Recommended iPhone Apps

I've just added a new page called Recommended iPhone Apps. Like the Recommended Podcasts page, I aim to try and keep it up to date.

To save you the click, I've included the page's content here:

HippoRemote

HippoRemote is an excellent app that allows you to control either your Windows, Mac or Linux PC with your iPhone. These apps are quite common already, but HippoRemote offers a couple features that make it more useful than most.

First off, it has profiles. Profiles are screen layouts created especially for certain apps. So the XBMC profile has buttons specifically created with XBMC in mind (eg. play, pause, volume, OSD etc) and the Firefox profile has buttons specifically created with Firefox in mind (eg. New Tab, Search, Find, New URL etc). This essentially creates a keyboard that adapts to the app you're using. This works well on the small screen of the iPhone, but I'd imagine it would work really well with an iPad.

The other feature I like is that when you switch profiles, it also switches the app on-screen. So I can easily switch between Boxee and XBMC with a couple taps.

It's not quite as convenient as actually having a mouse and keyboard (especially on an iPhone 3G where it takes a while to open) but if you already own an iOS device it's considerably cheaper and in some ways is better than a physical keyboard and mouse.

I use to it control the media PCs in the house. Both were created on a near enough £0 budget, so this £2.99 app was ideal.

MobileRSS

More than anything else, I use my iPhone to read my Google Reader RSS feeds. So trust me when I say I've tried a fair few. And of all those I've tried, MobileRSS is my personal favourite.

There are two things in particular that I like about MobileRSS:

1. Compared to others (with the exception of the buggy Byline), it syncs with Google Reader very quickly (ie. the content is there to read within a minute). When you've only got a 10 minute train ride to read your feeds, you don't want to be waiting 3-5 minutes for it sync and download the content you want to read.
2. It's got all the methods of sharing I need. And by that, I mean that I can easily share an article on Facebook, Twitter, Google Reader and via Email. I can also easily add the article to Read it Later.

I appreciate most RSS apps on the iPhone can do number 2, although the last time I checked only MobileRSS and Byline can sync so quickly as well.

TuneIn Radio

TuneIn Radio allows me to listen to BBC 6 Music when I'm out and about. As well as 6 Music, it has tons of other radio stations.

Read It Later

Read It Later is a bookmarking service for articles you don't have time to read, but you would like to read later. A similar service is InstaPaper.

Using a combination of bookmarklets (in Google Chrome, MobileSafari), a Firefox add-on and iPhone apps (eg. MobileRSS, Twitter for iPhone) whenever I see an article I'd like to read later, I can add it to Read It Later. I can then view that article at a later time using either the Read It Later iPhone app, or a web browser.

One of the things I like about Read It Later is that it tracks how far into the article you are. So if I get halfway through an article in Firefox, when I come to read it on my iPhone I can continue from where I left off.

National Rail

National Rail is a well designed app that among other things, allows me to see the status of my train. I especially like the 'Next Train Home' function when I'm out in Taunton for a drink after work.

Foursquare

Foursquare is a location-based social networking site. When you visit a location, you open up Foursquare and 'check-in'. It then notes your location and assuming you have friends on Foursquare, they can see where you are.

I don't use the social aspects of this app (solely down to the fact I have no friends on there. Bridgwater, Som, UK isn't exactly "Silicon Valley", CA, USA), but I do use it just to keep a record of where I've been. I don't know why, but I like having a record of things I've done. That's why I use last.fm.

On a recent trip to London I made a point of checking in everywhere I went. I now have a reference of what I did in London. This might prove useful next time I'm up there and want to go into the same restaurant as last time.

I only use it for irregular places I visit though. So for example I don't 'check-in' to work every day.

IMDB

If I don't end up using IMDB whilst watching a film ("where have I seen that actor before?!"), I certainly use it at the end in order to view the film's trivia. Now I get to do it on the sofa, straight away.

iReddit

Reddit's Official iPhone App to view Reddit. A way for me to get a fix of geek content when I'm done with RSS and Twitter.

Hacker News

An unofficial Hacker News iPhone app to view Hacker News. A way for me to get a fix of geek content when I'm done with RSS, Twitter and Reddit.

To tell you the truth, I don't know which Hacker News app I downloaded. There are several out there. The fact it's simply called Hacker News on the iPhone homescreen doesn't help much either.

Football SC

Football SC offers up football scores provided by Sky Sports. Badly designed, but I get to view the scores at least.

Shazam

Let Shazam hear a track, and it tells you what it is. Sounds gimmicky but I use it a surprisingly often.

Amazon UK

The Amazon iPhone app provides a nice interface to make those impulse purchases on Amazon.

XBMC

XBMC Remote acts as a remote control for XBMC. Much like the Apple app Remote, which allows you to view and select from your iTunes Media Library on your iPhone and have it play on your PC, this does the same with XBMC. I find it to be an excellent way to choose and listen to music in the living room. It also has a remote profile similar to HippoRemote, allowing me to navigate the on-screen menu systems using my iPhone.

London Tube

I don't get to use this London Tube app much, but when I do I find it very useful.

The general routine is as follows:

1. We're up London and decide we want to go somewhere.
2. We find out where that 'somewhere' is using Google Maps for iPhone.
3. Once we've found it, we find the nearest Tube station to it using the map and also the nearest tube station to us.
4. Using this app (London Tube) I enter those two stations and it gives us the best route to get there.

I think it's possible to leave out the Google Maps step if you purchase an add-on. I've not looked into that though.

FindMeTV

FindMeTV is an app for TV listings. Other than to view listings without brining up the TV's on-screen display (and so avoiding annoying the wife), it's also useful for instructing our Sky+ box to record a show whilst we're out of the house - or if I'm feeling really lazy, just upstairs. Being able to record a show when you think of doing it rather than waiting until you get home and forget to do it is a great benefit.

The fact you can keyword search listings is also a great advantage over the TV's on-screen guide.