Currently, I have 161 applications installed on my phone. I use a lot of them every day, but there are others I haven’t touched for months and should probably delete. 
Here’s a list of my top 10 favorite applications on my iPhone right now, and why I love them so much…
10. Slack
Since building a small team to help me with my projects, I’ve learned the importance of organized communication – convenient and sorted conversations between team members with hassle-free archive and search capability.
There are, of course, several communication tools that can help team members manage their projects and communicate with one another, such as Basecamp, Trello, Asana, and even email if you’re old school (and daring), but my team and I have recently switched to a communication platform that I’ve fallen in love with - Slack.
Slack is a modern, convenient way to communicate with your team. Naturally, it’s cloud-based and syncs across all devices (web, desktop and mobile) in real-time, but the user interface is what I love the most because it makes it incredibly simple to organize conversations and stay on top of things.
Using Twitter like hashtags to create channels, Slack keep discussions about certain projects in dedicated areas of the board. You can give specific people access to specific channels, and you can even @reply team members to make sure they’re tagged on conversations as well.
Since getting onto Slack, the team has been more responsive, hasn’t missed any notes and just seems to be flowing much better. A big thanks to the team at Fizzle.co for this recommendation.
Mobile App available for Free on iPhone and Android.
9. Evernote
Evernote is one of my favorite tools of all time, and its mobile application makes it extremely easy to continue to stay organized and productive while I’m on the go.
I use an organization system similar to the one Michael Hyatt outlines here, but I use the mobile application primarily to capture and organize those new ideas that pop into my head at random times of the day.
Blog post ideas, quotes, stories to put into presentations, inspirational images I come across and even completely brand new business ideas are sorted into their respective folders that I’ve already created, and if for whatever reason I can’t figure out where to put a certain idea or thought, I don’t waste time and I just add it to my inbox folder, which means the next time I log in at home I am to sort those things out.
Available for Free on iPhone and Android.
8. SoundGecko
You might be surprised to read this, but I don’t read very many blogs.
Actually, I don’t subscribe to any.
I’m more of an audio guy, which means podcasts are my primary method of content consumption. With that said, if I only stuck with consuming podcasts, I’d miss out on a ton of amazing written content that’s being published.
So what’s a guy to do?
If only there was a way to convert those blog posts into audio files that I could listen to later.
Enter SoundGecko.
With the SoundGecko browser extension on my desktop, I can save any written article I want into my account. On my phone, when I’m on a run or in the car, I can listen to that article being read to me.
Simple and useful. I love it.
Available for Free (with upgrades) on iPhone and Android.
7. Keynote
Keynote? On a mobile device?
Why?!
Well – it’s not for editing presentations. Doing that on a tiny screen, although possible, would make me want to pull my eyes out.
I do use the app, however, to practice and run-through my presentations before I go on stage.
I’ve been doing a lot of public speaking lately, and I love to practice. Practice makes me feel confident, and it allows me to further enhance my presentation, timing and flow. I use the app as a mini projector screen so I can run through my presentation and make connections between what I say and what I see.
It’s incredibly helpful, and what’s nice is that it syncs on iCloud as well, so any changes I make on any computer will eventually be updated on the phone. It’s not real-time, but it’s close (especially if I’m on a wi-fi connection).
The only trouble is, special fonts don’t carry over – but since I don’t use too many words on each slide, it’s not a huge deal.
Available on iPhone only for $9.99.
6. Videolicious
If you produce any video for your brand, Videolicious will blow your mind.
This app allows you to create amazing, professional looking videos with incredible ease. It’s hard to explain how it works (the app walks you step-by-step through the process), but here’s a video I created using Videolicious after I got back from the Philippines. This video took 5 minutes to produce, including the editing and music.
Post by Smart Passive Income with Pat Flynn.
A big thanks to Gideon Shalwick for introducing me to this excellent application.
Available for Free (with upgrades) on iPhone only.
5. TrailMix Pro
TrailMix Pro is the app on my phone that has been opened the longest. It’s not a business or productivity tool like the others on this list – but it’s so cool, I couldn’t help but mention it here.
The app is a music player, but with a very special feature, one that especially appeals to the marching band nerd in me:
It syncs the tempo of the song playing to how fast your stride is.
I use this app every time I run, and I’m always running in sync with the music. For me, this helps me keep my pace and I do feel like it helps me stay motivated and run faster.
I used this last weekend during the Rock and Roll Half Marathon here in San Diego, and it helped me reach a personal record of 1:56:49!
Loading this app isn’t going to instantly make you a better and faster runner, but it will make it more fun. And as I always say, exercising is one of the best productivity tips – so maybe this does have to do with business a little.
Available for Free on iPhone only.
4. Lift
“We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence, therefore, is not an act, but a habit.” -Aristotle
Lift is an app I was introduced to by Tim Ferris in Session #51 of The SPI Podcast, and I’ve been using it ever since.
What it does is allow you to change your habits by being reminded to “check in” to wanted habits every day (i.e. do them), and also quickly share your progress with others who are doing the same thing. It’s a simple but powerful concept, and Tony Stubblebine, the founder, who I interviewed in Session #80 of The SPI Podcast, definitely knows how to form life-changing habits that can unlock the human potential.
Lift is free, and you can just start with one habit and then go from there. Currently, I’m tracking exercise, stretching, doing one random act of kindness, meditation and giving my kids a hug and a kiss.
Available for Free on iPhone and Android.
3. Snapseed
There are a lot of great photo editing applications we can use on our mobile devices. Snapseed is my personal favorite.
I was introduced to Snapseed by Darren Rowse from Problogger.net and Digital Photography School on his Instagram feed (he has great photos!), and I’m so glad I found it because it makes it super simple to turn your photos into pro-looking snapshots.
A lot of similar photo-editing applications can be a little overwhelming because there’s a lot of settings and adjustments that can be made, and a lot of times the user-experience isn’t all that friendly, but with Snapseed, even though all of those pro settings and adjustments exist, the way thay have it laid out and organized is smart and handy.
There’s a reason why it was voted best mobile photo app of 2012
Available for Free on iPhone and Android.
2. TinyScan
TinyScan is one of the smartest apps I’ve ever come across.
If I’m looking to turn a physical sheet of paper into a PDF, which is quite often, all I have to do is simply snap a photo with this app, and it immediately turns it into a PDF file that I can send off. It crops for you, rotates, fixes color balance – it does everything.
Unless I’m batch scanning a ton of paperwork (in which case I use my ScanSnap scanner), this is my go-to for scanning and easily sending it off.
Available for Free (with upgrades) on iPhone or Android ($3.99)
1. The *New* Smart Passive Income Application!
This last app is my favorite.
Partly because it’s my own, but also because if you’re an SPI reader or listener, it’s going to make consuming SPI content much much easier for you!
Today, I’m happy to announce the official launch of the brand new Smart Passive Income iOS application!
It’s 100% free, and a complete re-design of a previous, broken (and less feature-filled) version that came out over three years ago, which is why you haven’t seen me promoting it.
The user interface and experience through the new app is something my team and I made sure was top-notch for you. It’s sleek, fast, clean, and most of all, extremely functional.
It does a lot of things that the other app did not:
It includes a podcast player that has speed control (0.5x, 1x, 1.5x, 2x, 2.5x and 3x speed).
The podcasts (both SPI and AskPat are featured) can play in the background while you continue to go through the app, or even close the app all together.
You can filter through all of my content and see only what you want to see.
There’s a search bar to find specific content that you’re looking for.
Notifications when new content of your choice gets published.
Plus a lot more…
We have a lot of other features coming in version 1.1 and beyond as well, like being able to submit an AskPat question directly from the app! How cool is that!?
I teased this app over the weekend on Facebook and Twitter, and the feedback has been nothing but positive! Here’s what a few reviewers are saying about it already:
Right now, it’s only available for the iPhone, but an android version is being created this time, for sure. It’s a big priority for me.
If you’d like to get the app for free now, click here and let me know what you think!
If You’re Interested in an App Like This For Your Brand…
My team and I have discussed potentially creating a system by which we would be able to create apps just like this one for you and your brand. Whether you’re a blogger, podcaster, or both, this could be something as useful for your brand as it is for mine.
If this is something you’re interested in, please fill out the form below and you’ll be put on an email list and contacted with updates on this. We’re gauging interest here, so if you’re interested at all I’d love to hear from you:
If you’ve signed up. Awesome! We’ll let you know one way or another.
Lastly, Please Share: What’s Your Favorite Mobile Application?
What’s your all-time favorite mobile application? Just one!
Shout it out in the comment section below.
Cheers!
My Top 10 Favorite Apps on My Phone (And Why I Love ‘em So Much) is a post from: The Smart Passive Income Blog