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First time smartphone owner, any must-have apps?

T

ThereGoesJB

macrumors regular
Original poster
Sep 29, 2010
132
1
Just got the 5s and im stoked about it, given that i work a ton with computers as well as web design its silly i havent had a smartphone yet, but here i am.

so im already familiar with some apps (find my phone, google maps)

but what are some other apps that you consider must-haves? Or at least ones you find yourself appreciating the most?

thanks
 
I dunno about must haves, but let me think of the apps I like best:

Free Ones:
- Google Voice (free text messaging)
- Google Maps (better information than built in apple maps)
- Gmail (better functionality than built in mail app)
- Quickoffice (free document creation / editing with google drive support)
- Youtube (entertainment, especially with chromecast to TV!)
- Tapatalk (good for reading forums on a small screen)
- Kindle (ebook reader with good sync functionality)
- Skype (wifi calling)
- Vonage (free calling)
- iWork (free with 5c and 5s, acceptable word/excel/power point option)

Paid:
- Camera+ (huge amount of filters and options for the photographer)
- Flashcards Deluxe (essential for my college classes, has text to speech!)
- Greedy Spiders (awesome puzzle game that really gives you a challenge)
- Secret of Mana (old school SNES RPG, a classic)
- Zombies, Run! (good fitness app that makes going for runs fun with audio zombie survival missions)
- Turboscan (document scanner, really helpful and much better than just taking pictures with the camera)
- SoundHound (song identifier for those "OMG I love this song thats playing, what is it?" moments)
- PDF Reader (good PDF reader with tons of options)
 
Last edited:
ive got some .avi movie files i tried to add through itunes, but itunes denied me. App for that?
 
AppStore has a great selection of anything you might need at very reasonable prices, sometimes free or on promotion.

I have dropbox, the grid (calendar and task manager), weather live, Photo Transfer (a best way to upload your pictures to home computer), Viber for free calls, Yahoo mail and Weather, Tetris blitz, Zynga poker (a great poker game), GuitarTune lite, Turbo-scan to name just few.
 
For some reason people aren't staying on topic or being nice so if you can't get good results here, there is a dedicated app forum where you might get more play.

I use:

Fahrenheit (badge temperature)
Weather Bug
Breaking News
AP News
Huffington Post

So many games it's hard to know where to start:
Angry Birds
Where's my water
(Bowling games)
Shuffleboard
Sneezies
Harbor Master

The list goes on and one... :)
 
figured out that VLC allows its own file upload through itunes, thanks


Thanks for all the recommendations, already downloaded quite a few of these!
 
ThereGoesJB said:
figured out that VLC allows its own file upload through itunes, thanks


Thanks for all the recommendations, already downloaded quite a few of these!
Click to expand...

Although you can use VLC for .AVI files, I would recommend picking up Handbrake (free) and just convert your .avi, .mks, .etc to M4v (iPhone compatible).

I just do a large batch at once and then I'm set for awhile.
 
My essential apps: Facebook, Tweetbot, Pulse, Dropbox, Moneywiz, Soundhound, Google Maps, YouTube, Yahoo Weather, iPhoto

My essential games: Jetpack Joyride, Fruit Ninja, Doodle Jump, Temple Run, Dots, Plants vs. Zombies, Angry Birds, Cut the Rope, Real Racing, Super Stickman Golf, Words and Hanging with Friends, Draw Something

Enjoy your first smartphone! When I got my 4S two years ago it was my first smartphone and it has in many ways changed my life lol
 
Flightrack pro
Ivi for movie conversion to iTunes (for the Mac)
Hp41cx
Find my friends
Twitter
Gotomeeting
iWork's which is free with your phone
Netflix
Hbo go
Games for killing time
 
ThereGoesJB said:
Just got the 5s and im stoked about it, given that i work a ton with computers as well as web design its silly i havent had a smartphone yet, but here i am.

so im already familiar with some apps (find my phone, google maps)

but what are some other apps that you consider must-haves? Or at least ones you find yourself appreciating the most?

thanks
Click to expand...

Facebook, Echofon (better than twitter i think), Flickr (10gb free photo storage), Yelp (excellent reviews on everything out there), AroundMe (finds stuff around you), Gasbuddy (finds cheap gas), Shazam (you've seen the commercials), Fandango (look up movies), Chipotle (yes lol), Skype, Youtube, Facebook Camera

I dont use many apps. i dont like having a cluttered phone. Its mostly music for me.

Temple Run and Iron man are two fun games. Tetris also isn't a bad choice, classicaly fun. Angry birds gets boring after awhile.
 
Free:
1)flipboard(magazine like browsing of the web)
2)tune in radio(40,000 radio stations all biff the world)
3)YouTube
4)Twitter
5)whatsapp(free calls and messaging)
6)remote if you have an Apple TV
7)the weather channel
8)photo vault( protected pics)
9)Dish anywhere(if you have dish...can use it as a remote, access dvr and record shows)
10)watchlater(allows you to cache YouTube videos for off line viewing...good if you don't have unlimited data)
 
Snapseed is by far and away the best photo editing app I have encountered. Super easy to use, amazing results and well worth the money.
 
Here is my list that I will be installing:

CloudScrob (only if you use Last.fm to track music listening)
Shazam
Remote (if you have Apple TV)
Trailers (great for finding showtimes and watching previews of movies)
Speedtest (if you are curious about your connection speeds)
iBooks
Dropbox
Google Maps
Amazon
Facebook
iPhoto
GPS4Cam (if you are into photography and have a camera that doesn't geotag)
Weather.com
Apple Store (for ordering your iPhone at launch next year. ;) )
 
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