We know (hope?? assume??)  the next gen iPhone is coming in the next 6 months. With Apple having just bought Lala perhaps they should also consider grabbing a few existing iPhone apps and making them part of the core functionality of the device. What better way for Apple to quickly make the iPhone better than ever than to have additional services or tweaks available right out of the box.

With that in mind I asked the team…

What one iPhone app should Apple buy and build into the core functionality of the next gen iPhone and why? (Note- the app must currently be available either in the App Store or as a jailbreak app)

Unsurprisingly many of the suggestions are currently only available to people with jailbroken iPhones. (After all it is WHY we jailbreak in the first place.) Here is what they said…

Travis

Dragon Dictation: Not only does it work amazingly well, the technology allows for a new level of accessibility. From hands free use to more use for people with disabilities, everyone can benefit from what it brings. Also, adding in-app integration with other apps could truly transform the platform!

Larry

Notifier: I find it very frustrating that Apple didn’t include any sort of visual notifications on the iPhone OS. On my jailbroken phone I find it much easier to simply flip on the sleep/awake button and check in the status bar to see if I have a little envelope indicating new mail waiting.

Jeff

SBSettings: It’s either purchase and integrate SBSettings or just give us the ability to add a shortcut to the springboard so we don’t need to dive through 14,000 layers of menu to just turn on the darn bluetooth or wifi.

Judie

Pocket Informant!: This is the killer app that Apple could slay the competition with – among those who need to keep up with more than one Google Calendar and those who just want a better, more fully features calendar on their iPhone. Alex Kac outdid himself on this one!

Amy

While I don’t have an iPhone, I do have my iPod touch…For my 2 cents, add the social messaging applications (instant messaging all in one (like IM+ or Beehive), Facebook, Twitter (Twitterific), Myspace) in the main build. It makes it easy for people who are just starting out on this platform.

Carly

LockInfo!: It aggregates your calendar, sms, emails, weather, twitter into one spot on your lockscreen…so you know before you even slide to unlock what is waiting for you and whether it is worth your time.

Doug

Facebook: is actually a pretty sweet interface, if you’re a facebook person, but the one that I absolutely love is Wikipanion. Oh my god, I use that thing all the time. I wouldn’t mind if they made some of their “core apps” removable, either. I never—never never never—use the Stocks app. 2.5 years of iPhone use, gigabytes of stuff downloaded, tons of phonecalls, but stocks? Never. It’s a stupid inclusion, in my opinion.

I haven’t found a good jailbreak version yet, but I’m sure there’s something out there: a better organizing system, by folders or tabs or something. The way the iPhone does it now is okay, but with so many games selling, they must realize that it’s not very scalable beyond, say, 160 apps (10 screens) or so. Supporting themes without jailbreaking would also be nice.

Dan
(I was going to pick Dragon but Travis did. I was then going to pick Pocket Informant but Judie did. I KNEW I should not have gone last!!)

iClassic!: iClassic is a jailbreak app that replaces the iPhone iPod interface with the classic scroll-wheel interface that we all know and (for the most part) love. It is amazing how good looking the “iPod Classic on an iPhone” is and how remarkably well the scroll wheel interface works on a touchscreen device. It is far more intuitive to use the music player this way and I would love to see it as an interface option in the future.

Will any of these show up as part of OS iPhone 4.0? You never know!!!!