TiPb iPhone App Store Picks of the Year
One year, 56,000 apps, and over a billion downloads later, Apple’s iTunes App Store for the iPhone and iPod touch celebrates its first birthday.
To mark the occasion, we’re taking our Picks of the Week, where a few of us from team TiPb, bloggers and forum crew alike, bring you our current favorite, funnest, most useful apps, and giant-sizing it to cover the whole year.
And what’s more — the editors from SPE network join us in picking their favorite iPhone and iPod touch apps of the year as well. Love. Up.
So what are our picks of the year? Find out after the break!
TiPb Staff Picks of the Year
Chad’s Pick: BeejiveIM
There are a lot of apps I could have chosen for this, but I think one of the biggest has to be Beejive. With the advent of Apple’s Push Notification service and the SPEED of the iPhone 3Gs, Multi-tasking Instant Messaging has become a thing of the past. This application is robust and very configurable. If you aren’t using software 3.0 you can even have Beejive send you emails when someone replies. You can also add custom backgrounds, colors and more. Oh, and it supports many services as well from AIM to Facebook. [$9.99 - iTunes link]
Chris’ Pick: MLB.com At Bat 2009
I mentioned this app in the podcast, and truthfully, this app gets used on almost a daily basis. For any baseball fan, it is a must have. Aside from a few missing features (like not listing league leaders, or more detailed stats pages) this app allows you to follow live audio broadcasts for any game, and even features live streaming video for a couple of games each day! For people who are not in the same market at their favorite team, this app is a must. Follow the game live, listen to it live, and watch video highlights. They have also begun offering a new feature – a quick (10 minutes or so) recap of the game with video highlights. [$9.99 - iTunes link]
Runners up: Flight Control [$0.99 - iTunes link], Texas Hold’em [$4.99 - iTunes link]
James’ Pick: Twittelator Pro
Twitter on the iPhone is like Peanut Butter and Jelly…they just work very well together. Twittelator Pro has all the features I need and them some. [ iTunes link]
Runners up: Peggle [$4.99 - iTunes link] and iTunes App Store App. [iTunes link]
Jeremy’s Pick: Pocket Tunes
Pocket Tunes gives you a ton of free radio and you have the ability to listen to everything Sirius XM has to offer including Howard Stern (with subscription) – unlike the watered down Sirius XM application. [$9.99 - iTunes link]
Runners up: BeejiveIM [$9.99 - iTunes link] and iTunes App Store App. [iTunes link]
Justin’s Pick: Shazam
One app I always have on my phone no matter what. It’s also led to me listening to music, tagging it, and buying it all on my iPhone! [Free - iTunes link]
Runner up: BeejiveIM [$9.99 - iTunes link]
Matt’s Pick: Brothers In Arms: Hour of Heroes
I know not everyone uses games, but this game is incredibly unique. I chose BIA mainly because I think it was the first application that showed what the iPhone was capable of processing. It also seemed to me that the controls are somewhat close to that of other FPS games. The uniques use of vocal narration accompanied by a significant amount of sound effects and multiple roles help make the user become fully immersed in the game. [$4.99 iTunes link]
Runners up: G-Map [$34.99 - iTunes link], MyWeather Mobile [$4.99 - iTunes link]
Rene’s Pick: Google Mobile App
Your bring it up to your ear, it activates, you speak, and it gives you results based not only on what you want, but where you are. There are glitzier apps in the store to be sure, more popular no doubt, but this was the first app that made me think it was time for Star Trek to start being jealous of us. “Computer!” indeed. [Free - iTunes link]
Runners up: Apple Remote [Free - iTunes link], Twitterrific 1.0 [Has been replaced by v2.0 - $3.99 - iTunes link]
Special Birthday Bonus: SPE Editor Picks of the Year
AndroidCentral.com Casey Chan’s Pick: Yelp.
You can always find a great place to eat or see the coolest places around you with yelp. Especially when you’re hungry and wandering the streets of San Francisco after Macworld =) [Free - iTunes link]
CrackBerry.com Kevin Michaluk’s Pick: F1 Timing – 2009 Starter Pass
It’s effing awesome. I actually hold my iPhone in my hand while watching the races on TV. we need this for BlackBerry! [$2.99 - iTunes link]
NokiaExpert.com Matt Miller’s Pick: Evernote
Evernote gives me a global tool (across all my devices, Mac, and PC) to capture all my thoughts. The recognition is absolutely amazing and you can take photos of all those post-its and find everything later. [Free - iTunes link]
Runners up: Pandora [Free - iTunes link] and AT&T Navigator [Free + subscription - iTunes link]
PreCentral.net/SPE Editor-in-Chief Dieter Bohn’s Pick: BeejiveIM
Stupendous IM support on multiple platforms, push notifications through an elegant workaround before push notifications were official, and not afraid to charge what the app is actually worth. [$9.99 - iTunes link]
Runner up: iTunes App Store App. [iTunes link]
WMExperts.com Phil Nickinson’s Pick: Tweetie
Most used for me. [$2.99 - iTunes link] [Phil totally broke format and actually listed a half dozen #1s, including Paper Toss. Wheels on the Bus. Koi Pond. Scribble - Rene] [Gimme a break. I've got a 3-year-old! - Phil]
Runners up: Facebook [Free - iTunes link]. Pocket Tanks [Free - iTunes link]
TheiPhoneblog.com Rene Ritchie’s Pick: App Store
No, I don’t really get a second pick at the app store, but in summation — and on behalf of everyone here at TiPb and the smartphone app ecosystem as a whole — I’d like to wish the iTunes App Store an APPY ANNIVERSARY. May you continue to grow in quality as you do in quantity, and may this year bring more changes to make all of our experience, developer and user, better and brighter.
Hopefully we ain’t seen nothing yet!
Your Pick?
You’re part of team TiPb too, so what’s your pick? What app was your Pick of the Year?
July 11th, 2009 at 11:39 am
Note: I picked Twitterrific 1.0 because it was the grandaddy of iPhone Twitter applications — though I use the peanut butter and chocolate analogy to cover the goodness of the mix. Lots of great Twitter clients now, but Twitterrific showed the way, and the potential.
Likewise, Apple Remote shows where iPhone plus other hardware/accessories can go. Should be an exciting year two!
And 1Password. I’ve said all I can about that before. Awesome security solution, and security is awesomely important.
July 11th, 2009 at 11:41 am
Matt Miller’s extended notes:
have a small music collection and Pandora lets me enjoy music across the spectrum everywhere I go. Apple needs to implement music push though for me to be truly happy.
As a father of three active soccer playing daugters I spend most weekends driving all over to games. With AT&T Navigator I can enter a months worth of destinations on my MBP that are sent to my iPhone for easy voice-guided navigation.
Chris Vitek’s extended notes:
Runner up #1: Texas Hold Em
This ia a beautiful Texas Hold Em poker app brought to you by Apple. With a reasonable AI, video interactions with the opponents, and an intuitive interface for playing (including pushing all of your chips in for “all in”), this is a fun game to play for anyone who likes poker and Texas Hold Em. They have no added a wide variety of characters, including people you can use to represent yourself. Add to the mix the ability to play against other online, and you havea kick *** Texas Hold ‘Em game – exactly what we would expect from Apple.
Runner up #2: Flight Control
Flight Control is another app I mentioned in the podcast. It takes a simple concept, and build a challenging game around it. In my mind, that is the hallmark of a good game. Added to the original are two new airports, and now the ability to play multiplayer via bluetooth, the game is even better! This game can be played over and over again, trying to be your own score
Matt Sawyer’s extended notes:
Having had G-Map West (or East) before the 3.0 update, I believed the application was very good, but with its recent update to include voice assisted navigation, it really put this one out in front. The application includes a significant amount of features that makes this application a great application. This application (any of the map sets) is a must for anyone with an iPhone3G (or 3GS) that travels any amount! $34.99 West: http://appshopper.com/link/g-map-us-west East: http://appshopper.com/link/g-map-us-east
MyWeather Mobile – MyWeather mobile has been one of the most helpful applications I have had. The application’s UI is simple and sleek and provides an easy basis for obtaining your weather info. The use of the “MyWeather” gets your location and the weather of where you are located at automatically. The application also has several graphs and trends. It also utilizes one of the best radar and motion satellite maps I have seen to hit the iTunes App Store! $4.99 http://appshopper.com/link/myweather-mobile-weather
July 11th, 2009 at 11:59 am
Check your image. The reflection is wrong.
July 11th, 2009 at 12:07 pm
Dictionary.com – There’s no denying this app is awesome! It has audio that speaks the word to you letting you know how to pronounce it. Word of the day and just the simple fact that a full and very useful dictionary is at your fingertips without the need for an internet or a cellular connection is fantastic!
Around Me – Definitely and app I use daily to look for anything! Use the search function and it acts like the Yellow Pages. I actually have on several occasions used this along with AirYell and WhitePages to search for things and usually this app will give the most accurate results. It’s also FREE!
WhitePages – For the simple fact that you can not only look for businesses, but also people. It’s really weird because if you try to look for people online, they charge you. This app is FREE.
Facebook – Yeah it needs an update bad, which we heard is coming, but this app without the improvements is a helluv an app! It has Chat inside it! It’s funny because people with other smartphones don’t seem to have the Facebook Chat intergration on their Facebook apps. FREE
Hero of Sparta – This is a great looking and playing game! Those of you who’re looking for a game that can truly utilize the iPhone’s CPU and make it seem like you’re really playing a handheld gaming device, look no further! At $0.99, this is one game you just shouldn’t pass up!
SPACE DEADBEEF – This little game may be repetitive but it sure the hell is challenging and it definitely shows you what can be done on the iPhone and iPod Touch… WOW! And it’s FREE!
Photogene – This is a great Photo app that allows you to edit, adjust and save or rotate photos when you’re not near your desktop computer. It’s a steal at $2.99.
AstroTilt by Jirbo – A fantastic game with 99 levels! I just can’t believe it’s FREE!
Stanza – eReader app that blows Kindle out of the box in my opinion. Actually, Kindle stole a few ideas from this app but what the Kindle app is missing is the desktop integration with the iPhone wherein you can add you’re own self-created documents to view without needing to pay anyone 1 red cent! Oh, and it’s FREE!
Galaga Remix – Lovers of Galaga, look no further! This app has got what you need – classic Galaga, which is harder than I remember and Galaga Remix, the game I prefer because it’s so damn fun! $4.99
PhoneFlix – Netflix app I use all the time when I’m on the go and I think of yet another movie to add to my queue. Awesome and it’s FREE!
Movies – Best movie finding app ever! I love surprising my friends by finding a movie and theater in addition to ordering tickets online with this app! It’s FREE also.
July 11th, 2009 at 12:13 pm
fieldrunners, brothers in arms, tweetie, myspace, aim, and textfree
July 11th, 2009 at 12:20 pm
Assassin’s Creed Altair’s Chronicles Free! – All I can really say is WOW! This game looks damn good on the iPhone and I actually doubted a game could look this good. FREE
July 11th, 2009 at 12:22 pm
i havent had the iphone for very long, but my picks would be ATT navigator and Docs to Go. i had both of these on my bold, and now on the iphone, the experience is great!
July 11th, 2009 at 12:28 pm
USA Today- Great app for keeping up with the news, never gets enough credit as the AP app is always more popular.
Flycast, Pandora, and AOL Radio- all great music streaming apps that first showed the potential of streaming media to the iPhone. Still use all three almost daily.
July 11th, 2009 at 12:32 pm
LOSE IT! – A perfect app for tracking your weight, caloric intake, nutritional data, exercise and meal portions. Has goal setting and graphs for the day, week and previous weeks. Also includes a huge selection of supermarket, restaurant and general foods with data already calculated. You can even cutomize recipes and add foods and exercises.
WEBMD – An excellent mobile version of the full website, which includes a symptom checker that provides possible causes for the way you have been feeling! This is great for knowing what to discuss with your doctor.
NOTEBOOK – Superb app for keeping miscellaneous to specific information. Categorization, font editing/customization, and password protection for specific notes and/or folders are all included. Notes can be synced with ToodleDo and your pc. Notes can also be shared or emailed.
REPAIR PAL – Useful and informative app which gives estimates on specific car repairs based on model, year, make of car and location. Also includes tips and key information related to the selected repair; ie. why it happens, what to look for, options for repair, etc.
BLOOMBERG and CNNMONEY – Both apps equally beneficial when looking for financial news and stock quotes, as well as the latest info on the economy, technology, health care, politics, etc. Both apps allow tracking of your own stocks.
PEGGLE and JEWELQUEST – Both apps are equally fun for killing time and represent excellent mobile versions of the original games. Primary benefit is the playability; there are so many levels and the game format itself promotes repeated play.
July 11th, 2009 at 12:41 pm
I actually really like Distant Shores and Facebook the most. I’m a facebook addict so im always checking updates and now with push notifications my life is better. Distant shore is just addicting and fun. Shazam is used on a daily, almost hourly basis. Bejeweled is what I play when I am bored or other times when I don’t feel like doing anything.
I have 5 pages of apps(not including the home screen). I use most, but a lot of them are from Cydia
July 11th, 2009 at 12:42 pm
IM+ Nuff said.
July 11th, 2009 at 12:50 pm
As this is all a bit iPhone-centric let me add an app that is particularly usefull for us iPod Touch users. OffMaps allows you you save maps before you go out so you don’t need to be online while trying to find your way in unfamiliar surroundings.
I like to dabble with music so FourTrack has been great to not down ideas and to work on harmonies. Rebot is a fun synth and is great for keeping bored kids entertained.
Games I like include Fieldrunners and we are always playing Scrabble in front of the telly, especially when the TV schedule is a bit slow.
I love racing games and tried and rejected quite a few, but Real Racing seems to point at even better games to come in the future. Surprisingly it was the old arcade game Pole Position that kept pole position actual useage. Slotz is also quite addictive and fun to play.
I am now organising my life with ToDo and when we have guests I always keep the iTunes remote available so guests can pick their own tunes.
Weirdest app I keep: RjDj, which is simply a range of effects that manipulate whatever sounds are coming in through the microphone. Great if like me you enjoy sitting in an echo chamber every now and again
July 11th, 2009 at 12:55 pm
Today is also my parents’ anniversary. Appy anniversary to both of them!
July 11th, 2009 at 1:00 pm
Pandora, Tweetie, Facebook, Safari
July 11th, 2009 at 1:21 pm
Things because there’s no to do app and it functions like one that Apple would build and syncs wirelessly to the Mac.
All of the Twitter apps are great and make the platform a need as opposed to a novelty. Can’t wait until they have Push Notifications – I’m mostly looking for a badge than a sound or visual notice.
News apps like the Wall St Journal and USA Today for giving out for free what would normally cost a good amount of cash.
Facebook and like Twitter I’m looking forward to Push Notifications. LinkedIn just misses because it is a bit short on the feature set that would get me to use it every day in the iPhone. I use it every day on the web.
Don’t get me started on games because I have too many as it is.
July 11th, 2009 at 1:38 pm
Galcon. Very addictive multiplayer risk type game.
Bejeweled 2
Kindle
July 11th, 2009 at 2:09 pm
I’m not sure whether anyone is a light aircraft pilot but pilotwizz is just awesome. It’s a free app that does all the calculations you do on the wizz wheel crp-1. Brilliant app and all free.
July 11th, 2009 at 3:13 pm
My picks are: AIM, Facebook, Tweetie, Pandora, Rolando, Peggle, What’s On?, and Tap Tap Revenge 2. The iPhone proved in a year that it is a fantastic platform for developers to make our lives simpler as well as entertain.
July 11th, 2009 at 3:31 pm
I like AIM, Remote, TwitterFon, ESPN and Movies/Flixster. Basically, I like free stuff. I use all but the last one pretty much daily.
But hey, wasn’t there supposed to be a Meebo app coming out with 3.0? Any news on that? AIM is okay, but I’d like to sign into gchat with push too.
July 11th, 2009 at 3:33 pm
Pandora hands down. It’s nothing saving a lot of money on timeless music.
Fieldrunner
iMobsters
Safari
July 11th, 2009 at 4:20 pm
Pocket God is my favorite iPHone time waster app…
As far a you guys choosing the App store, that is a business, the actual app would need to be made into a push app to notify me of updates for me to choose that one. I still wonder why Apple did not make this a push notification app, does push have limitations and would the app store pushes crash down the notification system as we know it?
July 11th, 2009 at 4:20 pm
I have to say, even choosing two or three apps was difficult. I could have easily chosen ten apps of the year. In contention were Tweetie, Car Care,Tiger Woods PGA Tour, 1Password (especially now with Cut and Paste), Facebook, and a couple of others.
July 11th, 2009 at 4:22 pm
I may also choose Facebook app once the new version is released, and I must also add that Apple’s remote app does an amazing job with AppleTV controls… And also iTunes control it’s not bad…
July 11th, 2009 at 5:05 pm
StarDefense Showtime eBay
July 11th, 2009 at 5:43 pm
Fieldrunners. Period. It brought [and still brings] out the child in me and every one of my friends. Facebook. TTR. TTR2. Leaf Trombone. Moron test. Dare I say it Sims3? Apart from the bugs/glitches/crashes sims3 is okay. FML is another good app.
July 11th, 2009 at 7:50 pm
iCall.
July 11th, 2009 at 7:51 pm
AOL RADIO
July 11th, 2009 at 9:10 pm
Fieldrunners SportsTap Digits Midomi SnapTell Flick Fishing Emoji Icons Bump Fandango & Flixster Classics & Kindle Tetris
July 11th, 2009 at 9:10 pm
Working in the IT field, I have to say Logmein Ignition. Amazing product that I used regularly to reset user accounts in my AD, check backups and even gives me the ability just to quick glance to see that my servers are online.
Slacker Radio and Kindle get the most use.
July 11th, 2009 at 10:47 pm
Facebook, Twitterrific, and ESPN.
July 11th, 2009 at 11:39 pm
DAYLITE TOUCH.
July 12th, 2009 at 2:11 am
I think people have forgotten the real star of the app store because it was one of the first:
Jared
July 12th, 2009 at 3:54 am
That’s a tough one, but I’d have to pick Distant Suns, by that Mike Smithwick character. Clearly one of the best and neatest programs in the store, able to show you the night sky no matter what time it is or where you are. Ignore all of those other astronomy programs. Distant Suns and the companion, Grand Tour, are just totally cool.
July 12th, 2009 at 6:55 am
TV Plus, 1 Password, and Movies have got to be my top three.
July 12th, 2009 at 10:43 am
Maps – so many times, this has got me where I needed to go or found what I wanted Real Racing – Best racing game for the iphone Craigly – Best Craigslist app NYTimes – now that the bugs are less, great way to read news Brushes – See the work on flickr to really understand what this can do Pandora – beats my ipod cause I can’t afford all that music, wish it could run in bkgd MotionGPS – Getting out and walking, biking or even car trips is more fun now
July 12th, 2009 at 12:58 pm
Best applications I’ve come across so far: Simplify, Prowl, Tweetie, Facebook, iFitness, Flixster, Remote, and WikiTap.
If we want to include Cydia picks, I’d go on a limb and say that Backgrounder is THE best. However, BossPrefs is really great, too.
July 12th, 2009 at 2:13 pm
Cool
July 12th, 2009 at 3:31 pm
You people are all on crack…
No mention of Pee Monkey Toilet Trainer ANYWHERE?!?
What do you guys do with your iPhones?? Mature stuff??
July 12th, 2009 at 3:54 pm
Star defense!!!
July 12th, 2009 at 5:08 pm
Flight Control. Hands down the best game for the iPhone. This is the only app/game I wish was available on a regular computer.
July 12th, 2009 at 5:45 pm
I would pick Galcon and Beejive. Galcon is the only polished warcraft/starcraft style online multiplayer RTS. You start with one base, and you have to decide whether to rush, expand, build up at your home planet, ect., and you have to do it fast. Also, now with push, beejive is just an amazing messenger.
July 12th, 2009 at 8:29 pm
Pandora, Text Plus, Slacker, Skype
July 13th, 2009 at 2:46 am
I play an embarrassing amount of Drop 7 – it’s a puzzle game. Also love Evernote and TweetDeck. Picked up a new music app named Jamble that’s taking up a lot of my time too, mashing up cool music is a surprisingly addictive passtime.
July 13th, 2009 at 10:58 am
Gotta say I love MLB at Bat 2009. Being a huge baseball fan, this app has made keeping tabs on my favorite team extrordinarily easy. With the added video (since my team is “out of market”) I can occasionally even watch streaming video of my team on my phone.
Shazzam also is awesome. Nothing better then hearing a tune and being able to near instantly identify it (w/ video links / lyrics etc.) from anywhere.
July 31st, 2009 at 4:06 pm
I like Peggle and Mafia Wars and Rolando 1 and 2 and Pocket God and AndMaster and the Moron Test and Doddle Kids and Randy and Kisstester and Id App That and Dumps and Shi No Numa and Pie and Castle Defense and VV2
July 31st, 2009 at 4:07 pm
Austen the homo Says:
July 31st, 2009 at 4:06 pm
I like Peggle and Mafia Wars and Rolando 1 and 2 and Pocket God and AndMaster and the Moron Test and Doddle Kids and Randy and Kisstester and Id App That and Dumps and Shi No Numa and Pie and Castle Defense and VV2 and looking at men and *** porn and nude dicks and *** town chicago and big fat cute dogs!
July 31st, 2009 at 4:08 pm
Austen the homo Says:
July 31st, 2009 at 4:07 pm
Austen the homo Says:
July 31st, 2009 at 4:06 pm
I like Peggle and Mafia Wars and Rolando 1 and 2 and Pocket God and AndMaster and the Moron Test and Doddle Kids and Randy and Kisstester and Id App That and Dumps and Shi No Numa and Pie and Castle Defense and VV2 and looking at men and G@y porn and nude dicks and g@y town chicago and big fat cute dogs!
July 31st, 2009 at 4:08 pm
Austen the homo Says:
July 31st, 2009 at 4:08 pm
Austen the homo Says:
July 31st, 2009 at 4:07 pm
Austen the homo Says:
July 31st, 2009 at 4:06 pm
I like Peggle and Mafia Wars and Rolando 1 and 2 and Pocket God and AndMaster and the Moron Test and Doddle Kids and Randy and Kisstester and Id App That and Dumps and Shi No Numa and Pie and Castle Defense and VV2 and looking at men and G@y porn and nude dicks and g@y town chicago and big fat cute dogs and Raping boys!
January 29th, 2010 at 6:02 pm
This web site is actually quite sophisticated, but for some reason it does not display properly when trying to view on my Nintendo Wii. If it helps, the console uses the Opera browser and am forced to using the console for accessing the Internet whilst my PC is away being repaired.