Some of the best iPhone apps

From finding the best restaurants to following the stock market, from tracking the progress of your fitness regime to, er, rating the sound of your bodily functions, if you can do it then these days there genuinely does seem to be an app for that.

There are now over 500,000 apps available for the Apple iPhone from Apple's App Store. Both free and apps you have to pay for are on offer, with the latter costing anywhere between 69p and, in a few cases, several hundred pounds.

Of course, given that there is almost one app available for every minute of the year, it can be tough finding the best ones to suit your needs, so here are some suggestions from Mobilechoices.co.uk to make your app hunting that little bit ‘appier.

Social networking apps

There are now iPhone apps available for almost every major social network.

The Facebook app means you can update your status, keep up with those of your friends and upload and share photos wherever you are. On a more practical level, having easy access to Facebook on your iPhone makes looking up any telephone numbers you don’t have saved in your handsets’ contacts a doddle.

Micro-blogging site Twitter also has an app. Downloading it will give you instant updates from those you follow, allowing you to keep track with what’s going on in the world at any given time from your iPhone. And, of course, you can let the world know what’s going on with you at any given moment in 140 characters, as well as share photos and videos with your followers.

Want to keep tabs on your professional life wherever you are? Then you need LinkedIn for iPhone. This app, like those above, allows you to share your status, but also keeps you updated on what’s going on in your industry and lets you build up and communicate with your work contacts.

Thinking that trying to keep up with three different social networks while you’re on the move sounds like a series of missed stops waiting to happen? Then you need a social network aggregating app such as Stroodle. Stroodle allows you to make comments, write messages, view your contacts and keep up with what they are doing on Facebook, LinkedIn and Twitter all in one place.

All free from the App Store

News apps

Downloading the BBC News app will give you access to the latest breaking news from the Beeb on your iPhone. Stories are arranged into categories and the app is customisable, making it easier to find news that interests you. The app also gives you access to the BBC News Channel, so you can stream it live on your handset (a 3G or Wi-Fi connection is required to do this).

Free from the App Store

If the idea of being confronted with the actual news every time you pick up your iPhone seems way too depressing, then the official app for satire site The Daily Mash might be the news app for you. This gives you easy access to the latest Daily Mash stories as well as the entire Mash archive, and allows you to share historic headlines such as “Michelle Obama sick of Samantha Cameron's hip-hop references” via Facebook and Twitter.

£1.99 from the App Store

Educational apps

If you want to learn something, where better to find out what you want to know than the largest encyclopaedia ever assembled - Wikipedia? The Wikipedia Mobile app aims to give you fast and easy access to Wikipedia’s reams of content. It is relatively unsophisticated at present, but improvements are expected.

Free from the App Store

With the World Atlas by National Geographic, you can actually hold the whole world in your hands, as long as you’ve got an iPhone, of course. The app uses educational institution National Geographic’s highest resolution maps, allows you to explore the planet using a 3D globe and gives you the opportunity to learn more about the world via the Flags and Facts database.

£1.49 from the App Store

Health apps

If you’re prone to becoming anxious about being unwell, then you need the NHS Direct app. Once you’ve downloaded it you’ll be able to see whether you really are feeling under the weather using the health assessment tools provided. Select the symptom checker that best matches how you’re feeling and answer the questions to get advice on what to do next.

Free from the App Store

However, if you want to avoid having to use the NHS Direct app too much, then the WalkJogRun Running could be just what you need. This app allows you to choose from half a million running routes created by the users of the route mapping website WalkJogRun.net, and uses your iPhone’s GPS to find routes near where you are.

£2.99 from the App Store

Productivity apps

Looking to organise your personal life, professional life or both? Then Trello could be just the app for you. Trello allows you to organise any project, task or process using a simple board and card system that gives you a visual representation of everything. The app allows you to view and edit Trello boards, lists, cards and notifications. Especially useful if you’re working with others on something as it allows you to keep track of progress wherever you are.

Free from the App Store

Whether it’s for work or play, there will inevitably come a time when you need to create, look at or edit a Microsoft Office file on your iPhone. With Quickoffice Pro you can do just that with Excel spreadsheets, Word documents and PowerPoint presentations, as well as remotely access and share files via a cloud computing service.

£10.49 from the App Store

Funny but pointless apps

Is there anyone on the planet, however much they say they hate Star Wars, who wouldn’t want to take part in a lightsaber dual? Of course there isn’t, which is why Star Wars: Lightsaber Duel is a must-have app, as not only does it use authentic sound effects to give you the experience of using a lightsaber as you swing you iPhone around, it also has a two-player mode that uses Bluetooth - a way of wirelessly connecting two mobile phones.

69p from the App Store

Wooo! Button does exactly what is says on the app. You press a button, your iPhone bellows “Wooo!” Funny. Pointless. Job done.

Free from the App Store

iPhone 4 (16GB)(black) £0.00	200 min Unlimited texts	£18.50
iPhone 4 (16GB)(black) £49.99	200 min Unlimited texts	£21.50
iPhone 4 (16GB)(black) £0.00	600 min Unlimited texts	£36.00
iPhone 4 (16GB)(black) £0.00	600 min Unlimited texts	£37.00

Reading apps

Like reading? Have an iPhone? Carrying around a book? Well ditch that paperweight and download yourself the Kindle app, which will allow you to read Kindle books - there are 900,000 available from the Kindle Store - as well as magazines and pdfs on your handset.

Free from the App Store

Want to read web pages when you’re in areas with poor mobile coverage? Then save them to read offline using Instapaper. The app optimises the likes of long web articles and blog posts to your iPhone’s screen, allowing you to read them whenever you have a minute.

£2.99 from the App Store

Travel apps

Previously known as National Rail Enquiries for iPhone, the UK Train Times app is generally thought of as the number one app for negotiating public transport in the UK. It gives you the ability to plan rail journeys using live departure information and is powered by National Rail Enquiries’ real-time data feeds.

£4.99 from the App Store

Want to get an idea of the best places to “eat, sleep and play wherever you travel”? Then TripAdvisor Hotel Flights Restaurants , an app by the holiday reviews website TripAdvisor, is worth downloading, as it will give you access to over 60 million reviews and opinions by fellow travellers, wherever you find yourself.

Free from the App Store

Music apps

Spotify, the app from the music streaming website of the same name, gives Spotify Premium subscribers - those who pay for full access to Spotify - access to 15 million tracks from their iPhone, which can be streamed online or listened to offline without mobile internet access. Non-Spotify Premium customers can download the app and get 48 hours free access to the service.

Free from the App Store

Shazam has been around almost as long as mobile phones themselves and the music identification service claims that it’s iPhone app is the fourth most downloaded app of all time. Shazam will identify songs you don’t known instantly, help- you learn lyrics you thought you knew, and allows you to connect to the likes of YouTube, iTunes, Facebook and Twitter so you can watch music videos and buy and share music.

Free from the App Store

Games

It’s pretty much impossible to round-up the best apps for any smartphone now without mentioning Angry Birds , the number one paid-for iPhone app in the UK, USA, Australia, Canada, Germany, France and practically every other country. Use “logic, skill and force” to slingshot birds at pigs who made them mad by stealing their eggs. Obviously.

69p from the App Store

Looking for something that looks slightly more sophisticated? Tough, because World of Goo was named the best iPhone game of last year by review aggregator Metacritic, and it is as cartoonish as Angry Birds in appearance. Developer 2D Boy describes the gameplay thusly: “Drag and drop living, squirming, talking globs of goo to build structures, bridges, cannonballs, zeppelins, and giant tongues.”

£1.99 from the App Store

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