With the arrival of Windows Phone 8.1, I thought it would be fun to list my five favorite apps for Windows Phone. Well at least the five apps that I use all the time, so here they are in reverse order (links to the apps are in the titles):
5: Calculator³
Windows Phone comes with a calculator, but it doesn’t come with a scientific calculator that also does currency/unit conversion, calculate tips and tax based on saved amounts, and more. This is a great app. It is worth the buck fifty they charge, but if you are cheap you can get the free ad supported Calculator².
4: HERE Drive +
It is no secret that Nokia makes great hardware, but the real reason to get a Nokia Windows Phone is all apps they make for it. The crown jewel of their app catalog is HERE Drive +. It is one of the best turn by turn navigation apps made, and if you are a Nokia user, you get it for free. Though the big news out of BUILD this year is that they are going to give this away to all Windows Phone users in the future!
Every smart phone needs games, so if it is a smart phone made by Microsoft it had better have Halo. Halo: Spartan Assault isn’t perfect, but it s a fun diversion, and it is always going on sale. Now that all Windows Phones have Cortana, you should have the Master Chief as well.
2: MetroTube
Watching YouTube.com on Windows Phone 8.1 got better due to in-page viewing, but if you are going to watch a lot of YouTube.com than MetroTube has got you covered. It allows you to download movies, and add them to favorites. Plus it is just easier to navigate then the browser. It costs a dollar, but the “free trial” is unlimited, so you don’t “have” to pay for it. Still, I think the devs have earned their money.
There are like fifteen million weather apps for Windows Phone, but Amazing Weather HD is the best. It has all the info you could ever need in a weather app. Plus it looks great with hi-res pictures, and customizable Live Tiles. It has a free trial, but I have never regretted the dollar and a half I spent on this wonderful app.
Bonus For Web Admins: Analytics Client
If you have a website, you are going to want to know how many people are looking at it. Analytics Client gives me all the information I need, and it is free. There are prettier Google Analytics viewers, but this one is fast, and it shows me just what I need.
Good App In The Dog House: MyFitnessPal
I used this app to loose a lot of weight, but they updated their app last year, and now it stops working all the time. They have forced me to just pin their site to my Start Screen and ignore the app altogether. If they fix their app it is the best calorie counter out there, but for now stay away, or just use the site like me.
That is my list, plus a couple extras. I hope you found it useful!
I like the Bing Weather, Bing Sports, and the Drive app. They are good, solid apps. I like 8.1 as well, although the People app is slower and now goes to Facebook instead of it opening in itself. Just seems slower. They also lost the updates in the Me app from social media that pertained to you. Still like the phone though and haven’t had a problem since it came back from Nokia.
It is a shame that the ME app got neutered. Though I understand that it was a pain in the butt to keep it up to date thanks to Social Network API changes.