My Top iOS Apps

Over at TiPb they've been running through the apps that they use most and it's had me reorganizing my iPhone and iPad apps and thinking about how I actually use both of those devices. I use both almost daily and they both have way too many apps loaded onto them, but when I analyze my app usage, there's usually only a few on each that I regularly use, day in and day out. So, if anyone is interested, here's what I mainly use my iDevices for...

My Top iPhone Apps

1. Hipstamatic
With my mother being a professional photographer, it's a bit of a given that I would at least like photography a little bit. I'm not the type of person to lug around a DSLR with me to get pictures of things, but I like to whip out my iPhone, which is always with me, and take pictures here and there. What Hipstamatic gives me is a combination of interesting classic filters that create unique pictures. The killer feature for me is the randomizer. If you shake your phone before taking a picture, it randomizes the lens, film, and flash combination so you can get something new every time... although I think it prefers a few films over others as they come up a LOT.

2. Netflix
This is how I entertain myself on my bus ride to and from work. Considering we have good 3G coverage in Minneapolis through AT&T, unlike many other cities, it rarely stutters or re-buffers. Occasionally on a few specific spots, probably where I'm being handed off from one tower to another, it will pause, but I'm ok with that knowing I can watch Breaking Bad or Kids in the Hall on my bus ride.

3. Audiogalaxy
This app gives me streaming access to my entire music collection. Sure, lots of people use Google music or Amazon's cloud, but since I have 3/4 of a terrabyte of music on my home machine, it's nice to not have to upload it all to a service (which would take forever). Instead, you have the Audiogalaxy app on your home machine that stores your music and as long as that computer is on and connected to the internet, you can stream your entire library through the Audiogalaxy app.

4. Scrabble
This is my go-to time waster. At any given time I have at least 6 or 7 games going with people. It's  not a perfect app (it takes forever to load and doesn't always load your Facebook friends games right away), but it's the easiest way to play Scrabble against my friends and family who play it on their phones or just on Facebook.

5. Facebook
Let's be honest... everyone uses Facebook now, myself included. There's just no getting around the fact that it is almost an essential communication tool for keeping up with friends, family, and those you just want to keep tabs on.

My Top iPad Apps

1. ComiXology and Comic Zeal
I list these two together as I use them both for reading comics on my iPad. The iPad is the perfect size for reading comics and graphic novels and there's nothing like having an entire long box of comics with you at any given time. Over the last year I've been making the transition from physical comics/graphic novels to digital and with these two apps I'm getting pretty close to not needing hard copies any more... well, except for when I want something to put on the bookshelf.

2. Kindle
Much like I'm doing with my comics, I'm also trying to switch over to reading digitally from dead tree books. The Kindle app makes this very possible, syncing up with the Kindle app on my other devices and on the web so I can pick up reading wherever I left off. The only downside to the iOS Kindle app is you can't buy books in-app; you have to go to the Amazon site to do so. That being said, it's still the best e-reading app I've found.

3. Terra Web Browser
Sure, Safari can get the job done, but Terra has become my favorite browser and since one of the things I use my iPad for is simply browsing the internet, I end up using it a lot. It's relatively zippy, rarely crashes, has a lot of extra features Safari doesn't (text search, unlimited tabs), and is regularly updated.

4. Kingdom Rush
The last two here are games that I've played a lot. This is a great tower defense game that my brother turned me on to. It doesn't do anything 100% new, but the mechanics of the game are so streamlined that it feels like it best captures everything that tower defense games need to do well to be fun.

5. Pinball HD
I love pinball and the iPad is a great toy to play pinball games on. The iPhone is simply too small, but the iPad excels at it. The tables that come with this free app are great, but the other tables you can buy are also phenomenal. I've spent many an hour trying to up a high score, never getting bored.