I’m a self-confessed gadget-geek and technophile…and an unabashed apple-fan-girl, though my blinkers are slowly being forced off by the number of disappointing Apple products that have come out since Steve Jobs’ death. I’ve owned a number of iPods, iPhones, iPads, mac laptops and desktops and it will take a LOT more disappointment to wean me completely off all things Apple – but could someone PLEASE update Mavericks so that my new MBP doesn’t freeze every few days!

I can’t say I’m an authority on all things Apple, but I’m self-taught and whatever I’ve learned is through trial and error and lot of Googling. Over the years, I’ve managed to collect a mish-mash of (mostly useless) apps, some of which have become absolutely essential and others, well, let’s say they’ve been a waste of space. Here’s a list of my favourite apps for mobile devices.

1. Dropbox -An absolute essential. One of the first apps I’ll install on any new device. Aside from storing music, ebooks and pictures in my Dropbox, I also keep essential documents such as digital passport and pan card copies, digital copies of passport-ready photos, etickets and hotel reservations as well as back up copies of contacts, notes and calendar. My dropbox has saved me a lot of hassle time and again. Definitely two thumbs up!

2. Google Maps – This one is a no brainer. Even though Sakshi, my daughter, thinks I’m overly dependent on it, I think it’s invaluable, especially when I’m traveling abroad. My only gripe is that I can’t always save my maps for offline use (as I needed to in Barcelona last month) and therefore I end up with a rather large telephone bill after using it on Etisalat’s roaming data plan.

3. Coast – A relatively new, but fast becoming a favorite, app. Coast is a browser for mobile devices like no other and I highly recommend all users of such devices to download and start using it. You will never want to use Safari or Chrome again, I guarantee you that.

4. Kindle and Marvin – I wish there was a way to combine both these reading apps into one so that I could read my mobi and epub ebooks all on one app but I have yet to come across a really good app that supports both these formats. I have also yet to find a really great PDF ebook reader though I make do with GoodReader.

5. Aviary – I’ve downloaded and used quite a few photo-editors, (Snapseed, Camera+, PhotoToaster) but I’ve finally settled down with Aviary. It may not be the best, but it’s pretty damn good and it let’s you do professional-like editing as well fun, goofy touch-ups to your pics. Best of both worlds I say.

Other honorable mentions that haven’t made this list are Spotify for all your music needs, Whatsapp to connect with family and friends, (though I wish there was a way to make it work on the iPad), and SoundHound – the app that tells you all about the song you’re listening to but just can’t remember the name of. I haven’t put Facebook and Twitter on my list cos now that they’re so closely integrated with iOS 7, I don’t think of them as separate apps. They’re part of the system, just like they are on the internet.

That’s my round of Apps I Use the Most, I should probably make a list of those that I think of as a waste of space but I’ll keep that for another post.