I have one additional wish list item for Macworld 2009: the iPhone needs a better application launcher. Paging through screens to find the app you are looking for is inefficient and can be frustrating.

Short and sweet.

Google Reader’s mobile version – This isn’t a native app. It’s the iPhone Safari version of Google Reader. I’d prefer something native, but, until background downloading comes along, it’s faster for me to just visit the site directly.

Things – a todo app that syncs with the OS X version of Things. This is the first time I’ve had a tasks application so well integrated into my daily life. It’s nice! Not cheap, though – $10 for the iPhone app and $40-$50 for the OS X app.

TwitterFon – My favorite iPhone twitter client. Twittelator is my backup, though. It supports groups so I can view tweets from a small group of people if I’m short on time. I hope TwitterFon adds that kind of functionality soon!

Amazon.com – This app is great in stores. Take photos of the things you want to see reviews on or want to price check. Moments later, the Amazon product pages for those items show up and you can make informed purchases at local stores OR do a 1-click purchase from Amazon.

iPod – The built in iPod functionality is great and I use it a lot for Podcasts, AudioBooks and Music. Still, I wish the Podcast downloading was automatic.

iTalk – Great for taking voice notes.

Yelp – Excellent source of information about local restaurants and services.

Maps – The built in Google Map functionality is great and keeps getting better.

The Creeps – My favorite Tower Defense-style game currently.

Shazam – Helps me identify songs on the radio that I’d like to download when I stop the car.

Here are the iPhone apps I currently have installed and my thoughts on them. Note: I delete apps that I’ve tried and have decided not to use.

Bottom Bar:

Phone

Email

Calendar

Safari (Web Browser)

Page 1:

SMS

Tweetsvile: I like this better than the others (Twitterrific, Twittelator, Twinkle) mainly because it automatically downloads a lot more tweets than the others. I rely on that functionality because I usually only check twitter 3 times per week. A nice feature addition would be to track which tweet I last read and start me there when the app opens. Haven’t played much with Tweetie, yet, but I hear that’s also a great app.

fring: I haven’t used this, yet, but I hear it’s a great multi-IM-protocol chat application.

Facebook

Contacts

Web shortcut to Google Reader Mobile

Maps

Weather

Clock

Google Mobile

Yelp: I love this app.

Stocks: This app would be much more useful if it updated in the background.

Wikipanion: Best of the Wikiperia browser apps.

PCalc: Bought this mostly for the paper tape functionality. Very handy to look at past calculations.

Units

i.TV

Page 2:

Things: Great TODO app. The pairing / syncing feature is well designed – syncs with Things on my MacBook.

iTalk: Cool voice recorder app. I would use voice recording on the iPhone much more if there was a button on the phone that triggered it. Perhaps Apple could let us choose which app to load when a user double clicks the home button.

Evernote

WordPress: Haven’t posted much from the road. But maybe.

ShoZu: Another app that I haven’t really used. The promise is that it integrates with Facebook, Flickr, Twitter, WordPress, etc.

iPod

Shazam: Very handy for telling you what song you just heard on the radio.

YouTube

Photos

Camera

Web shortcut to Flickr Mobile

App Store

Settings

Ocarina: The globe browser is a very nice touch.

TatomicLite: Similar to lumines in a lot of ways. Like lumines, though, I wish it became difficult faster.

Word Warp: Fun word game. Wish the words were clickable and could show you each word’s definition.

Page 3:

Doppler: Best offline browser for Google Reader on the iPhone.

Deliveries: Track FedEx, UPS, etc.

Jaadu: VNC client. Takes a little time to get used to the interface, but otherwise excellent.

FileMagnet: Don’t use this much. Could be useful for file transfers and reading docs on the go. Typically, I use email for those tasks, so I haven’t given FileMagnet a solid try.

iTunes

OpenTable: Haven’t had a need to use this. It came out earlier this week.

Movies

WebMD: Just in case.

Phone Aid: First Aid. Just in case.

Web Shortcut to iGoogle: Never use this. Might delete it.

Cor.kz: Wine ratings/reviews. I get an error every time I try to use this app. Will probably delete it soon.

FieldRunners: Fun tower-defense game.

GasBag: Gas prices locally.

Dual Level: Mine is not calibrated correctly, but will be useful next time I hang something.

Cube: Tech demo. s’ok.

Frenzic: Extremely difficult game. Though, I might be playing it wrong.

Page 4:

Web Shortcut to Fuelly: I’m behind on entering my mileage. Might need to start from scratch.

Stanza: Nice ebook reader. Since the colors are configurable, you don’t need to stare at black on white.

Geocaching: Haven’t used this much, but felt the need to pick it up.

Twitterrific

Colors: Generates color schemes based on photographs. It’s fun. Really.

TideGraph: Beth and the kids like to go tidepooling.

Google Earth: Overkill.

IGN Reviews: GameRankings and IGN’s site are not iPhone friendly. This app takes you right to the meat.

Firewall: Another tower-defense game.

Toy Bot 2, touchPhysics, JellyCar – games I thought I’d like but don’t. Yet.

Exposure: Cool Flickr app. Lately, though, Flickr Mobile is just right for me.

BigOven: A recipe app. Haven’t used it, yet.

SnapTell: Take a picture of a box and SnapTell will tell you about the product inside. It recognized my Fable II box.

Page 5:

Bloom: Surreal music generator. Charlie likes it.

Strategic Assault: Rough around the edges, but a decent alpha attempt at an RTS.

Galcon Lite: Fun game.

Twittelator

Calculator

Notes

Tweetie

Gas Cubby

I put this in a comment this morning, but it really deserves its own post.

Loving the iphone. Still, some issues:

1. The browser crashes a lot.

2. Mail has no search functionality.

3. No copy/paste.

4. No video streaming options other than youtube.

5. Calendar functionality does not have an invite others feature.

6. I’d like to sync via Wifi

7. You can’t download podcasts directly to the phone (coming soon)

8. The screen by screen app launcher navigation doesn’t work when you have 70+ apps. It needs to be hierarchical.

9. No background Google / AIM / Jabber chat application.

10. There is no background-download rss feed reader.