I’m awakened by the gentle sound of a harp as the glowing green numbers on the clock beside me click noiselessly around to 07:00. With my head still cocooned snugly with 13.5 togs of duck down, my hand reaches out and grabs the iPhone which thanks to the Nightstand app, is pretending to be a digital clock. I turn the alarm off and it transforms back into a phone. 

Balancing the phone on the windowsill (speaker pointing towards the window) I touch the Wunder Radio app and jump in the shower.  Over breakfast I catch up on the news with The Guardian’s app (oh look, another row about MPs expenses). I listen to an audio report while I check my Facebook and have a look at Twitteriffic to see what’s happening on Twitter. 

I’ve missed my train to work. Whilst swearing and causing two elderly pedestrians to look at me in alarm I quickly check the Trainline app to find out when the next one is due. On the train I open the Amazon Kindle app and settle down to read my e-book (mind your own business, I have bad taste in books). The woman next to me (who is round and spotty like a cartoon Christmas pudding) is talking loudly on her phone, it’s irritating so I glare at her, pop in my headphones and use my Ambiance app to drown her out with some birdsong.

I get to work on time (hurrah!) and get down to business. Half way through the morning the iPhone startles me (I thought it was on silent) with an odd noise. A couple of items I’ve been watching on eBay are ending soon so I quickly log in and place my bid (this is my secret Santa present so I’m only spending a tenner).

I could go on but I won’t (I reckon you’ve heard enough and I’m really not that interesting). In the first two hours of my day I’ve used nine applications on my phone, without actually using it to call or text anyone (yes, I do have friends actually). Like all good inventions, the iPhone has integrated itself seamlessly into the lives of millions of users. It’s just eighteen months since the app store was launched but in that time users have downloaded over 1 BILLION apps. Yes, well over half of those downloads have probably been the pointless free aps that we get (‘cos it’s free) use once, then delete. But the others (the actual genuinely useful ones) punctuate our busy lives and (like the mobile phone itself) make us wonder how we ever managed without them. 

So, without further ado (and I hope you excuse the lack of an extraneous award ceremony) here are The Orchard Agency’s Top iPhone Applications of 2009.

10, Ping! Basically lets you instant message other iPhone users for free using 3G. The interface has been designed to mimic the phone’s text function, so it’s really easy to use. 

9, Daft It. Free to download and strangely addictive: It gives you a beat, and individual words from Daft Punk’s Stronger letting you recreate it (or make up semi rude phrases). 

8, Last FM Okay, so this isn’t strictly from 2009, but it’s still good, and unlike Spotify’s iPhone version you don’t have to pay for it. Great for when you’re bored with what’s on your iPod. 

7, iMapmyrun Rubbish name, but kinda does what it says on the tin. Turn it on before you run and it not only does it use gps to map where you’ve been and tell you (via the headphones) how far you’ve gone. It also lets you upload your route to the website so others can try it themselves.  (Brilliant for muggers). 

6, Wunder Radio. I’m sure this little app can’t actually play every radio station in the world, but it can give you enough to stop you being bored. The great thing is that you don’t need either wifi or a 3G connection to play most of them.

5, Amazon. In this list simply because it is ridiculously clever. Most of the functionality of the usual Amazon site, but an added piece of witchcraft: It allows you to take photos of stuff (books, CDs, DVDs and everything else that Amazon sells) which you then upload for the site to recognise what you’ve taken a picture of and add it to your wish list. I use it when I’m in Waterstones because I’m tight. 

4, Facebook The latest incarnation of the social media giant has nearly as many features as the website so it’s no longer a chore to use and well, we like it now. 

3, TV Catchup. Not strictly an app but it’s iPhone specific so it may as well be. Lets you watch TV on your phone and you don’t even need a wifi connection. You get all  channels from BBC, ITV and Channels 4 and 5. (And you don’t even need a TV licence). 

2, Ebay The improved functionality of Ebay’s app makes it a joy to use and we love the new push feature that reminds you 15 minutes before an auction you’re bidding on or watching is due to end. The only reason that ebay isn’t on the top spot is that you can’t change the default remind time: 15 minutes gives you too much time to forget an auction before it ends. 

1, Guardian - the only news application that’s actually worth paying for. This baby overtakes ITV and Sky’s efforts and runs rings around them, whipping them with damp towels whilst giving them the finger. It lets you view trending news stories, listen to news podcasts if you want to be doing other things while getting a dose of news, and is laid out in a similar way to the paper - so you can easily find the stories that interest you most. Unfortunately its lack of Twitter integration means that this app hasn’t quite achieved perfection, but then Carlsberg didn’t make it did they. 

Rick Turner