Top 5 Iphone Apps of 2009 – top apps

1. Tweetie 2

Love it or hate it, Twitter is here to stay, so you might as well sign up and arm yourself with the best app available: Tweetie 2. It has been significantly revamped from its original incarnation and now handles multiple Twitter accounts, translates foreign tweets and links Twitter contacts to your address-book contacts. You can also perform basic functions, like reading and tweeting, offline — and everything automatically syncs when you come back online. Tweetie 2 even syncs with your desktop version of Tweetie.

2. Yelp

Making full use of the iPhone 3GS’s GPS capabilities, the Yelp app — which connects you to user reviews of restaurants, bars and other businesses — has some nifty features. Monocle lets you point your iPhone camera’s viewfinder in any direction for an “augmented reality” street-view version of nearby establishments. The Nearby feature shows you in both list and map format which restaurants are closest to you. Bookmarks lets you read up on the spots you want to check out, add them to your bookmark list and view their location too.

 3. Slacker

It’s hard to say which free music-streaming service is really worth the hard-drive space these days, but Slacker stands out from the pack. For starters, its music library is nearly four times bigger than that of any other music-streaming app with unlimited free access. Slacker is also loaded with more than 100 pre-programmed genre stations, which is perfect for, well, slackers. And the app lets you customize stations if you want full control over what you hear — you can fine-tune your channels to play more of any kind of music you wish.

4. FlightTrack Pro

Frequent flyers now have the ultimate app for checking itineraries and tracking flights. All you have to do is e-mail your travel plans to TripIt, which organizes a master itinerary (shared itineraries too) that you can view through the FlightTrack Pro app on your iPhone. The app is smart enough to predict flight complications based on weather. It also gives you access to airport delays and closures, real-time flight status and gate changes. And it helps you find another flight if yours gets canceled. If you need to let someone at the other end know that you’ll be late, you can send an e-mail through FlightTrack Pro.

5. Mint

Recession or no, you should always be trying to save money. Enter Mint. The popular online money-budgeting tool is now available on the smaller touchscreen, so you can check and manage all your linked financial accounts on the go. The app will also send you an e-mail, text message or real-time alert in case of suspicious activity or if you go over your budget. Rest assured, security measures are in place to deactivate access to your accounts if your iPhone is lost or stolen. The best thing about Mint is its budget-friendly cost: free.