It took me a long time to get useful and readable sites on my mobile phone. To save you the trouble, here’s what I use and why. I’ve organized them in order from practical to fun, and then at the bottom I’ve listed some other helpful sites that I haven’t experimented with as much…

1. Google – www.google.com/m – does this really need an explanation?
2. Metro [Your stop] – www.meenster.com – This is the only DC specific one on the list, but knowing how many minutes until the next train is immensely helpful for planning when I leave. The other day it was 12 degrees out and it saved us from standing outside for 18 minutes. It also helps me to decide whether to transfer an extra time or just walk (hooray for underground internet access!). I have separate favorite links for the stations I use most often (thanks to Justin Thorp for this, though it works just fine without an iPhone)
3. Weather – mobile.srh.weather.gov – navigate to your local zip code and then store it there as a favorite
4. Wikipedia Mobile – www.wapipedia.org or axa.instinct.co.nz/wiki – I use the latter site more, but they both are useful and do the same thing. If you’ve ever tried wikipedia’s main site on a mobile browser you’d know how horrible an experience that is
5. Orbitz Flight Status Search – mobile.orbitz.com/mobile/App/ViewTravelWatchHome – When I’m checking on a friend’s flight status, this is immensely helpful. Since Southwest isn’t listed there, however, I just go to Google and type “Southwest 1234″ where 1234 is the flight number
6. Yelp Mobile – mobile.yelp.com -When I need a restaurant review at the last second, this is the place to go
7. Amazon Mobile – www.amazon.com/gp/aw/h.html – I mostly use this to look things up, either descriptions or comparative prices. If you use Amazon’s Wish List or One Click this could be very helpful for those. You can even see shipping status!
8. Netflix Mobile – www.netflix.com/Mobile – I use this both to look at my queue whenever I’m at the video store (so I can rent something I’ve wanted to see)…and whenever someone suggests a movie (to add it to my queue)
9. Washington Post (or NY Times) – mobile.washingtonpost.com (or nytimesriver.com) while I personally use the Post, both of these are easy to read on the go
10. Twitter and Facebook – m.twitter.com/home and m.facebook.com/home.php – I’ve listed these together since they’re both all about being social. The thing I like most about Facebook Mobile is it has a great way of listing out all the recent status updates that aren’t as easily available on the web version
11. Kayak – www.kayak.com/moby – the best internet flight search engine is now mobile
12. Flickr – m.flickr.com – It’s great to bring up photos when they come up in conversation!

Those are the sites I use, and many of my choices have to do with how I handle email, maps, and RSS, but that doesn’t mean you wouldn’t want access to popular versions of some of those sites/services:

• Gmail – www.google.com/mobile/gmail
• Google Reader – www.google.com/reader/m/view
• Google Maps – www.google.com/gmm
• Bloglines – bloglines.com/mobile
• Netvibes – m.netvibes.com/index.php
• MSN Mobile – mobile.msn.com (it’s actually pretty good!)

And some other mobile sites that might be very helpful, many of which I found via Mobile Mammoth:

• Dictionary service – lookwayup.com/free/x.xhtml
• Digg – diggriver.com
• IMDB- wap.arune.se/imdb/index.php – not sure who made this, but it’s great. And may soon move to my list as I frequently look up details on movies when they come up in conversation, and the IMDB is much more thorough than Netflix
• The Onion – mobile.theonion.com/content
• YouTube – m.youtube.com

Additionally, Shashi recommends Phonifier, www.phonifier.com, which is a way to view normal websites on your phone, as it adapts them to your mobile browser. And I’m very curious about www.mailme.info as that offers the answers to mobile questions via email (as opposed to SMS’ing 466453 to Google things).

Any sites you’d recommend?

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Filed under: 4-Hour Workweek, Mobile, Productivity, Technology, Tools I Use

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