iPhone Best Apps

We round up the best iPhone apps available today, from time-saving productivity tools to games you won’t be able to put down.

It’s now been over two years since we first gazed upon the well-stocked shelves of the iTunes App Store. While our Top iPhone Apps were tough to choose the first time around, the task has become even tougher as developers have flooded the market with apps, now to the tune of over 300,000 (that’s a separate app for every person in the city of Pittsburgh). Even for a niche tasks like calculating your blood alcohol content after a night of drinking, you can find over a dozen apps that fit the bill. And that’s not even beginning to account for the scores of oddball games out there. Which ones belong on your phone? We’ve been scouring the App Store nonstop, soliciting the advice of friends and coworkers, and putting our own phones to work as test machines to maintain a continually updated list of our favorite apps in five different categories.

Categories:

• Productivity

• Games

• Video & Music

• Utilities

• Fun

Have a suggestion? Let us know in the comments section!

Also check out our picks for The Best iPhone Games, The Best iPad Apps and The Best iPad Games.

Productivity

EverNote (Free)

Evernote’s “Remember Everything” mantra sums up this clever little app quite nicely. It turns your phone into the ultimate digital archive by collecting snapshots, written notes and voice recording, then making them all available with a simple search – from your phone or your PC. Character recognition performed by Evernote actually makes the text in photos you shoot, like a concert poster or business card, into searchable text, no typing needed. For those of us cursed with a decidedly non-elephant-like memory, Evernote makes a killer digital substitute.

1Password ($9.99)

One of the worst things about being able to do nearly everything on your iPhone is having to constantly enter and re-enter usernames and passwords to all your favorite Web sites and apps. Even with the hefty price tag, we think the 1Password app is worth the money for ease and convenience. It aims to solve this problem by securely storing all your username and password information. Users can choose to have the app automatically log them into Web sites with a single tap. No more wracking your brain for the right username or having to correctly type a long password in via the iPhone’s typo-prone keyboard. The app can also store notes and other information that you wouldn’t want accessible on your basic Stickies app.

Air To-Do ($1.99)

There are a plethora of to-do list apps out there, and most of the well rated ones are going to accomplish exactly what you need. Still, the Air To-Do app has a sleek UI that doesn’t jumble your chores together, instead allowing you to control how you organize them. You can also check off your list with boxes to mark it something has been completed, versus others that simply delete a task.

CraigsPro+ ($1.99)

Craigslist is a treasure trove of freebies and rarities for cheap, but good luck scoring that free hot tub, cheap air conditioner or the only pair of Klipschhorn speakers in your city if you’re not one of the very first to respond. CraigsPro+ gives you a leg up on the competition by letting you set up Search Agents that buzz your phone as soon as an item you’ve been searching for crops up. Combine it with a swift e-mail and that 1988 Pontiac Fiero GT will be yours. You only get 50 of these search alerts with purchase, but snagging more is as cheap as a tenth of a cent apiece. (CraigsPro+ uses remote servers to continuously scour Craigslist for your search terms then sends push alerts when it scores a hit, rather than grinding your phone battery down. The price goes to reimbursing those expenses.)

Google Voice (Free)

At first Google Voice was not technically an “app” because Google had to subvert Apple’s iTunes store by building it into the Web. But Apple finally let it through and now you can get the official Google Voice apps from the App store. With it, you can make cheap international calls at Google Voice rates, send free unlimited text messages, and even sift through voicemails left at your Google Voice number, all for free.