Five must-have apps for your Nokia smartphone

Although Nokia has fallen behind in the smartphone race, the pioneering mobile phone maker still has a lot of avid fans. Yet I use my Nokia N82, even though it will be four years old next year. I’ve stuck with it all these years because it has an amazing camera with a proper xenon flash that is better than a lot of point-and-shoot cameras.

Although Nokia is switching to Microsoft’s Windows Phone operating system, they have promised to support its current crop of Symbian smartphones until 2016, so if you’ve got one, it’s still worth installing new apps. Here are five of my favourites:

Joikuspot: This app easily allows you to turn your mobile phone into a hotspot, sharing your 3G connection with other phones, computers or tablets. The free version doesn’t secure your connection, but if not worried about that, you can get by with it. The paid version might seem expensive, but I managed to pay for it in WiFi savings the first time I used it.

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[caption id=“attachment_68765” align=“alignleft” width=“300” caption=“The Nokia N9. Reuters”]  [/caption]

Opera mobile web browser : Yes, Nokia gives you a web browser, but I still find Opera a great addition to my N82. It’s very quick and easy with a good favourites screen and simple bookmarks. The page snapshot also works very well. I find that Opera works with a wider range of websites than Nokia’s built-in browser. You can’t beat this free app for surfing on your Nokia.

Skype: The mobile version of the widely used VOIP app has saved me from paying out a small fortune in call roaming charges when I’m travelling (and can find wifi). Unfortunately, some carriers don’t allow it because the last thing they want is for you to use Skype rather than using their network.

Palringo: Another way that I keep in touch is via instant messaging and I couldn’t live without this little app. It supports just about every kind of instant messaging service known: AIM, Yahoo, MSN and Google Talk ICQ. On top of supporting all of these services, it also allows you to send images or even short voice messages.

Gravity: If you spend a lot of time using Twitter, Facebook and even services like Google Reader, you’ll want to check out Gravity. I’ve used social media apps like Tweetdeck and Seesmic on the iPhone and Android handsets, but this still beats them hands down with features that no other social media app matches. In addition to all of the standard Twitter featues such as reply, retweet and direct message, you can easily forward a Tweet or Facebook update to a friend via SMS or email. It even translates updates. Plus, you can send updates to Delicious and save articles in Read-it-later or Instapaper for, well, reading later. As apps go it’s a bit pricey, but it’s well worth it.

These are just a few of the apps that I’m constantly using on my ageing N82, but I’m sure there are plenty of good ones that I can’t run because my phone is too old. If you’re a Nokia owner with a more up-to-date handset, what apps are you using? And what are you going to do when Nokia stops supporting Symbian and makes the swith to the Windows Phone operating system?