Five iPhone Apps Developers Should Build Right Now

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At long last, Apple CEO Steve Jobs has unveiled the company’s software development kit (SDK) for the popular iPhone, letting third-party developers create software for the device. Earlier this week, Macworld weighed in with the apps they'd most like to see. But we think these are the five most critical apps that programmers should get cracking on today.

1. Document Editor
BlackBerrys, Treos, and Windows Mobile phones have been able to edit business documents for years, either through built-in apps or third-party add-ons. To really survive on the high seas of the mobile enterprise, iPhone users need the same capability.

2. Video Capture
Almost everyone we know has a phone--smart or otherwise--that can capture video with its camera. If Apple won't add this feature to its devices, someone else should make it happen. Immediately, please.

3. File Manager
If you really do carry a significant amount of data--whether it’s business documents, multimedia files, or anything in between--around on a phone, you want to be able to manage it all without having to go back to your PC. Currently, Apple provides no meaningful way to manage files on the device, through iTunes or otherwise. We’d go so far as to demand application management as part of such a utility, but we doubt Apple would ever give its users so much freedom.

4. Microsoft Outlook/Entourage
Yeah, we said it. Interface aside, the iPhone's e-mail and calendar apps are about as weak as anything we’ve seen on a smart phone. Comparatively (and that's not saying much), Outlook Mobile rocks: It makes it easy to set up meetings, schedule events, and manage contacts from the road through a single program--even for users who aren't on Exchange. If Apple doesn't plug the holes in its own mobile software, Microsoft should. (Though we doubt MS would let Apple take 30 percent off the top.)

5. To Do List
How did Apple manage to ship a mobile extension of iCal without including a way to track tasks? We don’t know, but we’re counting on the development community to right this injustice immediately. While an iPhone version of Outlook or Entourage would solve this problem for desktop Outlook/Entourage users, there ought to be a simple solution for iCal users, too. We’d rant about this some more, but we have too many other things on our To Do list.




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