The Apps We Love
February calls for a roundup of the precious little apps we would not want to live without.
We end up trying a lot of mobile apps — an occupational hazard of sorts. However, these iOS, Android, Blackberry and WebOS gems are the apps we keep, use and recommend.
While all iPhone apps can be used on the iPad, we only list "iPad" for apps that are native. Naturally.
Flipboard |
Flipboard removes any questions on whether social recommendations will drive news consumption. Flipboard, Inc.'s genius is in presenting the social material in consumable layouts, complete with images and text pulled from socially shared URLs. The content feels custom fitted to the tablet form factor. Suddenly consuming Twitter and Facebook feels like a lean-back and immersive experience, rather than drinking from the fire hose of a Twitter feed or Facebook wall.  iPad (Free) |
TripIt+ |
A travel organizer that manages your itinerary, regardless of where you booked it. TripIt's brilliance is in simplifying the tedious inputs. Simply auto import your heterogenous itineraries by forwarding your confirmation emails. iPhone (Free) |
Routesy |
No less than 4 agencies provide bus, light rail, train and subway services in the San Francisco Bay Area. Veteran commuters and visitors alike will benefit from this app that helps users find routes and connections. iPhone ($4.99) |
Google Voice |
Dan says: I no longer give anyone my real phone number. People now SMS my Google Voice number, saving me the need to have a texting plan. I can also change phones whenever I want, and folks can still reach me, since Google Voice can ring as many phones as I like. Joe says: I use Google Voice somewhat differently. Our household does not have a home phone (no land line). Giving out a Google Voice number in lieu of a home number is a great way to filter out unwanted calls. Organizations that need to call our home number can still get through, but you can use Google Voice to filter them through a web interface.  Android, iPhone, iPad, web (Free) |
Word Lens |
Alternate reality meets Douglas Adams' Babelfish. Point your iPhone camera at text — books, signs, buses, cereal boxes — any text and watch your iPhone screen magically re-present it, scaled and colored like it is in the real world, only translated into the language of your choice. 
iPhone ($9.99 per language) |
Instagram |
There are plenty of photo filter apps out there. Instagram meets that requirement with style and ups the ante in the way it handles multiple social network services. It will let you publish to any combination of Twitter, Facebook, Flickr, Posterous, Tumblr and Foursquare. Set up your food spotting pics to go to Twitter, and toddler photo shoots to go to Facebook. iPhone (Free) |
Evernote |
One of the most ubiquitous note-taking apps available. First launched on the iPhone, the service synced more seamlessly (over the air, imagine that) than Apple's own tethered syncing notes app. Evernote further made itself invaluable with locally-stored, but cloud-synced notes; it's now available via the web, Android, Blackberry, Palm, iPhone and even native desktop Mac and Windows applications and browser add-ons. Android, Blackberry, iPhone, iPad, WebOS (Free) |
Minimal Folio |
There are several presentation apps out there that sync with various cloud services. This one excels for its simplicity in sorting slides, images and even videos quickly. We find this app invaluable for presenting tablet UI on a device. Requires side-loading images over USB with iTunes or using supported cloud services (MobileMe, DropBox, Box.net).  iPad ($2.99) |
Penultimate |
Basically it's a note-taking, handwriting and sketching app for iPad that organizes sketches into notebooks. Best experienced with a stylus. iPad ($1.99) |
DoubleTwist |
Want to sync your iTunes library to your Android device? This music player (minus the iTunes store, of course) sucks in all the content from your iTunes library, then transfers it to the DoubleTwist app on your Android device. Saves the hassle of managing mp3 files. Android (Free) |
Starbuck's Mobile Card |
You need two things in life — your mobile and your wallet. This app allows you to register your Starbuck's card on device an pay for items via bar code. You can check your balance and add more funds via PayPal or debit/credit card. Android, iPhone (Free) |
Pandora Radio |
This of course needs no introduction. A freemium music service that grew out of the web and spawned across many devices. Early on, it helped define how a successful, seamless cloud service should behave.Android, Blackberry, iPhone, iPad, WebOS (Free) |
Instapaper |
Time-shifted, simple text reader. Save URLs to read later from other popular mobile apps (i.e. Twitter). iPhone, iPad, Kindle (Free) |
Toddler Lock |
This Android app lets your toddler draw colorful shapes on the screen while locking them out of the rest of the phone. Once toddler lock is launched, you have to touch all four corners of the screen to exit. All buttons are disabled, making it near impossible for your kid to launch other apps, make calls, etc. Android (Free) |
Air Video |
Stream video from your computer to your iOS device. With a simple server installation on your desktop, you can stream vide over 3G or WiFi to any iOS device without the restriction of having h264 video (plays divx). iPhone, iPad ($2.99) |
Convertbot |
How many grams are in an ounce? This simple calculator for tough kitchen conversions knows all. iPhone ($1.99) |
Desktop Connect |
George says: This is the best remote control app for your home Mac or PC. Never get off the couch again!  iPhone, iPad ($14.99) |
Androidify |
A fun, lightweight tool that lets you create an Android mascot and save to your contacts. Android (Free) |
| Camera+ by TapTapTap  |
Super powered camera app. You can set white balances, apply filters, crop, and rotate images. And of course supports sharing to Facebook, Flickr and YouTube for videos. (Be sure not to confuse this with the free "Camera Plus" app.)iPhone (99¢) |
Reeder |
Reeder syncs seamlessly with Google Reader, caching your reading list directly to your device. Not only does it provide a great UI for reading on the spot, but it also integrates with Instapaper and Readibility for saving for later. iPhone, iPad, Mac OS ($2.99) |
| SwiFTP | Turns your Android phone into an FTP server. Great for transferring pictures and videos. Android (Free) |
What apps make it onto your list? Respond below.
Write-up by Joe Pemberton with contributions from Punchcut staff: Gretchen Anderson, Terence Mascarenhas, Caroline Conner, Blake Engel, Karen Fong, Ashwin Sodhi, Mike Sparandara, Dan Harrison, George Murray, Adam Brodowski
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pepperminded via Twitter
Feine Auswahl: RT @Punchcut: February calls for a roundup of the apps we love. http://pnch.it/i1Dmzp #app #mobile #ppm
21 February, 2011 - 13:58
gilbertglee via Twitter
From @joepemberton: February calls for a roundup of the apps we love. http://pnch.it/i1Dmzp
21 February, 2011 - 14:00
oliverw via Twitter
RT @Punchcut: February calls for a roundup of the apps we love. http://pnch.it/i1Dmzp
21 February, 2011 - 14:00
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RT @Punchcut: February calls for a roundup of the apps we love. http://pnch.it/i1Dmzp
21 February, 2011 - 15:50
draecampbell via Twitter
RT @gretared: Happy Belated Valentine's Day! The apps we love @punchcut: http://punchcut.com/perspectives/posts/the-apps-we-love
21 February, 2011 - 17:10
hschmidtdesign via Twitter
RT @Punchcut: February calls for a roundup of the apps we love. http://pnch.it/i1Dmzp
21 February, 2011 - 19:06
emetiki via Twitter
RT @Typophile: RT @punchcut: February calls for a roundup of the apps we love. http://pnch.it/i1Dmzp
21 February, 2011 - 19:07
injosh via Twitter
The Apps We Love | http://t.co/p2LAXsM via @punchcut
21 February, 2011 - 19:07
gmdevries via Twitter
Very interesting for the app world The Apps We Love | http://t.co/168Vr1j via @punchcut
22 February, 2011 - 11:17
basement47 via Twitter
RT @Typophile: RT @punchcut: February calls for a roundup of the apps we love. http://pnch.it/i1Dmzp
22 February, 2011 - 11:18
contrabland via Twitter
RT @Typophile: RT @punchcut: February calls for a roundup of the apps we love. http://pnch.it/i1Dmzp
22 February, 2011 - 11:19
petercamburn via Twitter
RT @Typophile: RT @punchcut: February calls for a roundup of the apps we love. http://pnch.it/i1Dmzp
23 February, 2011 - 15:05
petercamburn via Twitter
RT @Typophile: RT @punchcut: February calls for a roundup of the apps we love. http://pnch.it/i1Dmzp
23 February, 2011 - 17:26
qliq via Twitter
The Apps We Love | http://t.co/1Xy6ve4 via @Punchcut
16 March, 2011 - 15:24
@RachaelFerguson via Twitter
The Apps We Love. Flipboard makes me want to go out and get an iPad lovely UI | http://t.co/H9tAbEv via @punchcut
6 May, 2011 - 10:27
@GuruwaStreet via Twitter
Interesting stuff here. Check out these apps at http://t.co/iqQLxBr
4 August, 2011 - 11:25
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