Wired's 20 Favorite iPhone Apps of 2009

* By Brian X. Chen Email Author
* December 28, 2009 |
* 12:00 am |
* Categories: Phones
*

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2009 was the "year of the app," especially for the iPhone, whose App Store is overflowing with more than 100,000 offerings. While it's easy to make fun of the more ridiculous apps, some truly stellar wares stood out from that massive pile, and we're taking the time to honor them.

We recently published Wired readers' favorite iPhone apps of 2009, as well as Apple's top picks. Now it's our turn. The Wired staff has chosen its 20 favorite apps, broken into separate categories: productivity, games, hobbies, and travel and outdoors. These are apps we deemed exceptional either for their innovation, elegant design, usefulness or a combination of all these qualities.

Ready for this? Drum roll, please.

Productivity

beejive2BeeJiveIM
We've been using instant messaging for years, but BeeJiveIM is the most feature-rich, well-designed app we've seen that crams this communication method into our pockets. The app supports several IM services (such as Google chat, AIM and Yahoo! Messenger), as well as chat-room functionality and the ability to upload videos and photos. Plus, it's got push support, so IMs can pop up on your iPhone, just like text messages, the instant you receive them. It's a fancy app worth the $10 (on sale for $7 until Jan. 1, 2010). Download BeeJiveIM.

Dropbox
Who doesn't like Dropbox? The service allows you to store and share your computer's files online through a "dropbox" folder, and this new iPhone app allows you to access your Dropbox anywhere you go. On the iPhone, Dropbox really comes in handy for listening to your friends' shared music or viewing their videos and photos. The Dropbox service is free for 2 GB of storage per month. It costs $10 per month for 50 GB and $20 per month for 100 GB. The iPhone app is free. Download Dropbox.

Instapaper
We're gaga for Instapaper here at Wired. The app is perfect for tech-savvy newshounds constantly on the run — i.e., us. After downloading the app, you add a "Read Later" button to your web browser toolbar. Whenever you see a webpage with contents you want to save to read on your iPhone, you click the Read Later button. Launch Instapaper et voila — it's there. Very useful not just for saving web articles, but also recipes, map directions, airplane itineraries and so on. The app is $5; there's also a light version you can get for free. Download Instapaper.

Tweetie 2
We've been raving about this app for months, and with good reason: Tweetie 2 is probably the most loved app in the App Store. Its beautiful interface and rich feature set make using Twitter a blast. It's a must-have for any Twitter user with an iPhone. Tweetie 2 is $3. Download Tweetie 2.

Games

Canabalt
canabalt
Canabalt is braindead simple, and that's what makes it such a great game. It's a retro-style, side-scrolling adventure with one objective: Survive. Avoid running into obstacles or falling into pits; tap the screen to jump. The music is awesome, too. A fully playable Flash version of the game is available at Canabalt.com. It costs $3 to have it on your iPhone. Download Canabalt.

Doodle Jump
Another game that falls in the "charmingly simple" category is Doodle Jump. You take on the role of an adorable alien who bounces from platform to platform, with a goal of getting as high as possible. Trampolines, jetpacks and other goodies help you along the way. It costs just a buck in the App Store. Download Doodle Jump.

Flight Control
At this point in the year many of us have played Flight Control so many times we've grown sick of it. But that doesn't disqualify it from being one of the best iPhone games of the year. Who knew that using your finger to land planes could be so much fun? Somehow, this game pulled that off. It only costs a dollar. Download Flight Control.

Spider: The Secret of Bryce Manor
spider2
You get to be a spider who swings around with his web while jumping extraordinary distances. And you don't even have to wear a lame red suit. For $3. Need we say more? Download Spider.

TowerMadness
There are plenty of tower-defense strategy games out there, but TowerMadness brings the genre to a new level. The game's objective is to set up missile turrets and laser cannons to defend your flock of sheep from aliens and giant insects. What's so great about the game? Web 2.0-savviness: TowerMadness regularly hosts contests for players to compete for the most points to get prizes; the game also issues free upgrades with new levels. High replay value, smooth 3-D graphics and an awesome web experience: a true winner in our book, and it costs a dollar. Download TowerMadness.

Words With Friends
Wired readers adored Words With Friends — a Scrabble knockoff that you can play online — and it was a favorite among our staff, too. No surprise there: The social integration of the game is excellent. You can play with multiple friends simultaneously, and you can even taunt each other with an in-game chat tool. It's got a beautiful interface, too. The ad-free version of the game costs $3; there's also a free version with ad support. Download Words With Friends.

Travel and Outdoors

convert1Convert
Whoever thought unit conversions could be fun? Convert is a gorgeous unit converter and calculator that makes conversions for everything from money and time to air pressure and energy. It's a lot more useful than you'd think. When cooking, for instance, if you're trying to triple a recipe and need to convert tablespoons into cups, you can simply punch some numbers into this app. Or if you're traveling to Japan and need to convert dollars into Yen, this should come in handy, too. Convert is a buck in the App Store. Download Travel and Outdoors.

Postman
Sending postcards can be a real drag, especially when you're trying to take it easy on vacation. Forget about wasting money on a generic-looking postcard from the museum and just download Postman. With the app you can create your own postcard using photos taken during your trip and then send it off instantly. That spares you the trouble of blowing money on postage, too. Download Postman.

Red Laser
Everyone's familiar with this scenario: You're browsing a brick-and-mortar retail store, and you spot something you'd like to buy. But we all know you can probably find a better deal online, without paying tax, too. Red Laser's a great app to help you check. It's a barcode scanner that brings up online deals super fast. Beats the heck out of standing there and manually searching shopping sites with the iPhone's web browser. The app costs $2. Download Red Laser.

RunKeeper
Not all gadgets turn us into lazy couch potatoes. The iPhone proves that with the help of RunKeeper. It's a nifty app for tracking your progress for runs, bike rides, hikes, skiing and more. The app tells you total distance, time and current pace, and when you're done it uploads your data to your account on RunKeeper's website. The $10 version, RunKeeper Pro, has audio cues; the free version is cueless. Download RunKeeper.

Taxi Magic
Cabs can be as hard to get as a high-paying position in the journalism industry, but TaxiMagic pulls off the miracle of getting you a cab late at night in San Francisco. The app automatically loads with nearby cab services, and you can even use Taxi Magic to calculate a fare estimate for your destination and pay for the ride when you get there. Good news: It's free. Download Taxi Magic.

KCRW
We lurve public radio, and the KCRW app streams all three KCRW channels: On Air, Music and News. It accompanies the streams with clean art, and there's also an Events button displaying music, news and arts happenings around time. Totally sweet for just a buck. Download KCRW.

Hobbies

Best Camera

The best camera is the one you have with you. And unfortunately the first- and second-generation iPhones' built-in camera mostly sucks, but this app can still make shots look awesome. Best Camera grabs pictures from your iPhone camera roll, lets you process them and then share them via Twitter, Facebook and e-mail. A slick interface makes the process easy: A rolling strip of icons at the bottom of the screen contains your editing tools. The app is $3. Download Best Camera.

Bloom
Electronic musician Brian Eno turned the iPhone's touchscreen into a dreamscape of wonderful ambient sounds in his app Bloom. Tapping the screen in different places emits a different note; they change colors to create soothing visual animations as well. Bloom costs $4. Download Bloom.

CameraBag
Another sweet image-editing app, CameraBag is for photographers who want to keep things short and sweet. The app automatically applies effects filters to your photos by simply swiping from left to right. Effects include black and white, instant Polaroid, Cinema and more. CameraBag costs $2. Download CameraBag.

Eucalyptus
There's gold in them public book archives. Project Gutenberg has about 30,000 public domain e-books to date, including classics such as Gulliver's Travels, Oliver Twist and Tales of the Jazz Age. Eucalyptus is the best app we've seen providing for accessing and reading Project Gutenberg books on your iPhone. It costs $10 in the App Store, and it's worth it. Download Eucalyptus.

Photos: Jon Snyder/Wired.com, Charlie Sorrel/Wired.com
Wired’s 20 Favorite iPhone Apps of 2009 | Gadget Lab | Wired.com (28 December 2009)
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