Just because your iPhone fits squarely inside your hand doesn’t mean you always have to enjoy it on your own—several apps let you connect with friends to share locations and photos, or even have a little fun while together. Here are eight excellent options.
(Free)
Make your mundane errands and daily adventures more fun with Foursquare, a social game that lets you check in to stores, offices, and events when you’re in range with your iPhone. As you rack up check-ins, you’ll earn various badges and can even become the “mayor” of a business. Many stores have even started offering special deals to mayors, or to anyone who checks in while shopping, but it’s primarily just a way to have fun and rack up some bragging rights among friends, who you can link up with and view their whereabouts.
(Free)
Instagram seamlessly combines two of our absolute favorite iPhone activities—social networking and snapping photos—into a simple and satisfying app that lets you connect with friends through mobile photography. After creating a free account, you can snap and manipulate photos (using a variety of included filters) and share them with friends, who can comment and “like” your photos. Instagram offers a compelling visual perspective on your friends’ lives, and lets you create a scrapbook of your daily sights and travels with ease.
Sure, Words with Friends may be little more than a differently skinned version of Scrabble, but this immensely popular word game has become one of our absolute favorite iPhone and iPad games. It’s easy to create an account and hook up with friends (or random players), then swap turns at our convenience instead of having to play a lengthy game in one sitting. Being able to play a move while waiting in line or during a lunch break helps fill the little gaps in our days, and hardcore word nerds can juggle dozens of simultaneous matches.
($0.99)
Find plain-text notes, emails, and SMS messages too boring? Emoji lets you jazz each up with more than 460 different icons, including numerous smiley faces, hearts, thumbs, and all sorts of adorable animals. How is this possible? Emoji takes the form of an international keyboard on your iPhone, letting you quickly swap in these colorful icons when you’re tapping out text messages to friends. It’s hard to convey emotions in plain-text missives, but Emoji helps you make your point in a visual way when conversing with pals.
($2.99)
Star Walk is one of the coolest apps available on both iPad and iPhone, offering an info-rich look at the night sky, with detailed descriptions of stars, planets, galaxies, constellations, and more. Star Walk finds your current location over Wi-Fi or 3G and uses the compass to determine which direction you’re facing, allowing it to display the visible stars and features as you walk around. Grab your spouse, kids, friends, or the nearest random person and wander around with this fantastic app to soak in some knowledge!
Maybe you noticed the Game Center app with your most recent iOS update and didn’t think much of it, but this helpful recent addition to the iPhone and iPad gaming world greatly enhances many of the games you already own. What Game Center does is allow you to register a username and then connect with friends to see what they’re playing, earn achievements through skilled play, and even play select games online with pals. Make sure to register your account before your favorite alias is taken!
($0.99 for iPhone, $4.99 for iPad)
When you don’t have an Uno deck on hand, all you’ll need is your iPad to play one of the most popular and accessible card games around. Up to four players can use a single iPad, passing the device around and tapping the screen to view your cards without spilling your hand to your competitors. Uno can also be played through wireless and online multiplayer modes, or you can play alone against the computer in a number of variations on the original game. And unlike the physical card game, you don’t have to worry about losing a card!
($9.99 for iPad, Free for iPhone Tile Rack)
How much fun is a tile rack app? Well, that depends: do you have a couple other friends with iPhones (or iPod Touch devices) and one iPad between you all? If so, this free app – when paired with Scrabble for iPad – lets you unlock the traditional, four-player Scrabble experience by using up to four devices equipped with the Tile Rack app. Scrabble Tile Rack lets you plan your move in the classic word game and flick letters onto the iPad game board, creating an immersive and impressive substitute for the traditional board game.
