Apple’s iPhone has generated more buzz than any other technology product this year, and reviews from users and the press alike have generally been very positive. However, part of the real promise of the iPhone is that it will become a platform upon which users can add their favorite third-party applications. The iPhone has shortcomings, such as not being able to send text messages to multiple users simultaneously, but these will be addressed by armies of coders.
At Apple’s last Worldwide Developer’s Conference, Steve Jobs made a big deal out of the promise of third-party applications for the iPhone, but Apple isn’t fully encouraging real third-party development at the moment. The good news is that in spite of Apple’s stance there are now some excellent directories for useful, downloadable iPhone applications. One of the richest ones so far is AddFone.com, which currently houses 440 titles.
If you visit AddFone.com’s home page, the first thing that will strike you is that there is no way to browse the whole list of applications at once. You have to enter search terms, such as video or games, to see the applications (you can also on the link at the bottom that says RSS 2.0 Feed, to get a list of some of the applications).

In some categories, AddFone.com offers a very complete list of useful applications, some of which pre-existed as PC and Mac offerings. For example, a quick search on the term video yields 14 applications, including ZooVision which offers hundreds of free videos as well as music, and Media Converter, which lets you convert media from other formats for use on the iPhone.
Not surprisingly, AddFone.com is especially rich in games for the iPhone. A search on games brings up 92 offerings—from Poker to Avalanche. But there are some useful applications for business-minded folks too. A search on news brings up several offerings, including BBC news headlines you can have streamed to your iPhone, and iActu USA which offers feeds from multiple newspapers.
If you search on business at AddFone.com, you’ll find a few applications, including InfoSpace FindIt—a local business search application, and iPhone Miles, for tracking your vehicle mileage. As the iPhone grows as a platform, sites like AddFone.com will surely add more applications for the business crowd, but if you’re one of the iPhone faithful, the site is worth browsing through now.
Do you have any good sources for iPhone applications, or iPhone tips?
{"source":"https:\/\/gigaom.com\/2007\/08\/09\/third-party-applications-for-your-iphone\/wijax\/49e8740702c6da9341d50357217fb629","varname":"wijax_583ed9e95bb8401ef2fd1fb756f0b3b7","title_element":"header","title_class":"widget-title","title_before":"%3Cheader%20class%3D%22widget-title%22%3E","title_after":"%3C%2Fheader%3E"}