There’s an App for that!

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Post written by Steve Otto. Follow me on Twitter.

photo courtesy of Apple

There are a ton of applications you can download for your iPhone or iPod touch. I’ve tried my fair share of them and would like to suggest a few that have hung around on my iPhone. I’d love to hear your fav’s so be sure to post your app treasures in the comments below.

Get incredible real time weather forecast right at your fingertips. We found this extremely useful when we were on vacation in the Adirondacks. My wife was predicting to the minute when the sky would clear up or the rain would fall. Love the doppler feature where you can see the precipitation that’s passing over.

Quickly go to any scripture reference in just about any translation. And I mean any…say like Bulgarian, Czeck or Luther Bible 1545. Plus the basics of course, like NIV. Also features a daily read, bookmarks, and plenty of other contributions. Another one I’ve used is Mantis Bible Study. That has a ton of great notes features, but you have to purchase additional translations.

One of my favorite Pastors/Authors is Bill Hybels. This is a nice and simple app that provides me with a quick and easy devotional each day. Sometimes you’re on the run or it’s not convienent to have a devotional or Bible with you so his devotional offers some terrific nourishment. This devotional is focused on Courageous Faith. Starts off with a Scripture verse, his short message and a prayer.

Just came across this one recently so I haven’t used it a whole lot yet. But I’m loving how clean and useful the design is. Search for recipes by type (Dessert, Dinners, Lunches, Cocktails…) or by main ingredient. Also shows you reviews from others by what they rate it out of four forks, and how likely they would be to make it again. Once you select a recipe, you can email the shopping list to yourself or view it right on your iPhone.

Alright, this one’s pretty self explanatory. If you’re on Facebook, then you understand how valuable it is to have a terrific app right on your iPhone. Makes it easier to ignore those old high school friends who didn’t talk to back in HS but now want to be your Facebook friend. The news feed is very handy and satisfies your Facebook addiction until you can make it back to your iMac.

Alright, this is arguably best game ever. I love this game. Land several different types of airplanes on your choice of four different airfield designs. This game can easily burn up any amount of time when you don’t feel like getting your work done. Oh, and my max aircraft landed is currently at 183. I dare anyone to come close to that!

The only negative thing about this app is that it requires wifi. This app actually streams Film, Music and TV episodes. I haven’t really used it for Film because I don’t recognize the titles, but this app is worth downloading for one reason alone. I can watch the old G.I.Joe cartoons! You can also go right to Joost at Joost.com to view them, but it’s great to watch right on your iPhone. I thought you should know, because knowing is half the battle.

I used this for the first time at our Young Adult group last week. Apple’s Keynote is basic like powerpoint without being sucky. Keynote is awesome and what makes it even more awesome is being able to see and advance your slides right on your iPhone. I did notice some more expensive Keynote remote apps that offer a bit more, but this one is very sleek and works great.

If you are a MobileMe member then this app is a must. MobileMe is an entirely other article I’ll feature sometime in the near future, but one of it’s highlights is the iDisk – which is an online storage drive. View all of your documents on your iDisk quickly and easily with this app.

Flixter is one of those apps that provides a ton of information and is laid out very well. It automatically uses your current location to show you the theaters in your area so you can see what’s playing and when and even watch the trailer. See the Box Office stats and a list of upcoming videos and even see what is out on DVD.

I’ve heard many totally cool iPhone users say this is their favorite app. Pandora is another service that by itself its completely awesome, and having it on your iPhone gives you the same excitement that you had the night before your birthdays when you were a kid. Listen to your favorite style of music and you can even make your own stations. Works great if you already have an account online and can just login.

Another app I just came across recently. This is one of those things that some genius probably predicted would happen back in 1982. You actually use the iPhone’s camera to scan a barcode and it instantly brings up a list of stores where you can see the best pricing. Never overpay on a product again, unless of course you just can’t wait and your impulse nerves get the best of you.

This app definitely gets the coolest name award for what it does. Ever been out somewhere and you hear a song but don’t know the name or who sings it? Simply Tag Now with this app, and Shazam! It tells you the name of the song. It takes about 15 seconds to tag and analyze it and even gives you links to iTunes and YouTube for the song.

Twitter is the new Facebook. The most popular thing on facebook is the status updates and that is essentially what Twitter is. So of course there are a ton of Twitter Apps in the App Store. After trying out far too many, I found Tweetie to be the cleanest, most useful app. It’s nice and simple and does what it should very well. btw – Click the link on the right sidebar to follow me on Twitter.

Last but not least, Where is a terrific app that provides a ton of great features all in one program. Check out the weather, lowest gas prices, news, closest Starbucks, restaurant recommendation, community events, road construction, and movies all according to where you are right now. I heard recently that we take in more information in one day than someone who lived 200 years ago took in, in a lifetime. Let Where help you out with that.