… we have First & 20 – a collection of iPhone home screens and favorite applications from interesting developers, designers and tech bloggers. So while I wait to see what applications my friends have installed and use (a regular discussion point at dinners and coffees) – First & 20 gives a glimpse into popular apps and how people organize their iPhones. For instance, the top five applications across the highlighted users are:

- Tweetie
- Birdfeed
- Things
- Instapper
- Facebook

Most of the homescreens also have at least one of these apps in the dock unit. It is also interesting to see that many of the homescreens have iTunes & the App Store prominently included (suggesting that these users regularly download content) and a significant portion of the apps are premium / paid for.

Facebook Mobile developer Joe Hewitt (whose screen is shown above) had a great quote highlighting the increasing importance of mobile web content / experiences in a world of applications. While he is talking specifically about Google Reader, this is becoming an important trend and, for the content-owners, a major benefit because the it is platform / hardware agnostic:

80% of my iPhone usage is Google Reader. I’ve tried every Google Reader app there is and I keep coming back to the web version. Somebody, please make a Google Reader app that isn’t slow as molasses running downhill!

The remaining 20% of my usage is mostly spent checking Mail, Facebook, Twitter and the score of the Yankees game. Oh, and the Camera. I own a Canon 5D Mark II but I still take 99% of my photos with my iPhone.

Popularity: 2% [?]