After having a Motorola Droid for almost two years (which I really liked, by the way), I finally got an iPhone about three weeks ago… and it really is everything it’s cracked up to be. As a Youth Pastor I really don’t like being tied to the office in order to be productive and get things done. Ministry should be much more about people than about administration and to-do lists… but if you’re not organized then your ministry to people will suffer.
I either had most of these apps on my Droid or found them through different blog posts similar to this one, so I thought I’d contribute since a lot of those blog posts seemed a little dated. Here’s my list of the best iPhone Apps that I’m using and I thought they might be helpful to share:
UPDATE (11/12/12): I just wrote a new post listing 15 iPad apps that are great for those of us in ministry. Follow the link above to check it out. Most of the apps below are still on my iPhone and being frequently used (except for Google Plus, that was a total bust).
Evernote Evernote is a great way to keep a bunch of information readily available. Working on a youth group event? Download Evernote onto your phone and your computer and you’ll be able to access all your notes wherever you are. It’s free and everything syncs up through the internet automatically. There are tons of features to take advantage of (voice notes, picture notes, sharing notes with other Evernote users, and more). This has really helped me in organizing a recent Camping & Canoeing Trip.
Wunderlist My short-term memory is terrible, so I really need to keep a to-do list going that I can easily add items to wherever I’m at, otherwise I’ll forget about it and it won’t get done. Wunderlist, like Evernote, can be downloaded on both your phone and your computer and syncs up through the internet and is also free. I really like the design and ease-of-use, but I wish there was a feature to be able to add items to iCal or Google Calendars through Wunderlist while setting the due date. Maybe that’s coming in a future update, who knows?
Dragon Dictation I try to keep from texting while driving and am usually fine with being slow to repsond to text messages. But there are times when you’re on the go and really want to get details hammered out or whatever and you’re tempted to text while driving. Dragon Dictation allows you to speak your message into your iPhone and it translates it into text on your screen. I’ve found it’s probably 85% accurate, but if you’re a clearer speaker than I am then you’ll be golden. You can easily edit mistakes and choose to either Email, Send to Facebook or Twitter, or simply Copy the text so you can paste it somewhere else. I don’t write emails with it, but it’s great for quick responses to text messages while you’re on the go.
Accordance Bible Software If you use Accordance on your Mac then you’ll LOVE having it on your iPhone. Want to do some sermon/lesson prep while you’re waiting for your car to be repaired, no problem. Download the app, enter your username/password, and download any of the Bible, Commentaries, Reference Books or whatever else you have on your computer. You can easily download and delete whatever books you want so you can use them wherever you are. One of the greatest things is it still gives you the automatic parsing for Greek and Hebrew texts and you can open up an additional pane so you can reference two Bible at the same time (or have a Bible and a commentary open). I know people wouldn’t think I’m using my phone to do exegesis in church if I used it during our Senior Pastor’s sermons, but I’ve been tempted a few times…
Bible by YouVersion By far this is the best Bible app if you don’t have Accordance. Tons of translations available for free, you can bookmark any verse for future reference, this is just an overall homerun. If I didn’t like all the nerdy features of Accordance I’d absolutely have this one. I encourage all my youth group students to download this onto their phones and they love it too.
WordPress for iPhone The WordPress app is way better for iPhone than for Android. It’s incredibly easy to maintain your website, moderate comments, and add a short post if you want. If you have a WordPress site then you really should have this app.
PowerDocs This is a great (and cheap!) app that lets you easily access all your Google Documents. I’ve found Google Docs to be a great way to collaborate on youth group events with my youth leaders, brainstorm future lesson plans, and a million other things. This app is easily worth the buck it will cost you.
Motion X GPS Drive One of my favorite features about my Droid was Google Navigation was free and super easy to use… this was almost a deal-breaker for me switching to the iPhone. I know where a lot of my students live, but I don’t know where all of them live and I don’t always know the best way to get there from where I am. Motion X is only a dollar! Sure, you have to pay a monthly fee if you want voice commands (“Turn left ahead”), but if you can have your phone somewhere you can easily see it then you can just follow the turn by turn navigation for only one dollar… how do you beat that? It also syncs up with your contacts, so you can just type peoples names in and if you have their address in your phone you’re good to go.
Facebook I have this last and won’t really comment much here because it’s such a “duh” it barely belongs on the list, but if I didn’t list it then I’d probably hear about it.
Google + The jury’s still out on what will happen with Google + (it looks promising but I highly doubt it will overtake FB), but here’s the link to download that app if you want it too.
As I said above, I’ve only had my iPhone for three weeks, so please let me know what I’m missing! What iPhone apps would you add to this list?
EBC Norfolk Youth 