We use our phones for everything, from playing games to planning our lives. And, of course, we all have our preferences. Unless specified, all apps mentioned here are available for Android and iOS.
Personally, I couldn’t go a day without the official Twitter or Facebook apps. And, yes, I use Instagram, Path, Foursquare and LinkedIn, too.
But many users prefer to go the third-party route, and in that case I choose to use Falcon Pro for Android and Tweetbot for iPhone. I couldn’t survive without Evernote, Astrid, Pulse, Kobo and Starbucks. For music I switch between Rdio and TuneIn Radio, with the occasional Songza session thrown in. For Reddit, I use Reddit Sync for Android and Alien Blue for iOS.
When I play games I prefer puzzles. This year, I’ve been engrossed in Gyro, Letterpress (iOS-only), Scramble With Friends, World of Goo, Pudding Monsters and Where’s My Water? The times I prefer a bit of action in my gaming experiences I go with Ski Safari, Canabalt and Rayman Jungle Run. Granny Smith, Whale Trail, Gravity Guy, Waking Mars and Jetpack Joyride are good, too.
Because I’m always looking for story ideas, I live on Google Reader. Reeder for iOS and Press for Android have a lot in common; they are beautiful, quick and functional. The official WordPress app is good, but if you’re on iPad, Blogsy is even better.
Chrome for Android is the best browser on the platform, but there’s Dolphin Browser Beta and Firefox Beta, too, both of which have their advantages. On iOS I use Atomic Browser, though Chrome is growing on me.
When taking photos on my iPhone I use Camera+; on Android I use either the stock app or, when I need a bit more control, Camera Zoom FX.
For weather, give me The Weather Network any day.
I love HD Widgets and Beautiful Widgets on Android; they provide some of the best added functionality to the customizable OS.
When travelling I prefer to use Hipmunk for flights and Expedia for hotels. For movies, iMDb and Flixster. Cloud storage: Dropbox, though Google Drive is improving and Sugarsync‘s new Android beta is pretty outstanding.
If you want a second opinion, Google has posted its own Best of 2012 list, and there are some gems in there, too.
There are a lot of apps I left out here. I don’t want to include everything; I want ideas from you! So let us know: what are your favourite apps of 2012?
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