50 Helpful iPhone Apps for Web Designers and Developers

Nearing in on 100K (Apple approved) available apps as of this writing, the iPhone is the "do anything" device that's ready and capable of near desktop computing in the palm of your hand with the convenience of fitting in your pocket. For web designers and developers, this means no more toting around a laptop just to take care of the small bits of our job. From work to play and everything in between, the iPhone probably has you covered. As the saying goes, "Yup, there's an app for that".

I've listed 50 iPhone apps for all you web designers and developers which covers everything from color scheme creators and font manuals to FTP and SSH clients. Also keep in mind there are many more of the same type of app.

For more iPhone apps, don't forget to check out iPhone.AppStorm's list of 100 Useful Free iPhone Apps.

cliqcliq Colors

With cliqcliq's Colors app, you can easily create, convert and manage colors and palettes. The app allows conversion between RGB, HSB and Grayscale. You can also extract colors and palettes from photos you've snapped or imported into your photo library.

When you're done, you can email the palettes to yourself or someone else to quickly import into Photoshop or Illustrator.

Price: $2.99
Developer: cliqcliq
Download from iTunes
Color Expert

Color Expert gives you an easy to use color wheel for creating great color palettes but also lets you get colors from photos, sliders and swatches. You can easily search through Pantone, web safe or HTML colors to find just what you're looking for.

When you're done, save or send the palette as an Adobe Swatch Exchange file (ASE) for Photoshop or another Adobe app.

Price: $19.99
Developer: Code Line
Download from iTunes
HEX RGB Colors Guide

HEX RGB Colors Guide is a pretty basic app for having a RGB and HEX color code reference guide in your pocket at all times. Choose between block or list view and get quick access to the color information you need right away.

For the price vs features, this is a bit spendy but could be very handy for some designers.

Price: $3.99
Developer: Inside Root Media
Download from iTunes
HTML Colors

Quickly select and preview colors for the web with HTML Colors for some fun exploring or just to make sure you have the right combination. The sample text and background color make it easy to get the right foreground and background color combination.

You can also view HTML safe colors or try your luck with the "Random" button, then save or send your palette.

Price: $0.99
Developer: Kevin White (iTunes Link)
Download from iTunes

WhatTheFont

You're probably familiar with MyFont's WhatTheFont service. This app connects to that service for font discovery anywhere. Take a photo of the font (magazine, book or computer screen) or use an iPhone screenshot and WhatTheFont will tell you what the font is in just a few seconds, then view the font details within the app.

You never know when you'll see a font you like or what and you it's hard to beat free!

Price: Free
Developer: MyFonts
Download from iTunes
FontShuffle

Need typographic inspiration? FontShuffle might be your solution. Browse 650+ font families or shake your iPhone for FontShuffle to mix new fonts into your results. Browse by category or search for something more specific, then view up to 24 similar typefaces in a list.

Once you've found something you like, you can preview it with custom sample text. You can also check out the font's glyph set.

Price: Free
Developer: FontShop AG
Download from iTunes
The Typography Manual

Interested in learning about typography? Or maybe just more about it? This is the app for that. It includes 60+ pages on the history of type, type basics, the latest info. on web typography and more. It doesn't stop there though, it also has a 100+ page glossary of type terminology and examples.

There's a lot more included in this app and it really is one of the best ways to learn typography.

Price: $3.99
Developer: The Typography Manual
Download from iTunes
Photoshop.com Mobile

This is the mobile companion to Photoshop.com for the iPhone which gives you access to your Photoshop.com photos for editing, uploading and sharing. Your editing capabilities are somewhat limited but considering this is on your phone, it's quite nice.

You can crop and rotate, adjust color, saturation and exposure or apply filters like Sketch or Soft Focus along with many more options. It's basic but powerful for a handheld device.

Price: Free
Developer: Adobe Systems Incorporated
Download from iTunes
Convert ~ the unit calculator

Convert is an easy to use unit converter that even web designers and developers will want. It includes conversions all the usual stuff like volume, angles and money but also for typography, pixels, picas and a lot more.

It also includes a regular calculator though so you won't need to use the iPhone's included calculator any more.

Price: $1.99
Developer: tap tap tap
Download from iTunes
Caliper

Caliper is a basic but very handy app to have in your toolbox. With it you can quickly and precisely measure objects (placed on or near the screen) or images on screen in pixels, centimeters, inches and more. The measurement jaws are also multitouch for faster measuring.

Price: $0.99
Developer: Silverview Consulting Inc.
Download from iTunes

Source Viewer

Source Viewer does exactly what it sounds like. It lets you view the source code of websites. However, it does much more such as syntax coloring with links highlighted specially, link extraction to easily view website resources, image collection for separate viewing and much more.

You can also open resource URL's via browser or send them via email, save bookmarks and toggle source code word wrap. This is a great one for developers on the go!

Price: $0.99
Developer: Piet Jonas
Download from iTunes
Web Source Viewer

Web Source Viewer is a much more basic than Source Viewer but it's a fast and free way to view source code of any website from your iPhone.

Price: Free
Developer: Casey Jones
Download from iTunes
FTP On The Go

FTP On The Go is a fully featured FTP app for the iPhone. It lets you do just about everything your desktop application does but with the convenience of mobility. Browse, upload, download, edit and preview files on your FTP or even on your iPhone. You can even email files, view documents within the app like Word, Excel, PDF's, etc. and much more.

There are far too many features to list but this is a fantastic app for the price so check it out.

Price: $6.99
Developer: Headlight Software, Inc.
Download from iTunes
ServersMan

ServersMan essentially lets you use your iPhone like a wireless USB flash drive... or web server. Yeah, you can actually run a website with ServersMan. You can also store files on your iPhone via WiFi or 3G from any internet connected computer with a browser.

You'll also be able to open files like Microsoft Office (Word, Excel, PowerPoint), iWork (Pages, Numbers, Keynote), PDF's, HTML, CSS and much more.

Price: Free
Developer: FreeBit Co., Ltd.
Download from iTunes
TouchTerm SSH

If you're looking for a full SSH terminal app, this is it. Access your servers via WiFi, 3G or EDGE with just about all the features you'd find in a desktop SSH terminal application. If you need a step up, there is also TouchTerm SSH Pro with some more advanced features optimizing usage on the iPhone.

With the Pro version you get features like gestures, auto-completion, graphical filesystem navigation and much, much more.

Price: $3.99 - Pro: $8.99
Developer: Aji, LLC
Download from iTunes - Download Pro from iTunes
DatabaseViewer

DatabaseViewer gives you mobile access to your databases and the tools you need to work with them. It supports MySQL, PostgreSQL, MS Access, MS Excel, Oracle and several more. Sync database data via 3G, EDGE or WiFi, apply SQL Select queries, filters and much more.

It's a little bit expensive, but if you need access to your databases on the go, this is a solid choice.

Price: $19.99
Developer: Cellica Corporation
Download from iTunes
Are My Sites Up

If you run or host several websites, especially for clients, it's important to keep an eye on their status. If you use the Are My Sites Up? service, this task is a breeze. This is the accompanying iPhone app for both subscription based and free versions of the service.

From the app you can manage account settings like email and SMS alerts, view your sites' status and get push alerts.

Price: Free - Lite: Free
Developer: Shiftedfrequency
Download from iTunes - Download Lite from iTunes
SEO IT

With SEO IT you can easily analyze a website's Search Engine Optimization. The application will analyze tons different parts including complete source code listing, META tags, tag counts, title contents, back links and many more parts of your website of choice.

Curious about your competition? This is a great way to check them out. ;-)

Price: $0.99
Developer: Infinidigm, Inc.
Download from iTunes
Web Tools

With Web Tools you can check whois information, domain availability, view server information, check response times and more. When you find information you want to keep for later or share, you can email the results.

It's a pretty basic app but very useful, especially if you're with a client who's looking for a domain.

Price : $1.99
Developer: James Clark
Download from iTunes
Nomina

Nomina does more than just check domain availability. It can pull up a lot of helpful information for building a brand such as trademark checking, common-law usage, relevance of the brand name and lots more. It'll save you tons of time when trying to build a brand for you or your client.

Price: $14.99
Developer: Outspring, Inc.
Download from iTunes
iStat - Sys Monitoring, Battery

iStat gives you a great set of tools to monitor iPhone resource usage (including battery) as well as resource usage on remote systems including Mac, Linux and Solaris. You also get network tools such as ping and traceroute. Unfortunately Apple requested that they remove the "Free Memory" feature, which many are not happy about.

Easily monitor your iPhone, home computers and even web servers anywhere. Great value for the price!

Price: $0.99
Developer: Bjango
Download from iTunes
Ego

Ego gives you a quick overview of your web statistics from services like Google Analytics but can also check stats on services like Twitter, Vimeo, Squarespace, Mint, Feedburner and Ember. The app is clean and simple to provide a quick view of your current stats. Tapping a service rotates through additional stats.

This is a great app for developers who want to keep track of web stats as well as developing social media stats.

Price: $1.99
Developer: Garrett Murray
Download from iTunes
Analytics App

If you're looking for a fully featured Google Analytics app, this would be it. You'll get quick access to your Google Analytics account, including maps, and all the information you'll need. Google changed their API for Analytics so the app is being rewritten and the free update is due out this month.

You'll also be able to access all your Google Analytics information via WiFi, 3G or EDGE.

Price: $5.99
Developer: AnalyticsApp.com
Download from iTunes
Mint Stats

Mint Stats plugs into Shaun Inman's Mint analytics and provides stats for the last 24 hours. Check hourly and daily totals for views and unique visits, manage multiple sites, auto-refresh and more.

Overall, it's a pretty basic app but gives you the info. you need while you're on the go.

Price: Free
Developer: Edward Waller
Download from iTunes

Web Developer Bible

The Web Developer Bible app is a very handy reference for RGB to HEX color conversion, HTML entities and more. It's a pretty simple app but it could certainly be useful for some web developers and because it's free, it's definitely worth at least checking out.

Price: Free
Developer: Niranjan Kumar (iTunes Link)
Download from iTunes
Developer's Tool Kit

Developer's Took Kit combines several helpful tools for developers and designers such as a computer science hex calculator (works with binary, octal and logic operations), color wheel and categorized ANSI UTF-8 character set. The character can be browsed by name, unicode value and symbol type.

The price seems a little much for what's included but the calculator is quite helpful and finding UTF-8 characters is a breeze.

Price: $4.99
Developer: Swamiware LLC
Download from iTunes
CSS Cheat Sheet

Learning CSS? Need a refresher course or just a reference sheet for CSS? This is a great app for just that. CSS Cheat Sheet is searchable and easy to browse by category. It includes descriptions, values and examples for backgrounds, borders, classifications, fonts, margins and a whole lot more.

This is probably one of the most thorough CSS reference apps available for the iPhone.

Price: $0.99
Developer: Concentric Sky
Download from iTunes
jQuery Cheat Sheet

jQuery Cheat Sheet is another reference app from Concentric Sky. If you just need to reference something real quick or even if you're new to jQuery, this is a great app to have handy. You can even write and test your jQuery within the app now.

It's also important to note that this app doesn't retrieve any of its information from the internet, so you can use it anytime, anywhere.

Price: $0.99
Developer: Concentric Sky
Download from iTunes
JavaScript Cheat Sheet

JavaScript Cheat Sheet is another reference app from Concentric Sky. It's another great app for learning JavaScript or if you would like a handy reference app for those times you just can't remember an expression or something else.

As with Concentric Sky's other apps, this one also works completely offline.

Price: $0.99
Developer: Concentric Sky
Download from iTunes
HTML Cheat Sheet

This is probably one of the more popular reference apps from Concentric Sky that also allows you to write and test HTML within the app. Reference everything from tag lists to character sets and more with this.

As with Concentric Sky's other reference apps, this is another goodie for beginners and those who would like a quick reference guide in their pocket.

Price: $0.99
Developer: Concentric Sky
Download from iTunes

PHP Cheat Sheet

If you're a developer, your cheat sheet collection wouldn't be complete without Concentric Sky's PHP cheat sheet. Again, it's great for those who would like a quick reference and for those who might be learning PHP.

Price: $0.99
Developer: Concentric Sky
Download from iTunes
WordPress

The WordPress app gives you the power of WordPress in your pocket. Create and edit content on your sites, even if you're offline. The app supports true previews, tags, categories, iPhone photo integration and most other functions you can do in WordPress from your desktop.

The app also lets you manage multiple sites if you need.

Price: Free
Developer: Automattic, Inc.
Download from iTunes
Blog with iBlogger!

iBlogger is a multi-platform capable blogging app for everything from WordPress and TypePad to SquareSpace, Xanga and ExpressionEngine. You can easily manage just about any major blog installation with support for most major features like pictures, tags, links, etc.

If you run multiple blogs on multiple platforms, this is the app you'll want for easy mobile access.

Price: $19.99
Developer: illumineX, Inc.
Download from iTunes
1Password

If you're not using a password manager already, you might consider looking for one. 1Password is a popular choice and with iPhone integration, the choice is even easier. Store your information and passwords securely and let it automatically log you into websites with ease.

There's a lot you can do with it, especially for the price.

Price: $4.99
Developer: Agile Web Solutions
Download from iTunes
PassGen

PassGen is a straight forward and basic app that generates random passwords between 4 and 16 digits that will be much more secure than the basic passwords most people use. Once you generate a password, email it to yourself for safe keeping.

Price: Free
Developer: SCB (iTunes Link)
Download from iTunes
Dropbox

As a designer and/or developer, you probably share and sync files with lots of people across many computers. The Dropbox app gives you easy access to your Dropbox.com account files for viewing, managing and sharing while you're on the go.

Price: Free
Developer: Dropbox
Download from iTunes
SugarSync

SugarSync is a service similar to Dropbox and provides easy file access anywhere. The same applies to the iPhone app which lets you view, manage and share your synced files anywhere, anytime. You can even stream entire music collections stored on your computer!

Price: Free
Developer: Sharpcast, Inc.
Download from iTunes
Discover

Discover lets you use your iPhone as a wireless mobile hard drive via WiFi. You (or others) can connect and transfer or share files. It even works iPhone to iPhone. Within the app you can also view all the major document formats including Microsoft Office, PDF's, HTML and other text based files and many more.

Price: Free
Developer: mAPPn, Inc.
Download from iTunes
Air Sharing (Document Viewer, File Storage)

Air Sharing gives you drag and drop access to your iPhone over WiFi when mounted as a wireless drive on Mac, Windows or Linux. You can also connect through a browser if necessary. You can view literally just about every major file format available including Microsoft Office and iWork files.

Price: $4.99
Developer: Avatron Software, Inc.
Download from iTunes

Files

Store and view files on your iPhone with the Files app, again, over WiFi. You can also email and password protect your files if needed. Files also supports all major file formats such as Microsoft Office and Apple iWork. Once you've viewed files, the app can even remember the page and zoom level.

Price: $4.99
Developer: Olive Toast
Download from iTunes
Quickoffice Files

Quickoffice Files is part of an online service for managing your office files but the app can be used independently as well. Transfer files via WiFi, view, email and password protect files and even access your MobileMe iDisk account.

Price: $0.99
Developer: Quickoffice, Inc.
Download from iTunes
Sketches

Sketches lets you easily jot down notes and thoughts as well as annotate your pictures and more. It's sort of a cross between a fun and creative drawing and annotation app and something that also serves its purposes for business. You can also send your creations once you're done.

Price: $4.99
Developer: LateNiteSoft
Download from iTunes
iBlueSky (mindmapping)

As designers and developers, we get ideas all the time–regardless of location. iBlueSky lets you ditch the paper napkin and take brainstorming and problem solving to a new level. When you're done you can send via email in Novamind, PDF, PNG, OPML and more formats.

There's many more great functions with this app as well as integration with Box.net. The price seems a bit steep but it's hard to put a price on great ideas right?

Price: $19.99
Developer: Tenero Software Limited
Download from iTunes
Things

Things for the iPhone brings the power of Things for the desktop, to your iPhone. Wirelessly sync your lists and tasks when you're near your computer. The great thing about this app though, is you don't need the desktop application. Things for the iPhone is an independent app, thus the rather steep price.

Things simplifies task management and makes it much easier to stay productive and keep track of life anywhere you might be.

Price: $19.99
Developer: Cultured Code
Download from iTunes
Remember The Milk

Remember The Milk (RTM) connects with the online service to sync your lists and tasks. You can also work offline and sync when the internet is available. RTM is a super simple and easy to use app and service but also provides the options and flexibility you might need.

RTM also has lots of integration with the iPhone such as detecting location for nearby tasks and much more.

Price: Free
Developer: Remember The Milk
Download from iTunes
MiniBooks for FreshBooks

MiniBooks brings the popular invoicing software, FreshBooks, to the iPhone. As far as I can tell, it's an independent application that is capable of syncing with your online FreshBooks account (if not, the price is way steep). You get all the features and power of FreshBooks while you're on the go.

There's also a lite version available which I believe requires a FreshBooks account.

Price: $14.99 - Lite: Free
Developer: Groovy Squared
Download from iTunes - Download Lite from iTunes

Jobs - Time Sheet + Tracking

Jobs is a simple time tracking and time sheet creation app. It's important to keep track of your time to make sure you get paid. Jobs features multiple timers, sessions, exporting, different currencies and more.

The nice thing about Jobs is that it's not bloated with extra crap you don't need. That way it's easy as pie to keep track of your time.

Price: $1.99
Developer: Bjango
Download from iTunes
PayPal

Most of you are familiar with PayPal. If you're not yet, you most likely will be soon. PayPal for the iPhone gives you quick access to your account for checking your balance, reviewing history, sending money and more. In fact, it's so fast and easy, I use it to check my account even while I'm at the computer.

Price: Free
Developer: PayPal
Download from iTunes
BeejiveIM 3.0 with Push

Beejive is arguably the best iPhone instant messaging app around that's more capable than some desktop messaging clients. Connect to all the major services such as AIM, Windows Live, Yahoo!, GoogleTalk, Facebook, Myspace... and the list goes on. It also moves from 3G/EDGE to WiFi seamlessly and is capable of push notifications after you close the app.

I communicate with many clients via chat and this makes it easy to take my chats with me anywhere.

Price: $19.99
Developer: Beejive, Inc.
Download from iTunes
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Prowl: Growl Client

Prowl is simply a Growl client for the iPhone. Get push notifications from your Mac or Windows computer for anything you configure Growl with and would like push notifications on your iPhone. It's all highly configurable to fit your needs.

I personally use it for multiple email accounts, messaging, system alerts and a lot more.

Price: $2.99
Developer: Zachary West
Download from iTunes
Conclusion
Well, there you have it fellow web designers and developers. 50 fantastic iPhone apps for taking on many of our daily tasks anytime, anywhere, from the convenience of a pocket sized device. As I mentioned at the beginning, there are several other options for many of these app types. I couldn't include them all though or this list would be a mile long. These are the ones I've picked from personal experience and reviews during my own searches for apps to make my job a little easier.

As I'm sure we all are, I'm always on the lookout for fresh new apps to make my web design or development tasks easier, faster or more mobile. So, if you know of any really great apps, please share them with us in the comments below. Thanks!