If you’re a long-time smartphone user, you’ve probably read a few “best apps” lists already. And if you’ve just stepped up to a Blackberry or an iPhone, you’ve likely heard about productivity apps like Dataviz’s Documents to Go, Mint’s iPhone app for managing your finances, and far more Twitter apps than you’d ever need.
We wanted to chime in on the subject too, so here are 10 free apps that we really like. Some of them are fantastic tools for travel or business networking, but some of them are just plain fun apps that make your smartphone do more than make calls, check email, and surf the web. If you want to find out about other excellent apps for your phone, check out these articles:
Networking:
Bump – http://bu.mp
Why we like it: Swap contact information with someone just by tapping your phone to theirs. No need for business cards.
Info: Anyone who has Bump installed can share contact information by tapping their phone against another phone with Bump. Right now, it’s only available on the iPhone and Android phones, but Bump’s developers are working to create versions for every smartphone platform.
Reservations/Entertaining:
UrbanSpoon – http://www.urbanspoon.com
Why we like it: It’s the quickest way to find a restaurant that you’ll probably like.
Info: UrbanSpoon’s slot-machine layout takes the place of the usual searching by category or location. If you’re in an unfamiliar city and need a quick recommendation, put in your location, the type of food you want, and the price you’d like to pay into UrbanSpoon’s clickwheels, and give your phone a shake. The app will recommend a restaurant and pull up the contact info and a map. And, if you’re an iPhone user, you get the UrbanSpoon Scope, an augmented reality function that overlays restaurant info wherever you point your camera.
OpenTable – http://www.opentable.com
Why we like it: UrbanSpoon helps you find restaurants, but OpenTable is the app for making reservations on the fly.
Info: OpenTable’s app allows you to make reservations at any restaurant in OpenTable’s network. You can also search for restaurants and see menus in the app. OpenTable doesn’t have as large of a database as Yelp or UrbanSpoon, but it’s got the stylish, upscale places you’ll want to use for entertaining clients and business associates.
Travel:
Tripit – http://www.tripit.com
Why we like it: Tripit organizes all your travel information into a single online itinerary.
Info: Full disclosure—we love Tripit, and we have their widget on our blog. There are a lot of travel apps out there, such as Worldmate and TripChill, that collect all your important travel data, but Tripit has the best combination of features, updates, and social sharing tools. If you travel a lot, or even if you’re just prone to losing documents and confirmation emails, Tripit’s free app will save you a lot of stress.
There’s a paid version too, which will send you updates on flight delays and allow you to manage frequent traveler points.
Transit Maps — http://www.felttip.com/maps/
Why we like it: This app has the largest library of public transportation maps.
Info: Transit Maps searches the Web for transit maps and puts them into a readable format on your phone. With both apps, it might take a second to find and view the appropriate image, but it’s a lot easier than trying to use Google Maps or running around looking for subway signs.
News:
Newspapers – http://www.dalejefferson.com/
Why we like it: 70 newspapers, available in full text, for no charge.
Info: There are plenty of e-reading apps, magazine apps, and apps for individual papers available for most smartphones, but Newspapers collects most of the major ones into a simple interface so you don’t have to read them in your browser. It’s simple and it gives you plenty of reading material for a long drive or train ride.
Just Plain Cool:
Layar – www.layar.com
Why we like it: It’s one of the more interesting and more useful augmented reality apps.
Info: Layar is an augmented reality browser that can put the content layer of your choice over whatever you look at through your camera’s viewfinder. You can see who’s Tweeting nearby (and how far away they are), or see what places near you have Wikipedia entries. There are layers that show restaurant info, addresses and telephone numbers—even layers that integrate with Foursquare and other location-based services.
Dragon Dictation – http://www.dragonmobileapps.com/apple/dictation_demo.html
Why we like it: It accurately converts your voice notes to text.
Info: A fairly new dictation app for the iPhone with very accurate speech-to-text conversion, Dragon Dictation makes it easy to keep your important notes and ideas together when you’re in a rush or don’t want to fiddle with your keyboard. Check out the demo video in link above.
Pandora – http://www.pandora.com
Why we like it: Free streaming music with customized channels.
Info: This is still our favorite streaming music app, although your should try last.fm’s as well if your phone supports it. Pandora’s recommendation engine is a fantastic way to discover new music.
Buzzd – http://www.buzzd.com
Why we like it: It makes finding nighttime entertainment in an unfamiliar city easier.
Info: A very cool “nightlife social network”. Buzzd has been around for just over a year and a half now, but they’ve recently begun to pick up quite a bit of steam. Buzzd collects reviews about bars, clubs, and other nightlife spots from a number of different online sources and puts them together on one dedicated page. But the really clever part is the realtime review feature. Users can post comments about a restaurant or bar they’re in to Buzzd, and you can get a sense of how lively (or reserved) the crowd is right then.
