While everyone around here appears to be wasting their time on movies and music, I have decided to make a top ten list about iphone apps since I waste wayyyyy too much quality time with my iphone. There has been about one good App for every 100 crApps that have been taken by the Appstore. That gives a small pool to choose from, but here are the best as I see it. I have also included some apps from cydia and installer as they provide critical functionality to jailbroken phones.

1. PdaNet (cydia): Tethering is still just a promised feature for the unbroken masses, but PdaNet solves the problem of tying your laptop to the iphone internet highway for free. Rumor has it that the actual ATT tethering app will have a hefty monthly pricetag and this one carries none. I can’t tell you how valuable this functionality was when Ruby Isle was on the road this year. Cruising down the highway at 75 with your iphone wirelessly streaming the internet to your laptop is pretty exciting for geeks like me. That actually reminds me of a dream I had when I was 12. In it, I was skateboarding down the street when a phone rang. I pushed a button and was able to talk on a headset to my mom. I woke up thinking “wow, that would be awesome”. I should have patented the idea. Keep in mind this was way before cellphones were the affordable little computers we have today. The only cellphones that existed came in a big bag and cost more than my rapidly depreciating house. The internet didn’t exist either, so I had no idea what was in store, but PdaNet is almost more exciting than skating to the Quick-E-Mart with a Bluetooth headset.

2. Beat Maker: The thought of having a somewhat functional sample sequencer on a handset is another really exciting dream come true for me. BeatMaker totally delivers on this front. It is almost shocking how much you can do with this little sequencer. At $19.99, it is not cheap for an app, but it is totally worth it if you spend a lot of time on the road or in the air and want a quick way to throw down some seriously usable musical ideas.

There are other music studio apps available on the Appstore including the recently released 4-track which is cool but requires external equipment and audio sources. BeatMaker lets you do it all inside the phone and even export it to a PC or Mac sequencer when you get home.

3. Orblive: I was all over Orblive when it came out via installer for OS 1.4. Streaming your entire music collection to your phone over the air is another dream come true for the music geek in me. I am actually really excited about losing physical formats and having my entire music collection available anywhere via a little handset, and Orblive delivers the goods flawlessly. It also streams TV to your iphone over the air. That requires a TV tuner for your computer which I don’t have, but the user community seems to be really excited about it. I think it is really for dudes watching ballsports, something we don’t endorse here at Kcore HQ, so just know the option is out there for all you ballsportsfans.

4. Galcon: I took a look at all the games I had installed on my iphone over the past year and the one that has made it back on to the handset after every software upgrade, OS crash and toilet water encounter (yes, I dropped my phone in the toilet this year, a story for another time) was Galcon. It is a beautifully simple strategy game that is different every time you play. Basically you are sending out triangles (spaceships?) to take over circles (planets?).

You tap on planets under your control and tell them where and how many triangles to send to other circles. The goal is to wipe out your opponent’s control of circles. Sounds simple and stupid, is actually engrossing, addictive and extremely fun. The games only last a few seconds to a few minutes, so it makes a great mobile game.

5. Uno: I remember going over to Craig Buddy System’s house for a party when Xbox Live first debuted. He was playing Uno online with a bunch of dudes that were cursing and yelling into their webcams talking smack. I remember thinking, how fun can that really be? I also remember the young guys freaking out every time Lauren Buddy System walked in front of Craig’s webcam. In any case, when I saw Uno on the app store, I figured, “what the hell?” and bought it. Surprisingly, it was totally worth it. There is just something about dealing an online opponent a wild+4 that is very satisfying. While this title could use some more online features, the current ones are sufficient to keep me interested enough to put it in my top 10. I am not sure this one is actually worth the $7.99 they are asking for it, but I really do like it.

6. Tap Tap Dance: I love rhythm games. I was always a huge DDR fan, and while the new rock games are fun. I always find myself coming back to basics with DDR and Parappa type games. If Patapon were on iphone it would have totally made number one on this list. Since patapon isn’t Appified yet, I give my rhythm game slot to Tap Tap Dance. The guys who made this one gave us Tap Tap Revolution, which was awesome pre-appstore, but sort of looked pale when games like Guitar Rock Tour came out. The developers answered back with TTD. This game has two things going for it; great songs and innovative game design. Of course, a game featuring Justice and Daft Punk is going to win me over immediately. Add to it the unique boss levels they threw in to keep things fresh and you have a real winner in the genre. I have also not experienced any slowdown in performance on this title which is a testament to solid coding on the developers part.

7. Touchgrind: Ok, admittedly, this is not a game that is going to appeal to everyone. However, for those of us who grew up flipping our TV remotes (and cellphones for that matter) as if they were a fingerboard, this game certainly fills a huge hole in our hearts. The premise is simple, fingerboarding on your iphone. The implementation is a little difficult to deal with especially if you have never skated, but I have one word for you; 360kickflip…

That probably looks like two words to most people, but I am pretty sure in the mind of any skater it is just one. Anyway, this game lets you do a 360kickflip with your fingers and actually land it. Something I could never really get right with the real thing. You can also do a darkslide, Something else I could never do (not even on a real board). Anyway, if you ever skated, you have to get this one. If not, probably best to stay away.

8. Fieldrunners: I just gave this one glowing coverage as my first official iphone app review. So, yeah, I liked it. Guys getting killed trying to get home from work? Guys getting killed going to see Of Montreal? Either way, towers are rad because you don’t have to put your own ass on the line.

9. Warfare, Incorporated: Finally a functional, fully realized, real time strategy game makes it to the iphone. Apparently, this is a port of a well established mobile game for other platforms that they ported over to the iphone. They did a great job. It is basically Dune for the iphone. I am in love, I just suck at videogames, including this one, so I haven’t got very far yet. Still, I am totally stoked.

10. Installous: You didn’t hear about this from me…

Posted by dan on 15 Dec 2008 at 12:14 pm