Best iPhone Apps by Category - Part I

February 11, 2011

Apple has sold eighty million iPhones to date.This includes the iPhone3, iPhone3GS, as well as the iPhone4.

Now that Verizon, as well as AT&T have the iPhone4, its very likely Apple will reach double that number in the next year.

its time to release a list of the most popular applications (apps) by category. Each list will name the applications, their cost, and their ranking in popularity

A social network is a group of people made up of individuals (or organizations) grouped together by common interest. This commonality might be by friendship, kinship, common interest, financial exchange, dislike, relationships or beliefs, or knowledge.

The most popular applications (apps) for social networking include:

Facebook
Facebook remains the number one social network application with a claim of six hundred million users. The app allows you to post to your own wall, search for friends, post on your friends wall(s), and generally apprise your social group of just about anything that comes to mind. Facebook allows chat, as well as picture and video uploads. Cost: Free.

Twitter
Standing at a strong number two Twitter continues to rank a high user base with one hundred ninety million subscribed users. Like facebook, twitter allows your "followers" to keep track of your comings and goings, but with a much simpler interface than Facebook. Twitter a 140 character message to be posted to your wall, where a reply, retweet, or list can be added to your post by friends or followers. Cost: Free.

Fring
Fring has a strong user base in Israel (where it was created), England, Taiwan, and Germany. Like Facebook and Twitter, Fring allows users to chat via ICQ, Google Talk, MSN Messenger / Windows Live Messenger, AIM, Yahoo Messenger and SIP providers. It also supports Voice of Internet Protocol (VoIP) telephone calls. The total user base is unknown, but up to two hundred thousand Fring downloads occur each day. Cost: Free.

Meebo
Meebo is gaining ground on the three above and is currently the most popular downloaded app. Like the social networking apps above Meebo offers internet chat via ICQ, Google Talk, MSN Messenger, and so on. Lately the Meebo team has added Meebo rooms and Meebo bar which allow it's user base to "gather" in selected areas. It is unknown at this time what its user base is, but it appears to be in the hundreds of millions. Cost: Free.

Instangram
Instagram is a bit different; it is primarly designed to take and share photos. Instagram has supplied filters called Hipstamatic filters, that allow you to dress up the photo before sending it. Though this app was originally designed to allow sharing to the usual places, Facebook, Twitter and the like, Instagram also has it's own built-in social networking service. Cost: Free.

The magic formula for games on smartphones seems to be simplicity bundled with easy to use action and bright colors. Unlike social apps, games are always charged for though the price is typically less than a cup of coffee.

Angry Birds
The absolute leader in down-loadable games is Angry Birds. With an install base or twelve million its a very simple game. The birds a launched via slingshot into a pile of pig-pens on the opposite side of the screen. The object is for the birds to retrieve stolen eggs. Because the pigs live in various types of structures different types of birds are employed to destroy them. These bird types increase in number as game play advances. Cost: $1.

Cut the Rope
A simple physics game. The player cuts the rope of a swinging candy allowing it, with good aim, to fall into the mouth of a monster named Om Nom. Additional points can be racked up by causing the candy to hit tree stars that appear at each level of game play. The candy can also be manipulated with bellows and other objects. Cost: $1.

Real Racing
This is a car racing game as the name implies. The player can choose from forty-eight cars running on twelve different tracks. The game takes advantage of the iPhone's accelerometers and gyroscopes to allow game play via movement of the phone, but can also be controlled via touch and buttons. Players can participate in races, quick race, time trials, etc. Points are stored and can be shared. Cost: $5.

The Incident
Is a retro style game where the player manipulates an avatar in an attempt to dodge falling objects. The avatar can be controlled via the iPhone's accelerometers and gyroscopes to dodge, jump and run from falling objects. The objects can pile up allowing the player to manipulate their avatar to the top of the pile and the source of the objects. Cost: $2.

Infinity Blade
This is a role player game where the controlled avatar is the heir of God King. The object of the game is to ascend to and dodge enemies with the sole intent of killing the God King and assuming the throne. It is a sword and combat games. In its first week of release Infinity Blade had two hundred seventy one thousand downloads. Cost: $6.

Part II will cover Entertainment and Productivity.

As with games of the past, popularity waxes and wanes. For that reason this is time sensitive information and subject to change.

The author was not compensated in any way, monetarily, with discounts, or freebies by any of the companies mentioned.

Though the author does make a small profit for the word count of this article none of that comes directly from the manufacturers mentioned. The author also stands to make a small profit from advertising attached to this article.

The author has no control over either the advertising or the contents of those ads.