Whew! It’s been a while since I reviewed anything. Lately my iPhone has made me a happy camper and so, in the interest of embettering the lives of my fellow iPhoners (?), I decided to share with you a few gems I’ve found in these three months with this device. This is a list of some apps that I’ve really enjoyed having around. Because this is me, the list is heavy on games, though what will probably be the best game in this platform hasn’t yet been released and so it isn’t part of the list

Well, let’s start. The list is divided in three sections. The first one is simply “useful apps” and they all share the characteristics of being, well, useful, but also free. So, in no particular order:

Pandora Box is an absolute must. It lets you know about the latest price drops in the App Store, as well as the latest releases. That’s good enough on itself, but the really great thing about it is that it lets you keep a list of favourites, something I wish iTunes had. This list also lets you know at a glance when there’s a price drop in your favourites, so you’ll never miss a great deal.

Moving on. The Google Mobile App gives you easy access to all of Google’s products. If you use Google heavily like I do, this will serve you well. It’s way more convenient than accessing these services directly from Safari. The exception seems to be Reader, which works better from its own site. Google Mobile is actually a web application; you “install it” by going here and bookmarking the site (save a link to it in your springboard for quick access).

The Facebook app is a must… if you have a Facebook account and an iPhone, duh. This is one very well put-together piece of software. And that was one very badly put-together phrase.

WordPress for iPhone is something I just installed but already love. It gives you streamlined access to the administration panel of your WordPress installations.

Remote is joy in binary form. It allows you to control your Mac’s iTunes through the air. Not only it is very convenient to have around, it actually covers up for some of OSX’s lame points. Get this now… if you have a Mac

Wattpad: if you thought that the number 20 in the title was suspicious, well, that’s because I just came up with 19 “must haves”. Then I added this one to round up that number. Oh, it’s not a bad app at all, but it is a bit iffy in that you probably won’t make much use of it unless you really want to read public domain books… or you really want to read books not in the public domain, without paying their authors. Be aware that with these books you will probably get what you pay for, since many of them are just .txt files. Still, that isn’t the app’s fault, so it goes on the list.

The second section is all about games, and it contains three subsections of sorts: free games, paid games with free demos, and paid games without demos.

Tap Tap Revenge 2 is like Guitar Hero for your iPhone. I guess now I can see why those rhythm games can be so addictive. It’s actually hard to believe this one’s free, considering it lets you download dozens of [also free] songs to play with. So many in fact that I have yet to get’em all. My favourite play mode is Extreme; it’s insanely difficult, but also insanely fun. There are also branded, paid versions of this game, if one of these artists interests you.

Cube Runner is a very simple, yet very addictive game. You control a small ship in a field littered with 3D cubes, and all you have to do is tilt the iPhone to steer your ship and avoid the cubes. A dead simple premise that makes for hours of fun. Note: in writing this entry, I found there’s actually a Cube Runner II, which is paid but adds speed control, and thus time trials. Worth checking out? All signs point to “YES”.

Supreme Air Combat is a small strategy game involving two airplane squads facing each other on a small aereal grid. Again, it’s the “simple and addictive” formula, which can’t be beaten. The matches play fast, making them ideal for playing on the go. In truth I thought SAC was the demo for a bigger game, but it isn’t; it’s just a damn good, completely free game. Do you hear, Visual Jazz? I like your game, make a new, bigger one, and I’ll pay you for it. FREE.

For veterans like myself, iShoot looks familiar. However, it’s a very refined and seriously addictive version of that old game, with a bit of Worms thrown in for good measure. The demo for this game is so good you might wonder if it’s worth buying the full version. Oh, it is. $1.99, DEMO available.

Galcon demonstrates how complex strategies need not depend on complex controls. With a dead simple interface, this multiplayer intergalactic warfare – look, it’s just hyper addictive and all you have to do is tap on the planets you want to conquer. Play the DEMO and then go get it (right now on sale for just $2.99!)

Race for Home is a charming little game that uses a very simple interface to great effect. Just tap on the various floating doodas to both collect points and swing Grace in that direction. She lightly floats with her umbrella and can reach tremendous speeds if you keep tapping on stuff. Again, try the DEMO first and then buy the game for $0.99. Extra points for the beautiful, soothing piano melody.

Let’s Golf! is a top notch game from famed developer Gameloft, and it comes with an incredibly low $1.99 price tag (I bought it on sale at $0.99 – thanks, Pandora Box!). A game that truly demonstrates the technical capabilities of the iPhone. It helps that it’s utterly addictive.

Doodle Jump is another game with a very simple idea (keep jumping, don’t fall) and a dead easy interface (tilt the phone to steer), that nevertheless manages to be completely engrossing. Another great idea is the live score markers that appear on the background as you play, letting you know when you’ve climbed higher than someone else – or higher than yourself in a previous attempt. This game can be yours for the criminally low price of $0.99.

Mass Effect Galaxy is the latest game I bought, and I love it to pieces. Wonderful graphics and animations, engrossing story (with that magnificent dialog-tree system for conversations that I kept hearing about!), and all of it topped off by one of the best uses of the iPhone’s interface in an action game I have seen so far. Fellow game makers, take note: this is how you do a proper shooter interface. You don’t just cram a FPS’s many controls somewhere on the iPhone’s screen. Game costs $4.99, but I got it for $2.99, again thanks to Pandora Box. You don’t need to have played Mass Effect (I didn’t) in order to enjoy this fine game. It also comes with a code for unlocking… something on the upcoming Mass Effect 2.

The last section deals with jailbreaking. I didn’t want to do this, but iPhone OS 3.0 just came out and there is a number of issues that remain unanswered, so I decided to take the plunge. So far, so good! Though initially I installed too many things and my iPhone began to get sluggish, so I had to choose which apps to keep. I chose wisely:

Cydia is the portal to jailbroken apps, and you need this. It’s somewhat annoying to use because it’s loaded with ads, but it otherwise does a fine job of a potentially complex task.

Categories is an app that allows you to create folders wherein you can place your other apps, and thus keep your springboard all neat looking. In my 3G, the folders take something like 4 seconds to open up, which makes it a bit too slow for regular use. I just put in there the apps that I don’t use frequently, and now my springboard is manageable once again.

Status Notifier is a tiny little app that displays a series of icons on your status bar – one for unread messages, another for unread mail, and so on. It’s incredibly useful, and it’s a real shame that this functionality doesn’t come by default. See, you can check this without unlocking the phone, with a single click of a button.

Cycorder is… ugh, look, it allows you to capture video (with audio!) with your 3G iPhone. Why this isn’t allowed by default – and why it wasn’t at least unlocked in the OS 3.0 – is any one’s guess. Let me repeat: your iPhone 3G is already perfectly capable of capturing video, all you need is this app – or just sit and wait until Apple gets their act together. If you needed a reason to jailbreak your iPhone, this is it.

Finally, Quick Dismiss allows you to quickly dismiss (…) incoming SMSs, so you no longer will have to slide to unlock, go to SMS, read, be done with it. Again, another functionality that should come by default. No screenshot for this one, because there is nothing to take a screenshot of

Well, there you have it. I hope you find these apps as useful, or as fun, as I did. If you know of anything else that I ought to try, don’t hesitate to let me know in the message area below.