I like managing my cryptocurrency investments on the go, so in this post I'm going to share 10 of my favorite crypto related mobile apps, in no particular order.

With these apps, whether it be commuting to work on the train, during lunch break, or waiting for a table at a restaurant, as long as I've got my trusty smartphone I can always be productive and keep up-to-date on my portfolio or recent market news. I'm an iPhone user so will be talking about the iOS versions of these apps, but most of them are available for Android as well.

Okay then, let's get straight to it:

1. Coinbase

This is the easiest way I've found to purchase Bitcoin directly with USD. After a fairly simple KYC (Know-Your-Customer) verification routine, you can link your Coinbase wallet to a bank account and buy / sell Bitcoin with a single button press. At first your instant buy limit will be small, but it goes up with time. My limit is a respectable $1000 per week, which I rarely reach.

If you don't have any other Bitcoin wallet, you can store Bitcoin in your Coinbase account and make purchases directly from the app. I don't use it that way though; I tend to treat Coinbase as a gateway for remitting money from Japan (where I live) to the US to pay my US credit card bills. By doing so, I completely avoid the outrageous fees charged by banks for international money transfers (exactly how to do this will be the subject of a future blog post).

I recommend setting up your account through the Coinbase web page on a desktop PC, and then getting the mobile app.

Pros:

• Simplest way to buy Bitcoin with USD.
• Also supports ETH for all you Ethereum fans!

Cons:

• Have to do KYC procedures.
• 1.5% fee per buy / sell transaction (sending Bitcoin to external accounts is free). Still beats the traditional banking system hands down though.

2. Ethereumstats

This handy little app is a Swiss Army knife of Ethereum information. It's like having a summary of all things Ethereum at your fingertips. From the main screen you can see network stats such as the current block, block time, hash rate, etc. The main menu provides a page showing ETH prices & charts from various sources. And I love the blog page where you can see the latest Ethereum news straight from the developers.

Pros:

• Presents a nice snapshot of the overall state of Ethereum.

Cons:

• Prices page feels rather clunky.
• Charting capabilities are pretty basic.

3. ZeroBlock

My most frequently used crypto app. Basically it shows you the current market price of Bitcoin, along with a price chart and news reader that aggregates Bitcoin news from several sources. I check this several times a day to keep track of which way the price is trending. If you only get one of the 10 apps I'm highlighting today, get this one!

Pros:

• Its elegance is in its simplicity.
• News reader is great for a quick skim through whenever you have a few free minutes.

Cons:

• Landscape mode for charts doesn't do what you would expect and is quite disappointing.
• Quality of articles in the news reader is spotty: sometimes you'll see great stuff, other times it will be worthless trash that moderators have already deleted.

4. Crypto Pro

Actually I was wrong when I said ZeroBlock is my most frequently used app; Crypto Pro is if you count its Apple Watch support. This app shows you the current prices of most major cryptocurrencies and can be configured to show values in a number of different fiat currencies. I like looking at prices in terms of Bitcoin since that's my base currency when trading, although seeing the USD equivalent is useful from time to time.

If you've got an Apple Watch, then Crypto Pro is a must-have. You can add it to your watch face display, and tap it to scroll through the complete list of currencies. Configure the display units & currency order on your iPhone, and then the configuration will be mirrored on Apple Watch. Be sure to always leave it running in the background on your phone so that the watch auto-refresh will work to keep data up-to-date.

Pros:

• Best crypto price ticker I've seen yet for Apple Watch.
• Supports all my favorite cryptocurrencies (including Steem, yay!) and the developer keeps adding new ones periodically.

Cons:

• It's a paid app. But shelling out a couple bucks is quite worth the convenience.
• Sometimes the Apple Watch auto-refresh stops working and you have to refresh the display manually.

5. Dictionary.com Dictionary & Thesaurus

Alright, calling this a crypto-related app is a bit of a stretch, but bear with me: most of my Steemit writing is done on my iPhone during the commute to & from work. Whenever I'm not sure if my meaning is clear in a post, looking up words in my handy dictionary provides that much needed bit of reassurance. It also has a thesaurus so you can spice up your language with a bit of variety instead of repeating the same words all the time. So this helps with my Steemit writing, which helps me earn Steem, which is a cryptocurrency (hah, see what I did there indirectly linking it back to crypto).

There is a paid version of this app, but if you can put up with the ads, the free version is more than adequate and I don't find myself missing the added features of the paid version at all. But if you do shell out for the upgrade, you'll get extra goodies like example sentences, phrases, idioms, and more.

Pros:

• Feels very complete and definitions are easy to understand
• Includes a thesaurus

Cons:

• Ads in the free version are kind of obnoxious

6. eSteem

When it comes to Steemit, even better than my dictionary is the mobile Steemit app itself! This wonderful gem gives you access to the essentials of the Steemit experience, including browsing posts, commenting, voting, and checking your account details. It has some nice features that the web site doesn't support yet, such as a built-in favorites list, indicator of your current voting power, notifications, and profile pics!

I found out about this app from @good-karma who maintains it and provides regular progress reports to the community. He's pretty responsive to feedback and each new version released has been a giant leap upwards in terms of features and usability. His latest update post is worth a read.

Pros:

• Fairly intuitive and easy to use.
• Some very welcome features such as reply notifications that the web site doesn't have.

Cons:

• App is still new so feels a bit raw in places and has some stability issues that need to be worked out before it can be a truly viable replacement for the Steemit web site.

7. Jaxx

A mobile wallet for Ethereum. I only got it recently so haven't made much use of it yet, but it worked well in my early tests. I was able to move some ETH into it from the Mist wallet on my desktop, and send / receive ETH from an exchange. The big advantage of a lightweight mobile wallet like this is you don't have to wait forever to sync with the blockchain every time you use it. And Jaxx gives you full control of your private keys, stored locally on the device, so you don't have to trust a central authority as you do with Coinbase.

One awesome feature that sets Jaxx apart from other mobile wallets is the built-in support for using the ShapeShift service to do currency conversions directly in the app. Want to convert your ETH to BTC, or vice versa? No problem! Just hit Send, and select the fox icon under the amount bar. This worked quite well when I tried it out with a small test amount. However it did take about 30 minutes for the transaction to complete, which made me a bit nervous. I'd keep conversions small until you're confident everything is working as expected.

One important note - your wallet address will change after each transaction for security purposes, but don't let this put you off: all previous deposit addresses will still work fine so it's possible to re-use them.

Pros:

• Has wallets for both Ethereum and Bitcoin.
• Has a help system that's actually really helpful.

Cons:

• Converting from ETH to BTC takes an uncomfortably long time before the BTC balance shows up in your wallet.

8. Bread wallet

If Jaxx is too feature rich for you, and all you really want is a plain no-frills Bitcoin wallet, then look no further than Bread wallet. This app only has 2 main screens: one for sending Bitcoin, and one for receiving it. Like Jaxx I haven't been using this for long, but I tried it out by transferring some Bitcoin back & forth between my Bread wallet and the Poloniex exchange, and it worked well with reasonable confirmation times.

Also note that Bread wallet is required if you want to hunt for Bitcoin using the Takara app (my choice for #10 discussed below).

Pros:

• Dead simple to use.
• Can display balances in terms of pretty much every national currency in existence.

Cons:

• Doesn't load as fast as Jaxx, especially slow if you haven't used it in a long time.
• Slightly odd choice of uBTC (micro-Bitcoin, equal to one millionth of a Bitcoin) for showing BTC balances. I find it hard to think in terms of these units, but maybe that's just me.

9. Google Authenticator

If you don't use 2 factor authentication (2FA) to protect all your cryptocurrency web accounts, then stop what you are doing and go enable it right now for every service you use. Seriously. It only takes a minute and greatly strengthens the security of your account by requiring you to enter a time-based numeric code in addition to your regular account password. With all the attempted hacks in the crypto world you just can't be too careful.

So where does the 2FA code come from? That's simple: the Google Authenticator app generates it for you. All you have to do is check the app and then type in your code. But you better type fast: the time-based code changes every 30 seconds.

Pros:

• Makes it almost impossible for your cryptocurrency accounts to be hacked.

Cons:

• Sometimes tough to type in the 2FA code before the time limit is up.
• If your phone is lost or stolen, you will face the added trouble of trying to reset 2FA on all your accounts.

10. Takara

You've heard of geocaching right? You know, it's that treasure hunting sport where you go around trying to find hidden "caches" that fellow geocachers have left lying around waiting to be discovered. Well, Takara combines Bitcoin with geocaching. That's right: with this app you can travel around looking for caches of hidden Bitcoin!

Just don't expect to find any within walking distance of your home. The caches are few and far between, not to mention fairly small in value, typically worth only a few dollars. So you won't get rich collecting them. But it is a fun thing to do while out & about on day trips, and a neat way to introduce Bitcoin to the non-technical members of your family.

Note that you will need Bread wallet installed in order to pick up a cache. Also, there's no physical treasure. You simply go to the location marked on the map, hit the "pick up" button, and answer a location-based riddle to receive the Bitcoin directly into your Bread wallet.

I'd like to give a big thanks to @kafkanarchy84 and his wonderful post highlighting Takara , without which I never would have discovered this cool little app!

Pros:

• Fun way to combine family time with cryptocurrency!
• Can find a variety of different tokens, not just Bitcoin, although some of them are pretty obscure.

Cons:

• If you live in the countryside away from big cities, then you might be out of luck - Bitcoin caches are rare in rural areas.

What are your favorite crypto apps?

I'd love to hear from you in the comments below! I'm always on the look-out for new and interesting crypto apps, so curious to know which ones you use and recommend. If anyone else has experience with the apps I've highlighted here, then feel free to add your reviews & impressions as well.

For more posts about cryptocurrency, travels in Japan, and my journey to escape corporate slavery, please follow me: @cryptomancer

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Image credits: all images in this post are screenshots taken from my trusty iPhone.