10 of the best free iPhone apps

Got an iPhone or iPod Touch and looking for some great apps? We've sampled some of the over 250 free apps and come up with ten that we like so far. But, remember, with the App Store growing quickly (there are already over 1000 apps available, this list is likely to change quickly.



Moonlight Mahjong Lite
If you want to see the graphics power of the iPhone but don't want to shell out for a game, this version of Mahjong is perfect. Pinch your fingers to zoom in and out of the board, and rotate two fingers to rotate the board. The Lite version comes with four free levels, but you can upgrade to the paid version to get an extra eight levels.



Zenbe Lists
There are lots of to-do and list management applications available from the App Store, and Macworld has a great review of some of them. I've chosen Zenbe for my iPhone for two reasons; it's easy to use and it syncs with lists.zenbe.com. While the syncing stuff isn't glamorous it works well. I've been using it for the past week with my wife to share shopping lists and other home to-dos and I think we're finally ready to get rid of all those silly sticky notes that end up on the fridge each day.



AIM
One of the most highly anticipated apps to arrive. It's a basic implementation of IM for the iPhone and lets you view your buddy list  in groups or specify favourite contacts to IM. Chat works well and conversations look visually appealing. However, this app is hampered in its current state by not being able to run in the background which means if you want to use it, you've got to leave it open. Apple will be addressing this shortcoming in September when they update the SDK to include a background notification service. (No doubt we'll then see a flurry of new instant messaging apps released, hopefully including Adium.)



Here I Am
A very simple app that lets you send a link of your current location to any email address. Great if you're lost and need somebody to find you. (And yes, the screenshot is very boring...)



Remote
This app (designed by Apple) really highlights the value in keeping everything within the iTunes universe. Remote lets you control iTunes or an Apple TV over WiFi. The interface is similar to the iPod app on the iPhone but you can also search through libraries (something that's not possible on the iPhone). I've been using this with my Apple TV and its more flexible than the standard IR remote as you can skip between modes without backtracking through the menu system. You can also use it to enter text on AppleTV, useful when you're searching YouTube or the iTunes store.



Facebook
Facebook reported that this app has already got over 1 million users, impressive considering it's only been available for 18 days. I'm not the biggest Facebook fan but using it on the iPhone just makes it so much more personal. The interface is logical and responsive and you can even use the flick gesture to move been photos. Look out for location based features soon which might just make this THE killer app.



Labyrinth Lite Edition
A favourite game of mine since the old Jailbreak days (less than a month ago, mind you). Use your iPhone's motion sensor to navigate a small ball around a maze.



NYTimes
New York Times already has one of the best mobile news websites out there, but with this standalone app you can browse NYTimes even when you're offline (like on a plane). When you launch the app it connects to the NYTimes and downloads news, and you've got an option (in Settings) to access news for between 1 and 7 days.



Bloomberg
If you're interested in business news (US focused) Bloomberg is a must-have. Along with a news reader (similar to NYTimes) there's also a 'My Stocks' tab that lets you track your stocks (and quantity of stocks too). Clicking through to information about a particular stock gives you the latest news for that stock and rotating your iPhone gives you a full screen graph over various timescales.



Shazam
Have you ever been listening to a song and wondered 'what is that tune?'. If you've got an iPhone and Shazam installed you'll be able to answer that in about thirty seconds. Shazam samples the music and sends it off processing. If Shazam finds a match it returns track information plus gives links to purchase the song through iTunes and search YouTube for a video. Very impressive.