It’s not official quite yet, but the iPhone App Store is live and you can download version 2.0 of the iPhone software – which is all you need to run the 552 applications currently available.
We’ve been gathering videos and overviews of many of the applications and have held them until now. We received demo vidoes for dozens of applications, ranging from basic games to complex GPS-enabled social networking applications. Below are some of our favorites.
Among the apps that we didn’t include below (primarily because of their simplicity) are Recorder (a voice recorder), Movies (movie showtimes), and iMaze (a basic maze game).
Social Networking On The iPhone:
The iPhone, with cult-like users and location aware technology, is the perfect social networking device. Earlier this year we speculated that someone would emerge with a killer social networking app for the iPhone. It turns out that there are lots of contenders.
Loopt
Loopt – We’ve been tracking Loopt’s efforts around their iPhone application for months now. In April we posted early screen shots of the app without saying who had built it. Think of Loopt as a simple social network to find local businesses, message friends and send status updates with where you are (using the iPhones location technology). And a key difference with Loopt and many of the other networks below: you can meet new people who are nearby, if they choose to share that information. If everyone used this, you could see who’s single in a bar before you approach them (and flirt with them by phone first), and know the first name and job of everyone at that cocktail hour at the tech conference. We’re big fans of Loopt, and will have more news on them later today. For now, download the free application here.
Limbo
Limbo – Limbo is another geo-aware social network that behaves like a mashup of Twitter, Loopt, and Whrrl. One of the app’s most compelling features is its grid-like diagram that visually groups your friends according to what they’re doing (for example, all of your friends that are Out Drinking will be lumped together, even if they aren’t necessarily drinking in the same place). The app accomplishes this feat by forcing users to select from a predefined hierarchal list of activities (while this might sound restrictive, the list is pretty comprehensive). This categorization allows users to see what they’re friends are up to without having to sift through each of their messages.
On the geo-positioning front, Limbo allows users to interact users who are within a close radius (about a quarter mile), in a manner that is similar to Loopt. You can download the app here for free.
MySpace
MySpace – The MySpace iPhone app is everything you’d expect from a multi-billion dollar company: the app integrates seamlessly with the massive social network, allowing users to add friends, exchange messages, upload photos, and do just about anything else they could do from their computers at home. They aren’t yet integrating with the location features, but expect that in the near future. If you are a MySpace user, you’ll be using this constantly. You can download the app here for free.
Shozu
ShoZu – The ShoZu iPhone app allows users to interact with a number of social websites, including YouTube, Facebook, Flickr, and a number of others. Users can upload photos to these services, comment on other users’ profiles, and send status updates, depending on the site involved. You can download the app here for free.
Utilities and Reference:
The introduction of the iPhone app store has effectively made the iPhone the ultimate utility belt. We’re seeing no shortage of apps that aim to make life easier for users, and while many of them are a little too simplistic (how many tip calculators do we really need?), others will be godsends for some people, serving up the latest sports news, on-demand drink recipes, and restaurant recommendations.
Save Benjis
Save Benjis – Save Benjis is a shopping tool that will look up a product’s price according to its model number. Using model numbers instead of product names helps take the guesswork out of pricing comparisons (for example, it would be much easier to compare two computers with their model numbers versus a name like “MacBook Pro”). The app integrates the Safari web browser, so users can browse and purchase goods on a website from their phone if they find a better price. You can download the app here for free.
Pocket Express
Pocket Express – Pocket Express is a news and information service that is available for a number of smart phones. The app allows users to browse through news articles written by the Associated Press on topics that include politics, science, and world news. Users can also browse through sports scores, weather reports, and movie information. You can download the app here for free.
Urbanspoon
Urbanspoon – Urbanspoon brings a fun (and gimmicky) solution to choosing a restaurant for dinner. After using the phone’s GPS to detect restaurants in the area, Urbanspoon presents you with a slot machine-like listing of cuisine types and price. To activate the slot machine, you give the phone a hard shake (the accelerometers inside the phone will measure the movement). The dials will spin around a few times, and you’ll be presented with a suggested restaurant (you can shake again if you’re not satisfied). You can download the app here for free.
Cocktails
Cocktails – Cocktails is a well designed reference for “potent potables” that will put traditional bar-tending guides to shame. Users can browse through a large index of drinks, search by ingredient or drink name, and label drinks as favorites for future reference. The app also includes information about the type of serving glass to use, as well as the date that each recipe was created (there are often multiple recipes available for each drink). You can download the app here for $9.99.
ForeFlight
ForeFlight – ForeFlight is an iPhone app that is aimed towards pilots (both recreational and professional) rather than your average consumer. The app allows users to find nearby airports, maps, diagrams of airports, and lookup of plane information by tail number. The app also includes the A/FD, the Airport and Facilities Directory, which includes location data like field and approach information and location data on hotels. You can download the app here for a whopping $69.99 (the highest price in the store).
Audio and Video
App providers will make use of the 3G iPhone’s speedy network with streaming audio and video apps that will allow users to consume a near-limitless amount of content without having to sync up with their computers. Unfortunately, the iPhone is still unable to record video, so all media uploading will be limited to photos for now.
Kyte Mobile Producer
Kyte Mobile Producer – Kyte’s Mobile Producer is a mobile image uploading app. Users can upload the images they take from their iPhones directy to Kyte Channels that they’ve embedded in their blogs or onto their Facebook profile through Kyte’s facebook app. Users can also compile their images into slideshows, complete with captions and polls, which can also be played through the their Kyte Channels online. You can download the app here for free.
mdialog
mdialog – mdialog’s iPhone app allows users to browse through content that have been uploaded to the video site. The app is reminiscent of YouTube, allowing users to share and bookmark their favorite channels, leave comments, and browse through a “What’s New Section”. Users can also attach polls to their videos. You can download the app here for free.
Pandora Radio
Pandora Radio, our flat out favorite application so far, is an audio app that streams music to the iPhone over Wi-Fi, 3G, or Edge. Pandora is a popular music service that creates a “Music Genome” to analyze music a user likes and then recommend new artists. Users can enter the name of an artist or song they like, and Pandora will generate a streaming playlist, even if they haven’t created a profile. You can try out the app here for free.
Update: Here is a late addition:
Jott
Jott – Self-dubbed “the notepad you’ve always dreamed of,” the Jott iPhone app records your voice and turns it into text. You can add items to specific lists and cross them off once you don’t need to worry about them any longer. Additionally, all of your notes are backed up online. You can try out the app here for free.
Copy paste?
Just View the Top Paid Apps
http://www.redr.../top-paid-apps/
foreflight sounds like the perfect tool for terrorists
Thank you for mentioning my little app iMaze. It is available in AppStore for the lowest possible price $0.99.
I just wanted to point out that Save Benjis (the price comparison app listed above) also allows you to search by product name, manufacturer, Barcode (both UPC & EAN), ISBN Book Code’s and a host of other search criteria (not just by model number).
Im so surprised that wordpress doesnt have an app out at launch. Im sure they’re working on what, but it’s disappointing
About 3/4 of these apps are US only. Worth mentioning on the day iPhone goes global.
Pandora will be the killer app of the store. If it works in my car, goodbye radio and it could also cannibalize Itunes!
Our company released out app today, vSNAX, it’s in the featured section and allows you to watch all kinds of commercial content right on your phone. It also has an in-movie clip browser which is pretty slick, I always found it annoying to have to keep rotating the phone in the YouTube player after watching a clip — you can navigate all our content in landscape or portrait mode!
Loopt sucks… just tried it out. Pandora is pure win however!
“you could see who’s single in a bar before you approach them (and flirt with them by phone first)”
seriously? that’s classic…
That’s great, but what about all of us who still have one of the original iPhones? This video at least shows how to upgrade to the new 3G: http://www.monk...o-the-3g-iphone
@Jason – Are you still holding back some of the demo videos submitted. GeoGraffiti submitted a ‘preview’ video showcasing the GeoGraffiti app for the 3G enabling users to ‘Voice Mark’ a location with a message containing tips, opinions, advice to share with other mobile phones in the area. But I don’t see the video listed?
Pandora over EDGE is amazing. Remote is also cool. Jott is very handy.
Jason said…
The iPhone, with cult-like users and location aware technology, is the perfect social networking device.
Jason, there isn’t any mobile location aware technology that is available in the market at the moment as far as I know. The companies that TechCrunch had covered here are all location tracking. If some technology is mislabeled with a wrong term/description, then it becomes a buzz term. It is Ok, if it is correct.
Look at what we have now with all the hypes of Web-2.xxx. There is Enterprise 2.0, Office 2.0, Social Networking 2.0, Semantic Search 2.0, Beer 2.0 , Wine 2.0 (at least the alcohol content) , Jesus 2.0, Boyfriend 2.0, Girlfriend 2.0, Perfume 2.0, Dog 2.0 (owners social networkings), Obama 2.0, John McCain 2.0, George Bush 2.0 (the 2nd Bush President) , Global Warming 2.0 , Climate Change 2.0, and so on.
I wouldn’t be surprised if someone comes up with toilet 2.0 at some stage (hehe).
Ramani — isn’t the lowest possible price…. free?
Apps geographically restricted {seesmic_video:{”url_thumbnail”:{”value”:”http://t.seesmic.com/thumbnail/u4vB9SbekW_th1.jpg”}”title”:{”value”:”Apps geographically restricted ”}”videoUri”:{”value”:”http://www.seesmic.com/video/15LO8Y0PKl”}}}
I’d like to see a keynote/powerpoint presentation app, so we could all cease to carry laptops just for presentations.
Hello.
I was thinking about your comment and i think you should see the gazooky reader recorder. Now that would be the ultimate app for the iphone. Heres the link check it out. http://files.ga...er-Recorder.htm
@Jarred: 0$ (free) isn’t a price
@Greg (#8): you are a complete dumbass if you think such a minor “differentiator” will propel you anywhere. your me-too is done. polish the resume (maybe it’ll help)
@Falafulu: Must you get semantic with everything? Details are not really relevant. CEOs never care, nor does the public at large. “Big Picture” or you can be middle class forever (maybe lower-upper, you’re obv very class conscious). Good luck, find a biz guy and you’ll do well.
I like Pandora but I wish it had another feature. I wish you could use it’s processes to shift through your own music on your phone. Say that you were in a certain mood and wanted to listen to a certain type of music (say alt rock). By entering in that genre or artist it would look through your music on your iphone and play other songs that were similar in style. I think this would be a good addition to their product and would be perfect for places where you didn’t have service (airplane). Just a thought.
Flirt with someone single at the bar even before i meet them…yes…even more reason to not meet people face to face…can’t wait to flirt with people in second life from my IPhone!
@19…isnt there some other startup trying to implement this feature by integrating with Pandora?…i think it was featured on TC recently
@21 – I do remember seeing something (maybe a web application) where you selected your mood from a square box. The box was divided into different segments and each segment had different colors. The colors represented the mood you were in (happy, sad, energetic, etc) and from there it helped you select music to listen to. I haven’t seen that in a while and it isn’t made for the iPhone. I missed the post you’re talking about but I would love to see an app with this feature.
I thought the day of geographically limited apps were over. So much for being a global village, eh? Hmm, now I wonder if I can buy these apps if I visit the USA… What’s the point of geographic limitation on a truly *mobile* device?!!
I also found it annoying that the DVDs I bought when in the states couldn’t be played on my European Macbook when every DVD player here plays all regions. grrr…
–Annoyed American living in Berlin
Zintin is another social networking app, the only one that I’ve seen that lets you connect to the people around you as well as share pictures and stuff like that. http://www.zintin.com
Twittervision for iPhone will be released imminently… stay tuned. Apple is reviewing app submissions as fast as they can…
SKYPE? WHERE TF IS SKYPE????
These skype folks are blowing it.
Jarred,
yes that’s true. But this game iMaze is logic intensive if not graphics intensive. And I don’t to bug you with ads. So, it’s priced at Tier1.
thnx alot… i loved those videos =D
Great videos TC. I counted over 25 apps with a social networking component. The usual suspects along with dedicated mobile soc nets such as Loopt and zintin.
Where’s the universal remote? and how about games?
OKay folks, I just made iMaze a free app. I noticed that free apps are being downloaded lot more than paid apps. So, go ahead, download and enjoy!
Has anyone noticed that their Mail application no longer works after they upgrade to 2.0?
noam – my mail works fine…
what about the facebook app? no mention of it.
is it any good?
light saber! {seesmic_video:{”url_thumbnail”:{”value”:”http://t.seesmic.com/thumbnail/DHeotxpnpn_th1.jpg”}”title”:{”value”:”light saber! ”}”videoUri”:{”value”:”http://www.seesmic.com/video/1TbwPWiUUC”}}}
PaulDM – facebook app is cool, has chat.
The pandora app is why i will buy the iPhone. Mobile music makes me smile. I have been dreaming about this day for a long long time. Thanks for staying up all night to put this post together.
cheers,
raff
Huge leap in the way applications are distributed and platforms are accepted by the developers. While we still have to see how these apps perform and make lives more easy, it is notable that Google has launched a native app for Google services where nothing from Yahoo and Microsoft.
yeah, you guys need to stop talking about how great pandora is and watch the video at no. 35 above.
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@ PaulDM the Facebook app is pretty good. You get Facebook Chat, badge notification, mobile number support and a few other nice things.
They are implementing geo info soon, so that you can see the friends who are nearby
@ Mike – dim the lights so that its dark.
@Frank Church. Wow, biting, incisive comments without being completely insulting. Seriously. Do you have a blog or something? I wish my son Loren were as sharp as you.
Mike – There are a number of people on TUAW with broken mail.app.
“If everyone used this, you could see who’s single in a bar before you approach them (and flirt with them by phone first)”
I’d strongly suggest developing proper social skills. A bar full of people glancing at their iPhones and then anxiously across the room at their prospective ‘catch’ is quite disturbing.
BTW: I think someone mentioned skype. Have a look at the Fring blog. I think they’ve release a beta though i believe it can only be used over wifi and not 3g.
Frank Church said…
Details are not really relevant.
No, detail is relevant. When some companies that developing real context-awareness apps are bringing their technology into the public for commercial use, then the potential target market would be confused.
Frank Church said…
CEOs never care, nor does the public at large.
True. CEO understands the gullibility of the Web 2.0 crowd, which herd to anything that labels Web 2.0 , not because they’re always useful, but because it is just Web 2.0. You know, you can make money out of people’s gullibility. Homeopaths do it, Psychics do it.
Frank Church said…
“Big Picture” or you can be middle class forever (maybe lower-upper, you’re obv very class conscious).
And your point is? So, I assume that you’re one of those multi-millionaires who are doing well out of Web 2.0 , is that correct?
Frank Church said…
Good luck, find a biz guy and you’ll do well.
Yep, I have just started developing some apps of my own (really useful) and I don’t and you will hear about it, when these are available commercially (first 2 are in realtime bio-medical analytics & financial-market analytics – the ideas are not new, the functionalities are – they will be context aware at least). We weren’t born to the world with gold, we have to search for gold during our living years. Some had made it early and some had made it late and some never made it, since they’re just simply happy with who they are and what they’ve got and this is how the real world operates. Not everybody could be multi-millionaires at once and this is fact. For the business guy, you suggested, there are a few who are currently evaluating of what I am doing for the purpose of joining. I know that your criticism of me, is based on your assumption that if I am not a multimillionaire, then I should not raised the issue that I stated in my previous message. I stated facts, and what is wrong with that?
@14 toilet 2.0 is on it’s way! Albeit not 2.0 in the social way!
Rather a toilet that analyzes specimen data and then sends it to your doctors computer. If there are irregularities you receive a schedule appointment time from your doctor. It will save lives and increase our life expectancies!
Geo social networking is pretty awesome. The question is what do you do after you identify somebody is within a short radius around you? What if you don’t want to communicate with them… look here… http://www.read...ex.php?RTA=web2
@”Loren’s Mom”:
Yeah, I have a blog you idiot. Checkout gofuckyourself dot com.
@Falafulu: My point is, Shut the fuck up already, you are technically smart, but
business-wise stupid. We get it.
Some of us were born with gold. it is called “inheritance”. Sorry you lost the lottery, make your kids proud!
Just tried out Limbo and it seems pretty fluid. nice job.