Once upon a time the world of smartphone users was divided into two distinct camps: the Blackberry-packing white collared business executives, and the iPhone-weilding, urban hipster...

1. Feature
The
Top 10
iPhone Apps
for business
Once upon a time the world of
smartphone users was divided into two
distinct camps: the Blackberry-packing
white collared business executives, and
the iPhone-weilding, urban hipster...
I
t was a well accepted fact then that the iPhone was the prisingly powerful business device. Accessing files, sophisticated
domain of those creative types who appreciated aesthet- synching and collaboration software and the opportunity to
ics over application, style over substance. The Blackberry have traditional desktop functionality in the palm of your hand
on the other hand, was a specialty device that could per- are rapidly making the iPhone the indispensible ‘must-have’
form a great deal of business functions, but with little fun business tool for today’s mobile road-warrior and on-the-go CEO
to be had outside the office with its no-nonsense, closed- alike.
platform. So just what’s on offer to the business-person looking to cus-
How times have changed. tomise their iOS experience?
These days, even though the Apple iPhone is still best-known Read on to find out what iStart’s 10 handiest business apps for
for doing a few things exceptionally well, the wealth of applica- iPhone can offer you...
tions available from the iTunes appstore makes the iPhone a sur-
76 Quarter Two 2012

2. 2. Analytics App
If you’re the owner of a website you know that
analytics is everything. That being the case, many
of us want our analytic data wherever, whenever.
Sure, Google Analytics is great for the desktop
PC, but if you want your web stat information
to be available on your mobile, your best bet is
‘Analytics App’, from Inbolsam.
The Analytics App provides a wide range of
Google Analytics reports right on your iPhone.
Getting started is a breeze; just type in your
1. WiFi Finder Google account credentials to gain access to 47 3. Quickoffice Mobile Office Suite
It doesn’t matter how awesome that smart- different kinds of website reports, including the Wouldn’t it be great if the iPhone played a little
phone is, if you haven’t got an internet connec- super-convenient ‘today’ report that just shows bit nicer with Microsoft Word? Sure, if someone
tion you’re not really in business. If you’re out and you your traffic stats for the last 24 hours without sends you a Word Doc via email you can read it,
about, in the strange city or just an unfamiliar having to add in any further information. Plus, but unfortunately that’s all you can do. If you have
part of town, being able to find a free public WiFi you can even create custom reports for multiple to edit it, you’re just plain out of luck.
connection is crucial. accounts. Quickoffice for iPhone is a handy solution to
WiFi Finder is the handy solution. It works any- Price: US$6.99 this problem, offering users a way to view, edit
where in the world and will identify nearby WiFi http://tinyurl.com/394njb7 and exchange Word Docs and Excel documents
connections, whether you’re online or not. via the iPhone. The package is available for
Features include: US$12.99, or you can purchase just the individual
• Access to over 145,000 free WiFi locations Quickword and Quicksheet applications, cur-
worldwide rently US$4.99 each. Alternatively, the cheaper
• Filter by location type, such as cafe or library Documents 2 (US $3.99) offers a similar office
• Phone numbers and address information suite, only with fewer features included.
• Users can bookmark their favourite locations Price: US $12.99
• Best of all it’s free http://tinyurl.com/de3yke
Price: FREE
http://tinyurl.com/39oeyrz
Quarter Two 2012 77

3. Feature //
Top 10 iPhone Apps
4. ClockIn 6. Skype
One of the burdens of freelance and contract When you need that one-to-one communica-
work is the difficultly in accurately clocking your tion but can’t be there, nothing comes close to
time spent on the job. Managing time sheets and Skype. Whether you need to video-chat with
paperwork, and putting that into a format that will employees across town or business contacts on
be appreciated by the person paying the bills can the other side of the world, Skype is the leader in
be tricky at the best of times, and trickier when the field.
you’re spending your days out in the field. In addition to all the functionality you expect
Clockin is a simple program that allows you to with the PC-based version, the iPhone Skype app
track time spent on projects with a few taps of the also allows you to:
finger. You can punch in and out of jobs and the • Video call people via your IOS devices con-
app can track your shifts among multiple clients.
5. Dropbox tact list
Dropbox is a free service that lets you take all
Current shift information is displayed at the top • Call any Skype contact for free via a valid WiFi
your photos, docs, videos (or any other kind of
of the screen and you can filter reports based on a connection or 3G
file) anywhere. After you install Dropbox on your
client’s details. • Text and call phones anywhere with Skype
computer, any file you save into your Dropbox
Managing multiple clients is easy, with the app Credit
folder will automatically save to any other com-
storing client information, such as name, website, • Enjoy near CD quality sound on your call
puter, iPhone or iPad that you’ve loaded the soft-
and email addresses along with hours worked. Plus lots more.
ware onto, meaning you can browse, access and
The information can then be easily exported in an Price: FREE
copy any important file from anywhere you’ve
Excel-compatible format that attaches to an email http://tinyurl.com/3gjfqzc
got an internet connection.
that you can send to yourself or your employer.
Files are automatically updated each time the
Price: US $1.99
version changes, it’s easy to share files with your
http://tinyurl.com/7yu6e44
friends (simply send them the URL and they can
download their own copy of the file), and if you
lose your device, the contents of your Dropbox
folder is still secure, no matter what.
Price: FREE
http://tinyurl.com/23ppkd8
78 Quarter Two 2012

4. 8. iFax
Use iFax to send an unlimited number of faxes
from an iPhone for free. Use your iPhone to take
photos then send the image as a fax. Pictures
already in the photo library can also be attached
to faxes.
iFax offers a customizable cover page, includ-
ing logos and signatures, that can be used as a
template for all faxes, and users can add docu-
ment text directly from the app interface.
iFax also features:
7. reQall • PDF and Document Integration - import from 9. Hootsuite
reQall for iPhone is a free, downloadable appli- mail, upload or download from the web: PDF, Hootsuite is a great app that lets you plan and
cation designed to make your iPhone the hub of DOC, XLS, JPG and other documents supported. execute campaigns across multiple social media
your digital life. • Integration with Dropbox. Transfer documents platforms such as Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, and
reQall captures tasks and ideas using your from Dropbox and include in your fax. Google+, as well as the social media aspects of
voice or text, automatically organizes your infor- • Push-Notification Fax confirmations - real-time sites such as YouTube, Flickr and Tumblr, all from
mation, integrates with your email and calendar, messages sent to the app with fax notifications a single, secure cloud-based dashboard.
shares reminders with others and reminds you of and status updates. You can publish messages, monitor the conver-
what you need to do. • Document Scanner technology - Crop and sations that follow, track results, and even trans-
• Speak or type your reminders into your adjust brightness, sharpness etc to optimize late messages to and from over 50 languages, all
iPhone; reQall will convert what you say to text images for faxing. from your iPhone.
(up to 30 seconds recording time). Price: FREE You can also:
• Get your items organized automatically. reQall http://tinyurl.com/6vwgj2o • View your LinkedIn connections’ activity
recognizes dates and times (including recurring • Comment on posts in Facebook News Feed
dates) and certain keywords. You can also create • Translate messages for Facebook and Twitter
your own categories and tags. • Schedule updates for future sending
• Receive timely reminders via email or IM. In • Forward messages via email
addition, reQall constantly displays a summary of • Examine message click statistics by date
what you need to remember right now. • See which countries are clicking on your links
• Share reminders with your friends, family and • Track user ratings for links
co-workers, using your iPhone’s contact list. Price: FREE
• Call, email, or browse from within reQall items http://tinyurl.com/22kqxnp
that include phone numbers, email addresses,
and URLs.
• Connect anywhere your iPhone has a data
connection, worldwide. If you work offline, reQall
syncs itself when you reconnect.
Price: FREE
http://tinyurl.com/5cakge
Quarter Two 2012 79

5. Feature //
Top 10 iPhone Apps
Honourable mentions...
1. CamCard Lite
CamCard is a professional business card reader and business
card scanner. Simply take a picture of a business card, CamCard
recognizes the card and saves contact information in Card Holder
or your Address Book.
Price: FREE
http://tinyurl.com/6q82cgs
2. Roambi
Roambi Analytics is another analytics app that quickly trans-
forms your business reports and data – from many popular busi-
ness applications – into intuitive and engaging mobile analytics,
instantly delivered to any iPhone or iPad. It lets you easily view and
interact with your company’s latest information – giving you the
insight you need for on-the-go analysis, impromptu presentations
and smart decision-making – while in the office, or on-the-move.
Price: FREE http://tinyurl.com/87yvgy2
3. Straight to Voicemail
Finally, an app that lets you make that dreaded phone call to your
boss, wife, girlfriend, co-worker or parent without having to speak to
them. Want to cancel that meeting, but don't want to speak one-on-
one? sTv is perfect for you.
Price: US$1.99
http://tinyurl.com/6rop9bs
10. LinkedIn
No list of the best business apps for iPhone
would be complete without at least of mention of
LinkedIn. The LinkedIn app gives you easy access 4. Call Recording Pro
to the popular, business-oriented social-network- Call recording Pro lets you record incoming and outgoing calls
ing site with just the touch of a few buttons. anywhere in the world. As soon as you hang up the line, an MP3
The easy-to-use interface gives you a search download link is sent to you. Simple genius.
bar, invite button, and all the other important Price: US $2.99
functionality of LinkedIn, allowing you to read the http://tinyurl.com/77f6mds
latest industry news, keep up-to-date with your
groups, and share content with your network
from anywhere in the world.
Set up is made easy too with clever sync-
ing. You can quickly transfer the names, email
addresses, and photos of your LinkedIn connec- 5. Angry birds
tions directly into your iPhone address book all at Long flights, boring meetings, you name it, Angry Birds has mul-
the touch of a button. tiple uses across a range of business applications.
Price: FREE Price: US$0.99
http://tinyurl.com/2b465wa http://tinyurl.com/yddqg54
80 Quarter Two 2012