My Top Apps for 2010

These top apps are not the result of a poll, reading other lists, or any other influence. This is 2010's top iPhone apps from an Average Joe. There are no genres here, just a plain old list based on "Yep, I like that one more than that one. Nope, don't like that one too much any more". You get the picture.

On to my list:

#5 - TunedIn Radio

It happens to the best of us: we get tired of our iPhone's music and podcast contents. We look at the selection, we roll our eyes, and eventually press the top "sleep" button. TunedIn radio allows us to tune in to a billion different radio stations around the globe. Its especially handy for traffic reports on local talk radio, as I've recently discovered. One of those "go to" apps that I'm glad I installed.

#4 - Bejewelled Blitz

Admittedly, I don't play this as much as I used to, but when I did, this thing had me frothing at the mouth for a bigger score. With Facebook integration, there's a live leader board. Its impossible to live with the head-hanging shame of your last score. Its usually a case of "Okay, just one more game".

#3 - mSecure

It seems like most websites entice you to create an account with them for whatever reason. Because of this, it doesn't take long for you to have a phone-book sized list of passwords that you have to know. mSecure takes care of this for me. One password to remember to get in, then voila, a smorgasbord of stored passwords at your beck and call.

#2 - TextPlus

If you're on a text plan like mine, then you only have unlimited texts to only five people. TextPlus releases you from the shackles of typical "Favourite 5" plan. If you're terrorized by being nickle-and-dimed from texts that you send on a whim, then this is sweet vindication for you.

#1 - Echofon

Twitter has supplanted many a website for its up-to-the-second news, sports scores, opinion, mindless banter, whatever. Its right there on my iPhone's first "page", and boy does it get used. Whenever I have a moment, I launch this app, and am instantly informed on the topic of my choosing.

I have no doubt that 2011 will see many more apps being installed: some being deleted after the first use, some suddenly becoming first page worthy. I would love it if at least 3 of the above apps were replaced with new faves.

But who knows, maybe my list for next year will be my favourite top 5 apps for Android. You never know, right?

When Mobile Sites Die

When using a smartphone, its nice to navigate to a website that detects your platform and then shows you a mobile version of their site. There's something really slick about that. More and more mainstream sites are adopting this model, and its become a standard convention now.

Imagine my surprise when I navigated to one of my favourite sites, tsn.ca. Usually, I'm presented with a very nice mobile version of their site, with the "latest news" being the default page. It was supremely user friendly, very easy to spend some poking around time on it.

This time I got this...

Now I have two choices:

(1) Navigate to the old desktop friendly website

(2) Download the app

I ended up downloading the app, but I felt like I was downloading it for all the wrong reasons. It felt icky. Is this a trend? Are websites now going to force you to download an app in order to view a nice mobile version of their site? I can see a future where my smartphone's home screen would be littered with app icons. Not sure I care for this.

TSN seems to be the exception, not the rule. CNN, for example, has a three-way approach to their web presence: (1) desktop site, (2) mobile site, (3) app. Clearly they have their act together.

TSN, why not give your viewers a choice? Either we can view the mobile version of your mobile site, or we can download your app. If we download your app, maybe we get one or two extra special features. Doesn't this seem better?

But I really hope this isn't an annoying trend.