Below you can find the best apps to do exactly that. My personal favorite is Evernote, because it helps me remember a lot of stuff I would otherwise forget.
What is even more interesting is that the productivity App category was one of the most popular categories in 2010, surpassing in download numbers most of the other app categories. I guess a lot of you realize that the iPhone is not merely a phone but an awesome device that can help you being more up to speed.
I am always looking for apps like this, so if you have any ideas for other cool apps or discover some new ones I would appreciate if you would leave a comment below.
iPhone Productivity Apps
reQall for iPhone
Remember what’s important to you, here and now.
Whether it’s an urgent report, a call to a friend, a project at school, a task at the mall-reQall gathers and manages them all, and alerts you at just the right time and place. Let reQall handle it!
- Capture before you forget: Save your ideas, to-do lists and things to remember by voice or text. Or use email, IM, and more.
- Automatically organize: reQall makes it easy to organize your to-do’s by recognizing dates, times, locations, and certain keywords. You can also create your own tags, categories, and locations.
- Get things done: reQall’s Here and Now lets you know what you need to do at that time and at that location.
Watch how David Pogue of The New York Times uses reQall:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AV0420075O4
See what Apple says about reQall:
http://www.apple.com/iphone/iphone-your-life/getting-things-done.html
See our Getting Started guide at http://help.reqall.com/reqall-for-iphone.html to learn more.
reQall for iPhone is free, and works with either a free reQall Standard account or a paid reQall Pro account. Pro users enjoy advanced features like direct integration with Outlook and Google Calendar, location-based organization, Push notifications and enhanced email capabilities. New accounts get a 15-day free trial of reQall Pro. Compare the two accounts at http://www.reqall.com/about/compare_pro_standard
reQall reviews
: (see more reviews)UPDATED review for 4.0.2: I’ve upgraded my rating from 1-star to 3-star. Version 4.0.2 now fixes the iOS 4 freezing problem. Interface is still ugly though. It is so un-Apple like. Just look at the "Details" screen of a list item. Ugh!
Another weakness is inconsistency and inattention to detail. For example: if you sort your list in chronological order, your list comes out correctly on the web page, i.e. items that are coming due soon are listed first. However, on your iPad, iPhone or iPod touch, what’s listed first are items that do NOT have due dates. If they’re not important enough for you to attach due dates, why does reQall list them first. Put them last! Or at least be consistent across platforms.
With an overall rating of 2.5 stars, this app is probably doomed to ignominy. It’s going to be hard to overcome all those 1-star ratings due to the iOS4 problem. The developer was just too slow on the uptake.
It’s too bad, this had a lot of potential. I hope they can pull things together and offer an app worth the monthly service charge for the subscription. How do I revert to version 3!?!?!?
Evernote for iPhone
Inducted into the Apple “App Hall of Fame”, NY Times “Top 10 Must-Have Apps”, Winner of the Best Mobile App Award from TechCrunch, Mashable and the Webbys.
Evernote turns the iPhone, iPod Touch and iPad into an extension of your brain, helping you remember anything and everything that happens in your life. From notes to ideas to snapshots to recordings, put it all into Evernote and watch as it instantly synchronizes from your iPhone to your Mac or Windows desktop. See why millions of people worldwide use Evernote:
Key features of Evernote:
Create text, photo and audio notes
Auto-synchronize your notes to your Mac, PC, and Web
Magically makes text within snapshots searchable
Mark notes as “Favorite” for quick access
All notes include geo-location information for mapping and search
Premium Feature: File Synchronization – add, sync, access, and share files (PDF, Word, Excel, PPT, and more) among the different versions of Evernote you use
Here are some ways to use Evernote for your personal and professional life:
For research and class notes
To capture blog ideas and design inspiration
To stay in-sync with your desktop notes, web clips, and files
To snap photos of whiteboards and wine labels
As part of your GTD system to help you stay organized
To record voice memos
This version of Evernote works best when used together with our free downloadable versions for Mac and Windows.
Evernote reviews
: (see more reviews)however, at many critical moments, the ios app has failed me. i’m not connected to the internet (i’m using my phone overseas, so it’s currently wifi only) at all times, and i rely on the ability to access notes while on the go. even if i wrote a note on my phone, if i haven’t accessed it in the last day or so, it loads just a blank page. i know having offline access is a premium feature, but we’re talking about text files, not documents with pictures and other attachments. it seems ridiculous that the cache isn’t big enough to store these text files for free, offline use. i use about 1mb a month, so there’s no real reason to upgrade to a paid account.
UPDATE: the last update makes the app crash about 50% of the times that i open it. i’ve tried all the usual tricks like rebooting the phone, closing all background apps, etc.
Siri Assistant for iPhone
There’s a new way to get things done…
Just ask Siri to book restaurants, movies, taxis and more.
————————————————–
Simply speak in plain English:
“Get me a taxi.”
“Book a table at a good steak house.”
“Who’s playing at Madison Square Garden?”
Siri gathers answers and actions from your favorite brands. So go ahead. Just ask!
Siri Assistant reviews
: (see more reviews)One is the fact that it can’t multitask. If the map, phone and other things were implemented better it might not be an issue but if you leave to, say, type an address into the iPhones map (which is easier to use and adjust than the one in Siri) and go back you have to restart. There also needs to be a way to save searches you use a lot (like "find fast food near here") rather than just a place.
The fact you need to tap twice in two different places to type in a search is also a needless step that adds more time and annoyance than is needed.
The app itself finds great info, the interface just needs a few tweaks and a bit more user-friendliness before it can really shine.
Instapaper for iPhone
Save web pages for later offline reading, optimized for readability on your iPhone or iPod touch’s screen. Featured by Apple and critically acclaimed by top blogs, newspapers, and magazines!
Great for long articles and blog posts that you find during the day and would like to read, but don’t have the time when you find them. Save with Instapaper, then read later when you’re commuting, in a meeting, or waiting in line.
New in 3.0: You can now browse and save articles that your friends liked on Instapaper! Find friends on Facebook or Twitter, or via email.
Sending to Instapaper is supported by over 140 other iPhone and iPad apps! You can even send long emails to Instapaper.
And if you run out of articles to read, or haven’t had time to find any, you can browse the Editor’s Picks for more, curated by hand from the Instapaper community’s most-saved stories.
CORE FEATURES:
- Saves most web pages as text only, stripping away the full-sized layout to optimize for the iPhone and iPad screens
- Distraction-free reading environment gets out of your way so you can focus on the content
- Everything you download is then available **OFFLINE**, so you can read whenever you want, even on airplanes or on Wi-Fi-only devices away from internet connections
PLUS:
- Adjustable fonts, text sizes, line spacing, and margins
- Search
- Dark mode for night reading
- Folders
- Dictionary lookups
- Tilt scrolling, page-flipping
- Article sharing via email, Tumblr, or Twitter
- Rotation lock
- Download up to 500 articles on your iPhone or iPad, and store unlimited articles on the Instapaper website
- Preview links in the built-in browser without leaving the app
And more. Details: http://www.instapaper.com/iphone
Instapaper reviews
: (see more reviews)You should buy it even if you never use it, just because you are rewarding astoundingly clean user interface and respect for the user experience.
New version 3.0 makes connecting and finding Long Reads easier than ever. Social networking? It’s baked in.
Take 10 minutes to understand the app and the Read-Later Process. You’ll get those minutes back over and over.
Dropbox for iPhone
Dropbox is a free service that lets you bring all your photos, docs, and videos anywhere. After you install Dropbox on your computer, any file you save to your Dropbox will automatically save to all your computers, your iPhone and iPad and even the Dropbox website! With the Dropbox app, you can take everything that matters to you on the go.
Read your docs or flip through your albums when you’re out and about. Save photos or videos to your Dropbox and share them with friends in just a couple taps. Even if you accidentally leave your iPhone in a taxi, your stuff is always safe on Dropbox.
Features:
Always have your stuff with you, no matter where you are.
Add files to “Favorites” for fast, offline viewing.
Easily save photos and videos to your Dropbox.
Share your photos and docs with family and friends.
Save email attachments straight to your Dropbox.