Top 5 Applications for iPhone

Applications are funny little things. Whether for desktop, PDA or phone I often find myself seduced by the description. I need that, I think! And, especially if there are so many free ones like for the iPhone, the next thing you know I've got a gazillion applications downloaded.

Now that the dust has settled on the iPhone application thing I am noticing a trend. There are 3 categories of applications, 1, Downloaded, opened once, never to be opened again. 2, Downloaded, opened about once a week out of curiosity (kinda like flirting) but then quickly closed and 3, Used every day.

Here are the applications I have found myself using everyday.

1. AIM

The only problem with this application is that I feel bad for FlickIM and others who really did some cool things in Safari. That aside the AIM application for the iPhone rocks. Like Pandora (more on that later) I was kind of surprised Apple let this type of application into the iPhone application ecosystem, maybe they had no choice because so many people wanted it? But I've already found myself sending less SMS messages. The application works just like you would expect, and is indeed worthy of the description, Application. The only thing I'd like to see is integration with aspects of the phone, like the option to have a sound play when you receive a new IM, etc. Other than that if you are an AOL IM user, this application is a worthy partner to iChat.

2. Pandora

OK, so I hinted at this above. Pandora is an amazing service if you love music, and want to discover new music. You can either listen to pre-set channels or create your own channels. If you haven't used Pandora before go and check it now at their website. Once you sign up (which you don't have to to check it out) Pandora will remember your channels and when you sign in on the iPhone they will appear. I'm an old-school iPhone users, still with the generation 1 version, and what is particularly great about Pandora is it is able to somehow stream music over Edge. If you are sick of your playlists and don't have time to update your iPod or just want to listen to something different, Pandora is a great application to have.

3. Hangman

Not a mainstream application here by any means. But my eldest son loves to play Hangman. Similar to the AIM dilemma above there was a great web app version he used to play. This has been replaced by the free app Hangman. Nothing spectacular here in terms of any integration with GPS or the accelerometer, just a good solid, simple gaming application.

4. Remote

If I had to keep only one application on my iPhone, this would probably be it. It turns your iPhone into a remote and gets pretty close to making products like Sonos irrelevant (which I'm sure they aren't happy about). You can use it with iTunes, an Apple TV, or with an Airport Express. I use it for all three and on multiple machines and it works perfectly. The Sonos-killing part comes when you want music in a room. Just buy a nice self-amplified speaker, an Airport Express (you can even pick up an older G version on eBay) and with the Apple Remote you are done.

5. WikiMe

This is one that you probably haven't heard of, it's only a few days old but I love the idea and execution of this application. Basically it is a geo-aware application that picks up the geo-tags in wikipedia articles to present you relevant articles for where you are. Brilliant, and honestly I think worth more than 99 cents.  I'm not sure if this will end up being a daily application, but it is a fun reminder of the possibilities of the iPhone platform.

What about you, what applications are you still using now? Which one's lay dormant?