By Colleen Lerro

Since getting my iPhone last Christmas I’ve built up several pages of apps. I had no idea how much fun they would add to the phone and how useful they could be. When Apple says, “There’s an app for that,” they mean it. You can find the 10 fresh and funny iphone apps, apps for web designers, apps to save your relationship, green apps, the week’s best apps, new parent apps, healthy apps for triathletes, inappropriate apps (Pepsi has since apologized), useful educational apps, apps with awesome interfaces and I could go on.

To avoid turning this post into a novel and listing all of my apps, I’ll just tell you some of my favorites. My first download was the Facebook app. It has only added fuel to my Facebook addiction. My other social networking app is Twitterific. I don’t tweet too much, but follow several of my colleagues and a few tech reporters to keep up on what’s happening in the tech industry. Pandora was the other app I had to have right away. Already one of my favorite websites, having this free streaming music app on my phone is great for finding new music and listening to my favorites. Shazam is also an amazing music app. Never again will you have to sit there and try to figure out what song is playing. This app listens to the song, tells you the name and artist, allows you to get all the info you want about the artist and tag the song to buy on iTunes.

I have a bunch of apps I use for getting around. The preloaded google maps walking directions is my biggest lifesaver. I could get lost in my own apartment, and it’s less than 500 square feet! Having directional help with me all the time has taken away my go-to excuse for why I’m always late to meet up with my friends though. Trapster warns me about red light cameras. Urbanspoon is great for finding a local restaurant by neighborhood, price or type of food. My favorite part about it is shaking the phone to get my recommendation. Clearly, I’m very mature. Flixster finds all the movie theaters near me, shows me what’s playing and when, lets me watch previews and order my tickets. AroundMe is phenomenal, especially in an unfamiliar city, letting you find any restaurant, bank, bar, coffee shop, gas station, hospital, pharmacy, hotel, supermarket or Taxi Company nearby.

I have another set of apps I find very useful for a variety of activities. Living several floors up, I can’t just walk out and check the temp outside so I always take a look at The Weather Channel app before heading out. It’s easy to take get the 10-day forecast too, change locations and even watch videos of local forecasts. Having basic cable, What’s On? is great for remembering which channels are which, and well, for knowing what’s on. I love the Flashlight app and find many uses for it. I downloaded the level app because my Dad thought it was cool and useful. Seeing as I’m not very handy I don’t use this one so much, but hey, maybe someday I’ll hang a picture. Check please is great for taking the drama out of tip decisions at the end of a group dinner. Lose It is easy to use and lets you track all the calories you eat and burn throughout the day.

Until recently, the AT&T network did not work on the D.C. metro (thank you AT&T for making this happen!), so I had downloaded a few games that didn’t require access to the network. I enjoy solitaire, minesweeper and sudoku. When travelling further than the daily commute I find Kayak helpful for finding flights and tracking prices. Skype is great to keep in touch with people back home.

I also have a selection of apps surrounding a few of my favorite things: TV, sports and shopping. AMC’s app is great for Mad Men videos, previews and behind-the-scenes features. TV.com has a whole selection of shows from CBS, The CW, CNET TV and more. NBC.com, while not an app, is my favorite web site to access on the iPhone and catch up on recent episodes or The Office, 30 Rock and Parks and Recreation. ESPN is great for scores and keeping track of my favorite teams. Yahoo’s Fantasy Football app gives me updates on how my team is doing and lets me make roster changes. It comes in handy at noon on Sunday when I remember I haven’t set my team up for the weekend. Target, Barnes & Noble and Amazon apps let me check out my favorite places and Web sites to shop at anytime.

Well, I haven’t done a great job at keeping this short, but there are just too many great apps out there. I’m always on the lookout for a new app, so tell me your favorite apps for iPhones and other Smartphones. Also, all of the apps I’ve downloaded are free, do you think I’m missing out by not purchasing any apps?

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This entry was posted on Tuesday, November 3rd, 2009 at 5:15 pm and is filed under Uncategorized. Reply to this post, or trackback from your own site. Follow responses to this entry through the comments RSS feed.