My Favourite 2012 iPhone Apps (Free & Paid)

There were several apps that I loaded and have since deleted since I hardly touched them.

Since I only recently got a smart phone I might change my mind a couple of months from now, but for the moment these are my favourites.

Free Apps (Not in any particular order):

1. Skype is great for video chats and Line is great for phone calls abroad. (I think you just need to make sure your hotel has free wifi and you also need to check what kind of plan you are on so you don’t exceed the limits. It can be scary if you exceed the limits, so please check)

2. Battery Doctor has tips on how you can save iPhone battery from draining and while you charge the Phone a big logo of how much battery power is left will show. It’ll also indicate when it’s fully charged.

3. The local app Hungry (from the website Hungry Go Where) will help you find places to eat nearby

4. Malls 2011 will help you find nearby malls.

5. TuneIn Radio is very cool as I get to hear radio stations from all over the world. I especially love listening to the American stations. And during Christmas it was wonderful as my cousin used it to tune in and play just Christmas songs from one of the Christmas channels.

6. I deleted all my games as I felt I was wasting too much time on them better spent reading (Temple Run is the most addictive followed by Cut the Rope, Swampy, and Angry Birds just in case you want to know). The only game I have is Words Free which I only play with one person (which is just perfect) and it’s basically a copy of scrabble.

7. I am currently addicted to Pinterest which is like a virtual dream board where you can find and paste your favourite pictures on various subjects like fashion, food and design.

8. I am loving Cardiograph where you place your fingertip lightly on the camera viewer button and it’ll measure your heart rate. It’s pretty accurate i think.

9. I like the local app iDAT by the Health Promotion Board, where you can check the calories of local hawker foods. You can also log in your daily weight and check your calorie consumption for the day.

10. I like the local news apps including Straits Times, Today Paper, AsiaOne and Channel News Asia

11. For the international news I’ve downloaded CNN and Newspro which is news by Reuters.

12. Then there is Twitter which I use to check the latest buzz and news as well.

13. FlipBoard is a beautiful application for news and other interesting articles on style and travel.

14. The International Herald Tribune and The New York Times on Newstand (although not all the articles are free, I like that I can at least read the headlines). I also like reading the free Editor’s highlights on The Economist. The rest you have to pay for.

15. Werdsmith (this was good for taking notes while on a journey but you need to upgrade if you want more pages and that kinda sucked)

16. Virtuoso is very cool and probably works better on an iPad. It’s basically a piano keyboard, but because the iPhone is so small you got to hit the arrow to get to the next octave of keys. You can’t see all the keys at one go. But I am still very impressed.

Paid Apps:


1. I love Watsapp (US$0.99 and it used to be free) so that I can chat with family abroad.

2. Clear (US$0.99) – I love how intuitive this ‘To Do List’ is. It works perfectly for a tap and swipe device. It’s also minimalist and that’s what I love about it. The most important tasks are in red and on the top of the list, while the less important ones are in lighter shades.

3. Camera+ (US$1.99) has loads of effects, the ablity to zoom and add boaders. I downloaded it because it was highly recommended by Time magazine, but it’s just ok I guess. I figure I need to use it more to get a better feel. I am more impressed by Watsapp and Clear and feel those apps, especially Watsapp was really worth the money.

Can anyone out there recommend me a great app for writing? It’ll be even better if it’s free. Or are there any apps you were glad you paid for and felt were worth every cent?

I don’t have an iPad, but the most impressive app on an iPad is 1000 Places to See Before you Die.

About bookjunkie

Blogging about life in Singapore & recently cancer too.
This entry was posted in Lovely Ideas and tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , . Bookmark the permalink.

17 Responses to My Favourite 2012 iPhone Apps (Free & Paid)

  1. itunes U, for sure. It’s an app that has university lectures from all the best schools in the world. I’m listening to Yale course on American novel after 1945. I will start on Yale course on how to write an app soon!

  2. Lady J says:

    I love taking photos so for me, the one photo app that I really love is the Pudding Camera app. It’s a Korean app but they recently upgraded the firmware with English. Try and let me know if you like it.

  3. sw says:

    For writing, I use Evernote. I use it for notetaking and lists on my phone too and it’s free. I think there is another very similar app called Catch. I use an Android though!

  4. Gintai says:

    Yes Evernote is gd. It’s free. U need to open an account. It can stn to all ur OC, iPhone or iPad even on Android devices or other platforms. U just log in ur Evernote account and it’s all there notes n pics! Gd app.

    U must use this FeeddlerPro. There is a free ver. But I use this paid ver. It can harvest all your fav blogs or forum threads. Just cut n paste the links to this app. It will remain 4ever. U can rename the blogs u store and syn each. From there u know if there is a new post on that blog. U can even FB or tweet it. I like this a lot. Must have.

    The WordPress app is free also. I blog using this app. Very gd. Almost all my blog posts I use it.

    NHK TV is free fm Japan TV. Very gd news.

    Voice American also free and is gd radio.

    Informant is a paid app for keeping your schedules.

    Check it out.

  5. Gintai says:

    Typo errors. It can syn to all your PC…

  6. kirsten says:

    Some of my apps:
    – WhatsApp
    – Twitter
    – Facebook
    – Path
    – Instagram
    – Zite (I eventually ditched Flipboard for this because I think it gives me more control over what I want to find)
    – Al Jazeera English has an app that’s pretty good, and you can also watch their show on your phone through the stream, which is great since we don’t get AJE in Singapore, and it often has really good reporting.
    – XE.com for currency conversion, which is handy for travelling and also for online shopping.
    – iXpenseit now keeps track of my expenses, handy for when it comes to declaring tax!

  7. James Lim says:

    Hi,

    great list, thanks buddy!

    I would personally add the GET4X app which is a money changer “finder”, tells you the best money changers live’ rates in Singapore.

  8. syazz says:

    ‘Panda Love’ is an app made by a Singaporean. Rated 5-star in Singapore app store and 4-star in the US itunes store. Check it out! https://itunes.apple.com/sg/app/panda-love/id564613050?mt=8

    • bookjunkie says:

      all I can think of is was it motivated by the pandas being in Singapore now 😉 Trying to refrain from any games though…too addictive.

  9. david says:

    This is a great “Best apps” list! You can either try these apps available on the App Store:
    1. Future Scheduler
    2. Location Alerts
    3. Photo effects Plus
    4. Photo Album – Photobook
    Nice apps check it out!!
    Best

Leave a Reply to bookjunkie Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published.

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.