Gear Diary’s Favorite iPhone/iPod Touch Apps

In addition to whatsoniphone I have the good fortune to be a team member over on  www.geardiary.com. For me, one of the great things about GD is the opportunity to be in touch with the terrific people who make it the incredible site it is. It’s about as nice, supportive, interesting, and eclectic group is you’re going to find and the fact that everyone on the team has slightly different interests and needs when it comes to technology makes it all the more interesting.

Not surprisingly, however, there are a lot of writers there who are currently using an iPhone or an iPod touch. I asked everyone to share their top 10 iPhone applications. Most interesting to me was the degree of overlap we had with one another. Here’s a quick list of the overlap.

So which appear at the top? –

On four different lists were:
Evernote
ToDo

On three of the lists are:
Facebook
Twittelator Pro
eWallet
Safari

And on two of the lists are:
eReader
Jott
Byline
Around Me

It struck me how few of the applications are games. Clearly, at least for us, the iPhone functions as a productivity tool and as a replacement for many of the things that we would otherwise do on a computer.

My complete list after the break…

My List…

1. Evernote- If I could only have application this would be it. With Evernote I can take written notes, voice notes, grab pictures, etc. But it is more than a note-taking app. Now that my EyeFi  WiFi SD card is linked to my Evernote account, all of my pictures automatically go into my Evernote account. All of my web clippings go into my account. In a large percentage of my professional resource Library is now in my account (after having been scanned by me). Increasingly, in fact, the majority of the files that might otherwise one access on my computer or on my iDisk are in my Evernote account.

2. Jott-  early on and went between Jott and ReQall. Both are excellent  but I ended up settling back on the Jott.  The reason?  I find Jott’s iPhone application simple to use and that is what I need when I want a quick note transcribed.  The fact that Jott works with Evernote  and Toodledo  mean that three of my top productivity applications are now fully integrated with one another. In addition, as Jott also allows me to access my RSS feeds,  making it a news source as well.

3. Apiggo’s ToDo/Notebook-  I tried almost all of the to-do applications and I kept coming back to this one. It’s powerful, stable, and is constantly updated with new functionality. It integrates perfectly with Toodledo making the iPhone even more an extension of all of my other computing. It just works flawlessly and Appigo give’s great customer service. well. AND, it integrates with Jott etc means that everything becomes part of a larger system.

4. Google–  This application just blows my mind. The fact that I can put my iPhone  to my ear, say what it is that I’m looking for, and have the results brought back to me never ceases to amaze me. Last week I was teaching one of my high school groups and I was trying to make a point that they have at their fingertips the entire world of information in a way that previous generations didn’t and to prove my point I asked them to give me a subject, picked up my iPhone started the Google application, repeated their words and show them the results. It’s freaking unbelievable.

5. Byline-  The RSS feeds to which I subscribe have become an important part of my professional and my online life. I tried just about every RSS reader and, while I don’t find this to be perfect (I don’t like the fact that the next post button is in the upper right hand side of the screen — it may sound silly but it’s the wrong place), it is the best I’ve seen. The fact that it fully integrates with Google reader

means that it too becomes an extension/replacement of my computer.

6. Pandora–  Love it. Just love it. Not only do I enjoy listening to the radio again thanks to Pandora, but it has introduced me to a host of new artists.

7. Twittelator Pro- More and more I find myself using Twitter to communicate with a certain circle of friends — particularly the people with whom I do a lot of my online writing. By far of this is the best application for it. I find it to be rock solid, offer a very nice UI  and allow you to track multiple accounts if need be. If you use Twitter this is the app to use.

8. Beejive–  I also do increasing amount of my interaction by IM. The iPhone is a decent enough phone and a good e-mail device. Having this applicationprovides the last piece in the triad. There are a number of IM applications out there but I like the features on Beejive best and the off-line notification system is superb. Expensive? Yes. Worth it? Yes.

9. eWallet-  the iPhone is the one thing I know that I have with me all the time. I might leave the house without my wallet or my keys (if I’m not the one driving) but I never leave my house without my iPhone. It’s for that reason that it makes sense for me to have all of the most pertinent information I might meet with me all the time but to do that any to make sure that the information is secure. eWallet is the application for doing it.

10. i.TV–  I like watching TV. I like going to the movies. I’m loving  Netflix. This application lets me get all the information I might need for all of them. One application to find out my television listings, add items to my TiVo list, check what movies are currently playing, and manage my Netflix queue. That’s pretty amazing. Love this application.

For everyone else’s list jump over to Gear Diary.