For my shot at iPhone favorites I'm going with three apps I find myself returning to over and over.

Zenbe Lists (iTunes link) - this is the third-party app I find myself using most often. It's basically a TO DO list manager, but with a big difference: online syncing. The Zenbe iPhone application interfaces with the online lists that you can manage from your desktop at lists.zenbe.com (free account required). But unlike some other iPhone apps that are front-ends for online services, Zenbe on the iPhone caches all your data locally. That means that you can access and edit your lists even when you can't get online (e.g. on a plane) and then sync when you get back online. With the absence of notes syncing on the iPhone I end up putting all kinds of things into Zenbe: shopping lists, travel info (flight schedules, etc.), various ideas that come to me on the go, and much more (free).


Moonlight Mahjong (iTunes link) - games are naturally a matter of personal taste, but this 3D implementation of mahjong on the iPhone is first class. It utilizes the standard iPhone gestures for zooming and panning, as well as automatically recognizes device orientation. The full version includes 19 different tile layouts for a very reasonable $4.99; there's also a free lite version (iTunes link), which will give you a good taste the gameplay but is limited to 3 tile layouts. Moonlight Mahjong does not include sound, but that makes it perfect for listening to your own tunes, which I much prefer.


Pandora (iTunes link) - Pandora has long been my favorite streaming music site, so much so that I run the dedicated Pandora client PandoraJam on my Mac. So I was thrilled when the iPhone version was released with full access to your custom stations. Unfortunately, Pandora is facing problems these days so there's no telling how long the service will remain up. But for the time being Pandora is my go to app for streaming music (free).