5 useful iPhone apps for online freelancers

Online freelancing has become a great way to work and make money, while being wherever you want and making your own schedule. There are already thousands of people who work from home or traveling as a freelancer, designing web sites, editing videos, writing articles, and doing other things that require nothing more than a laptop and knowledge.

But a laptop isn’t the only tool that a freelancer can use – a smartphone can do a lot of things as well. And there’s really no better choice for a smartphone than the iPhone – with over 500,000 apps on the marketplace and an extremely friendly developer API, you can find almost any app for any purpose, or build your own if you want. For now, here are just a few of the best apps for the iPhone that a freelancer can use for their work:

OmniFocus

OmniFocus is one of the best productivity apps that you can install on your iPhone. It is a task manager with enough features to satisfy pretty much anyone, and it’s still easy enough to use, with the advanced features being hidden under menus.  With OmniFocus you can create location-aware ToDo lists, attach notes to your tasks, create a daily schedule for your work, sync with online services like Google Calendar, and much more.

[ilink url=”http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/omnifocus-for-iphone/id284885288?mt=8″ style=”download”]iTunes[/ilink]

Mocha VNC

If you have a remote server or are using VNC as a way to connect and control your computer from anywhere you want, Mocha VNC is the best client for the iPhone. Using this app, you can connect to Windows, Linux and Mac OS X running a VNC server using an encrypted password, so you know it’s safe. Other features include the ability to select from various color modes and resolutions, using a local mouse driver, Wake on LAN, print documents remotely straight from your phone, and save profiles for different hosts if you have more than one server you wish to connect to.

[ilink url=”http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/mocha-vnc/id284981670?mt=8#” style=”download”]iTunes[/ilink]

Fring

Fring is the ultimate chat and video chat application for the iPhone (and Android phones, for that matter). You can make video calls and video conferences with up to 4 other people, make cheap calls via VoIP using the FringOut service, make free calls to landlines in the US and several other countries, and chat with anyone on Fring, MSN Messenger, Google Talk, Yahoo Messenger, AIM, ICQ and many other services. It’s a must have for any freelancer, really.

[ilink url=”http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/fring/id290948830?mt=8″ style=”download”]iTunes[/ilink]

Omni Invoice

Omni Invoice is a great tool if your work requires you to create quotes and invoices for your clients. With this app, you no longer have to work half an hour at filling the information – you can easily create nice looking quote and invoice pages with a few taps, and send them to anyone you want within minutes. Once you have everything set up, Omni Invoice will save you a lot of time, which you can then use to focus on the actual work.

[ilink url=”http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/omni-invoice/id310187694?mt=8″ style=”download”]iTunes[/ilink]

Billings Touch

Billings Touch from Market Circle is practically the best time tracking and invoicing software for the iPhone and iPad, period. With this app, you can track the time you spend working on certain tasks and projects, then create a bill or invoice for your clients, complete with all the details they may need to know. Billings Touch is a great complement to any freelancer’s phone.

[ilink url=”http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/billings-touch/id343938310?mt=8″ style=”download”]iTunes[/ilink]

Being a freelancer puts a lot of pressure on a person, and a lot of responsibilities. Thankfully, working online has its advantages; mainly that everything can be automated and made easier by software. Having an iPhone loaded with a few useful apps like the ones above can really help you in your work, so be sure to check them out and search for more on the iTunes marketplace.

SK( Managing Editor )

Obsessed with tech since the early arrival of A/UX on Apple, Sudz (SK) is responsible for the editorial direction of AppleToolBox. He is based out of Los Angeles, CA.

Sudz specializes in covering all things macOS, having reviewed dozens of OS X and macOS developments over the years.

In a former life, Sudz worked helping Fortune 100 companies with their technology and business transformation aspirations.