Type “Twitter” in the app Store search bar and you will find page after page of apps, apps with integration, apps that convert voice to tweets, apps for image posting and searching, apps that only update your status and don’t show you anything else at all, apps for this and apps for that. However, when you break it down, Twitter app users typically fall into one of two categories: users of the official Twitter app and users of popular third party solution, TweetDeck. Which one is the right one for you? Well, we guess that really depends.

Twitter (Free)

Humble beginnings are the story of this official app. Once upon a time, developer atebits put out what was far and away the best looking third-party Twitter app, Tweetie, complete with desktop version. What was so beautiful about Tweetie was that it looked like something Apple itself might have come up with if Apple had made Twitter apps.

Sleek, polished, Tweetie was too tempting, and when Twitter’s growth exploded, they bought atebits and turned the third-party legit. Some developers cried foul (fowl?), worrying that Twitter’s embrace of an official app would render them obsolete.

Side by Side User Tweet and Portrait Comparison

Not quite. While Twitter’s official app is incredibly dominating in the mobile sphere, there are still new apps every day that come along (think Flipboard) that harness Twitter and use it for entirely novel reading experiences. Showing up in iPad and iPhone flavors (with no plans for developing a desktop version — after all, they argue, there’s the web), Twitter is about as slick and as polished an app as you’re likely to see.

White Space Cropped To Show Tools

With your accounts to the left in a tool bar that includes your timeline, mentions of you, lists you’ve created, direct messages, and search, Twitter for iPad puts everything at your fingertips there on the page. In fact, the app was so well-designed that the web version mimics its wide and thin column style to put as much information at your disposal as is aesthetically pleasing to do so. Tap on a link and the web page referenced slides out from the right. Slide your finger across the screen to the right to push this “drawer” effect back.

Drawers slide out

On the iPhone, this sliding effect moves the whole screen, but it’s smooth and quick with navigation buttons up top and various option controls down below. Twitter for iPhone also pioneered the now ubiquitous “Pull down to refresh” feature used everywhere (including our own beloved iPhone app).

One of the features we grew to love with our Twitter for the iPhone was the use of the Instapaper Mobilizer. This rendered links posted on Twitter into their Instapaper equivalent, stripped of ads and everything else, making pages load super fast. While the iPad version doesn’t include that as a possibility, the large screen and speedy processor does make page rendering fast enough that it’s not terribly inconvenient. Plus, on every page that opens in Twitter there are buttons at the bottom and at the top. Top butons give you Twitter specific commands such as translate, email a tweet, etc., while the bottom button gives you more external options including sending the article to your Instapaper account or opening the link in Safari.

Instapaper Mobilized and Sending

Plus, by not using the Instapaper mobilizer, YouTube videos appear and play, links, in all their glory, show up, and Twitter just continues to look beautiful. Were we to make one minor change, we’d rather go back to seeing just posted photos and not the entirety of the Twitpic (or other) page. But that’s a tiny quibble.

TweetDeck (Free)

TweetDeck for iPad has the distinct honor of being one of the very few apps that is actually more feature rich in the iPhone version than in the iPad. The most surprising missing feature in TweetDeck for iPad is Facebook integration. While the iPhone version has had this for just about forever, it is nowhere to be found on the iPad. This is something of a puzzler, as we just said, because most iPad apps tend to take advantage of the power, speed, and bigger screen on the iPad to deliver far more than the iPhone allows. Yet users have been complaining of the lack for quite some time now with no resolution in sight.

Not That There Weren’t Problems

Another peculiarity of TweetDeck for iPad was how user profiles were only available in the portrait orientation. Turn your iPad to landscape and no matter what you do, user profiles are unobtainable. Even the button for searching profiles grays out and is unusable. The iPhone version, since it only allows reading in portrait orientation, of course has no such issues. Tap on a tweet and a dedicated page opens with snippets of information about the user. Tap the top bar and you are taken to another screen that allows you to see all sorts of information as well as reply, DM, or block the user.

Where’s My User Info?

What is the slickest part of TweetDeck is its column feature. On the iPhone, you pop out of one of your various columns and slide all of them across the screen to access another column. However, when doing this, the columns are not interactive. On the iPad, you slide columns side to side to move between certain pre-defined ones and ones you can create, and you can scroll each column up and down its specific timeline. Supposedly you should be able to sync these columns across devices if you have a TweetDeck account, though we were unable to get this to work.

Sliding Between Columns

Another nice feature offered by TweetDeck but not by Twitter was the ability to send messages simultaneously from multiple accounts. While the official Twitter app does allow for multiple accounts, as does nearly every app out there, power users and those in charge of corporate accounts as well as business related and personal ones, will find that TweetDeck offers a much easier way to share across accounts. One tap to start a message, another tap or two to add accounts, then type away, while in Twitter, you must write the message, tap and hold to get Select All, then copy, then open the other accounts one at a time, tap and paste in the New Tweet box.

For drafts of tweets, TweetDeck will save them, but only the most recent tweet, while Twitter allows you stash multiple drafts away for later use. A nice theoretical feature offered by the TweetDeck for iPhone version is a small toolbar right above your keyboard including a button to immediately switch into landscape mode if you’re something of a chubby-fingered typist. Switching back to portrait, however, made this toolbar disappear, leaving a blank white bar on our screen. We hope that’s something TweetDeck is aware of and is working out in a bug fix update. Also, should you switch apps in the middle of writing a tweet (in either version), expect it to be gone when you get back, while Twitter does manage to retain your compose screen.

White Space Where a Toolbar Was

TweetDeck did crash more often than Twitter’s official app did — which was never — and most often when we tried to manipulate the screen while it was loading all our tweets. However, it does come in more flavors than official Twitter including the iPhone, iPad, a new Chrome web app, and an Adobe Air version (as well as Android).

Finale in Three Tweets:

TweetDeck wins the customizability battle easily and columns (if they work) are a great idea. Syncing will be awesome when fixed. Great app.

Twitter is beautiful, easy to use, has nice integration with Instapaper for caching things for later, and offers the best stability of both.

Someone create a mashup of these two that brings the best of both together. Until that day we’ll award the prize to Twitter, just barely.

[Source Maclife]

Since we’re at that point in the year when we’re offering offering predictions and hopes regarding what’s to come, here’s a list of must-have features in iPad 2.

Some things we can be fairly certain of. Storage capacities will increase while prices (particularly for the entry-level model) will decrease. Battery life will probably improve, and the iPad chassis may well get even thinner (more on that later). A new talking-heads video will also be streamed from Apple’s website, featuring an ever-increasingly-earnest Jonny Ive declaring the iPad 2 is even more elegant and magical than its elegant, magical predecessor.

Magic is nice, but all users really care about are the feature and usability upgrades, and these are the ones that would most benefit the iPad 2.

Improved Display

I don’t mean a retina display, either. The resolution on the current iPad is just fine, thank you. Brighter, higher contrast, more colors and a wider viewing angle would be just swell.

Integrated SD Card Reader

MacBooks now have them, and the iPad seems a natural next candidate for a built-in SD card reader. The SD card reader Apple sells as part of its camera connection kit always seemed like an inelegant solution. (Its boxy white plastic lines look cheap next to the iPad’s aluminum shell.) Personally, I’d prefer to be able to beam photos from my DSLR to the iPad wirelessly, but a feature like that is even less likely to appear than an integrated reader.

A USB Port

I’m putting this here not because I genuinely want it, you understand, but because, apparently, everyone else does. Seriously, I’ve never wanted to connect anything to the iPad via USB. Nothing. Ever. I can see maybe wanting to plug a camera in directly instead of using its SD card, since it saves steps, but that’s about it. Feel free to illuminate me further on why a USB port on the iPad is a good idea in the comments.

Cameras and FaceTime

I’m not a fan of shaky-cam video calling, but I am a fan of devices that offer a complete audio/visual experience. FaceTime on iPhone 4 is stunning but a little gimmicky – on iPad it would be usable enough to make me want every chat to be a Facetime chat. More importantly, it would be like living in Star Trek, which would be cool.

iLife for iOS

Making iWork touch-friendly was an incredible achievement, and the quality and functionality of Pages, Numbers and Keynote on iPad just gets better and better with each update. Imagine, then, how toe-curlingly-awesome iLife could be on the iPad! Editing and sharing photos with a few swipes and finger-taps would be child’s play, while iMovie and Garage Band feel like they’ve been designed for touch since day one.

Thinner, Lighter, Stronger

I did promise I’d get to this one, and, if I’m really honest, I think this one is the most crucial upgrade Apple can make to iPad. Don’t get me wrong; the iPad is gorgeous. The iPad is practical. But the iPad is also heavy. If you don’t have a stand or empty lap available, cradling the thing in one arm soon starts to feel like hard work. I don’t doubt that Apple explored plastic versions of iPad (and perhaps, in keeping with the evolution of the iPhone, a plastic-bodied iPad is on the way) and I don’t deny that the current aluminum chassis provides for exceptional strength and rigidity. But so, too, could carbon fibre composite, without the arm-strain.

Side-Mounted Dock Connector

Speaks for itself, this one. A side-mounted dock connector won’t just make it possible to dock, sync and charge iPad in landscape orientation, but will also increase the range of design possibilities for third-party products. The problem, of course, is that it would mean yet another cavity in the otherwise unbroken lines of the device. I’m not sure Mr Jobs would tolerate that.

3G Radio As Standard

Since the second-generation iPhone, every iPhone has featured a 3G radio. That makes sense for a phone, but it also makes sense for a portable computer that relies heavily on cloud-based data to get things done. We don’t live in a Wi-Fi everywhere world (yet), so including a 3G chip as a standard feature of every model of iPad seems perfectly reasonable. Oh, and, I’d very much like it to be free 3G, too. Surely AT&T won’t have a problem with that, will they?

User Profiles

This is something that would never make sense on a device as small and personal as a cell phone. But despite what some people might say, the iPad is far more than an overgrown cell phone. I don’t know about you, but I can’t afford to buy an iPad for every member of my family. Until I can, password protected user profiles would make iPad sharing far less stressful; I wouldn’t have to worry about my five-year old godson accidentally mucking-up my calendar entries, or deleting emails… while my partner could play games without wiping out my top-scores. I’m sure Apple would prefer we all just buy an iPad each, but that’s not likely to happen any day soon, unless prices come way, way down.

So there you have a few humble suggestions for iPad 2. I honestly struggled to find areas needing improvement, and consider that an indicator of the attention to detail Apple paid the first time around. I’d love to know what you think needs to improve, but as you leave your suggestions in the comments, here’s a challenge to bear in mind; avoid suggesting changes to the iOS software unless they’re game-changers for the iPad alone.

Google recently updated the mobile version of Google Docs for the iPad to allow editing while on-the-go, however, it wasn’t as full-featured as you may have hoped. Today, however, you can access the full Desktop version of Google Docs right from Safari on your iPad. In this how to, we’ll show you how you can enable this desktop version for all of your document editing needs.

The mobile version of Google Docs provides very basic editing of your documents, while the desktop version of Google Docs is great for more advanced document editing (such as changing the font color, text size, etc.).

To switch to the Desktop version of Google Docs, scroll to the bottom of any page and press the Desktop link under the text labeled “View Google Docs in:”

When you do this, a new window will open saying, “The browser you’re using may not support all features of the desktop version of Google Docs.” Press the Continue to desktop version link to load the desktop version.

Once in the desktop version, you can open any of your documents, or create new ones. The desktop version even works for editing spreadsheets.

Google Docs now looks to be a viable option for people looking at the iWork suite, but have been put off by the pricing. Google Docs is free to anyone with a Google account.

Despite mixed reviews and a version of Android “not optimized” for tablets, Samsung sold 600,000 Galaxy Tabs in its first month, and recently claimed to have sold a million. If Steve Jobs isn’t concerned by those numbers, he should be. It was a just over a year ago the Motorola Droid launched with Android on Verizon’s network, and we all know how that turned out for iPhone market share.

Setting aside the expected iPad 2 improvements, a faster CPU, more memory and storage, cameras, Apple needs to look at what the competition is doing today and tomorrow. With a yearly release schedule, Apple needs to match the Android tablets of 2012 in 2011, but first needs to look at 2007.

Past Mistakes and future Connectivity

The first step in preventing Android world domination of tablets is not to repeat mistakes made with the iPhone. In 2007, Apple launched the 8GB iPhone at $599, only to drop the price $200 two months later. In 2010, the iPad launched the 16GB Wi-Fi iPad for $499, and nine months later competitors like Samsung are struggling to match that price point with smaller tablets. Lesson learned, Apple.

Unfortunately, Apple is still learning the hard way about carrier exclusivity, since the iPhone is still exclusive in countries like the U.S., though that’s expected to change soon. Likewise, the iPad 3G only works out of the box with AT&T, though this is mitigated by mobile wireless routers which allows the Wi-Fi version to theoretically use any network. An extra dongle, however, is a very un-Apple solution. In contrast, the Galaxy Tab is available on all four major U.S. carriers with built-in connectivity.

Apple needs to match that kind of accessibility and take it a step further, making 3G standard on every iPad sold. If this can’t be done without raising prices, the increase should be minimized, as market share matters more than margins with a new platform like tablets. Let Samsung try to compete with a $529 3G iPad that works with any wireless data provider.

Size Matters

At the last conference call, Steve Jobs attempted to dismiss tablets with 7-inch screens as being unable to “compete with iPads.” Nearly a million Galaxy Tab owners would seem to disagree. Jobs also asserted there were “clear limits” on how small and close elements could be on a display, and yet more than a hundred million iPod touch and iPhone owners seem to be doing just fine.

What Jobs should have said was, “a 7-inch iPad would put downward pressure on iPod touch and iPhone prices, and we don’t want that.” Nonetheless, Apple needs a 7-inch iPad to undercut an expected deluge of Android competitors, perhaps at $349 for an 8GB model, $399 for 16GB. If it becomes necessary to to sell the 8GB, 16GB, and 32GB iPod touch at $199, $249, and $299, then so be it. The Galaxy Tab has already proven 7-inch tablets sell, and the RIM PlayBook is next. A 7-inch iPad would provide a smaller, lighter iOS alternative, and one that should be more than price competitive with Google and RIM offerings.

Flash Compromises

If it seems difficult for Steve Jobs to put out a 7-inch tablet after dismissing them, that’s nothing compared to allowing Flash on iOS tablets. Steve Jobs has said Flash hurts battery life and performance, causes crashes and has security issues, but if Flash is so terrible, then why not make it incompatible with OS X?

It’s because Flash is expected on a “traditional” computer. On handhelds and tablets, Apple hopes to keep such expectations from ever developing. That seems unlikely. Flash is or will be everywhere, except iOS. Can you imagine people switching from PCs to Macs and finding out Flash doesn’t work and there’s nothing to be done about it? That’s what will increasingly be happening with handhelds and tablets as they become just another computer.

iPad Independence

The iPad needs a computer, a proprietary cable, and iTunes for syncing content and software updates. The Galaxy Tab at least can do OTA updates, though it still requires a cable with a proprietary 30-pin connector for some syncing. Presumably, webOS tablets from HP will be more advanced OTA devices in 2011, as will future Android tablets. This is where Apple really needs to go with the iPad, making it a computer unto itself. If a cable connection is needed, it should use the new MicroUSB standard instead of the proprietary dock connector.

If it sounds like I’m saying Apple needs to make a lot of concessions regarding its current ideas around tablet design, it doesn’t, so long as the company is happy with a minority (if highly profitable) share of the tablet market. Of course, a plurality, or even majority, could pay more in the long run, but that requires paying more attention to the competition today, and down the road.

For the gadget lovin’ guy that likes to keep his hands warm during the blustery cold days, we bring you The North Face E-Tip gloves ($40). These incredible gloves have silicone gripper palms with X-Static® material at the thumbs and index fingers….and you ask why is this a must-have? Well because our guys love their technology, but they also like to keep their digits warm. You can use touch-screen cell phones, laptops and MP3 players with these gloves on your mitts. Ummm…..we’ll take a pair…or maybe two! Bravo bravo!

Looking to power up your iPhone with the best free and cheap Apps out there? Our first edition of the Lifehacker Pack for iPhone rounds up our favorite must-have iPhone applications.

Whether you just bought a new iPhone or you’re simply looking for some of the best basic apps for your device, the list below should be plenty to get you started. The majority of the apps are free unless otherwise noted, and where they’re not free, we aimed for cheap. And when a default application is incredibly useful and blows all its competition out of the water—we included it, too. It’s a big list, so here’s an index if you want to quickly jump to a section:

• Productivity
• Internet/Communication
• Location-Aware
• Utilities
• Media
• food and Entertainment
• Art and Photography

Productivity

Evernote:
Where most mobile companion apps tend to offer a lot less than their desktop counterparts, ubiquitous capture tool Evernote takes full advantage of the iPhone to make the mobile app worthy of standing on its own. In addition to capturing regular text, you can grab voice notes and photos as well. Since Evernote performs OCR (optical character recognition) on all your images, any text in the pictures you add to Evernote will be searchable. For example, you could take a snapshot of a Menu in a restaurant and later search it just like it was a text document.
[Download]
Simplenote:
Simplenote is a key component in the holy grail of ubiquitous text capture, and rightfully so. Simplenote allows for speedy note entry on your iPhone, plus it syncs with the likewise free Simplenote service so your notes are always available wherever you want them.
[Download]

TripIt:
If you haven’t used TripIt to manage your travel itineraries, you’ve been missing out. We’ve already discussed its merits, but the free iPhone app makes it even easier to manage your trip. It’s a natural extensions of the service, since if you’re traveling it’s more than likely that you’re not at your computer.
[Download]

Instapaper / ReadItLater:
Instapaper and ReadItLater both serve the purpose of saving web content for later reading, and both offer free and paid versions, but they’re still notably different. Instapaper offers you a straightforward and simple way of reading saved content. ReadItLater is a little more feature-rich. Both are great options and you can try them for free to see which you prefer.
[Download Instapaper Free / Instapaper (Paid) or ReadItLater Free / ReadItLater pro]

Dragon Dictation:
Apple’s voice recognition handles a few tasks but misses some key features that Dragon Dictation helps to fill in. If typing is not an option, or you’re just feeling lazy, Dragon Dictation will type it up for you. You can send a text message or an email directly from the app, and it also integrates with Facebook and Twitter. Although not perfect, Dragon Dictation is surprisingly accurate and will let you correct any mistakes it makes.
[Download]

Mint: If you’re not using Mint to keep track of you finances, you should be. It’ll keep track of all your accounts and provide you with useful statistics and budgeting information to help you manage your money better. If you’re looking for something a little more hands-on, however, Jumsoft Money is a great free app as well—you just input everything yourself.
[Download]

Internet/Communication

Atomic Browser:
If you’ve found Mobile Safari to be a bit lacking, you’re not alone. Atomic Browser can help, providing true tabbed browsing, private browsing mode, user-agent spoofing (handy for watching Netflix on your iPhone), and a ton of features you’ve come to expect as part of your web-browsing experience.
[Download Full Version or Lite]
Skype:
Imagine being able to use your iPhone to make phone calls! (Har har.) Now that Skype works over 3G and can take advantage of iOS 4′s multitasking capabilities, it’s actually a viable alternative to using your mobile minutes. Even if you don’t want to go so far as to replace your regular phone, it’s still a great tool for making international calls on the cheap and chatting with your Skype contacts on the go.
[Download]

Textfree Unlimited:
If you don’t like paying a ridiculous amount of money for small amounts of data, Textfree Unlimited lets you send and receive text messages at no costs. You can even set up a phone number specifically for the app. While Textfree used to only provide free text messages, now the app is free as well. The trade-off is that you get ads, but you have the option to pay to remove them.
[Download]

LucyPhone:
Another great minute-saver is LucyPhone (check out our quick review), the app that waits on hold so you don’t have to. If you’re calling a popular business, LucyPhone’s directory may even save you the step of going through the phone tree to get to the right department. While you might confuse the customer service representative on the other end, LucyPhone takes all the pain of waiting on hold—including the loss of your mobile minutes.
[Download]

Meebo:
With a couple of $10 multi-service IM clients available, Meebo stands out especially because it’s free. Being free doesn’t make it bad, however. It’s an attractive app with the ability to integrate tons of IM services, making it our IM app of choice.
[Download]

Twitter:
You could drown in Twitter apps on the iPhone, but the official option is free and one of the best. In addition to tweeting and direct-messaging, you can also share photos and videos. Thanks to the iPhone’s GPS, Twitter is location-aware and can provide you with nearby tweets so you can figure out what people are talking about in your area in real time.
[Download]

Facebook:
The official Facebook app on the iPhone is great for general updates and messages, but it becomes especially useful when all your contacts flood in. If your address book is missing a number, just find your friend in the Facebook app and click the call button. You can also keep track of events, check your news feed, and edit your profile.
[Download]

Location-Aware

Maps (Default App):
While Android’s version of Google Maps blows it out of the water, the built-in Maps application on the iPhone is still pretty great. Drivers can check real-time traffic and get simple directions to just about anywhere. Even if you don’t drive, walking and public transportation directions are available. With street view integration and a few other neat features, Maps is easily one of the most useful apps on the iPhone.

MapQuest4Mobile (GPS):
While the iPhone has a few free turn-by-turn navigation apps (and none of them are even encroaching on the territory of perfect), MapQuest4Mobile feels more like the real deal than any of the others. In my personal experience I found it gave directions too late in quite a few cases, but it’s hard to argue with free. If you want a commanding, computerized female voice barking directions at you (occasionally after you’ve missed your exit), and you don’t want to pay a lot for the privilege, you’ve found your match.
[Download]

GasBuddy:
Although not free (weighing in on the more expensive side at $2.99), GasBuddy is the sort of app that can pay for itself after one use. If you’re always on the lookout for cheap gas, GasBuddy will give you options by proximity and price. You can filter by fuel grade, and it can even help you find a diesel gas station.
[Download]

Movies Now:
If you’ve ever wanted to see a movie on a whim, Movies Now scratches that itch. While it handles regular movie showtimes, too, it’s main function uses your location and the current time to find upcoming showtimes near you. If you find a movie you like, you can buy tickets through movietickets.com directly from the app. The catch: It’s $2. While there are certainly free options in the movie showtimes arena (like the IMDb app below), Movies Now has a great location-based twist.
[Download]

RunKeeper Free:
You have quite a few fitness apps to choose from on the iPhone. One of those happens to be RunKeeper, and lucky us, it has a great free version. RunKeeper uses your iPhone’s GPS to track your run and provide you with statistics, giving you the statistical benefits of a treadmill when you’re outside the gym. It integrates with your music library and lets you share your activities. While the built-in Nike+ app is also pretty nice, RunKeeper doesn’t require the purchase of any additional hardware and lets you choose your brand of shoes.
[Download Free or Pro]

Find My iPhone:
Even if you’re not a MobileMe subscriber, you’ve probably heard a bit about Find My iPhone in the news. It’s already tracked down a few iPhone thieves, but is probably more commonly used when you’ve just misplaced your phone. While you have to shell out $99 a year for a MobileMe account to get any use out of the app, it’s a must if you’re already a MobileMe subscriber.
[Download]

Utilities

Dropbox:
Would it truly be a Lifehacker Pack without file-syncing app extraordinaire Dropbox? While the iPhone version of Dropbox isn’t quite as useful as Dropbox on your computer, it makes for a nice companion. If you’re using Dropbox for all sorts of clever things, it’s always nice having access to your sync’d files from your phone. While the Dropbox app can download anything the iPhone (or a third-party app) can display, you can also save key files on your phone as well.
[Download]
Boxcar:
If you like frequent push notifications, you’ll probably like Boxcar. Boxcar integrates with Twitter, Facebook, email, RSS, and Growl to grab updates of nearly anything you want and push them to your phone. If you want to be alerted the moment something changes, Boxcar will get the job done.
[Download]

PasteFire / MyPhoneDesktop:
PasteFire and MyPhoneDesktop do the same thing—they aim to make getting text from your desktop to your iPhone a bit easier. Both use push and both integrate with your machine to send content. The biggest difference is price: PasteFire is free and MyPhoneDesktop costs a whopping $5. So why mention MyPhoneDesktop? I think it works better. Still, no penalty for trying PasteFire. MyPhoneDesktop is really only worth a look if the free option doesn’t cut it for you.
[Download PasteFire or MyPhoneDesktop]

Logitech TouchMouse:
If you want to use your iPhone as a wireless trackpad for your Mac or Windows PC, that’s precisely what Touch Mouse can help you accomplish. It also includes keyboard functionality so you can make use of your iPhone’s keyboard to input text. While this is not terribly practical or speedy for use with just any machine, if you have a computer hooked up to your television it’s a convenient way to navigate without the clutter of a keyboard and mouse on your couch.
[Download]

Media

Pandora:
Pandora’s always been a favorite on the iPhone, but with multitasking support in iOS 4 it becomes so much more useful. Now that you can listen to your personalized Pandora radio stations in the background, you’ll be hard-pressed to find a better, free way to discover new music.
[Download]
Remote:
Although it’s nearing a year without an update, Apple’s Remote app is still pretty incredible. If you want to control your iTunes library remotely, or turn your iPhone into a multi-room wireless remote (in the event your have an Airport Express or AppleTV), there’s really no better option—especially for free.
[Download]

Air video / StreamToMe:
Air Video and StreamToMe are both apps that help you stream video from your computer to your iPhone, no matter where you are. They’re especially compelling when you want to watch something at, say, the gym and you didn’t have time to transcode and sync it to your device first. Whether you’re connected to Wi-Fi or 3G, you can stream video directly to your phone from anywhere you are (the quality of your connection permitting, of course). Both apps have some subtle differences, such as StreamToMe’s ability to stream more than just video and Air Video’s option to pre-encode content for easier streaming, and either are worth the price of admission: $2.99.
[Download Air Video or StreamToMe]

iBooks / Kindle / Stanza:
It’s hard to consider any of the iPhone ebook readers the best choice because they’re pretty similar. They all let you read on your phone, they all let you purchase books, and they’re all free to download. While I’m partial to the Kindle app, it’s mainly because I started with ebooks via the Kindle. Pick the ebook app that works the best for you—or don’t, since they’re all free downloads.
[Download iBooks, Kindle, or Stanza]

Food and Entertainment

Yelp:
Yelp has yet to fail me when I’m on a search for some good, nearby eats. It also comes with some semi-secret, fully-nifty augmented reality. If you’re looking for nearby food (or anything, really), Yelp is a great (free) way to find your best options.
[Download]
MenuPages:
The one thing Yelp won’t do is hand you a menu for the restaurants it suggests, and that’s where MenuPages comes in. While it can feel a little clunky at times, it’s indispensable when you’re in need of a menu on the go.
[Download]

IMDb:
IMDb is a great resources for movie information, and the app does a good job of focusing a lot of information onto your iPhone’s small screen. What’s also great about the IMDb app is that it also serves as an excellent free option for finding movie showtimes.
[Download]

TV Forecast:
TV Forecast performs the simple function of keeping track of when the next episode of any show is going to air. Enter in just about any show that’s currently running and TV Forecast will provide you with an attractive schedule tailored just for you. While you can grab the free version of TV Listings instead and save yourself $1.99, TV Forecast is a better option.
[Download]

PhoneFlicks:
While you can always watch Netflix on your jailbroken iPhone with a little work, if you’re looking for a way to manage your old-fashioned Netflix queue you can do that nicely with PhoneFlicks. The functionality here is pretty basic, letting you edit your queue and find new titles through search or browsing, but it gets the job done and doesn’t cost you a penny.
[Download]

Art and Photography

Gorillacam:
If you’re looking for a free, full-featured iPhone camera upgrade you should check out Joby’s Gorillacam. It provides a huge set of features, including a self-timer, time-lapse photography, anti-shake, three-shot burst, and more. Update: We’re hearing that Gorillacam may have a potential spyware issue. While we can’t tell for certain, you may want to proceed with caution.
[Download]
Snapture:
If you really want to make the most of your iPhone’s camera, check out Snapture. It might set you back $1.99, but it’s a popular alternative to the iPhone’s built-in camera app. In addition to helping you take better photos, you’ll also find some basic image editing tools. Snapture’s main draw, however, is how easy it makes it to quickly pull out your iPhone and take a picture. Simply open the app, tap the screen, and you’ve got a photo.
[Download]

HipstaMatic:
HipstaMatic aims to emulate old cameras and film stocks, providing some pretty compelling results. But be warned: it’s one of those apps that can get pretty addictive, and you can shell out $1 each time you want to try out a new lens or flash.
[Download]

Pano:
Pano’s one of the more expensive apps in the list, at $3, but it can create some enormous, impressive panoramas right on your iPhone. It works by taking multiple shots and stitching them together. While the results aren’t always perfect, they’re often stunning.
[Download]

SketchBook:
While SketchBook is the sort of app that excels on a big screen, like the iPad’s, it’s nonetheless a great drawing app on the iPhone. With several brushes and pencils, you’ll be surprised what you can actually draw with this app. When you’re done, you can even export a PSD (Photoshop Document) or the flattened image. $3, but if you’re really into sketching, you’ll likely consider it worth the price..
[Download]

With football season in full swing DirecTV’s Sports Bar Finder is simply just one of those apps that every guy needs on their phone, period. The app digs through 80,000 locations around the country and not only finds the nearest one so you can catch NFL Sunday ticket, but also tells you what other sports programming each location carries. Link