My Top 5 iPhone Apps

Timothy Ferriss (@tferriss), author of “The 4-Hour Work Week” and “The 4-Hour Body” recently Tweeted: 

Just bought the iPhone to learn the ropes. What are your top 5 must-have apps? #5apps

Good question. I’m an app pack-rat. I’ve got apps strictly for work – Dropbox and Fastcase. I use Recorder Pro when I want to compose orally or commit something to memory. I use the HeyTell walkie-talkie-like app rather than texting when I’m driving.

I have many music apps – Shazam, and of course iTunes – and listen to radio stations (both local and way out of range) on WunderRadio.  I still listen to our FastForward Radio podcast on the pseudo-app I came up with awhile back.

I use several eBook readers including eReader, iBooks, and PDFReader.

Fandango, Redbox, DirecTV, and Netflix help me keep up with TV and Film.

I shop via the Amazon, Soap.com, CraigsPro+, and eBay apps.

More than once I’ve used my phone when helping out with the Boy Scouts: Accuterra Unlimited (for trail maps), What Knot to do (for knot tying), Compass, and Flashlight.

And the games go on and on: ArcadeBowl, GalagaRemix, Glyder, Osmos (via Tobias Buckell’s recommendation), Wolfenstein 3D, Cut the Rope, Rollercoaster, Scrabble, Geared, Bubble Ball (an addictive game written by a kid), Pinball HD, Risk, The Simpsons Arcade Game, Tiger Woods Golf, Angry Birds, Sudoku, Tetris, Mrs. PacMan, Flight Control, Crash Kart, Mirror’s Edge, and Tiny Wings is a new favorite.

I have several diet and exercise apps: iFitness, Carb Diet, the South Beach Diet, and Tim Ferriss’ own “4 Hour App.”

I keep up with the news via the Drudge Report’s app and, of course, the Safari browser.

But if I had to give all that up for settle for just five? First, I’ll eliminate those apps that come preloaded on the phone. Safari is THE killer app, but I’m not counting it or iTunes/iPod or the built-in Text Message app. I’m also not thinking about the camera (which I use daily).

Here, in no particular order, are my top five:

• Twitter
• Facebook
• Pandora
• The Weather Channel
• Kindle

The remarkable thing – all five of these were free.