This is a guest post written by Jubbin Grewal on behalf of Techin5.
If you’ve recently purchased a Windows Phone, you’ll obviously be wondering which apps you should download first. Well we’re here to help you with that, with our ‘Top 10 Apps’ Guide, The Windows Phone Edition. Personally I’ve been using Windows Phones for a year now, so I know the inside and outsides of the App Marketplace, and I’ve scoured low and high to bring you the the best 10 apps, courtesy of Techin5.
This is your one stop guide for the best 10 apps straight from the get go! So go on then, get downloading!
Rowi
Category: Social Networking
Price: Free (trial) or $2.99 for Full Version
Link: Rowi Free, Rowi Paid
Easily the best twitter client on the Windows Phone marketplace, and it absolutely demolishes the Official Twitter app, which hasn’t updated very much. Rowi also has the fastest push notifications from any twitter app on the marketplace and it features a fully featured app. There’s a Free Trial if you want to test it out, but you won’t get all the features unless you pay for it and when you think about it – $2.99 isn’t much for an app that you’ll use every day.
Furthermore, you can pin almost anything as a tile in order to quickly return to it, making this our favourite Twitter app on the Windows Phone marketplace. (Note: This app is not available in some regions due to marketplace restrictions).
4th & Mayor
Category: Social Networking
Price: Free
Link: 4th & Mayor
If like us you’re big users of Foursquare, then this is the app for you to get. Even if you’re not a regular Foursquare user, this app might cause you to think twice about it because it’s such a beautifully designed app! Developer Jeff Wilcox shared some insight into the app with us in a recent interview, and I think it’s great that’s he’s continuing to develop and update such a useful 3rd Party FourSquare app. It’s much more streamlined than the Official Foursquare app and it’s more user friendly for us as well so I’ve given the nod to 4th & Mayor.
The app is constantly updated, so any problems are usually squashed as soon as they are discovered (not that there are many).
Baconit
Category: News
Price: Free
Link: Baconit
I’m not sure how many of you have ever heard of Reddit, but considering it’s one of the most popular sites in the world I would think you have. Reddit doesn’t have an official app on the Windows Phone marketplace, and that’s where Baconit comes into affect – As the best unofficial Reddit app on the marketplace. It’s fast, updated constantly (so you know the dev cares about the app and its users) and allows you to browse through thousands of funny, interesting, and informative pictures and articles.
If you’ve never heard of Reddit before, now’s the perfect chance to try. I know I wasn’t a big reader of Reddit until I came across Baconit, and ever since then I haven’t looked back. It’s also free which is great, plus it has the word Bacon in it’s title (and who doesn’t love Bacon!).
Epicurious
Category: LifeStyle
Price: Free
Link: Epicurious
The two best Cooking Apps on the Windows Phone marketplace rank between Epicurious and AllRecipes, so it’s always going to be a tough ask. While I do recommend both, Epicurious is certainly the better looking app.
If you’re like us, and love to cook – Then this is certainly the app for you as you pin your way to food haven. While I do hope for a few more updates this year, it’s great to see an App which has everything for the everyday user, and those who want a little something extra from their apps.
IMDB
Category: Entertainment
Price: Free
Link: IMDB
For those of you who aren’t familiar with IMDB, it’s like the Wikipedia of all things movie and TV related. In fact it’s better than that description on so many levels. If you’ve ever been out an about, and can’t remember that Actor that played in that one movie you watched, this is where the IMDB app comes into play. It’s slick, it looks oh so pretty with the Metro UI look, and it’s got all the information you would want from cast to ratings to goofs to fun facts about Movies and TV Shows.
The fact of the matter is, I tend to use this app much more than the actual website just because it’s convinient and nicer to look at than the website. The only thing I wish this app had was voice search within the app, but it’s free so who am I to complain!
gMaps
Category: Travel + Navigation
Price: Free or $1.99 for Ads Free Version
Link: gMap Free, gMap Paid
While Bing Maps does come inbuilt with every Windows Phone, it doesn’t necessarily work everywhere outside of Western Countries. That, and some people might actually prefer Google Map’s layout which is where gMaps comes in – an unofficial Google Maps App for Windows Phone, and it’s actually pretty fantastic! It might not be as smooth or fluid as Google Maps on an Android, or Bing Maps for that matter, but it’s as close as they come. Everything but Google Voice Navigation is in the maps, but layers, directions, GPS, and even Google Latitude work with the app. I tend to use this app a lot when I go overseas because Bing Maps may not function as well (though you will need data for both).
The free version is basically the same as the full version as far as I’m aware, but you have ads in the free version that will annoy a lot of you (the main reason I bought the paid version). Still, Google Maps is now on your Windows Phone thanks to gMaps and you can’t complain about that!
AppFlow App Discovery
Category: Productivity
Price: Free
Link: AppFlow
Want a great app to help you find other apps to download? Then look no further than AppFlow Discovery! Yes I know we’re talking about a good app that helps you find good apps (appception?), but I couldn’t possibly leave this app off the list! Appflow helps you to discover the best apps on the marketplace by sorting into highest rated apps, rising apps, most popular, and so on. You can also sort by category to make your life easier when looking for certain apps. It’s also a very well designed app that looks very nice to look at (made by the same people who made Cocktail Flow – possibly the most gorgeous app on the marketplace).
It’s also free, which means you can jump right into it, and download more apps based on Appflow’s recommendations!
SkyDrive
Category: Tools + Productivity
Price: Free
Link: SkyDrive
Skydrive is Microsoft’s cloud based storage system, and it’s an integral part of the Windows Phone Ecosystem. While it is inbuilt in apps such as Office and Pictures, there is no internal way to access the files within the phone without this app. So it’s handy this app is actually very good, and useful for any Windows Phone User. The app itself is simple but it does allow you to access all your files on Skydrive (including files shared by other parties with you), upload pictures and videos from your phone and even email those links directly to others.
If you want, you can even move files around rename folders – giving you full access over your Skydrive files and folders. It’s free and it’s also regularly updated – a must have.
Bing Translator
Category: Travel + Navigation
Price: Free
Link: Bing Translator
Those of us who travel often always require a good translator App. Well look no further than Microsoft’s very own Bing Translator, which does the usual in an outs for translation from nearly 50 languages from around the world. It also has features such as – camera to translate printed text (take a picture of a text with foreign language and translate it into English), voice recognition to translate spoken text, and text translation.
The big home run for this app is the fact that you can now download a language package for ‘Offline translation’ meaning you don’t need data to translate it like 99% of the other translator apps out there! All this for free as well, leaves for a very winning package.
My Trips
Category: Travel + Navigation
Price: $1.99
Link: My Trips
This is essentially my most important app on my phone when I travel. My Trips is actually a 3rd Party ‘Tripit’ Client which keeps all your flight, accommodation, rental and travel details in one safe place – Your Phone! You do have to sign up for a Tripit account, and either manually enter your detail online (or on the app), or use the auto-import feature so it automatically detects the email from the Flight Booking, and adds the details in for you. If I ever lose my flight tickets (e-ticket), I’ve essentially got a backup in my phone, and I’m good to go!
It’s a very nice layout with dark backgrounds and brightly coloured tiles which inform you of your travel itinerary. Unfortunately it doesn’t automatically refresh the details on the live tiles (your next travel stop) without a wi-fi or data connection, but any and all information will be stored on the app (even offline). It may seem expensive, but it has most certainly saved me more than once, especially at Customs in the UK.
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