Like many of you, I've been exploring the new iPhone 2.0 extensively since its release back in July. I've downloaded almost 100 apps from the App Store, and have spent ~$80 on paid apps.
What that translates to is a lot of downloading and synching. At one point, I had 8+ screens full of app icons, and I was synching and/or installing new apps every day. Unfortunately, iPhone 2.0 still has a looooong way to go in terms of stability, as about once per week apps would stop launching, my iPod data on the phone would vanish, and my iPhone would become unrecognizable to my iTunes. And though I'm having issues with iTunes as well, I've determined that the iPhone itself has stability issues when it comes to installing and updating apps: for a stretch last week, I didn't sync with iTunes at all, but instead only installed and updated apps thru the App Store app on the iPhone itself. No difference... stuff just gets corrupted, and I've had to re-install the OS from scratch numerous times.
Which has now made me very paranoid about installing anything anymore. No matter, I suppose, my binge needed to come to an end anyway.
So what have I settled on? Well, I'm down to just a few screens of apps, and really only the first two contain anything of consequence:
As you can see, my first screen has a lot of social apps in it:
- With Exchange support at my place of employment, my calendar is my most important view on a daily basis. So important that it takes the number two spot right behind the phone. Email is also critical, though the missing features (flags and categories) make it mostly a non-starter.
- I am using SMS more and more with my wife, who also now has an iPhone.
- I'm absolutely in love with Twinkle, and am eager to see it in action at a large event or concert. I also wish it would show a message count when I get a dm or when I'm mentions @deeje.
- Many of my friends are starting to gravitate to Facebook, and thankfully I am able to feed my Twitter updates to Facebook automatically. But most of my friends haven't jumped on to Twitter, so I still have to check in on them where they are. (There is also some interest in MySpace, but it was always so ugly to my eye that I never invested in it.)
- NetNewsWire has done a fantastic job with device profiles, so I can subscribe to just a handful (as in 5) of core RSS feeds on my iPhone, while maintaining full read sync with my desktop client (with over 250 feeds subscribed).
- Unfortunately, iTunes WON'T see my iPhoto library anymore, but I still sync my "Recent Stars&qupt; photos by manually exporting from iPhoto into a folder. Apple, fix this!
- I'm using Flickr more for sharing photos with ONLY family and friends (.Mac, you lost me on that one!) and Exposure is a nice client for quickly seeing what my friends have posted.
- I've been using the location services in Maps extensively during our summer vacation roadtrips. Nice to be able to find In'n'Out on the way home.
- My wife and I use Netflix alot, so being able to quickly see and adjust the queue using iFlix is very nice.
My second screen has lots of games and utilities:
On the games front, there are lots of gems and promising nuggets:
- I've been hours playing Trism. Great for the plane and the bus, realtively lo CPU usage so it doesn't drain my batter. One of the first apps to demonstrate the capabilities of the accelerometers in a game. Just awesome.
- Dizzy Bee is also awesome, and my kids always want to play this one because the graphics are so appealing. Also a great use of the accelerometers. I don't think I'm playing it just right now, as I tend to keep the phone flat and I think the game was developed to be played vertically.
- Morocco is an excellent implementation of the game Othello. Version 1 was basic and free, and the latest version added nice touches like flipping the pieces on each move. I'm still challenged by the Hard level
- reMovem is simple in implementation, but somehow addictive in play. Touch on groups of matching dots to make them disappear to get points, dots above fall downward and to the right. Try to eliminate groups in such a way as to maximize points. I don't know if it will hold me much longer, but well worth the price!
- I started with a different solitaire game before being turned onto Sol Free. The tap-tap action *is* easier than a more polished click and slide UI, and the vertical orientation of the game board means I can play one handed on the bus.
- I'm eagerly awaiting the update to Monkey Balls to make it easier to play. The concept should ROCK, but it was so hard after the first few levels. Any day now...
On the utilities front, there is lots of promise but only a few gems...
- Routesy should help me utilize the buses in SF, but the overall design of the app assumes too much existing knowledge. I really want to know what buses are available from where I'm standing right now, and see time estimates in a more spatially friendly display. This is fine for the few bus lines I use regularly, but doesn't help if I want to navigate the city beyond my comfort zones.
- Guitar Toolkit is *THE* tuner I've been waiting for all my life. I always have the tuner ready, it always has fresh batteries, and I'll never play an out of tune guitar again! Metronome and chord charts are a nice bonus.
- Now Playing is one of the most amazing movie apps I've ever seen. I particularly like the sort by Rating feature using Rotten Tomatoes, and the ability to find showing using location services. This is how I learned about Man On Wire, and this will make movie night with my wife very very easy from now on.
- I'm still waiting for a great astronomy application. Starmap is just. too. slow. GoSkyWatch is fast, but still seems lacking to me. I miss Planetarium on my Treo, it just had the right mix of visual data to make a night out in the meadow so much fun.
- I should be using DataCase more, but my wifi at work requires authentication such that my iPhone can't connect. The implementation is very, very cool. it really doesn't replace a USB stick...
So, there are the apps worthy of the first two homescreens of my iPhone. What's worthy for yours?
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