Categories of iPhone Apps

The huge number of iPhone Apps available for download means there are many ways for iPhone owners to simplify their lives by rolling many tools into one device. The categories of applications include: Calculators, Entertainment, Games, News, Productivity, Search Tools, Social Networking, Sports, Travel, Utilities and Weather.

Calculator, Productivity, Search Tools and Utilities

This category of iPhone Apps is by far the most practical in terms of helping iPhone owners with their day-to-day lives. Apps can be found to record driving logs, calculate federal tax and compound interest or even convert currencies according to daily exchange rates. Productivity Apps offer great tools for budgeting, tracking receipts, to do lists, daily expense trackers and so on. Utilities Apps are often resource-style tools such as dictionaries, eBook readers and calorie counters.

Entertainment, Games and News

Apps used for entertainment are usually locally themed and offer guides to the nearest restaurants, bars and movie theatres for an area. There are also TV guides and local event listings for those always looking for ideas on where to go out.

Games on the iPhone are plentiful and are probably the most popular kind of app. There are games to suit every interest including puzzles, strategy, action, role-play and more. Some even allow you to play other people online.

For news junkies or those who like to stay in the loop, the news apps are probably the most enjoyable. There are radio apps that tune you in to your favourite stations, plus apps that continually update with the latest headlines and breaking news in all genres including entertainment, politics, sports, music, gossip, world and more.

Sports fanatics will be chuffed with the iPhone Sports app. For one, it offers Live Stats Tracker that means no matter where you are, you can get sports updates on the go. Both international and domestic sports apps exist so even if you’re in China you can find out the AFL results from Australia in real time.

Weather apps are self explanatory but none the less useful. There are local weather apps as well as apps where you can learn the weather in various destinations across the world – especially useful if you’re travelling internationally.

In a nutshell…

While you probably own a calculator, portable game console, MP3 player and mobile phone and have been reasonably comfortably toting them around for years, buying an iPhone is worth more than the pure convenience of an all-encompassing device. Making the device your very own and tapping into the world of applications will be the kind of experience you won’t be able to ever step backward from.

Only applications under 10 MB are able to be downloaded over the 3G network and this is to both keep your mobile data costs down and to provide security in case your phone connection drops out. All apps larger than 10MB need to be downloaded via Wi-Fi or iTunes.

Using the iPhone App store is much like the iTunes store on the iPhone. You press the button and browse for the program you want to download. You’ll need to have an iTunes account set up to be able to download apps – not just because you’ll need to pay for some apps, but in accordance with Apple’s Fairplay DRM, which prevents illegal distribution of the program.

Browse as many apps as you like over iTunes. You can also browse iPod games and Podcasts on the iTunes Store. You simply press the iTunes Store link in the left-hand panel of iTunes and select App Store from the list of options at the top of the screen.

Costs
iPhone apps can be any price from free to a maximum of US$999. They also cater to a wide variety of people, with everything from games, medical tools and student aids. The apps on a person’s iPhone will be as individual as their unique music collection.

From the moment Steve Jobs unveiled the elusive iPhone at the MacWorld Expo in 2007, software developers over the world began salivating at the prospect of creating applications for this revolutionary device.

Initially, their dreams of custom applications for the iPhone were not to be. Apple decided that the iPhone system would be completely closed, although they did partner with some big names for certain programs, such as Google Maps.

Soon enough, Apple’s dreams of a secure iPhone OS were squashed by enterprising hackers. Not only did they discover how to jailbreak the iPhone from its ties to network AT&T, users could now create, load, install and custom make applications for their iPhone.

Apple finally took notice. Alongside the launch of the iPod touch in 2007, Apple announced the ability for developers to create Web Apps – or applications that run through the Safari browser. More importantly, Steve Jobs unveiled the iPhone Software Developer’s Kit (SDK) in March 2008.

Of course, Apple placed some restrictions on the processes involved in creating applications and also how they are distributed to the end user. Developers can create their applications, but they can only be sold through the iTunes App Store, which helps Apple act as a gatekeeper against malicious programs, as well as make more money out of the iPhone.