Mention the iPhone and people can’t help but talk about ‘apps’. What many people don’t seem to realise is that similar applications have been available on Nokia’s smartphone OS – Symbian (s60) – for years. The problem is they’ve never really had an App Store equivalent, even the recently created Ovi Store doesn’t do much mustard cutting.

This doesn’t mean there aren’t great applications out there for Nokia phone owners in 2010, they’re just harder to find. Once you’ve found them though, you’ll be pleased to know that s60 supports multitasking (so you can laugh at iPhone users who have to quit one application if they want to check something in another ). I’ve included a list of applications I feel everyone should use (all of which are free), and if you’re the proud owner of a new phone which runs s60 you really should check them out. All the applications I suggest work for the E71, I’m sure they’ll be fine on the majority of others as well but I don’t own the phones to check!

Google Maps

Most phones come with a maps application but Google’s offering really can’t be touched. If you’ve used the normal computer version you’ll be right at home, the mobile version provides pretty much the same functionality. This includes route finding, search, street view and Google Latitude (a real time location service, more on this at some point maybe!) support.

Pros -

• Very easy to use.
• Installation is easy, they send a text to your phone and you follow the link!
• Includes some cool features such as showing you where you are on the map using the GPS or phone signal.

Cons –

• Has to have an internet connection to work, no way of using the maps offline and it can be slow when your signal is bad.
• No voice turn based navigation support, it’ll show you the route and turnings though.

Fring

Why pay for phone calls when you can use the internet instead? Fring is a Skype client which links directly into your contacts if you already have an account – if not, it’s free to make one. It can run in the background of your phone all the time if you wish and uses a both your Wi-Fi connection and your phone connection. This means that if you wish, you can leave it running and answer any Skype call with your phone, wherever you are. Free calls to anyone for the win?

Pros -

• Again installation is very easy, just tell them your phone number.
• Even if you only use it when Skyping at home on your Wi-Fi connection it’s so much nicer to use a real phone that use microphones, headsets and the rest of the paraphernalia.
• The ability for it to run in the background is great, you don’t ever need to worry about starting it up – you’re always online.

Cons -

• If your phone has been subsidized by your phone company, they may have blocked applications like this from working. You can unlock your phone (Google is your friend) but it’s an annoyance.
• Leaving an application like this running in the background (especially if it’s connected to Wi-Fi) can be a bit of a battery drain.

Opera Mobile Browser

Anyone who uses the inbuilt web browser and thinks it’s good has extremely low standards! I stuck with it for ages but you really should look into replacing it. Opera’s alternative won the “who get’s to be Ben’s mobile web browser” test. Don’t tarnish it with the same brush as it’s bigger brother on the desktop until you’ve tried it!

Pros -

• In general pretty much every bit of functionality compared to Nokia’s offering.
• The interface is nice and intuitive, they managed to include loads of options without the menu system seeming confusing or cramped.
• Lot’s of nice ways of doing things but one thing I particularly like is that it shows the whole web page zoomed out on load. You then zoom in on the bits you want to see with one click. It’s so refreshing when your used to having to pan around to find things.
• It’s really responsive.

Cons -

• Takes a fair amount of time to load up, trade-off due to the speed once it’s running?
• I’m sure there are others but they’re so negligible compared to the inbuilt application I don’t feel it’s fair to dig for them.

Nokia Messaging

I think (though please don’t quote me on it) that the newer versions of Symbian devices come with this pre-installed (*cringes* in case he’s wrong, complete lack of research on that one!). However just going by people I’ve talked to, not on all phones, this certainly includes mine – though I did buy it a while ago. Needless to say if you’re not aware of having this installed and aren’t happy with your email application check this out.

Pros -

• Another one of those easy installers which will send you a text
• Very reliable, I’ve used for over a year and it hasn’t failed to retrieve an email for me yet. Well at least, not that I’ve realised :S
• Some nice customizations allowed such as getting it to retrieve at specific times of the day and week to save battery as well as stopping completely if your battery gets too low. (NOTE: neither setting is mandatory!)
• Integrates nicely onto the home screen of the phone

Cons -

• When you view an email and then back out, it takes you to a different screen (Read, Compose, Sync, Settings), then where exit would normally be hide is the option. It probably wouldn’t annoy most people but I wish the thing would just close as soon as I click on back the first time…

Facebook and YouTube applications

Definitely pre-installed (please don’t shout at me if I’m wrong, I’m nice really) but a surprising amount of people don’t realise. Make sure you check out your applications folder and see. Although both can be done in the web browsers, the experience is that bit nicer with a dedicated application. That and the fact that you can link to them on your quick launch bar is always nice.

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So this is just a fairly short list of the applications I feel some users are really missing out on. Obviously there are thousands of applications out there, which do you use and like? Please let me know, I’ll be sure to update this list with the ones I think are good.