Top five mobile apps for business

Top five mobile apps for business

I am forever being asked what my favourite mobile apps are, and if you are reading this blog there's a good chance you’re one of the 11 million people in the UK with a smart phone.

I recently moved to an Android device from the iPhone but regardless of which smart phone you have, there are a number of apps that are useful for business. Here are my top five:

1. Evernote - available for all major mobile devices Evernote is my personal assistant, digital filing cabinet and note taker; it’s a service I rely on probably more than any other, and I can’t live without it. The app allows you to capture the information that’s important to you -  documents, notes, audio clips, pictures, whatever - and then indexes this information so you can search it. A basic version of Evernote is free; paid-for options are available too.

2. TweetDeck - available for iPhone and Android TweetDeck has been around for a while now, but the good news is it’s evolving into a great social network manager. In my opinion, TweetDeck for the iPhone is the best application available for that device, and the recently released Android app demonstrates an exciting evolution for the product. TweetDeck is free.

3. National Rail Enquiries - available for iPhone and Android The National Rail applications have been controversial; their history is littered with legal disputes. However, this is a must-have app for anyone who spends any amount of time travelling by train. The iPhone and Android apps are very different to each other, but the core features are the same. It's easy to plan a trip or get up-to date travel information. The National Rail Enquiries app costs £4.99.

4. Shoeboxed - available for all mobile devices OK, so I am cheating a bit with this one. It's not actually a mobile app. But it's so useful that I have to mention it. Shoeboxed allows you to take pictures of receipts or business cards on your cameraphone. These get emailed to the service and then turned into searchable data that you can access from anywhere. If - like me - you struggle with your business expenses, it’s a lifesaver. At the moment it’s a little US-specific but I am informed there are moves afoot to support all major currencies. There are several different Shoeboxed packages. The entry-level option is free.

5. NewsRob - available for Android When I am at my desk I always have a tab on my browser dedicated to Google Reader, which I use to keep up with newsfeeds from different websites.  However, Google Reader is frustrating to use on a mobile phone. NewsRob solves this, giving you all the Google Reader features you need, but through an easier-to-use interface. There are free and paid-for versions of NewsRob.

So there are my top five. What about yours?

Ben Dyer is the Director of product development at SellerDeck