IM+ Pro - The ultimate communicative tool, IM+ Pro is packed full of features to help you stay in touch with your nearest and dearest. Detailed maps help you find your friends, you can chat with your contacts for free, and send photos, voice messages and videos over Wi-Fi, get push noti fications on what your friends are up to, and initiate group chats. What’s more, you can invite friends to Skype and calls can be recorded and played back. The sheer depth of features makes this a far better communication suite than your device’s default Messages app and the interface is easy to navigate your way around and operate. An essential free app that deserves to be downloaded and explored.
LinkedIn - A social network resource for professionals. Pop your CV on the site and invite existing colleagues to connect. You’ll then receive suggestions of other professionals to connect with. You can also send and receive professional recommendations from colleagues to help boost your employment chances.
Facebook - With more than 8 million active users, we probably don’t need to tell you that Facebook is a popular social networking site, but if you’re a Facebook addict then this app must be included on your iPhone. Update your Facebook status via your iPhone and even let people keep tabs on your recent GPS locations.
Skype - Skype is an amazing app that lets you voice, text and video chat with friends who also have Skype installed on their laptop or iPhone. It does this for free, making it an essential social networking app for any iPhone. You can also make low-cost calls to overseas landlines by buying Skype credits.
Find My Friends - This app allows you to easily locate your friends and family from your device. You sign in using your Apple ID and can send requests to add friends to your database, then you can check in to see where they are and then arrange to hook up via the app. It’s just a mystery why it isn’t already on your device as standard.
Bump - This app makes sharing easy. You simply choose what you would like to share – for example, a file, an image, a contact detail – hold your finger on a button and then gently bump your phone into the other person’s to make the switch. It’s a quick and easy process that works wonders.
foursquare - This app allows you to keep in touch with your friends and explore the world around you. You can share pictures, information and status updates, and even earn rewards for doing so. With an intuitive interface and plenty of options, this free app is well worth a download.
Google Latitude - This is Google’s answer to Facebook and it comes stacked with features, such as the ability to see your friends on a map, share your location and take total freedom over how much of your personal information is divulged through the app. A very tidy and intuitive app for social networkers.
Twitter - Although you will still need to download this free app, Twitter has been integrated into iOS 5, meaning you can tweet from within a range of default Apple apps without having to go through the hassle of leaving them. It is so good that it’s almost as if this service was developed speci fically for your iPhone.
WhatsApp Messenger - This is a cross-platform messenger service that uses push noti fications to instantly get messages from friends, colleagues, family members, anyone with a smartphone. You can e ffortlessly switch from SMS to exchange messages, pictures, audio notes and video messages, as well as share locations, exchange contacts and gift custom wallpapers – and it’s all completely free, so you can send as many messages as you want without eating into your data plan. Granted, some of the services that the app provides have lost some of their ’wow’ factor thanks to Apple’s own iOS 5 iMessage service, that allows you to throw messages between devices over Wi-Fi free of charge, but we believe it’s de finitely still well worth a look.
Source : iPhone App Directory Volume 9
