Here's my list of native 3rd party apps that I have kept on my iPhone!
EDIT: I've now categorised them into Sections for easier viewing, with each app listed in sequence of what you should install/try out first:
Essentials - Quality apps that should have been provided by Apple in the first place!
Reference - "Productivity" apps that just make life a little easier. Isn't that what PDAs are for?
Games - Obvious really... Isn't this what PDAs are REALLY made for??? :P
Fun stuff - Toys, gimmicks or just sheer fun stuff to mess around with.
Network - Afew things related to networking that techies might find useful, not essential for the casual user
Format:
App name > Source URL (if i can remember it!)
Reason
----- ESSENTIALS: -----
BSD SUBSYSTEMAlthough not an "app" per se, but its an important thing to have installed as it allows you and some 3rd party apps to run.
OPENSSH
Also not an 'app' that you can see on the Springboard screen, but it does allow one important function - allow you to remotely access the iPhone's innards via your PC (using Putty, WinSCP, iNdependence or iBrickr) or Mac (Terminal, Cyberduck or Fugu). It's also a lifeline if you suddenly mess up the iPhone and make ALL your apps vanish (Yes, it happened to me).
CUSTOMIZE
This utility allows you to re-shuffle your apps around the screen, as customise the dock to have between one and nine shortcuts. You can also set some icons to be invisible, eg. Preview, which you don't need to see, but is available if you open a file from within MobileFinder. There are also tweaks there like customising the Wifi signal strength icon, etc.
SEARCH > polarbearfarm.com/repo
Spotlight-like function to find contacts or calendar entries that have anything to do with what you type in. Eg. Type in "friend" and it will automatically shortlist all contacts where you put in the Notes section "Friend of xxxxx"
TODO LIST
One of the most obvious omissions from the default iPhone apps. Although still basic, its functional.
SMSD
Another obvious omission by Apple, but has recently been rectified in their latest 1.1.3 firmware. But if you're sticking with fw1.1.1 or 1.1.2, you'll be happy to have this. It will allow you to send SMS text messages to more than one receipient. There are afew other tools there like setting Templates and searching for keywords in SMS conversations.
BOSSTOOL
The iPhone 1.1.1 and 1.1.2 defaults all Application installs into the OS partition of 300MB. This quickly runs out as you install apps. To overcome this, you would need to move the Applications directory over to the 7GB section (where you store music, videos, etc), and have a symlink or shortcut from the old location to there. You can either follow instructions on manually typing in UNIX commands to do this, or run this application to help you do it all. There's another app that does this same task, will check it out and report back soon.
----- REFERENCE: -----
LOCKBOXApp for storing all your confidential information. Of course, its locked by your specified password, so you're screwed if you can't even remember that!
CONVERTER
Converts practically every measurement like length, weight, volume, etc. Sadly, wont do forex conversions... :P
WEDICT
Customisable app that can work as a Dictionary, Thesaurus, CIA's Fact Book, or whatever else people have uploaded to the repository! Works well as a mobile offline dictionary.
NATIVECN
Allows Chinese input in one of seven methods. Even I was able to type my name in, using "Ping Yum" method, which is really typing in the phonetics of the word.
PDFVIEWER
Once you create a folder under /var/root/media/PDFs, this app will be able to open any PDF you save there, and resize, scroll, flip pages etc. You can even format some eBooks into PDF to be read here.
BOOKS
A native eBook reader, works well. You can download free eBooks from several places... will note them here later.
VNOTES
Voice recording app, best for dictation really. Not used it much, but it fills the needs of those who demanded it.
----- GAMES: -----
IPHYSICSAbsolute must-have. Objective is to move a ball (or vehicle in some mods!) to a target but drawing objects to dynamically move it. Laying a plank over the ball moves it slowly, but if you devise a plank over a fulcrum, then dropping a solid block on one end, what happens? Give it a go and find out!
IZOO
Bejeweled clone, with several different skins, presumably to avoid a lawsuit! Plays well and is very addictive. Doesn't have rewards like line-blasters when you line up 4+ units yet, but its still entertaining to try and best your current top score.
LABYRINTH
Roll the ball around a maze by tilting the iPhone. Very smooth and tempted to donate US$7 to the developer to unlock levels beyond the 10 free demo ones.
TTR
Think "Dance Dance Revolution" but for your fingers over three vertical lines. There are some templates already made where songs posted by others have set rhythm beats to hit. However, you can also set your own hits as well. I hear there's a Guitar Hero mod to this too?
GPSPHONE
Misleading name aside, this is a pretty good Gameboy Advance emulator. The controls are transparent overlays on the screen, which looks cool, but does obscure the gameplay abit. Probably more suited for turn-based games like Advanced Wars, but Tekken and Virtua Tennis does play pretty well! Don't expect the sound to be perfect tho.
PSX4ALL
The next evolution of emulators on the iPhone. Still work-in-Progress, it stutters along to games like Final Fantasy VII and GTA2 (top-down gameplay) at around 5-10fps, but its a good proof of concept. Hopefully the Apple SDK will help it unlock some more performance out of it.
SCUMMVM
ScummVM is an open-source project to port all kinds of adventure games like "Sam & Max", "Day of the Tentacle" and "Indiana Jones and the Fate Of Atlantis". It takes up alot of space on the iPhone, but its interesting to play these classic games on the iPhone this way.
ISOLITAIRE
Solitaire for the iPhone. Feels abit more intuitive than using a stylus or mouse.
IBLACKJACK
Needs no introduction really.
LIGHTS OFF
Puzzle game thats quite challenging. Toggle the light cells on the board with your touch until they're all off.
TETRONIMO
Tetris clone, works ok but I wish you could just hold the DOWN key to speed up the falling blocks. Doesn't have the catchy tune tho.
MARBLE
Tilt the marble to reach the exit over increasingly challenging courses. Woudl be easy, were it not for some vindictive CPU balls trying to bounce you off-course!
BALLFIGHT
Flick your set of balls against the CPU's ones in order be the last one standing, sort of like Pong but without a bat.
----- FUN STUFF: -----
SKETCHESFun app that works like an Etch-A-Sketch. Either use a blank background to make a drawing, scribble over an existing photo, or take a new snapshot and highlight something in particular then email it out. Endless possibilities!
SCREENSHOT
App for taking screenshots of the iPhone. Useful for showing off the GBA Emulator playing Tekken, or even requesting help from others by showing the particular error or problem. Combined with SKETCHES, its a great way to show something in particular on your iPhone.
SENDFILE
iPhone's Mail app doesn't really expect you to send out attachments other than photos, but with this, you can specify files. This would work well if you hacked Safari to allow direct downloads into your iPhone, or if you needed to send a particular file to iPhone Forums for help.
SENDPICS
As said above, Mail can send photos, but they are usually compressed even further to make them easier to send. This application sends the same photo uncompressed, in all its 2Mpixel glory.
SENDSONG
Not only allows you to share your music with friends, it is also indispensible for its ability to convert songs into Ringtones! Does not always work, and the iPhone resets itself once you sync it via USB. However, its the only option for 1.1.1 users. 1.1.2 owners have the preferred method of using Garageband to customise a song into .m4r format, and keep it as a permanent ringtone saved on the iPhone and iTunes. Details to be posted up later.
TUNEWIKI
This app requires Wifi, but when you play a tune, it will go online to search and display the lyrics. The impressive trick is that it even scrolls in time with the song! This is dependent on contributions from users, and the more people contribute, the more songs get synced accurately. Very impressive.
EVOLUTIONRGB
Intruiging demo. Hard to explain really, but its quite intriguing.
----- NETWORK: -----
MOBILECHAT / APOLLOInstant Messenging app compatible with AIM, .Mac, GoogleTalk, MSN and ICQ clients. This native app worked ok most of the time, but I have seen it stutter and crash. You may be better off with one of the Webapps like Meebo.com or ebuddy.com. Afterall, you need to be online to chat to your friends anyway!
SERVICES
Toggles EDGE, Bluetooth, Wifi and SSH functions, although weirdly EDGE keeps persistently coming back on. Useful for turning off SSH when you need to conserve some more battery.
VNSEA
VNC Client that allows you to remotely connect to your PC or Mac, that has VNC Server installed. For Mac, I used OSXVNC, but some hackers have tried to exploit the default port of 5900 (which has to be opened on the firewall if you're to VNC in from Starbucks wifi), and remotely enter in some Windows commands to further open exploits. Little did that bot know that I was using a Mac... :) I've since stopped the OSXVNC until I change the port on my firewall. But this app works well, is smooth, and allows scaling and zooming, and even a virtual keyboard for remote text entry.
MOBILEFINDER
Literally a Finder for your iPhone's system. From there, you can copy, move, rename, delete and open files and folders. You can even change the permissions of anything to 0755 (which is the ideal privilege level for letting native apps run).
MOBILETERMINAL (Term-vt100)
A proper command prompt to enter hardcore UNIX commands directly to your iPhone, proving that it does indeed run OS X. Probably not for everyone to try, but its very intruiging nonetheless.
Promising apps that I haven't had time to fully try out yet.
RSS
CameraPro
TextEdit
Connect
Dropcopy
Categories
Pocketmoney
APLogger
Listen
iShare
iStudy
iMoneyTrackin
Chess
