Must have Windows Phone 7 applications

News · 12 Mar 2011 · MTW Editorial Team

Instead of posting about the Windows Phone 7 Marketplace reaching the 10K mark I thought it would be a little more interesting if I compiled a list of some of my must have applications currently available and share with it you. Keep in mind that this list is made of applications that I personally find interesting, well developed and useful (well maybe not all of them..) so it’s bound to be missing a couple of other high regarded apps (I will probably make another post about the rest later on). Hit the break for the goodies and don’t forget to read my Windows Phone 7 review in case you missed it:

Utilities:

Lets start with 4 basic application developed by Microsoft and that are totally free. They are obviously not the best looking apps out there but at least the get the job done without bogging down the phone.

Microsoft Weather: Basic weather application following the Metro UI guidelines. Support location detection and Weather Alerts in the US. Download it here.

Microsoft World Clock: Useful world clock application with a nicely done UI. Only small issue is that it can take a bit too long to start up . Download it here.

Microsoft Level: Basic and very accurate level application that operates in surface and tube level modes. Download it here.

Microsoft Unit Converter: Fully functional unit converter. Supports: Length, Temperature, Speed, Time, Volume, Angle, Weight, Area conversion. Download it here

Next up is was I found to be the best currency converter available right now:

OANDA Currency Converter: It’s free, it looks good, support most currencies in the world and updates the rates in real time (needs a data connection). Download it here.

News Readers

I must admit that I’m not really a big fan of rss readers and really prefer dedicated application that offer more integration with the website I’m interested in. On of the best examples is the IGN Application which I was the first to talk about here.

It is still, in my opinion, one of the best app on the marketplace right now (an update fixing the current ” no top stories” issue is coming soon). It’s fast, smooth, snappy, free and runs under the lock screen. Download it here.

If you are really into conventional rss readers then you essentially two great solution available to you right now:

Weave: Pretty,straightforward and snappy news reader application that easily gets the job done. The full version is $1.99 but you can try the free trial before here. You can also check out the developer’s (Seles Games) other high quality applications which are mostly free (ad supported).

Wonder Reader:  This  simply is the best Google Reader out now. It’s packed with features (Instapaper and Read It Later integration among other things). Download the trail version here (full is $1.99).

If you have a paid InstaPaper Subscription you can also grab the first Instapaper application build around the services newly introduced full API. Stacks for Instapaper is $2.99 here.

Ebook

Amazon Kindle: There isn’t much to say here. Superb application that can be downloaded here. Check out my hands on review and video here.

Online Shopping:

Amazon: Amazon again but it’s that good. Grab it here and check out my video review here.

Ebay: The official Ebay application for Windows Phone 7. It’s features all the essential functionality and also Live Tile push notifications alerts. Download it here.

Movies, video and music:

There are currently three big movie applications that offer essentially the same features: Flixster, IMDB & Fandago. Out of the three the most feature rich one is IMDB (it also has the highest quality trailers), followed by Fandago which lets you buy tickets and rate movies directly from the app. Flixster on the other hand is the snappiest of the three. Anyway, you can’t go wrong with any of them so they are all worth a try.

IMDB: It has finally been updated and is new fully functional. Download it here.

Fandango: One of nicest UI on WP7 with a nearly perfect integration Bing Maps control. If you are in the located in the US this is the movie theater application to use. If only it supported theater listings and show-times outside of the US Download it here.

Flixster: The fastest way to get a movie’s Rottentomatoes rating.Download it here.

As you probably know by now there’s no official YouTube client for Windows Phone 7 and the third party solution are just front ends that just launch the IE Mobile YouTube Plugin. Thank fully its biggest competitor, Dailymotion decided to commission the development of one of the best WP7 application.

You can check out my hands on video review of the Dailymotion app here and download it from here.

MSN Video: One of the best news video application on the marketplace right now. Developed by Microsoft, it features a vast selection of content from the MSNBC network and its affiliates. It’s fast, smooth and features high-quality videos (and runs under the lock screen!) : Download it here.

Ustream: If you are a fan of NASA TV like me then Ustream is must have application. Sure, it not really possible to watch every single stream on the services (for some odd reason the search capability of the app is limited)  but that’s good enough for me. People complain that it only works great on Wifi but totally fail to realize that the problem principally comes from the feed’s and not the Ustream service. Popular streams usually work without much problem on 3G. My only issue is that the new Live Tile functionality doesn’t seem to work for me: Download it here.

Deezer: Great music streaming application and one the first WP7 application that didn’t run like crap. Check out my hands on video of the application here. It’s free but only for the European market. Download it here.

MusiXMatch Lyrics: You have all probably heard about this one. It directly grab the lyrics of the songs you play on your device and is integrated into the music and video hub so you don’t have to launch it beforehand. Download it here.

Shazam: There isn’t much to say here other than: it’s Shazam. It’s works as it should and is totally free unlike other platforms. It’s also has Zune Market integration for the songs you tag. Download it here.

Photos

Flickr: The official Flickr application that I have talked about many times already. Check out my hands on video review here and download it here. What’s great about it is that unlike many application it gets updated really frequently.

Bing2Wall: Let’s you download the daily Bing images from all regions around the world. The best of its kind and its free. Download it here.

PhotoBucket: Similar to the official Flickr application but this one gives you access to the Photobucket services and content. Download it here.

Thumba Photo Editor: Let’s you edit photos with filters, crop them, Geotag them and tons of other features. It”s available for $0.99 here.

Picture Labs: It it’s essentially the same as Thumba PhotoEditor but some prefer this one so it’s up to you to decide. It’s $1.99 here.

Ztitch: This application lets you manually stitch pictures in 3D space and later save the result to the cloud. The end result can look similar to Microsoft’s Photosynth technology but the major difference is that Ztitch doesn’t automatically synth the pictures for you. It’s only $0.99 and looks really cool so just grab it here.

Photogram: The only Samsung application that’s really worth it. Check out my hands on review here (only available on Samsung devices).

LG Panorama and ScanSearch: Both are only available on LG WP7 handsets and both are the only application that have access to the live camera feed. Video of the Panorama app here and Scan Search here.

Social:

Twitter: The official Twitter application is pretty good but not awesome yet. It has yet to be updated ever since it launch in October and misses one of the most important feature for such an app: run under lock screen and Live tile notifications. Download it here.

Facebook: Official Facebook application. It now has fairly good performance compared to the initial version and also runs under the lock screen. Missing feature is live tile notifications and Facebook chat support. Download it here.

moTweets: Simply the best Windows Phone 7 twitter client available now. It runs under the lock screen, let’s you manage multiple accounts in the same pivot control and is packed with features, live tile support and rss reader integration. This is a must have application. The free version is ad supported while the premium version will cost you $0.99 here.

Finance and Real Estate

PageOnce: lets you manage your bills on the go, monitor you credit card transactions, bank account, Amazon, mobile operator accounts etc. Unfortunately only for US residents. Download it here.

REALTOR.com: Superbly developed real estate locator for the US. This is how the Metro UI should be used. Lots of info, pictures, Bing maps integration etc..Download it here.

Explorimmo: Similar to REALTOR but for France. Nice use of the Metro UI guidelines too. Download it here.

Lifestyle and other stuff

Cocktail Flow: Gorgeous cocktail application! Don’t really know how to describe it. Just go ahead and download it! It is the best looking application on Windows Phone 7 right now. Tons of cocktails and new content is regularly made available trough the in-application download system. Just select the drinks you currently have in your cabinet and the application will automatically tell you which cocktail you can make. Download it here.

Kayak: You’ve probably heard by now that Microsoft has recently signed a deal with Kayak to enhance Bing’s travel search feature. The official Kayak application is really well done even though it may seem slow at times because of the fact that it grabs most of its content from the cloud. Compared to the Android version this one is IMO the best. Grab it here if you want the best hotel and flight reservations/search application.

Deluxe Moon: lets you follow the moon phase and Zodiacs signs in the sky. This application was previously available on WinMo (and PC, Android etc..) and is currently one of the best looking app on windows Phone 7. you can download the free trial version here. and Paid version for $1.99 here.

Morfo: This is another application that nicely showcase the use of the device 3D and imaging capabilities. It’s obviously not really useful but can be good time waster.Just snap a picture of somebodies faces (or you animals face) and create a 3D model that you can then interact with (and make it say naughty things..). The full version is $1.99 but you can try the trial version first here.

Big Oven: In my opinion the best recipe vault on Windows Phone 7. You have access to over 170K recipes from around the world all for free. I’m not a big fan of the apps design thought (the background images always look bad on Samsung devices because of the Super AMOLED screen) Download it here.

Halo Waypoint: If you are a Halo fan this application is a must have. Check out my hands on video here and download it here.

ParticleSim and Fluid: Want to show of the power of the Qualcomm QSD8250? Both application will show of some really nice fully interactive particle simulation action. Download ParticleSim here and Fuild here (no trial version for this one unfortunately) .

SatView: another super nice looking application developed by Micron Game Studio (ParticleSim and NextWar). This one lets you track satellites in real time and in 3D. Download it here.

Games

There are tons of games now available on the Windows Phone 7 Marketplace so here’s a short list of those that I find worth it:

Ilomilo: Probably the best game on Windows Phone 7. Check out my interview with the developers here and my hands on video here. The latest update also added more levels to the game. Download it here.

Rocket Riot: Another nice looking shooting game. You can read my interview with the developers here and download it here.

Need For Speed Undercover: Hands on video here and download here.

Max and the Magic Marker: Nice side scroller and physics game with really snappy controls. Download it here.

CarneyVale Showtime: This is IMO are really underrated game. Really good physics based action game with a nice art-style. Download it here .

Fruit Ninja: No need to introduce this game. My hands on video can be seen here. Download it here.

Rise of Glory: Another great 3D game. The only thing missing a multi-player support though. My hands-on video can bee watched here. Download it here.

The Harvest: One of the best looking 3D game on any mobile platform. The developers really did an awesome job with the textures and environment. It’s and action RPG game set in space. Download it here.

Coin Addiction: a simple casual game developed by the guy behind the awesome Bing2Wall application. It’s real time waster and can be really tricky at times and it’s free! Download it here.

Bacteria: Really addictive tilt based game where you have to avoid virus and other nasty things. Download it here.

NextWar: One of the best Tower Defense game out now and one of the nicest WinDows Phone 7 application ever coded. Download it here.

SwampDefense: Another nicely done tower defense game with good production value. Download it here.

That’s it for now. I know that there is a lot more stuff to add here so I will probably do a follow up post in the coming weeks. If you have any suggestion just leave a comment below with the name of the application only (no links please) or hit me up on Twitter and I will see if It’s worth adding later.