15 Must-Have Apps For New iPhone Users
It’s highly expected within the technological world that the iPhone 5 will be released within the coming weeks. If you’re one of the millions of people eagerly anticipating the release, you’re probably wondering what sort of apps are available that most iPhone users can’t live without. If you’ve just bought an iPhone, your first question will be “Which apps should I install on my new iPhone?” So we went through hundreds of apps and came out with an essential collection of iPhone apps. These apps include social experience, games, entertainment, music and photography, lifestyle and on the go iPhone apps. Check out this collection of 15 apps we feel are essential to the iPhone experience.
The Social Experience
One of the greatest things about the iPhone experience is that it allows you to stay connected to family and friends no matter where you are. Social apps are a core experience for iPhone users, so maintaining the best apps on your phone for updating your status is a must for any serious smartphone user.
With over 750 million users across the globe, it’s more than likely that you spend more than a few hours a day checking your friend’s pages and status updates. Now you can update your own status, upload geo-tagged pictures to all your albums, and check-in to let everyone know what you’re doing. The Facebook app provides push notifications as well, so you’ll never miss an important update.
While Twitter hasn’t really gained the traction that Facebook has in the social world, it still plays a vital role in keeping people connected and helping them spread news for local and global events. With the Twitter for iPhone app, you can take all of your followers messages with you and still update them on what’s going on in your life, including the ability to share articles from other apps and upload geo-tagged pictures to your account.
Bump
Bump provides a great way to share just about anything with someone right next to you. Instead of emailing or texting that picture, two users of Bump can simply tap their phones together to receive the file. This revolutionary way of sharing things with others within close proximity has made it into other important apps too, including PayPal. While bump technology exists for other apps, Bump is the only official app that lets you share pictures and files with a quick tap.
Skype
Skype is a quick and easy way to make calls using VoIP service. The initial service is free and talking to 150 million Skype users either on their computers or on their mobiles is free as well, but Skype also offers some of the most competitive rates for calling in the industry. Users can purchase Skype credit to make calls or send texts, or they can opt for a monthly plan that will allow them to do the same. Plans start as low as $2.99 and users can even purchase a Skype number that can make and receive calls separately from the iPhone number.
Foursquare
Foursquare is like Twitter rolled up into a game. If you find yourself frequenting several venues each day, you can check-in and update your status on Foursquare, letting your friends on Twitter and Facebook know where you are. With Foursquare, you earn badges for checking in and if you check in enough times, you can become the mayor of a location. It’s a fun way to know where everyone is and a way to compete with friends over popular venues to see who checks in the most.
Games
The iPhone has hundreds of thousands of games for you to download and try, but the quintessential experience that has defined how mobile games are played is Angry Birds.
Angry Birds
Currently the game features over 200 custom tailored levels of bird flinging, pig smashing action that will both frustrate and delight gamers. The app is updated regularly with new levels of varying difficulty, so even if you finish the game as it is today, you’ll have something to look forward to in the future.
Entertainment
Staying entertained while out and about is an easy task with an iPhone. Check out these apps that make it easy to consume all forms of digital media.
Netflix
Netflix is a recent addition to the AppStore that allows you to take advantage of your Netflix streaming subscription no matter where you are. You’ll be able to watch all the movies and TV shows available on the Netflix network, which makes Netflix a great app to have on long car rides or commutes to and from work. The only downside is the app can consume huge amounts of data, so being careful with your consumption is necessary if you’re on a limited plan.
Instapaper
Instapaper is a read it later function that works not only for your iPhone, but other devices as well. In the middle of reading an article before you realize it’s time to head out the door? Hit the ‘Read Later’ button on your Mac and instantly pick up where you left off on your iPhone once you’re settled in on the Subway. All web content can be saved to be read later through the simple creation of an account that will sync all of your devices.
Music & Photography
Pandora
Pandora is a music lover’s best friend. Once you sign up, you can input any artist or song you enjoy and through the magic of the music genome, the Pandora radio app will recommend new music based on your preferences. You can like and dislike songs, skip them, and even favorite them to tell the station you’d like to hear more. Pandora is free with ads for a certain number of hours per month, but users can pay a small subscription and listen as much as they want, ad-free.
Instagram is a fast and fun way to share pictures with your friends and family. Snapping a picture with the app will then allow you to choose several filters to further capture the mood of the scene before sending it to everyone you know on Flickr, Facebook, or Twitter. The app is completely free to use and is a photographer’s dream come true for snapping the perfect photos, every time.
Lifestyle
SpringPad
If you’ve ever had a really bright idea spring up in your head, only to be forgotten before you could write it down, then SpringPad is the app for you. SpringPad lets you take notes and organize them neatly, so you’re never without a place to jot down everything you need to rememebr for later. Lists and notes are all organized according to their content and you can even share your notes with friends.
Lose It!
Losing weight is one of the hardest things many people aspire to do. Whether it’s dropping a few pounds or setting a full on exercise regimen to get yourself into shape, Lose It! can help. Lose It! works as a motivator for weight loss as it tracks your progress by advising you on weigh ins, letting you see how much weight you’ve lost and allowing you to keep track of whether or not you’ve been eating healthy meals. Lose It! is also a social program, since you can share your progress with your friends to get further motivation to continue dropping those extra pounds. And if you’re fitness freak then you should check our list of best iPhone fitness apps.
On The Go
The Weather Channel
There’s nothing worse than being caught in a storm you didn’t know was brewing. With the Weather Channel app, you can quickly check the weather in your area, see the extended forecast, and know of any sudden changes that could happen throughout the day.
AroundMe
AroundMe is a great service discovery app similar to Yelp! that will allow you to find nearby venues, restaurants, hotels, just about anything a person could be looking for. You can share these locations with your friends as well as rate your experience with the venue so others know how pleased or displeased you are with their service. AroundMe is location discovery at its finest.
Word Lens
If you find yourself traveling in a foreign country a lot, then Word Lens is the perfect app. It allows you to capture images of words in a foreign language and translate them to your own on the fly. The app is still in development and the only translations available are English to Spanish and back again, but the technology laid out could potentially make it possible for users to travel in foreign countries without a guide.
This list of must have apps for new iPhone is not exhaustive. We intend to add any other apps we might have missed. If that is the case then please let us know your favorite app in comments which you want to be added in this list. We’ll gratefully add them.
