By request of Sarah (who is soon getting her own iTouch), here is an annotated list of my personal favorite iTouch applications, screens by screen. All apps are free (or I got them when they were free, YMMV) unless otherwise noted.
- NetNewsWire: the best RSS reader available, period. Syncs seamlessly with its FeedDemon (desktop) and NewsGator (browser-based) alter egos.
- AppSniper: kind of a meta app which tells you about all new apps as they show up in the App Store, and shows you which ones are on sale. A definite must for crazed app freaks, which you will no doubt soon become. Cost me a whopping 99 cents and has saved me a bundle, by notifying me of sales and of free apps that do the same as paid ones!
- IDB Datamaster Pro: This is kind of a sleeper app. It’s not flashy and doesn’t mke fart noises, so most people wouldn’t notice it at all. But it lets you import CSV-based data (such as many of the kinds of things you may have stored on your old Palm Pilot) into form-based templates, store it into an encrypted database, and back it up directly to your computer as a CSV file (via WiFi). Which means it’s much better for storing, say, all your account passwords and banking info than most of the apps designed for that purpose, because they tend to save it on the web (not perfectly safe) or as backup files on your computer that you can’t read in an emergency. This was one of my few “big ticket” apps…it cost $12, I think. Get the free version first and play with it to see if you like it…it’s pretty well designed, but not well marketed.
- Mobile News: great for keeping up with local, US, or world news right off the AP wire.