Six Must-Have iPhone Apps

Finding gems among the three lakh-plus Apple apps can be quite a daunting task. Which is why, we are doing it for you. Every month, we will carry six cool Apple apps that you could make your own. Some are free, and some are paid. But they are fun all the same. Have a good time making the most of them!

NearestWiki

Some people like to hire tour guides when they travel. Others like to walk through galleries and museums to explore on their own.

NearestWiki allows you to get all your cultural information in an augmented reality view.

Say for example that you are in a beautiful temple in Rajasthan. You can hold up your iPhone or iPod Touch vertically to give you an AR view. Then you can tap into all its information through Wikipedia from its history to the beliefs surrounding it.

You no longer need tour guides or a guide book. It will also show you the point of interests around your location, so you can skip from temple to statue to monument. You'll find out how far away they are from you in miles as well as a picture and a blurb, so you can visit what most interests you.

Costs $1.99.

CurrencyMap

Money plays a key role when you are travelling to a new place. You want to go to the best place, so your rupees will get you far. And you also want to ensure that you don't go overboard with your travel budget.

Here is where CurrencyMap is just the app for you.

It provides exchange rates in real time on an electronic board. It will also give you current and historical trends in charts for that particular currency fluctuation. You can even click on a particular day and year to find out what the going rate was.

This easy-to-use interface allows you to get over 160 currencies from around the world. You just select the currency to convert and tap in the amount.

You can sort through your favourite currencies, so that you don't have too much clutter on your screen. It will actually help save you tons of money, so that you know you're getting the most for your currency.

The basic version is free, but the Gold version costs $0.99.

Postman

Everyone back home loves receiving post cards. We are used to going to the local kitschy travel shop and picking up generic photos of overtouristy places. Many people would be happier receiving more personalised images of your adventures. That's why with the Postman app, you can create your own professional virtual postcard from your own photos.

Environmentalists can embrace this as well since your waste of paper is down to nil. Eco-friendly and more personal, these can be spiced up in various ways. You can pick a photo from your library or use a Google Maps shot of your current location.

You'll get to add a greeting on the top of your photo and pick your own colour theme to go with it.

Friends that use Facebook, Twitter, Email, and Tumblr will get instant access. You don't have to worry about the post card not arriving at home or finding a post office in the busy streets of India.

Costs $2.99.

BackToMyCar

If you are in a new city and have hired your own car, this app comes in handy. We have all had that experience when we park our cars in some unknown garage or remote location and then forget where it is, once we come back out.

This application will guide you with turn-by-turn walking directions to your car. The compass is great for rural areas so that you do not get lost. Some of the best locations that this can be useful for are airports, stadiums, and shopping malls.

Once you load the application, it will pull up a map with your location. The buttons that appear will enable you to lock in your car's location, zoom in and out, and eventually locate your car. You must be outside for it to actually work.

It also has a parking timer so that you can avoid any parking tickets. And it works even when the app is closed.

But the best part... it's free.

eBuddy

If you get home sick on long bouts of travel, this app could be just for you. eBuddy helps you keep in touch with friends wherever you are.

You can get the most popular instant messengers to your mobile such as Yahoo, MSN, Facebook Chat, AIM, ICQ, and Google Talk. Nothing new, you think? Well, it is because all these messengers appear on one single buddy list and the programme is robust, so there are no frequent downtimes.

The app also allows you to send any image from your phone to your friends. And that can be either through your camera or your phone's memory. The whole process is so quick that your buddies won't even realise, you are chatting from the phone. You are able to type directly into your chat, so it goes through pronto.

The basic version is free, and the pro version costs $ 2.99.

Yoga Trainer Pro

There are plenty of Yoga apps out there, but with over 2.5 lakh downloads and counting, Yoga Trainer Pro figures right on top. Perhaps the secret is keeping things simple.

Yoga Trainer Pro has over 50 different poses with clear photographs and instructions for each and you are able to programme in your own custom sequence or follow lots of preloaded courses.

Unfortunately, a surprising letdown for the app is that you won't find audio instructions guiding you through the steps. This can be frustrating for beginners who will need to interrupt their poses to check the text for more information.

Perhaps we can look forward to this in the next version, and Yoga Trainer Pro will be everything you need.

Costs $1.99.