Just got an iPhone last week and now I’m trying to load it up with applications to juice it up a bit. The stock apps are pretty nice but lack some of the basic functions cellular phones have had for years like grouping contacts and sending multiple photos.

From the looks of things, after searching the Internet far and wide for several days, there are tons of apps available. But how many of them are really useful?

The main functions behind the phone are emailing, photos, music, videos and phone calling. However, because the iPhone doubles as a computer, it has even more potential uses than the average cellular phone and apps are what give it the difference.

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I’m not a huge gamer anymore so I’m not really interested in finding good games to play. If I have spare time I usually spend it on my computer designing websites, graphics or teaching curriculum, or I’m off the computer completely and outside playing with my kids.

One really great app that I have found and consider very useful is the one I’m using right now, the WordPress app. This is a great app for those who like to blog. I can type my blog post almost as easily as I can on a regular computer because the app can be used with the wide keyboard for typing along utilizes the amazing word recognition software built into the iPhone. The user dashboard is simple and provides the main options to write a blog. You can type out the title, the tags, chose and create a category, write the blog article and even add photos to the post. It’s the best thing about the iPhone in my book!

Another great and useful app for the not-so-gamer-minded person is the Japanese to English to Japanese dictionary. It is a must for any foreigner living in Japan. I think it was the second app I downloaded and installed on here.

My next app was a better contacts manager that allows users to create and manage groups. There are several good apps that help users create groups for the address book, however, they do not fully integrate like I had hoped they would.

I hope future searches help me find something to do exactly what I need a groups manager to do, like sync with my groups on my computer. The only really good manager I have found so far is the Exchange function that ties into Google. But the problem with that app is that it uses the Internet and causes my monthly bill to go up.

Maybe Apple will hurry and finish their latest version update to the iPhone OS and include some of the functions they failed to include from the beginning, basics that older model phones still surpass the iPhone in.

But for now, until I something better comes out or Apple comes out with 3.0, I’m going to search the Internet for apps that can improve my iPhone’s usefulness. And when I come across one that is good, I will write about it on this blog.