5 best iPhone applications for Irish users…

Us Irish users are getting a bit of a raw deal when it comes to the iPhone AppStore (not to mention data charges and limits…). Not only did we not get a games section until very recently, but there are also a number of applications that are off limits to us. However some really good third party applications have made it through and these can seriously help your productivity and social connectivity… although not necessarily at the same time So lets get to the list.

• Twinkle. One of the best applications out there. Brought to us by Tapulous. It is the best twitter application that I’ve come across but with the added benefit of location aware twittering. Really useful for finding local interesting people to follow - especially now that so many people are twittering. It can be quite daunting to watch that “everyone” feed on the twitter website, so many people… so many people saying not a whole lot. This cuts down on the noise while still allowing you to find very interesting people. It has a nice filter ability so that you can change the range that you allow tweets to come from. Unfortunately the recently changed to local distance measurements. It used to be 100 miles, which allowed me to see updates from Belfast and a couple of other places (I’m in Dublin). Now, however, its changed to 100km which doesn’t reach that far. Not that much of an issue though as a good few Dublin iPhone users have found this great application. I should also point out that you can change it to 500 or 1000 or everyone but out that far and you’re back to the noise of the unintelligible crowd.
• Palringo. The App that saves me a fortune in text messaging bills. It allows you to log into a number of chat applications(like gchat and msn to name but a few.) and instant message your friends. An easy to use interface, and native to the iPhone so you don’t have to have the browser open to use it. Apparently it will stay active even if the screen turns off, as long as its the only third party app running(This is an Apple limitation - linkage). I can’t exactly vouch for that as I’ve only used it for short periods of time to get a good few IM’s out.
• Google App. Let Google help you find the nearest hotel. Or pizza place. Or bar. The possibilities are really endless. Location aware searching along with all the normal google goodness. Need I say more?
• Facebook Application. As much as I lothe it, most of my friends spend their entire days on this website. The application has a very good messaging system and its for that reason that i recommend this one as its very handy for talking to users on facebook. And the messages appear in the profile chat box so you can add multiple facebook users to the chat. Something that no other chat app does on the iPhone as far as I can tell. I have a very brief profile for this very reason. And even though Bebo still owns the lion share of users in Ireland, Facebook is growing here and most people have both so it wont be hard to convert anyone that doesn’t over to it.
• NY Times App. This is going to be a controversial pick for 5th place as its for a American newspaper. However, as a regular user of this application its great for those of us here with an eye to the Americas as well as those with interests closer to home. It covers international news and sports as well as editorial features which having read a few are quite interesting and entertaining. I have used this app to get through my fairly boring commutes on the train. Easiest way to catch the world news if you don’t mind missing the local stories.

So there you have it. Have I missed anything? Probably. Actually - Definitely. I’d love to be able to add the Pandora iPhone app to the above list but it isn’t available here(Either is the website, technically). Which is a real pity as its one of the greatest internet applications that I’ve ever come across. Post a comment if there’s anything that you think that Irish iPhone users would be interested in or if there’s anything hugely glaringly obvious that I’ve left out.

Edit 17/08/2008: As pointed out in the comments (Thanks Michael), I should have included EirText in here. Silly me. What a nice little application. Very handy if you want to text a number of people at the same time For Free. Very handy. However i don’t believe it is a replacement for then in built iPhone SMS application as it… well… just doesn’t look as good. And you have to go back and forward between the iPhone’s messaging application and the Eirtext application. Which, although would save you quite a bit of money, would get quite annoying. However I definitely feel I should be mentioning it here after using it to organise a night out on Saturday…

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