[Gaaraz]

Many thanks to all of you for your hard work in helping create this list, in particular Sentry for helping with a general tidy up/refresh of the app listings. If you have any recommendations please just mention them in this thread, thank you.

Photography

Best camera app - iOS 5 Camera app (stock)
HDR shots, easy access from the lock screen and the sheer quickness in which photos are added to your camera roll should make this your go to camera app.
Honourable mention: Camera+ ($0.99). Exposure and focus controls, image stabiliser, improved digital zoom and dozens of optional effects make Camera+ a solid choice.

Best photo sharing app - Instagram (free)
Offers an incredibly simple and intuitive interface for viewing photos and sharing your own. Also includes a wealth of filters, effects and borders to make your photos look just right before sharing to any of the web's most popular photo viewing sites.

Best panoramic photos - Photosynth (free)
This app, developed by Microsoft, makes it incredibly easy to take (and share) stunning panoramic photos. Makes great use of Bing maps to share your panoramas, and view other people's.
Honourable mention: 360 Panorama ($0.99). Similar to Photosynth, but has vastly improved sharing options, and quicker photo stitching.

Best photo editor - Snapspeed ($4.99)
Absolutely packed with effects and features, accessed by a superb touch interface with intuitive gestures.
Honourable mention: Camera+ ($0.99).

Internet

Best web browser - Grazing ($1.99)
Grazing adds a lot to your browsing experience, including tabs, adblock, full screen mode, intuitive gestures, better integration and smart searches. The interface is simply incredible, a real step above the alternatives.

Best news/RSS reader - Reeder ($2.99). A very robust, traditional and familiar interface to view your news feeds, packed full of features.
Honourable mention - Feedly (free) An elegant and minimalist feed reader with a very intuitive interface, packed full of features and excellent sharing features.

Best offline web viewing - Instapaper ($4.99)
Allows you to save pages for later reading. Also offers a much improved interface for reading those articles (similar to Reader in Safari) which looks especially great on iPad.

Best Wikipedia viewing -Wikipanion (free, upgradable to $4.99 version)
Allows offline storage of visited or saved Wikipedia pages, with advanced bookmark management, clean UI and viewing.
Honourable mention - Wiki Offline (free, upgradable to $9.99 version)
Lets you browse through a large amount of Wikipedia pages offline.

Best NeoGAF app - Secondapps (web)
Not strictly an app, but if you're new to iOS this should be one of the first things you put onto your homescreen. Navigate to http://secondapps.com/neogaf/ then hit the action button at the bottom of Safari, then 'add to home screen'. The best implementation of forum software I've ever seen.

Social

Best social network app - Flipboard (free, iPad only)
Takes your Twitter, Facebook, and a lot of popular RSS feeds, and makes them into your own personal interactive magazine. Excellent presentation, and dynamically resizes images/articles to take up more or less space according to importance. It's really something to behold.

Best messaging app - iMessage (stock)
One of the killer features of iOS5 lets you send messages directly to other iOS users with some great features packed in, including delivery reports, free picture messaging and bypasses your mobile plans SMS limits.
Honourable mention: WhatsApp($0.99). A great alternative to iMessage if you need to send messages and photos directly to non iOS users. Cross platform compatability and group chat set this apart from iMessage.

Best IM client - IM+ Pro ($4.99)
Fantastic interface, packed full of features and incredibly robust. Free version also available.
Honourable mention: imo IM (Free) A decent IM app that supports all of the main chat protocols, but is lacking some functionality.

Best Twitter app - Tweetbot ($2.99)
Absolutely packed with features all tucked nicely behind a stunning and incredibly easy to use interface. Also has timeline syncing using Tweetmark.
Honourable mentions: Twitter official (free). A great option if you just want a free Twitter client. Echofon (free) if you want to sync your timelines between multiple devices.

Music and Video

Best digital radio app - TuneIn Radio ($0.99)
Incredible interface for listening to over 50,000 radio stations around the world. Also has great support for podcasts, lets you control and record audio playback, and dozens of other incredible features.

Best streaming music - Pandora (free)
A brilliant tool that lets you listened to personalised radio stations. Just start with the name of your favourite song or artist, and Spotify will start to build a radio station that's completely unique to your tastes.
Honourable mention: Spotify ($10 p/m). Instant access to over 15 million tracks straight from your phone, also allows you to listen offline, and share your playlists.

Best video player - Air Video ($2.99)
Allows you to quickly and easily stream pretty much any video format straight to your iPad/iPhone, as well as viewing and sorting options. HD quality over WiFi and 3G.
Honourable mention: Video Stream ($2.99).

Other

Best notes app - Evernote (free)
Allows you to quickly and easily take notes in regular text, picture or audio format. Seamlessly syncs with the desktop and web versions, as well as other applications (such as AwesomeNote etc)

Best calendar app - Week Calenadar ($1.99)
Great interface for viewing and editing your calendar. Includes new ways to view the calendar and events, gestures, and automatic icon/colour assignments.

Best document management - GoodReader (iPhone, iPad $4.99)
A great tool for viewing a huge range of documents on your iOS device, including audio files, movies, documents, text files, books, maps and pictures. Also offers some impressive annotation and file/folder management features.

Best remote desktop control - Splashtop Remote Desktop ($0.99 iPhone, $1.99 iPad)
Honourable mention: LogMeIn ($29.99). Very pricey, but allows you to control multiple machines on just a free LogMeIn subscription. Has a superb interface.

Best turn-by-turn GPS - Waze (free)
A superb free traffic and navigation app, including turn-by-turn directions, test to speech capabilities and many social features such as live community driven traffic information and road reports.

Best flashlight app - LED Light (free)
Quick access to the LED flash, SOS and strobe light modes included through a nice and simple UI.

Games

Thank you very much for Jedeye in his hard work in creating NeoGAF's best games on iOS.[/code]

[PhoncipleBone]

Isnt there an app recommendation thread already?

[Gaaraz]

Yeah, but it's just a thread where people write random recommendations, I figured it'd be good to have a thread where we put our heads together to find the genuinely best apps out there on iOS.

[Double D]

I like it. Now if only this FedEx guy would get here so I could participate!

[FerranMG]

Instagram by a thousand million miles.

[Gaaraz]

Instagram by a thousand million miles.

Isn't that mostly just photo editing though? I mean I know it had a guide etc before the iOS 5 update brought that by default, but as an actual camera app I didn't realise it really offered anything new.

[Tobor]

The stock camera app.

[Sofo]

Instagram by a thousand million miles.

So overused though, 6 out of 10 images on my News feed on Facebook are using Instagram. Loses the appeal after so much exposure (no pun intended).

I prefer stock items, like the Camera, it bugs me to see double the items for nothing or minimal improvement.

[ReBurn]

I like whatever is free on AppShopper.

[strata8]

GoodReader is probably the best file manager out there. It's able to read most files and can be integrated with almost any service.

[Face it Tiger..]

TuneIn Radio pro by far, for radio apps.

[FrontalMonk]

Is it too early to suggest Dungeon Raid?

If not, Dungeon Raid. :3

[Wario64]

Instagram by a thousand million miles.

That hipster photo editing app?

[Manager]

No mention of Camera+? Always high on the sales charts and works great at editing for me. Looking at Instagram, they seem to both share the hipster effect, never used it though.

[Technosteve]

My Panasonic LX5 is the best camera app on my phone. I put my phone down and pick up my camera when i need to take good pictures.

[3N16MA]

Best stalking app.

[MadraptorMan]

Stock camera app is fine for me, especially after 5.0.

As for radio apps, I enjoy Jango. Stitcher is also great for podcasts.

News? Pulse is easily my favorite.

[Bulbo Urethral Baggins]

My Panasonic LX5 is the best camera app on my phone. I put my phone down and pick up my camera when i need to take good pictures.

That's not practical for those of us who don't have your Panasonic LX5.

[Nori Chan]

Best stalking app.

Now my GF knows if I'm lying or not :D

[345triangle]

camera+ is probably the best camera app if you're only going to use one. it improves the shooting experience as much as apple's APIs allow, and includes some pretty good filters & editing options.

http://campl.us/

[Technosteve]

That's not practical for those of us who don't have your Panasonic LX5.

just imessage me and the app will launch in 6 to 8 weeks.

[Spike6663]

The NeoGAF app is my most used.

[Gaaraz]

After just trying Instagram for the first time, it is amazing as a photo sharing app (I'll put that down, if there are no objections!) but as an actual /camera/ app? Nope.

I'm still leaning towards the default iOS camera app tbh, with the HDR and new focus modes.

[Jtwo]

The LX3 is a more attractive camera anyway.

[Mammoth Jones]

Is there a news app that sends push notifications regularly? Not just for the rare BREAKING NEWS event?

I want a news app that sends my phone notifications hourly for news stories.

[krypt0nian]

GoodReader is probably the best file manager out there. It's able to read most files and can be integrated with almost any service.

GoodReader is so useful, it should ship with iOS devices.

[Jme]

Pulse is the best newsreader/feed/rss/whatever app out there. Looks great, feels great. Double awesome on iPad thanks to screen real estate.

[Chuck (Old)]

Best GPS: Navigon

Best alarm clock: Alarm Clock Pro

Best radio app: Digitally Imported

[Joe Shlabotnik]

*taking furious notes*

[Stumpokapow]

FlipBoard is the best social app. It takes your Twitter feed, your Facebook stuff, and a lot of popular RSS feeds, and makes them into your own personal interactive magazine. It's got excellent presentation, and is a great way to browse through things. It dynamically resizes images to take up more space and less important things to take up less space. It's really something to behold, and it's free.

Here are two sample pages from my iPad:



(my Twitter feed hadn't posted any images on that page)

[Marty Chinn]

Best GPS: Navigon Best alarm clock: Alarm Clock Pro Best radio app: Digitally Imported

Isn't that not true if you have access to Siri?

Best IM: Beejive

[Hellsing321]

Camera+ is the best camera app I used and without it we probably wouldn't have gotten the volume button as shutter button in iOS 5.

[Gila]

Flipboard or Zite

[Gaaraz]

Thank you all so much for the suggestions and recommendations, I'm going to fill out the OP a little with links, details and whatever else - can anyone please tell me if they're happy with the format before I go ahead for all different categories? Thank you!

[Cereal KiIIer]

Best stalking app.

This is awesome. I can't wait to have pizza delivery guys in my list. you can disable tracking when you don't want to be followed btw.

[Gaaraz]

The default iOS 5 camera app is now edging Camera+ in the poll. Sounds about right to be honest, having just given it a good test I think Camera+ is a pretty solid choice but doesn't offer enough over the regular camera app to justify losing the sheer speed/responsiveness, the HDR photos and the quick access from the lock screen. Maybe as an image editing app, Camera+ is a good shout.

By the way, Instagram as the best camera app? No chance, sorry. There is just no way on earth you could use that as your main camera app, surely?

[BigNastyCurve]

Best "free" text client: Whatsapp.

[Gaaraz]

Has to be a close call between that and iMessage now?

[xbhaskarx]

Why can't they make a Flipboard for us poor iPhone users...

[cozo]

zite > flipboard

[linkboy]

TuneIn Radio pro by far, for radio apps.

I agree 100%. I've been using TuneIn Radio even back when I had my Droid (got the Pro version from Amazon). Such an awesome app. Love that I can listen to KNBR (Bay Area sports) all the way up here in Montana (our local stations fucking suck).

[xbhaskarx]

Isn't that not true if you have access to Siri? Best IM: Beejive

Really, Beejive? I have never used it but it's $10 and has a 3/5 average rating.

[xbhaskarx]

What is the best Twitter app?

[345triangle]

Best "free" text client: Whatsapp.

kakao talk! maybe only korean or japanese people really use it but it's easily the most ubiquitous text client amongst people i know...also pingchat is pretty good. i feel like imessage makes the concept somewhat irrelevant unless you have a lot of android-using friends.

What is the best Twitter app?

i like tweetbot a lot for a few reasons, though the official one is the best free one.

to the guys saying the stock camera app beats out camera+ for responsiveness, that is absolutely not the case once your camera roll fills up. the fact that it loads way quicker is one of the main reasons i use camera+, though the lock screen access feature obviously has its uses.

[Vinterbird]

This is not really a recommendation as a question - I'm in desperate need of a good navigation app. I've moved to a new city, and biking around it is hell since I don't know where what is.

Is there an app that's close to similiar to what Android offers in their Google Navigation app, which is everything you could ever ask for in terms of navigation and help for that.



Also a recommendation:

Tempus is one of my favorite iPad calendar apps, and Agenda is probably the best for iPhone users.

[Gaaraz]

Someone recommended Navigon above, so that could be worth a look. Interested if anyone else has any other opinions before I stick anything down as the definitive GPS app (I use TomTom myself, which is incredible, but costly)

Also having just used iMessage for the first time I have to say Whatsapp is going to struggle to beat that for me, any objections to me putting that down as the app of choice, but also recommend Whatsapp for people who need to message people on other platforms?

Tempus looks nice but the reviews imply otherwise unfortunately, and both versions of Calvetica seem to be better received (one of them is free too) so would also welcome any opinions on best calendar app. Going to try Agenda now and Calvetica, ty.

[Sentry]

OP needs better organization, separate the apps by iPad and iPhone, or just put a label next to each app letting us know if it's available on iPhone only or iPad only. Flipboard is still iPad only, right?

Speaking of apps, I need a twitter and Facebook app, somewhere I can post to both from a single app. Does Tweetdeck do this well? Really shit reviews for it though, is there anything else like it?

[Cloudy]

The Anime Network app is pretty cool. I don't understand how there is no charge to watch all these eps (And a lot of the stuff is new) :o

[BrokenSymmetry]

The BBC Global iPlayer. Very well-designed interface, and a huge amount of shows to watch, from a large time period.

[SleazyC]

I'll throw my hat in for best IM client being Verbs. It's nowhere near as robust as BeeJive and doesn't support as many protocols (Gtalk and AIM only so far) but it is pretty streamlined and sexy.