If 10 years ago, someone told me that I'd soon have a cell phone that could navigate the internet, blog, tune my guitar, teach me to cook, find sex offenders, turn my voice into text and get me out of meetings, I'd have laughed.
But today, the iPhone app store has revolutionized our lives and even spawned others to, yet again, copy and market the innovation Apple is known for.
So, today, here are my 2009 Top Impact Apps that I've come to love and depend on:
1.Tweetdeck. (Free) Same interface as the desktop application. Manage multiple accounts. Appreciated by even the most hardcore tweeps among us.
2. Facebook (Free). Six Degrees gave way to Friendster which was went the way of the dino with the advent of MySpace. Today there is Facebook. If you Facebook, you have to have the app.
3. Guitar Toolkit. ($3.99). By far the most expensive app I own, this app provides a tuner, metronome, nearly a 100 alternate tunings and fingerings, and a gazillion chord voicings…all strumable and playable from the touch screen. Includes settings for 6-string, 12-string, bass, and banjo. Plus it keeps my boys entertained while we're waiting on a table at Chili's…
4. WordPress. (Free). I can blog, edit, post, and add templates and widgets to tomcottar[dot]org from anywhere. Cool.
5. Logos. (Free) Pretty amazing Bible software…free.
6. Starbucks Mobile Card. (Free). Not only track your account and reload your St.Arbux card…but in some parts of the country you can pay for your caffeinated goodness with via your phone. Oh….yeah…..
7. Epicurious (Free). Not sure what to make for dinner? Breakfast? Party appetizers? Input a few criteria, and this app gives you hundreds of recipes to choose from, as well as shopping lists.
8. Offender Locator Lite. (Free). Using the GPS on your phone, this app taps the sex offender database and gives you a map with the registered sex offenders nearest your current location. Highly recommend this one for parents, students, and ministers who work with teens and children.
9. ProRemote (Free). Allows me to control ProPresenter (presentation software) from my phone via wifi.
10. Fake Caller (Free). Need out of a meeting? This baby works like an alarm clock– you receive a 'call' from someone you have preassigned in your contacts list. While your phone's home screen acts and responds like an actual call, you can politely excuse yourself to 'answer' the call. Pressing 'dismiss' is like hitting the snooze button: Fake Caller will call you back in a few minutes to give you another chance. Sneaky.
11. Dragon Dictation and Vlingo (both Free). Both are voice recognition apps which convert my spoken words to text messages, emails, tweets, or Facebook updates.
Out of the endless amount of apps in existence, these have made my life easier in 2009. What are your favs?