Top 25 iPhone apps for business
Always on the road or just need to check your email before you get to the office? Here is a list of iPhone apps that will make life that little bit easier.
With so many apps to choose from, how can anyone find the time (or patience) to try them all out? Well, we've decided to simplify things for you by listing some of our favourites.
Apps are listed by category, which you can either click through or use the "Jump to" box found on the right. Let us know of any apps you find useful in the Talkback section below.
NB: all the apps listed also work on the iPad, iPad 2 and iPod Touch.
Productivity
Air Sharing
AU$3.99
(Credit: Avatron Software)
Air Sharing lets you transfer files via Wi-Fi to your PC by dragging and dropping them to your iPhone and vice versa. However, it does not let you edit your files. Air Sharing is compatible with the following formats: iWork, Microsoft Office, HTML web pages, PDF, RTF and source code (C/C++, Objective C/C++, C#, Java, JavaScript, XML, shell scripts, Perl, Ruby, Python, Lua and more).
Analytics App
AU$8.99
(Credit: Inblosam LLC)
Want to know how your website or blogs are faring? Analytics App lets you access Google Analytics, which supplies reports and data for monitoring traffic on a specific site. With 55 reports to choose from (it has a convenient Today report, which gives you an overview of that day's traffic patterns), customisable date range and dashboard compatibility, it's a handy app for checking your stats.
Evernote
Free
(Credit: Evernote)
Evernote helps you remember everything. Take a photo, write a note, make a recording and Evernote syncs it up to a password-protected cloud storage account. Evernote is also available in desktop versions for Mac and PC which align themselves with all of your changes, so your new memory skills can follow you around.
SmartTime 4
AU$12.99
(Credit: Left Coast Logic)
If you're not happy with the iPhone's calendar, then SmartTime 4 is a good alternative. It allows you to organise your appointments, to-dos and tasks in a simple calendar format, which you can view in a daily, weekly or monthly format. Tasks are added into your schedule between notifications. It also notifies you of any appointment clashes. SmartTime 4 integrates with your iPhone's contacts as well, so you can let the other person know you're supposed to meet, running late or would like to reschedule.
Todo
AU$5.99
(Credit: Appigo)
Todo is a task manager app that lets you create and organise tasks and also allows you to synchronise your to-do lists with Outlook or iCal using Appigo Sync, a free download from Appigo. Todo gives you the flexibility to organise your to-do list, with a simple and easy-to-use interface. It is this that sets it apart from the many to-do apps found on the iTunes Store.
Social networking
Free
(Credit: Facebook)
Sixty-five million people a month currently access Facebook from their mobile phones, according to the social network. Its impressive iPhone application shows why mobile is exploding for the site. The original app has been upgraded twice, most recently with a new icon-based home screen and personalisation features to help users keep tabs on their most important friends. The app is an excellent example of focusing on the features most useful for users on the go, while also making it simple to upload photos and videos. It's the best Facebook app on any platform, and currently the best example of social media on the iPhone.
Free
(Credit: LinkedIn)
LinkedIn is a front-end app for the popular, business-oriented social-networking site. The interface will look instantly familiar to fans of other popular social-networking apps, with a home screen that gives you a search bar, an invite button, and a grid of other buttons for All Updates, Status, Profiles, Discussions, Connections, Favorites, Inbox, Invitations, Recents, Reconnect, In Person and Themes.
Skype
Free
(Credit: Skype Software S.a.r.l)
Skype for iPhone is an app that lets you use the Skype service to send instant messages and make voice calls for free to other Skype users, and to make low-price voice calls to mobile phones and landlines around the world. You have to use Wi-Fi to make voice calls — the voice service won't work over 3G mobile networks — but that effectively means free iPhone-to-iPhone calls (using Skype and Wi-Fi) and low-cost international calls from and to anywhere in the world (again, with Wi-Fi).
Free
(Credit: Twitter)
If you're already a Twitter user, you'll know what this is — a portable version of Twitter for your phone. Basically, a micro-blogging app that lets the world know in fewer than 140 characters what you're up to or willing to share.
Travel
Sygic Mobile Maps
AU$59.99
(Credit: Sygic)
If you're familiar with portable nav devices from TomTom, Mio, Garmin, et al, you'll feel instantly at home with Mobile Maps. The map screen is quite pleasant to behold with nice graphics, large floating text for the street, 3D map view and an information bar at the bottom. For a full review click here.
TripIt
Free
(Credit: TripIt)
TripIt is a personal travel organiser aimed at casual and business users. If you forward your electronic travel confirmations to it (from an airline, car company, hotel and so on), TripIt will intelligently collate them all into one place, parse the information and add related details as well, such as maps, weather, events (from Eventful) and photos of where you're going (from Flickr). The goal is to replace all your pages of printed confirmations with a single online page that has relevant information nicely organised for you.
XE Currency
Free
(Credit: XE.com Inc)
XE Currency helps you convert over 180 foreign currencies. It can be used online and offline as it keeps a record of what the most recent rates were based on the last time you used it. The app can be personalised to show up to 10 currencies that automatically appear in the order of your own choosing. With the flick of your wrist, the app will reset.
Office productivity
Documents to Go Premium
AU$17.99
(Credit: Data Viz)
Documents To Go delivers reproductions of your Word, PowerPoint, PDF, Excel and iWork documents, including Microsoft Office 2007 files. Most core tools to create, edit, save and send files are tucked into expanding tool menus. Although much of the app's navigation is intuitive, expect some trial and error.
Dragon Dictation
Free
(Credit: Nuance Communications)
Dragon speech recognition software has been available on the desktop for years. Dragon Dictation marks the first venture into mobile apps. Simply tap record, have a conversation and then tap stop when you're done. Dragon Dictation will listen to your conversation and transcribe it as you speak, presenting it in plain text that can be copied and pasted elsewhere.
InerTrack
AU$5.99
(Credit: Inertron Software)
Do you bill clients by the hour? InerTrack is a tool for keeping track of your clients and projects by making a record of the amount you charge each specific client and how long you spend on that client via a timer, which you activate when you're doing work for them. Nothing is set in stone, everything can be manually edited and notes can be added for each project. Data can be exported by email at the click of a button, or synced up wirelessly to your PC via InerTrak's desktop app for an additional cost.
iProRecorder Premier Voice & Music Recorder
AU$1.19
(Credit: BIAS, Inc)
If you need to record that important meeting or interview, iProRecorder has got you sorted. In addition to providing all the functionality of the built-in Voice Memo app, it will also provide greater control over playback of the audio, including slow down and speed up controls, time markers and file labelling. The app will also let you export the audio via email or by uploading the file to a hosted server for bigger files.
iTap RDP client
AU$14.99
(Credit: HLW)
iTap RDP is a remote desktop app for Windows operating systems, which allows users to access their Windows desktop via their iPhone. Just as you would on Windows, the apps lets you scroll, drag and drop, and right-click to do your work. A built-in QWERTY keyboard is also included. iTap RDP supports remote systems on Windows XP Professional/Media Center 2005, Vista Business/Ultimate/Enterprise, Server 2000/2003/2008 and Windows 7 Professional/Enterprise/Ultimate.
Mocha VNC Lite
Free
(Credit: MochaSoft)
Through a virtual network, Mocha VNC Lite allows you to work away from your desk. This app works for both Windows and Mac users, allowing you to see an exact replica of your desktop, but on the smaller screen of your iPhone.
My Eyes Only - Secure Personal Information Manager
AU$7.99
(Credit: Software Ops LLC)
My Eyes Only lets you store all your log-ins, passwords, personal IDs, credit cards, notes etc in one safe and secure location. All your information is protected by a password. The app uses the same encryption technology that Apple uses in the iPhone OS.
Quickoffice Connect Mobile Suite
AU$12.99
(Credit: Quickoffice)
Quickoffice Mobile Suite is a generous viewer and editor and was one of the first mobile office tool kits for the iPhone. You'll be able to view Word, PowerPoint, PDF and Excel documents with it, but the application's real power — the part you pay for — is in editing and composing Word documents and Excel spreadsheets. This new version importantly supports the DOCX and XLSX documents that are produced by Microsoft Office 2007 for Windows, and Office 2008 for Mac.
WorldCard Mobile
AU$7.99
(Credit: Penpower Technology Ltd)
This app lets you scan business cards by taking a photo of them. The app then sorts through the data in the photo, adding it to your contacts list. You will no longer need to manually enter anyone's details ever again.
Finance
iXpenseIt
AU$5.99
(Credit: FYI Mobileware)
iXpenseIt is mightily useful for anyone looking to track expenses or plan a monthly budget. The interface is clean and quick to use, with good visual representations of your spending by category. It feels secure too — a concern for many corporate users — with password protection and the ability to backup and restore data at will. And if you want a gimmick — but a genuinely useful one — you can take snaps of individual receipts to be stored in your records too. Just what the company accountant ordered.
Pageonce Personal Finance
Free
(Credit: Pageonce)
More a record-keeper than a true assistant, Pageonce's ad-supported Personal Assistant app gives you the tools to view all your online accounts in one centralised location. Sure, you'll have to be comfortable storing all your passwords on your phone, but if you are, you'll find yourself relying on it to get all your details in a glance.
News
MobileRSS Lite
Free
(Credit: NibiruTech Ltd)
Stay on top of your favourite online content with this Google RSS news reader. This app must be used alongside Google's free Reader, with which you need to have an account. Since this is the free version it is ad-supported.