Top 5 iPhone apps using iPhone capabilities

When searching for the best Top 5 applications (apps) for the iPhone, I often found reviews based on the personal preferences of their author and how well the apps were addressing particular user needs. This made me want to have a different perspective by creating my own Top Apps list based on how well apps use the iPhone capabilities to meet user requirements. For example, which app best used the new digital compass feature of the iPhone.

Key criteria for being part of my Top Apps list were:

- clever use of the iPhone capabilities
- simple and user-friendly interface
- addressing a clear and defined user need

And here are the results:

Microphone: Shazam - If you hear a song you like but don’t know the name; 2 taps on your screen will do for Shazam to listen to it and return its title within seconds. Simple, powerful and efficient. That said, I’m now waiting for apps using the voice recognition function. If you know of any…

Camera:  RedLaser -  Converts the camera into a barcode scanner and recognises products when you scan them in stores. It then instantly researches the Internet for the online prices of the scanned items and tells you where you can get the best deal. Genius! Another contestant in the camera category was Camera Plus, which enhances your camera with a zoom and flash (achieved through graphical treatment) functionalities.

GPS: AroundMe - provides location-aware content. It basically gives you a list of restaurants, pubs, banks, car parks… that are in the vicinity of your current location. Yelp and Vicinity come in second and third place and fulfil the same function. GPS Alerts does it the other way round; let the app know you’re looking for a petrol station and it will beep you when you pass by one. Note that I have excluded traditional GPS apps such as Tom-Tom.

Accelerometer: The accelerometer is the feature that detects motion and that is, for instance, responsible for shifting the display from portrait to landscape when you tilt your phone. I haven’t found many non-game apps using this feature and the first clever one that comes to mind is the famous iHandy. iHandy shows a level bar enabling you to measure a surface horizontally. The unbelievable accuracy of the tool means you never have any excuse for having a wonky mirror / shelf again.

Digital compass: digital compass detects which cardinal point the phone is oriented to, provided you don’t hold it vertically. The Acrossair apps as far as I know, use the compass to its full extent and combines it with the camera, GPS and accelerometer features to produce what they call augmented reality. NearestTube for example shows you in 3D where the closest London Underground station is, depending on the orientation of your phone (see picture below).

Feel free to contribute to this post: any top apps pick or short app reviews are very welcome.