16 Great iPhone App Battles

The iPhone app wars are heating up. Some of the battleground categories are critical, such as maps, language translation and productivity. Others are strictly for fun and recreation, such as streaming radio, golf and running. Every app battle, though, means you will need to make a choice. Sometimes the winner is clear. Other times, it’s a fight to the finish.

The office productivity wars on the iPhone took a dramatic turn when Microsoft finally entered the fray last month. Unfortunately for Microsoft, its Office Mobile app received lukewarm reviews. Meanwhile, third-party apps such as Quickoffice have been evolving and now offer solid functionality. The king of iPhone productivity apps, however, is still Apple’s native suite iWork.

Sometimes, it seems as though the iPhone was made for tapping out a short Tweet and scanning others. An array of Twitter-related apps descended on the App Store (including Twitter itself), each promising to better organize the chaotic Twitter universe. Depending on personal preference, iPhone users swear by such third-party apps as Tweetbot, Twitteriffic and, recently, Slices. CIO.com blogger James A. Martin writes that Slices does a good job organizing your Twitter stream.

[ Twitter Tools: 11 Free Apps and Services You Need Now ]

Travelers depend on iPhone apps to plan and organize their trips. You can check everything from flight status to hotel addresses. If you’re a frequent flier, you might need more than one app. “TripIt Pro is super useful, if only for the airline alerts, but its feature for syncing all your frequent flier accounts is pretty lackluster,” says CIO.com blogger James A. Martin. “I use Kayak Pro to start my searching and TripIt Pro when I’m actually traveling.”

[ 20 Best BlackBerry, iPhone Apps for Summer Travel ]