Free Apps for the iPod Touch and iPhone - The Best of the Best

The Apple AppStore is simply amazing. There are thousands of great programs available there with dozens more being added every day. Owners of the iPod Touch and the iPhone are definitely showing interest in the AppStore's offerings. According to Steve Jobs' keynote speech at the "Let's Rock" event on September 9^th, over 100 million programs have already been downloaded in the 60 day life of the AppStore.

There are games, productivity tools, utilities, reference applications, books, and many other types of programs. And, amazingly, many of them are free! In fact, some of the most useful, fully-functional programs available on the AppStore don't cost a penny to download. If you own an iPod Touch or an iPhone, you should definitely take advantage of these free gems. Below is a list of free applications that everyone should download. These are the best of the best - at least until the next great application comes out tomorrow!

Weatherbug: Weatherbug is an outstanding weather application that has an incredible amount of functionality. For any location you wish to monitor, Weatherbug will show you current weather information (temperature, precipitation, wind speed and direction, etc.), forecast data for that evening and the next two days, and detailed descriptions for those forecasts. In addition, you can view weather radar maps and even web cams for nearby locations. With this application on your iPod Touch or iPhone 3G, you are always up to speed on the conditions outside.

Wikipanion: Wikipedia has become a cultural phenomenon. Despite concerns over the validity of its data, it has become the source of choice for many information-seekers due to its breadth of content and its freshness of information. Wikipanion is the AppStore version of Wikipedia and it is excellent. An entry in Wikipanion contains all the same data that you will find in the corresponding Wikipedia entry and it is in a very readable format. There is also a feature that allows you to use an arrow at the bottom of the screen to skip directly to any section within a selection. This is an invaluable feature for very long entries. With Wikipanion, you have all the convenience of Wikipedia with you no matter where you go.

Pandora: Pandora may be reason enough in itself to purchase an iPod Touch or iPhone. Its excellence nearly defies description. Pandora is a dynamic Internet radio application that allows you to create radio stations based on your specific tastes. Say, for instance, that you enjoy Coldplay's music. You can create a Coldplay radio station in a matter of seconds. On that station, you will hear Coldplay's music and other music that closely resembles it. If you dislike any song you hear, give it a "Thumbs down" and you won't hear it again (and you won't hear songs like that one, either). Give it a "Thumbs up" and you'll hear that song more often and other songs like it will figure more prominently in that station's offerings. If you particularly like a specific song, you can click an arrow menu and choose the option to download the song from iTunes. Again, it bears repeating: this is free. No upfront cost and no subscription. Just pure, musical glory.

Shazaam: This program is specifically for the iPhone (the iPod Touch doesn't have a microphone) but is another show-stopper. If you hear a song on a commercial or in a restaurant and you'd like to know what the song is or who sings it, Shazaam is there to help. Just open Shazaam, hold up your iPhone for a few seconds, and Shazaam will tell you the name of the song and who sings it. You also have the option to download the song from iTunes with another press of the screen. What's next - flying cars?

Evernote: Evernote is an application that allows you to take notes in a number of different ways and then browse and search those notes at a later time. You can leave notes for yourself by by typing, speaking, or even with pictures. And, amazingly, even those picture notes are searchable. Say, for instance, that you take a picture of a stop sign with your phone and save it in a note. You will be able to come back at a later time, search for the word "stop", and your picture of the stop sign will come back as one of the results. It really is incredible.

Labyrinth Lite: Labyrinth is an extremely fun game for the iPod Touch and iPhone (Labyrinth Lite is the free version of the game with fewer levels). In Labyrinth, you direct a steel ball around a wooden maze by tilting your device. In order to get to the end of the maze, you'll need to avoid multiple obstacles and pitfalls. Labyrinth makes use of your device's accelerometer and it is truly impressive how smooth and accurate the movements of that little steel ball are.

Movies: When you need to check to see what movies are playing at your local movie theater or when you'd like to double check what time the movie you're going to see starts, this application is there for you. It does much more than that, though. It will show you all the upcoming releases along with their trailers, tell you which movies are currently on top at the box office, and even let you know what movies have just come out on DVD. These and many other features make this free application a must-have for any movie lover.

Air Sharing: Air Sharing gives you a very useful ability - a way to use your iPod Touch or iPhone as an external hard drive. It allows you to drag and drop files from your computer to your mobile device and back again. It supports a variety of formats and operating systems and allows you to connect to your computer wirelessly. If you want to get this program for free, though, you'll have to hurry. The free price is only on an introductory basis - after the first two weeks (it was released on September 8^th) it will be $6.99.

Remote: The first program available in the AppStore was written by Apple itself and it is called Remote. It allows you to use your iPod Touch or iPhone to access your complete iTunes library remotely by making use of your home Wi-Fi connection. It is a very well written application - not that you'd expect anything less from Apple - and for the low, low price of $0.00 it provides some really useful functionality.

SportsTap: The majority of the reviews on the Apple AppStore suggest that SportsTap is the best of the sports update programs. It offers up to the minute scores, statistics, analysis, and schedules. It will keep you up to date on everything from your favorite MLB club to your local college football team as well as everything in between. It is a fast, convenient, and very detailed program that will keep you informed even if you can't be in front of the TV watching the big game.

If you have an iPhone, iPod Touch, or iPhone 3G and you haven't visited the AppStore yet, you need to drop whatever you're doing and go there immediately. You'll be astounded at what you see there. The quantity and quality of the applications that have been released for Apple's new mobile devices is truly exemplary and, as you've just read, many of them are absolutely free.