participating merchants simply scan the QR
code on your screen, which initiates a credit card
transaction, and you're on your way.
29. MenuPages
The free app and website MenuPages keeps a database of
restaurant menus, with prices included. If you've ever
gritted your teeth at a restaurant's online menu that omits
the prices, try MenuPages for unbiased information.
Admittedly, MenuPages is not a great app for every
location, but in major U.S. cities, it's awesome, especially
when Yelp's recommendations seem skewed by college
students who give five-star ratings to fast-food burgers
and less-than-fresh sushi. With MenuPages, you can make
your own decisions about a restaurant's dishes and prices.
The app and website won't give you much insight into
quality, but it will help you quickly weed out places that
are too pricey or don't serve the kind of food you have in
mind. It's also useful for ordering take-out.
30. Mint.com
The website and service Mint.com helps you keep detailed
accounts of your finances by connecting to all your
financial accounts (and then some) and tracking all the
money you earn and spend. The Mint.com iPhone app
extends the experience so users can keep an eye on their
spending better while on the go. The app gives you deep
insight into how you're spending your money and whether
you're sticking to the budget you've created in Mint. It's
one of the best personal finance apps you'll find.
31. Mozy
Online backup service Mozy lets you access all your
backed-up files securely right from your iPhone, letting
you essentially take your computer with you in your
pocket. Mozy, which is a freemium service, lets you read
documents, browse photographs, play your music, and
share files anywhere you have an Internet or 3G
connection. A MozyHome or MozyPro backup account is
required.
32. Onavo Extend
The free app Onavo Extend compresses data automatically
to help you reduce data usage on your phone. In other
words, it will save you money if you typically exceed your
mobile service plan's data allotment. Additionally, anyone
traveling abroad with an iPhone should absolutely have
Onavo installed. Learn the settings well, and watch your
data usage decrease without you having to do anything
else.
33. ooVoo
OoVoo is an ambitious little app. It supports video
calls, voice calls, group video, and IM. And that's across a
number of major platforms—iOS, OS X, Android, and
Windows. Past experiences with video chat apps have
taught us that more features does not necessarily equal a
better experience if performance flags. Luckily, ooVoo
delivers across the board. Super smooth communication
makes this app shine. It's one of the few video chat apps
on which you feel like you can have a real conversation.
34. PBS Parent Play & Learn
PBS Parents Play and Learn is a unique app designed to
help parents incorporate learning activities into everyday
life. It's great for parents (and aunties, uncles, big
sisters, grandparents, baby sitters...) who want new ways
to teach young kids reading and math skills. Games in the
app are recommended for ages 2 and up. This is a must-
have free app for anyone who needs to entertain a child
every now and again.
36. Remember the Milk
One of the draws of the to-do list maker Remember the
Milk is that it works with Apple's Siri—on the iPhone 4S
only. For earlier-generation phones, it's still a great little
app for keeping your tasks organized. Remember The Milk
also syncs with a bunch of major Web apps, such as
Outlook, iCal, Gmail, and Google Calendar.
37. RunKeeper
Runners, fitness enthusiasts, and anyone trying to shed a
few pounds might know that the iPhone is an incredibly
powerful tool at helping you track your exercise. With the
RunKeeper app, one of the most popular apps among
outdoor runners in particular, you can tap into the
phone's GPS technology to map where you've
run, jogged, or walked. (You can also manually enter
information from indoor runs.) RunKeeper figures out
more statistics for you, like your pace, total distance
covered, and so on. All your data is synced to
RunKeeper.com, where you can view a history of all your
activities. The app also has a coaching feature if you want
audio some encouragement while you're working out.
38. Shazam
If you hear a song and don't know what it is (or for the life
of you, can't remember who sings it)—Shazam to the
rescue! Launch Shazam and hold it as close as you can to
the speakers, then let her rip. Within a few seconds, the
app will tell you the title, artist, and sometimes even find
the album art, too. Shazam is a whiz with most radio-play
songs, new and old, originals and covers, but it
occasionally gets stumped by obscure b-sides.
39. Skype
Skype is one of the best free communication tools for the
iPhone, not necessarily because of how it works, but
because so many people have Skype accounts.The app lets
you make both video and audio-only calls, as well as chat
with other Skype users at no charge. If you buy Skype
credit, you can also call any other phone number, landline
or mobile.
40. Slacker Radio
When I ask my colleagues at PCMag which music
streaming service they like best, someone always
mentions Slacker Radio, and everyone else's heads start
nodding. The same outstanding service you'll find in
Slacker Radio's online version is on the iPhone and has
been for a long enough time for the company to have
massaged the interface and performance to the point that
you can appreciate it audibly.
41. Square Wallet
Square Wallet is a mobile payment app from a company
called Square that makes another product/service, also
known simply as Square, which small businesses can use
to turn their iPads into credit card processing machines.
Any merchant that uses Square can accept payments from
wallet-less app-lovers, like myself, who carry Square
Wallet on their smartphones. What makes Square Wallet
unique is it's available at a lot of small businesses, from
boutique shops to independent coffee houses, unlike
Google Wallet (only available on select Android devices),
which is mostly supported in large, corporate chain stores.
42. Smart Contacts
Need to find a specific person in your network in a hurry?
Smartr Contacts provides great search functionality across
your many address books, including your iPhone
Contacts, Facebook friends, LinkedIn contacts, and Gmail.
The iPhone app Smartr Contacts hooks into all those
different contact lists, and its designed to be more useful
for searching rather than browsing.
43. Stitcher Radio
If, like me, you have not been with the way Apple broke
out podcast functionality from its Music and iTunes apps
and into its own Podcast app, then Stitcher Radio is an
app for you. It's a great alternative for keeping up with all
your audio shows. You can stream your shows or
download them for offline listening. You'll hear the
occasional advertisement and see small ads on some
screens, but not too often.
44. StumbleUpon
StumbleUpon, one of the most sophisticated and fun ways
to explore new content on the Web, delivers an excellent
experience on the iPhone, if you can cope with the
inherent limitations of the small screen. Without a native
mobile-optimized viewing option, it's a little less than
ideal on the iPhone.
45. SugarSync
One of our favorite file-syncing services, SugarSync added
an iPhone app to its offering in 2011. SugarSync gives you
access to your files from a multitude of devices, no matter
if you store them on your laptop at home, desktop
computer at the office, tablet, and so on. You can use
SugarSync to stream music, back-up photos, collaborate
on projects, and more.
47. TED by TED Conferences
TED's tagline is "Ideas worth spreading," and what better
way to spread the ideas from this series of education,
explorative, and motivational talks than by carrying them
with you wherever you go. TED once was a highly
exclusive conference, closed off even to most press, and
the organization's greatest accomplishment to date has
been to open up the knowledge that comes from its
speakers by making videos of their presentations and
performances available online to the public. This official
TED app works for both iPhone and iPad. If you're
unfamiliar with TED, give Jill Bolte Taylor's stroke of
insight presentation a try. You'll be hooked.
48. Trainyard Express
In this captivating iPhone game from indie developer Matt
Rix, players lay down tracks to guide trains from their
starting points to the stations, sometimes merging with
other trains along the way. Trains, starting points, and
stations are color-coded. Red trains must end up in red
goal stations. A blue train can merge with a red train to
become a purple one before it reaches a purple station. As
the difficulty increases, the number of trains also
increases, as well as the number of objectives in each level.
Trainyard Express is an absolutely addictive and fun
puzzle game for players of all ages.
49. Twitter
If you tweet, download the free Twitter app. If you don't
tweet and have been on the fence about joining the
masses, the iPhone app makes it easy and convenient to
get on board the 140-character social network, or just
watch what others discuss on the site without actually
participating if you prefer to be a silent lurker. It's true
that since iOS 5, a lot of Twitter functionality is now
directly integrated into the iPhone so you can tweet
photos or links that you want to share with greater ease.
But you still need the Twitter app (or another Twitter
client) to read tweets, see when other people mention
you, and fully participate in the social experience.
50. Voxer Walkie-Talkie PPT
If you tweet, download the free Twitter app. If you don't
tweet and have been on the fence about joining the
masses, the iPhone app makes it easy and convenient to
get on board the 140-character social network, or just
watch what others discuss on the site without actually
participating if you prefer to be a silent lurker. It's true
that since iOS 5, a lot of Twitter functionality is now
directly integrated into the iPhone so you can tweet
photos or links that you want to share with greater ease.
But you still need the Twitter app (or another Twitter
client) to read tweets, see when other people mention
you, and fully participate in the social experience.
51. Untappd
Beer enthusiasts have flocked to Untappd to keep track of
the brews they drink and their tasting notes. The app also
lets you save beers you'd like to try, see reviews from other
beer fans, look up nearby watering holes, and more. The
app itself could use some improvement, but the
community and database of brews is fantastic and make it
one of the best apps a hobbyist beer-drinking can have.
52. WebMD
WebMD is much more than a diagnosis app, although you
certainly can use it to input symptoms you are
experiencing and find some clues as to what's ailing you. It
also contains listings for healthcare professionals and
pharmacies in your area, as well as first-aid guides—
simple instructions for dealing with an emergency that
everyone should have accessible to them at any time. This
free reference app is one you hope you don't need, but the
moment you do, you'll be glad you downloaded it.
53. Wikipedia
Half the fun of having a smartphone is looking things up
when you're in the middle of a bar bet—and hopefully
proving yourself right. Wikipedia is the go-to source for
fact-checking in the mobile age, and the Wikipedia app
usually returns results faster than a mobile search engine.
54. Yahoo! Axis
Yahoo! Axis brings a refreshing and desirable new take on
Web search, getting rid of the middle man, those pesky
link-filled result pages. The implementation of this new
idea still needs more sanding and buffing, but Pinterest
users will find it's better for pinning than the social site's
own mobile app. Yahoo! Axis includes a Pin It button
bookmarklet directly in the browser for all your mobile
pinning needs.
55. Yelp
The most comprehensive review app, Yelp turns out to be
an invaluable tool for finding businesses nearby,
especially when you're in a town you don't know well.
Yelp's mobile app has helped me find a hairdresser when I
was in a pinch in Washington DC, and a suitable lunch
while driving through Ohio (shout-out to Moreland
Hills!). Need to find an acupuncturist in Austin? Or the
most popular coffee shop in Charlotte (emphasis on
"popular" and not necessarily "best," by the way)? Yelp's
the app to do it.
56. YouTube
Formerly, YouTube came preinstalled on iPhones, but
that's no longer the case. If you buy a new iPhone
5 $435.49 at AT&T, you'll want to install the YouTube app
so that you can get quick access to all kinds of videos, from
movie trailers to tutorials. I've relied on YouTube on my
iPhone to figure out so many things in life that I am too
embarrassed to ask someone else to teach me, from how
to install additional RAM on my laptop to how to knit in
the round. I thank my lucky stars it's free.
