The iPhone’s distinctive dozen

Since the App Store opened its doors a year ago, more than 50,000 iPhone apps have found a place on Apple's virtual shelves. And we have to be honest here--a solid majority of those 50,000 apps are not all that memorable. But just as assuredly, there are more than a few apps that have made a name for themselves in the past year and, in their own way, helped make the App Store the success story that it is.

We're not necessarily talking about the best iPhone apps here--we listed our favorite iPhone apps at the end of 2008 (and we'll do so again, in a much bigger way, at the end of this year). Rather, we're focusing on apps that made an impact, whether by way of quality, innovation, popularity, or sheer chutzpah.

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We asked our iPhone-using editors to name the most significant apps to appear on the scene since the App Store's July 2008 launch and came up with a list of 12--one for each month that the App Store's been open. Not every app on our list is a must-have--the presence of a gas-passing simulator should be your first clue there. But we think this collection represents apps that, for better or worse, have defined the iPhone platform. These are the programs that, a year into the App Store's existence, give us an overview of the state of third-party development for the iPhone.e--

Amazon Mobile

Sure, you can access Amazon.com on your iPhone using Safari, but Amazon Mobile makes a compelling case for the superiority of a dedicated shopping app. As you'd expect, it lets you search for products on Amazon, giving you quicker-than-the-Web access to prices, descriptions, and user reviews. And by linking up with your Amazon.com account, you can buy items right on your phone without having to tediously re-enter your shipping and purchasing details; you can also save items for later or add them to your Wish Lists. But the coolest feature is Amazon Remembers: If you see an item while you're out and about--even if it's just a book or gadget at a friend's place--you can take a photo of it using your iPhone's camera. The app sends the photo to Amazon, and a few minutes later you get an e-mail identifying the item and linking to Amazon's shopping page for it; the item is also saved to your Remembers list in the app and in your account on Amazon.com. If you do quite a bit of your shopping on Amazon anyway, Amazon Mobile is like having a personal shopping assistant, and it gives us a taste of how a multi-function mobile device can enhance everyday tasks (Free; Amazon.com).

Cydia

Hey, we didn't say that you would find every one of these apps within the App Store itself. Because one of the iPhone's most important applications is one you won't find in any Apple-sanctioned emporium--Cydia, the installer application for jailbroken iPhones and iPod touches. It's through Cydia that you can install tools for accessing the complete contents of your iPhone or iPod touch as well as add applications that provide capabilities not provided (or allowed) by Apple. With Cydia installed, any jailbroken iPhone can shoot video, tether, stream video, download YouTube videos, file applications into folders, bear a customized interface, and much more (Free; Jay Freeman).