Top Essential Apps for Windows Phone

It seems as if Windows Phone users get the shaft when it comes to quality native apps from top-tier developers. Users either have to wait what seems like forever to get an app on their platform, or scurry off and find an alternative 3rd-party app from some no-name developer. Silver lining, some of those no-name developers are doing a damn good job filling in the blanks so you don't have to adopt totally new (and possibly limited) apps to maintain your mobile productivity.

BoxShot - Dropbox Access

Sure, you could switch to SkyDrive for your cloud storage needs, but you don't want to leave all your fellow colleagues and collaborators behind when a file needs to be shared with the team. BoxShot does a great job of giving Windows Phone users accesses to their Dropbox files without sacrificing on the features. All of the file management you took for granted in Dropbox is alive and well in BoxShot.

GoVoice - Google Voice Access

If you depend on a Google Voice number to make you appear more professional vs. giving out your mobile number as your business number, GoVoice lets users make/take Google Voice calls on their Windows Phone device. Users can also send/receive text messages, and access voicemail with GoVoice.

Rowi - Better 3rd Party Twitter Client

Jealous that iOS users get the pick of the litter when it comes to 3rd-Party Twitter Clients that blow the native app out of the water? Rowi for Windows Phone is a similar 3rd-party app that gives the user much more Twitter functionality than the native Twitter client for Windows Phone. One Dell vostro 1510 notebook battery feature I particularly like is the ability to configure your home screen by reordering columns and/or adding lists, searches as columns. This is nit-picky, but I think it's a nice touch when you tap the title of each column to take you to the most recent content.

Wonder Reader - Google Reader

Need to catch up on the news from your Google reader feeds? Wonder Reader has you covered. Not only can you synchronize your current feeds, but you can also create new feeds and send articles to Instapaper and Pocket to read them when you're on the go.

EyeEm - Instagram Alternative

Instagram is very picky about who gets access to its API, as a result, there aren't any 3rd-party apps on any mobile platform that lets users upload pics to Instagram. So Windows Phone users really have no choice but to find another photo-sharing app/social network. My pick is EyeEm because it gives users many of the features of Instagram with the added benefit of better photo/user/community discovery. EyeEm also has an iPhone, Android, and a web client, so you may be able to convince your Instagram pals to jump ship and move over to EyeEm…well, you can at least try...