In 2008, Twitter won the gold for mobile apps. In 2009, it was Foursquare and Gowalla. In 2010, social games owned the podium.
But since games are not my forte (we’ve got a ton of review here, if you’re interested), and since I’ve yet to explore the Android system (though I am in awe), I’ll simply list a group of new applications for iPhone that I used most in 2010.
Glympse When you’re running late to a meeting, Foursquare does me no good. Most of the time, I will send an apologetic email or text. Glympse streamlines that, and includes my exact coordinates. It sends your location on a Google Map via text or email along with a prescribed message of your choice (“I’m running 15 minutes late” is my most used). An easy way to send any kind of location alert to a single person. Download here.
Latitude When checking in becomes a chore, there’s Latitude. If you turn on Latitude (you need a Blackberry or at least an iPhone 3GS), Google tracks your every move without having to whip out your phone. Sure it sounds creepy. But if you only share your location with one or two other people, what’s the harm? Get it here.
Path Not the Path that runs under downtown, but the new Facebook alternative. I like this social network so much that I share on it even though I have no friends who use it and no one I know is on it. Very to-the-point status updates, a limit of 50 friends, and beautiful usability. Here it is.
Soundhound Try this music-identifying app in its free version and you’ll see a definite improvement from Shazam, which pioneered the technology. Buy the $4.99 version and you’ll delete Shazam, as I’ve done. This app works wonders. Try it.
Scotiabank I could dedicate a whole post to the battling banking apps, and I just might in the future. But from what I see right now, Scotia has the best of the bunch (the bunch only including TD and CIBC). Making a transaction on the Scotia app is such a breeze, it almost beats their site. Get it through Scotia’s website.
World Lens Point your camera at a sign in a foreign language, and World Lens will translate. I haven’t been in a situation where I’ve depended on this app – not because I speak so many languages but just because I haven’t been anywhere with it yet – so I can’t really judge it’s overall usefulness. But the technology is amazing. Here’s the iTunes link.
Amazon Due to Amazon’s cowardly behaviour in the WikiLeaks’ Cablegate, I’m loathe to give this app any sort of shine. But, hate to say, it deserves it. Price match anything in stores with what’s on Amazon. See Amazon’s site for the app. An alternative, if you wanted one, would be RedLaser.
Fiesta Farms This local grocery store’s application, which is a mobile site which functions like an app, isn’t as useful as it could be. For instance, I still don’t know how to find paper towels in the store. But it does show you the best deals on a given day. It’s very easy to use, and impressive for what products and sales it does list. There’s still some work to do on it, but it proves apps are anybody’s game. Get it here.
NOW’s Concert app Bias choice, I realize. But try finding a decent concert on your phone without it. There could be great music in your neighbourhood and you’d never know, unless you had this handy app. Get it here, and, while you’re there, download our amazing restaurant app too.
