Recommended Apps for Your iPhone or iPod Touch

We are blessed to have powerful productivity devices that we literally can carry around in our pockets. They're called Phones and iPods.

If you download apps from the iTunes Apps Store to your iPhone or iPod Touch, you can turn your mobile phone or iPod into an amazingly productive tool - a mini-computer, in essence -- that slips into a briefcase, purse or pocket.

You can search for and download tens of thousands of apps, using the 'App Store' icon on your iPhone/Touch, or from within the iTunes application on your computer. Some apps require you to pay a fee, often a small amount under $10. Many, however, are 100% free.

With so many business people mobile and needing to be productive while out of the office, I thought it would be helpful to compile a list of recommended apps for the iPhone.

I didn't want this list to reflect just my own preferences. So, I polled my followers on Twitter. Here are their recommendations (along with one of my own) for useful applications you can place on an iPhone or iPod Touch - most, if not all, are available for both devices:

Tim Berry, President of Palo Alto Software: @Timberry* I love the Evernote app because it transfers so well to all other computers. Also, the Wordpress and Facebook Apps.

Nitin Khanna of Portland, Oregon: @n_khanna* TripIT Pro for managing complex travel itineraries and for knowing flight schedules & alternatives when a flight is delayed

Apitana J of Bangkok, Thailand: @apitana* My Fav app is CNN. I like how it has push notification to update me with all live news, which is very important nowadays.

Bradford Shimp of AllBizAnswers.com: @bradfordshimp* I love the ClockIn App for iPhone. Easy way top keep track of time for a job.

Katy Zack of New York: @katyzack* Howcast for iPhone. Instructional content on the go, tutorials, etc. http://ow.ly/MlIq (disclosure: I work for Howcast)

Dennis Dobecki, Scarborough, Maine: @ddobecki* I use Docs to Go and the Ring Central app so I can make calls & send/receive faxes anywhere.

Mario Armstrong, Baltimore, Maryland: @marioarmstrong* I use @salesforce as CRM, looking at @timebridge to schdl mtngs @kayak for biz travel, twitter & @squarespace to update blog

Tamara Gruber, Red Giant Consulting: @tgruber* I like Tungle's (client) iPhone app because it lets me easily schedule mtgs on the go. Also like Evernote.

And so what are my favorite apps? Well, I am someone with a foot in both the BlackBerry world and the iPod Touch world. I use my Touch mainly for travel. My all time favorite app is the free Kindle app. It allows you to download and read Kindle electronic books from Amazon, directly to an iPhone or iPod Touch - you do not need to purchase the Kindle reader (which currently costs over $250). I liked the Kindle app so much I wrote an in-depth review about it: Review of Kindle Reader for iPhone and iPod Touch.*

Finally, here's a tip for finding additional apps: go over to Appolicious.com.* It's a new site with reader reviews of iPhone apps. There's a section specifically for business apps.*

So there you have it - recommendations straight from the mouths ... er, I mean Twitter streams ... of people just like you and me. And in the near future, I'll do a BlackBerry apps roundup article, too.

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Anita Campbell is the Editor in Chief of Small Business Trends*, an online publication serving small businesses.

* Hyperlinks to non-governmental websites

About the Author

My name is Anita Campbell. I run online communities and information websites reaching over 4  million small business owners, stakeholders and entrepreneurs annually, including Small Business Trends, a daily publication about small business issues, and BizSugar.com, a small business social media site.