Gizmodo
Our favorite file storage app-shoots files to the iPhone's flash memory via Wi-Fi for storage, transport, and easy retrieval.
More »
Four letters: KCRW. AOL Radio pipes in the legendary LA station and for this we are thankful.
More »
Generative, ambient music by Brian Eno. If I need to say more, it's also a mini-sequencer: Drop your finger on the liquidy pastel screen, play a note, make simple loops. Music For Airports that you can make yourself. In an airport, even.
More »
Ditto here for NYC. Even for locals, quick access to a subway map is always a good thing, plus constantly changing service outages are impossible to keep track of, without an app like this. And if you're feeling old-timey, a vintage MTA map is here too.
More »
It seems simple-you can type URLs in landscape mode with its larger, more luxuriously spaced keyboard. Why not emails? EasyWriter solved it.
More »
For Facebookers (um, everyone, right?) it's essential-a beautifully designed, uber-functional implementation that's always with you.
More »
The only IM/messaing client you need. Covers Google Talk, AIM, Skype, MSN, Yahoo, ICQ, Twitter, plus VoIP calls over Wi-Fi if you're low on minutes at home or in the coffee shop.
More »
It's Risk, but in space, and instead of six hours it takes two minutes and you don't have to be shitfaced to enjoy it.
More »
The same amazing Earth touring app found on the desktop, now spinnable via multi touch. Honestly if someone told me two years ago I would have a functional Google Earth app on my phone, I wouldn't have believed them. This is now.
More »
Google Mobile was a solid app (but not particularly essential)-and then came voice search.
More »
Who knew multitouch is the perfect interface for stitching photos together into panoramas? It is. Plus if the photo you just took doesn't work, toss it out and take another one immediately. A paid version adds even more features.
More »
Best internet radio app, hands down. Smartly auto-suggests music based on other artists you like. Both on the go and while at home. Streams well over EDGE and 3G. Free. What more could you ask for?
More »
Combines myriad online accounts, from banking and investing to bill paying to airline frequent fliers. Rather than hit 15 different sites for your montly bill pay/pain time, use this single app.
More »
While not the sexiest apps, a good solid voice recorder can be incredibly handy-especially if you are a handsome FBI investigator in the town of Twin Peaks.
More »
One of the first apps we saw, and still among the best in terms of usefulness. If you use iTunes frequently at home and especially if you listen away from your desk via a stereo hookup or Airport Express, you need the Remote.
More »
A totally unique music application that processes sound from your environment and replays it according to a set program, creating a trippy, always-evolving soundscape.
More »
The dice rolling in MotionX Poker is one of the most accurate and painstakingly simulated dice physics engines ever built. And it shows. Not a substitute for real dice behind your neighborhood bodega, but the closest thing possible.
More »
Realistic dice physics meets ancient Egyptian gods in one of the more addicting iPhone games you'll see.
More »
Even though the Jailbreak community isn't the exciting Wild West it was before the App Store, there's still one important thing jailbreakers can do that app store prisoners can't: play Nintendo games.
More »
It wouldn't be an iPhone app list without mention of an App Store banning, now would it? NetShare brought easy 3G laptop tethering, until Apple noticed and yanked it.
More »
Thanks to its accelerometer, your iPhone knows when it's being jiggled. Night Camera, simply and ingeniously, uses this data to make your low-light picture clearer.
More »
Provides you with an elegant TV guide, movie listings and showtimes, and Netflix queue management all in one app.
More »
Mad genius designer Keita Takahashi left the series years ago, but Katamari is still among my favorite game franchises of all time (and I'm not alone), and it's a natural fit for the iPhone's tilt-controls.
More »
Can't live in San Francisco without this app. I use it everyday to see when trains / buses are coming. Even if I am sitting at my computer I choose to look up the train / bus schedule via Routesy on my iPhone because it's just that much simpler.
More »
This just doesn't get old: hold your phone to the air to grab the song playing at the supermarket (or being hummed by your friend), and have it identified in a few seconds. We live in a privileged age.
More »
A full version of Sim City 2000 on the iPhone? Yes. Oh yes.
More »
Stream your home machine's iTunes library and those of up to 30 friends to your phone. This app lives up to its name. Forget worries of filling up 8GB, or even 16.
More »
Twitter apps: there are a lot of 'em. Tweetie, though, is the closest you'll get to the Twitter desktop experience, and therefore our best of.
More »
Brian likes this app because deep down, he's just a Japanese schoolgirl who wants to slap sticker graphics on photos of his dog. If you share this desire, Sketches: it's for you too.
More »
One of the first apps we loved was the iTunes Remote-now, the Swiss army knife of media players VLC has one of its very own.
More »
View and fully control my computer from anywhere, as long as I am on the same network. So I can basically be at my computer without actually being at my computer.
More »
Finally, the definitive Wikipedia reader for the iPhone.
More »
Taps into Yelp's community reviews to find good bars and restaurants based on your location. Essential for cities like San Francisco and New York where Yelp reviews are solid. When I'm out in the city and need a drink ASAP or the restaurant I was planning on going is too crowded/sucks, Yelp is what I reach for.
More »
Transformers blows up this weekend. Need to know more? io9 gets down and dirty with the superbots.
Original material is licensed under a Creative Commons License permitting non-commercial sharing with attribution.
