What's on your iPhone?

When I first got my iPhone, I was constantly on the App store trying to find the new awesome apps. Now that it has been a few months for me, the excitement has died down, and I visit the App store less frequently. I’m sure i’ve missed the boat on a few big ones, so that is what I’m trying to figure out with this post. Here’s some information about my ‘must have’ Apps (on the first screen of my iPhone), some apps I like but don’t use, some apps I don’t like, and what types of Apps I feel like I may be missing out on…

My Must Haves

Pandora - This is by far my most-used App. A personalized radio station based on your favorite songs or artist goes incredibly far when I’m in the zone at work coding up some wacky stuff.
Facebook - The world’s biggest time drain, now available anywhere you are! In all seriousness, Facebook is a great way to keep in touch with my friends, and doing this while I’m on the move is a real plus
Sportacular - Gotta follow my Wolverines, Tigers, Pistons, Lions (0-16 ouch!), and Brewers. Sportacular is the best way I’ve found to get score updates - I use this one every time my team is playing. The developers seem pretty active too, and have added many more features over the last few months.
Mobile News - Gotta know what’s going on around the world! I usually check this to start out the morning. My one beef is that the ‘Local’ area for 53202 is Chicago — What about the good land?? – at least report on Brett Farve’s grandmother or something…
TwitterFon - I am brand new to Twitter, and I just grabbed one of the Apps that I saw my buddy using. I’m not sure if this is the best one, but I’m loving Twitter! Is there a better one out there? Let me know!
Bloomberg - I’m a geek for financial news - hard to read it these days! The news updates on this app are great for a world-picture of what’s going on financially. I check it every morning
SnapTell - I don’t use this that often, but it works like a charm when I do. I was at the bookstore the other day, and snapped up a few pics of books that I wanted. It recognized them all without a problem (and they were all much cheaper used or on Amazon…) If anyone is interested in the books I snapped, they were: Hot Flat, and Crowded, 3 things that don’t make sense, Rigged, and The Last Lecture
LinkedIn - I don’t like visiting the website that often (is anyone else bothered by site usability? It just seems so clunky to navigate your connections). This App is a good way to keep up to date on your professional network, without having to be at a computer.
Mint - This App could be wayyyy better (like why can’t I drill into my actual stock holdings?) I was surprised with it given how much I like the actual site. Regardless, I use it to check my finances. I am looking forward to bigger and better things from them in the future.
iPhunny and IcanHazCheezburger - Come on, everyone needs a little fun once in a while! I could spend endless hours on these two, and, although I am glad I don’t, they are great when you are passing time at the airport. iPhunny is probably less well known - it lets you flip through all of the late night TV jokes. Cheezburger gives you those wonderful LolCats, and also 7 other hilarious sites, including one of my web-favorites: FailBlog

I like, but not crazy about

I love the idea of the Loopt App, but I’m not crazy about it because I don’t know many people who actively use it. I’m looking for a one-stop shop for my social networking needs. What applications are out there? Let me know.

Shortest Lived app on my phone

Most applications that I had to register for, that I wasn’t already registered for - died a quick and painless death. The most entertaining part was the shaking button with the X on upper-right corner! (I’m sensing an interesting application – if only Apple would give us the data - shortest / longest lived apps)

I like, but never use

Mocha VNC Lite - Being a super-geek, this was awesome the first time I used it!….and I haven’t used it since. I was surprised by the lack of choppiness…I was expecting much worse. Needless to say, if I ever would like to view my 2 19inch monitors again on a 2 by 3 inch screen, I will surely pick this application to do it.
Trulia - When I start buying houses like they are Wii games, I will let you know…and my activity on this application will pick up.

Looking to Replace ASAP

Insert Random ToDo App Here - I have a crappy ToDo list that I’m not thrilled about. Given that about 50% of the apps on the App store are ToDo lists (and apparently, 49% are Farting Apps that actually make money - glad to know entrepreneurship is alive and well!) – I am probably not willing to pay any money for a new ToDo list – unless you can convince me of a great one to buy. Anyway, help me out! I need a new todo list, recommendations for me?
(Built-in iPhone calendar app) - I need something new for this too… Having little dots showing up on the dates just isn’t cutting it for me anymore. What are you using? Ideally, I want a free one (or maybe I can scrape together 99cents). If it is awesome, I will pay for it - give me some suggestions.

What I am missing

That is for you to tell me! Besides the above two apps above that I need… I’m looking for more to make my iPhone a better all-in-one gadget. What apps do you have that rock? Ideally, I’m not paying much for an App (99 cents has been my threshold thus far – and it was to download two apps that my co-worker built) —- unless I can be convinced that it’s definitely worth it

Matt Stockton