Monday, December 3, 2007 @ 2:58 PM

The best iPhone apps are the ones that make your life easier. Most of them are timesavers, or even though you can view a normal website on the iPhone, these applications make it more usable. As a consumer, here are 5 that I use and think my life would be incomplete without.

Facebook
70 million users (or so) can't be wrong. Even if they are, it's easier to access all of the functionality of Facebook using their site by going to iphone.facebook.com. Honestly, this app sets the standard for any forthcoming iPhone applications; the UI is excellent, page transitions are smooth and the tabbed navigation is just right.

Amazon
Believe it or not, Amazon has a website that recognizes that you're accessing the site using your iPhone and comes back with a very usable interface. When I went to my local Barnes & Noble and they couldn't find a book that I wanted, I quickly navigated to Amazon.com with my iPhone and found it there. It's fast, simple and usable. I like.

Google Reader
Arguably one of the best web-based RSS feed readers online, Google Reader behaves remarkably well on the iPhone as well. I use it to keep up to date with the many news feeds that I follow all day long. Definitely a must have. If you'd like to make it look even prettier, check out David Cann's iPhonify script.

Bejeweled
I admit it, I wasted 2 hours this Sunday scoring 109,000 points with my best move being 3330. God bless Pop Cap for creating this gem (horrible pun). I do tend to fat-finger the jewels a little bit, more dextrous individuals will be just fine. This is the best game available to iPhone users to date that I'm aware of. If you'd rather play a game where you have to think, a close second would be iChess.

iPhoneMyeBay
It's getting closer to Christmas which means it's a great time to talk about custom apps used to make eBay's horrendous native UI more accessible. Enter what was once called iRibbit, but now known as iPhoneMyeBay.com. They make it easy to browse and find products, without all of the clutter found on eBay.com itself. It could use some design help, but it gets the job done nicely anyway.

Shoutouts:
Since this is an entirely subjective list, a few shoutouts go to some other apps that I don't use but hear are really good.

GoMovies
It's like having Fandango on your iPhone. A simple way to find movies showing in your area easily.

Twitterific
If you're a user of Twitter, there is no better site than Twitterific. It looks great and has simple navigation - not that anything in Twitter is hard... Anyway, it's one of those apps that you can't miss if you're into the "I'm eating now" kind of messaging scene.

iPhlickr
If you're a heavy user of Flickr, then this is the iPhone application for you. It's a great way to browse your Flickr images in an iPhone friendly UI.

--------------------

Erik Hersman
Erik is a web strategist and blogger at Zungu.com, and has been involved with web app development for real estate (eppraisal.com) and eBay (listd.com). He is also an avowed MindComet fan and can't wait to see all iPhone apps they have in development.

Labels: webapps