Top Business Executives Name Their 10 Must-Have Mobile Apps

Whether you are partial to iOS, Android or even BlackBerry for your mobile computing needs, you're likely faced with an embarrassment of riches when it comes to apps. To put it in perspective, Apple announced in October that its App Store now boasts 1 million apps. And the average U.S. smartphone user downloads 25 apps and spends two hours daily using those apps. But you can download and use only so many. How is a businessperson to choose?

When there are so many apps available, often the best way to separate mobile time-wasters – and there are all too many of those – from apps that can truly help businesspeople be more productive, apps such as NoteSuite and Note Taker HD, is to ask other busy professionals.

We asked a handful of executives to share which apps make their lives easier, more productive and more effective. Here's what they had to say:

1. Working Toward Inbox Zero: Dropbox Mailbox

“For me, using Dropbox's Mailbox for iPhone is key. It helps me prioritize focusing on what needs to be done right at this moment versus feeling overwhelmed by massive emails that can be handled at a later date. Also, the gamification element of getting to ‘inbox zero' pushes me to even more responsive, which, as a CEO, is key for me.”

– Carrie Kerpen is the co-founder and CEO of Likeable Media, where she led her team to more than $15 million in revenue and landed the agency on the Inc. 500 List in 2011 and 2012.

2. Your Network Is Your Business: LinkedIn

“The most important app for me is the LinkedIn app. The reason is simple, really: A businesswoman is only as good as her network of partners, colleagues, peers and industry thought-leaders. … In business, your network is everything. The LinkedIn app allows me to not only to keep up with my network (career moves and personal changes), but it helps filter the content that my network shares or considers important. I make new connections through discussions around content and through membership of various groups. I find new people to hire. It is an effective way to always be connected to the most important group of people in your personal and professional life.”

– Ekaterina Walter is the co-founder and CMO of Branderati. She is a social media trailblazer and an author of the Wall Street Journal bestseller “Think LikeZuck: The Five Business Secrets of Facebook's Improbably Brilliant CEO Mark Zuckerberg.”

3. Communicate Effortlessly to Increase Efficiency: HipChat

“One of my favorite applications is HipChat. For a company that has a lot of employees, many of them are virtual, HipChat makes it easy to stay in touch with everyone and see what they are up to. Think of the app as an internal version of Gmail Chat. It's very affordable and easy to use, and it helps improve how we communicate with each other. This ends up causing our projects to get completed faster and the quality of our work to improve.”

– Neil Patel is the co-founder of two SaaS analytics companies, Crazy Egg and KISSmetrics. He is an investor, adviser and blogger at QuickSprout.

4. Provide Creative Insight: Hightail

“I am the head of our agency's offices across North America; as you can imagine, I travel a lot. Since I juggle agency life with teaching and writing, I also try to travel light, so I carry only a few essential items. It's almost impossible to keep up with the onslaught of creative presentations happening across the agency. Some of those files are huge, which is why one of my go-to apps is Hightail. It allows me to quickly review and comment on complex presentations while I jump back and forth between my computer and mobile device. [The app] always picks up where I left off. I can't imagine life without it.”

– Jim Joesph is the president of Cohn & Wolfe North America. He brings more than 25 years of consumer marketing leadership and management prowess to the agency.

5. Measure Growth in Real-Time: Google Analytics

“I am constantly checking my Google Analytics app to find real-time numbers and data. Here at RebelMouse, we are obsessed with our growth and watching the numbers multiply each day. I have found that Google Analytics provides the most accurate real-time reporting, and its easy navigation and beautiful display make it simple to track RebelMouse's progress every day from my mobile device.”

– Paul Berry is founder and CEO of RebelMouse, partner at Lerer Ventures, Digital Advisory Board member of American Express and previous CTO of the Huffington Post.

6. Organize Short-Term Tasks and Long-Term Goals: Trello

“At Radius, we use Trello to organize tasks and long-term goals for the company. Trello, available on the Web and for all mobile devices, is an easy-to-use task tracker that is collaborative and links directly to our Google Apps Enterprise organization. We can add people to tasks, track progress of company tasks, and attach files from Dropbox or Google Drive to specific milestones. Without Trello, we would probably be using spreadsheets or Post-It notes to keep track of our tasks across the entire organization.The most useful part of Trello is that it scales with our organization and allows items to be moved between large boards, which we use for tracking sprints in engineering or to open deals in sales and marketing. We also are comfortable with using Trello to store our confidential information because authentication is handled through our Google Apps account. Of all the products we considered, Trello was the most feature-complete and secure service for tracking our progress.”

– Darian Shirazi is the founder and CEO of Radius, which enables marketers to more effectively reach business customers through targeted campaigns. He formerly worked as an engineer at Facebook and eBay.

7. Secure Your Account and Passwords Organization-Wide: Passpack

“On the angle of security, Passpack stands out. The tool lets you store and share all company accounts and passwords. Passpack allows me to access the over 500 passwords the company has to all its tools. This allows me to audit anything, be it our help desk or partner analytics.”

– Dane Atkinson is the CEO of SumAll, a New York-based startup that provides data and analytics to businesses. He was formerly CEO at SquareSpace.