The 101 best Facebook applications in the world today

Facebook applications are the best thing since MySpace widgets sliced bread, as any fule kno. What's more, they're mushrooming by the day, as companies and individual developers alike catch on to the potential of having their content splashed over (potentially) millions of Facebook profiles.

But which are the ones worth adding? I've put together a big list of 101 of the best, most useful, most interesting and silliest Facebook apps below. And no, I haven't just worked my way down the 'Most Popular' list on the site - I've investigated every one to see what it does, and whether it's worth putting on your profile. And when you've read 'em, check our 101 MORE cool Facebook applications post...

1. Top Friends. Flatter your best mates by putting them in your Top Friends box (and insult all your others by leaving them out). Get it

2. Tetris Tournament. Play Tetris and reduce your friends' high scores to dust. Utterly, utterly addictive. Get it

3. Training. App that tracks your fitness regime, and compares it to your friends so you can offer mutual support (or laugh at the fat lazy donut-munchers in your group, obv). Get it

4. iLike. Barnstorming Music 2.0 application that lets you share music and show off your tune knowledge in the competition. Get it

5. Zombies. At first I was irritated by this, but so many people have signed up, it's actually fun infecting even more. Sorry. Get it

6. My Aquarium. Your own virtual fishtank, which can only be populated by friends sending you fish. I want an octopus... Get it

7. Beers. Buy virtual beers for friends. Not as much fun as buying real beers in the real world, but better for your waistline. Get it

8. SkypeMe. Make Skype calls from within Facebook, which makes you a bonafide Web 2.0 media node in your own right. Get it

9. What's Your Stripper Name? Note, if you're actually a stripper, this switches to 'What's Your Internetweb Geek Name?' Probably. Get it

10. Flixter Movies. Rate films, see what your friends are watching, and bitch about Optimus Prime not having the right shaped spoilers in the new Transformer film. Get it

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11. Fantasy Hip-Hop (pictured). Live out your blingest dreams by running a virtual hip-hop label. Get it

12. Likeness. Find out which of your friends you most look like, or compare yourself to the most beautiful celebs around. Get it

13. Friends Organiser. Sort your friends into groups, like schoolfriends, work friends, sports friends, and people who you don't really like but they added you so you thought it would be rude to decline friends. Get it

14. Poker. Play Texas Hold'em with virtual money against other Facebook users. Just remember not to put 'I'm rubbish at bluffing' on your profile. Get it

15. Irrepressible.info. Facebook app version of the existing blog widget that puts snippets of censored stuff on your profile. No, not pr0n - unfairly censored stuff.Get it

16. Horoscopes. Show everyone that you're a superstitious idiot who won't leave the house if Mystic Meg spooks you. And she does spook a lot of people. Get it

17. Graffiti. Let your mates scribble all over your profile in a Banksy stylee. Except not as arty. Get it

18. X Me. Replaces the restrictive 'poke' feature with an option to let your friends do Whatever They Want to you. Which, be warned, is usually filthy. Get it

19. Moods. Splatter emoticons on your profile to show whether you're sad, grumpy or joyful. Either way, you'll look like a round yellow acieeed face. Get it

20. Causes. Sign up for a good cause, and tell everyone else about it. Without demanding money like a chugger, obviously. Get it

21. Where I've Been (pictured). Show off your global travelling (i.e. how huge your carbon footprint is) with an interactive world map showing where you've been. Get it

22. Red Bull Roshambull. Like Rock Paper Scissors, except branded by bug-eyed energy drink. Get it

23. Cars. Boast about your collection of motors. Even the old bangers.Get it

24. Trackfeeder Track Of The Day. Find out about a new choon every day, with links to buy it. Get it

25. Facebook Carpool. Find people to share a lift with (but check their profile first to make sure they're not serial killers). Get it

26. I Have Never. Facebook version of that drinking game where you have to say things you've never done, then watch shamefaced friends 'fess up to them. Get it

27. Dogbook. Because man's best friend deserves his own Facebook profile, even if the Interests are the same on every one (wagging, barking, bum-sniffing). Get it

28. Super Wall. Like a normal wall, but super. Get it

29. My Questions. Pose lots of questions to your friends, and see if they bother to answer. One step up from those email forwards you've received 16 times, anyway. Get it

30. Hot Or Not (pictured). You know the score: upload your photo, find you're a 4.3, cry. Get it

31. Tag Cloud. Let your friends 'tag' you with whatever adjectives they want. Could lead to you getting rid of several friends, depending how rude they are. Get it

32. Fantasy Stock Exchange. You could make a million, if only you had the starting capital. Prove it here. Get it

33. Picnik. Edit your photos within Facebook. Ideal for cropping out former friends who you've just deleted from your profile. Get it

34. SuperPoke! Another way to spice up your poking with other actions.Get it

35. HotLists. Show your preferences (e.g. Heroes or 24, Canada v USA, crack v ketamine) via the medium of colourful logos. Get it

36. Football Fan. Put your team's badge on your profile. Sadly, there's no option to deface it with wildly sweary graffiti when they play like buffoons. Get it

37. Catbook. It's not fair to let the dogs have all the Facebook fun. Get it

38. Uber Music Player. Another music 2.0 application that's very customisable. Get it

39. Games. A decent collection of online games playable via Facebook. Be warned, this will waste hours of your day.Get it

40. Roomster. Find a new house-mate or lodger, while checking their profile first to ensure they don't list 'Playing Deathcore Grime at 3am' as one of their interests. Get it

41. Lego Man. Create your own blocky Lego avatar to represent you on Facebook. Get it

42. Awareness Ribbons. Show off a cause that's close to your heart (well, your lapels) with these virtual cause ribbons. Get it

43. SlideShare. Share your PowerPoint presentations with Facebook friends. Probably more useful for the ones you work with, if I'm honest. Get it

44. Rupture. Show off your World of Warcraft profile to all and sundry. So they can kill you next time you log on. Get it

45. Scrabulous. Play Scrabble within Facebook, with the advantage of having a separate Google window open to find words with Q, X and Z in. Get it

46. PopSugar 100. Show off your favourite celebs (Jordan, Timmy Mallett, That Woman Off Wife Swap) on your profile, and see who readers of celeb blog PopSugar think is cool. Clue: none of the three above. Get it

47. StyleFiles (pictured). Create your own catwalk outfits using bits from Marc Jacobs, Chloe and lots more labels that fashionistas will know and love (i.e. I haven't a clue who they are). Get it

48. Audio. Quick'n'easy way to share music files (and thus Kill Music).Get it

49. Twitter. Post updates to Twitter, assuming you haven't dumped it in favour of Facebook status updates. Get it

50. Last.fm Music. Cool app based on everybody's favourite personalised streaming radio service. And everybody does have a favourite, since you ask. Get it

51. Booklist. Show off your literary library, complete with links to Amazon with your affiliate code to make a few quid.Get it

52. Fantasy Cricket. Much more fun now that England are good again. Get it

53. Console Identities. Display your Xbox Live Gamertag, PlayStation Network ID, or Wii Friend Code on your profile. Cool. Get it

54. The Compass. Nifty political tool made by the Washington Post that shows how much of a lentil-chewing hippie you are (or not). Get it

55. Simpsons Quotes. All your fave soundbites from the TV show, displayed on your profile for all to see. Get it

56. Jukebox. Neat Flash-based streaming music player that lets you subject friends to your collection of Kula ShakerB-sides when they come to your profile. Get it

57. (fluff)Friends. Put a cute pet on your profile. Be warned, this may have the same effect on potential love-partners as keeping seven teddybears on your bed. Get it

58. Weight Loss Tracker. Diet going well? Turn your slimming into a neat graph so that friends can encourage you. Not so much fun if you fall off the treadmillwagon and start stuffing yourself with Milky Bars, mind. Get it

59. YouTube Videos. Search the most popular vids on YouTube and watch them from within your profile. ChineseBackstreet Boys a-go-go! Get it

60. Justin Timberlake. The Trousersnake gets his own official Facebook application, gathering all manner of videos and other content. D'you think he poked Britney? Get it

61. Herban Tones. Convert your MP3s into ringtones then pimp them to your friends via your profile. Doesn't work so well if you only offer Cheeky Girls tones, mind. Get it

62. Friend Statistics. Work out the average age and gender of your mates. Then weep when they're all 37-year-old males who still live with their mums. Get it

63. Stuff I Hate. Because social networking profiles should have a place for vengeful bitterness. Get it

64. Fortune Cookie. Like the ones you get after a Chinese meal. Except you don't get to stuff your face with egg fried rice first. Hang on, that's no fun... Get it

65. Daily Bible Verse. Because you don't only find wisdom inside Chinese snacks. Get it

66. PuzzleBee. Turn your photos into jigsaw puzzles and share them with friends. Ideally used with drunken-night-out pics the morning after, just to mess with their hangovers even more. Get it

67. NES games. Play old-skool Nintendo classics in your browser. Just possibly not 100% legal, mind. Get it

68. Rockband. Create your own virtual rawk band, and fight your way to the top of the charts by signing up fans. I still don't understand where the virtual sex, drugs and rock'n'roll comes in though. Get it

69. Zipatrip. Part list of where you've been in the world, and part travelog with photos of all your holiday happenings (i.e. you, red as a lobster, licking vodka off an 18-30 rep's buttocks). Get it

70. Wikipedia. Search the planet's best Encyclopaedia 2.0 from within Facebook, while telling yourself that it's never inaccurate. Never. Get it

71. Pokedex. For Pokemon fans who've gotta catch 'em all (or at least look at them on Facebook). Get it

72. Friend Wheel. See the links between your friends in a colourful graph-wheel stylee. Get it

73. Web Sudoku. Pit your numerical wits against a series of Sudoku puzzles, then compare your times to friends. Get it

74. SlideShows. Turn your photos and vids into rolling slideshows that even your family will try not to watch. Get it

75. Honesty Box. Send anonymous messages to your friends telling them what you REALLY think. Isn't the point of friends that you can do this without needing anonymity? Get it

76. Food Fight! (pictured) Get daily lunch money to spend on food, then chuck it at your friends. In the real world, it's wasting the planet's natural resources, but on Facebook it's just wasting your work-time. Cool. Get it

77. Vampires. Like zombies, except even more bitey. Get it

78. Lending Club. Borrow money from a collective of Facebook users. Although the fact that someone spends their working day on Facebook may indicate that they soon might not have a salary to meet the repayments... Get it

79. Diner Dash. One of my fave ever web casual games goes Facebook, with you working as a waitress. Except more fun than that sounds, honest. Get it

80. Snooth. Get wine recommendations, helping you step up from your usual habit of buying whatever's got a couple of quid knocked off the price in Sainsburys. Or is that just me (hic)? Get it

81. Happiness Gauge. Show the world how grumpy you're feeling today. Get it

82. Tarot Cards. Your own personal set of Tarot cards, showing the influences that govern your entire life. Death, Death and Death isn't a great set, obviously. Get it

83. Russian Roulette. More death, in that you put a gun on your profile that friends can chance their arm (well, eye/brains) with. Get it

84. Pac-Man. Decidedly unofficial, but still retro-tastic gaming fun. Get it

85. Chess. Play chess against your Facebook friends, to show that you're intelligent enough to have progressed from draughts. Get it

86. I'm A Virgin??? Well, are you? This game lets you guess who's Done It and who hasn't. Just like your schooldays.Get it

87. myCrush. Tag friends who you'd secretly like a cheeky snog with, and then see if they tag you back. If they do, follow up with a good poke etc etc. Get it

88. My Flickr. Show your Flickr photos on your profile, sorted in a range of ways (Tags, Interesting, Photoset etc). Get it

89. YouTube Skins. Put a YouTube vid on your profile, then bling it up with some surrounding artwork (for example, a plasma screen). Very cool indeed. Get it

90. YouCams. Where Facebook and webcams collide. And not just for cybersex either. Honest. Get it

91. iPhone Owner. Perhaps the smuggest Facebook app in existence, this lets the world know that you've got Apple's new handset and they haven't. Unless they've added this app too, of course. Get it

92. Art (pictured). Put posh artworks on your profile, to show how cultured you are. Or if you're Prince William, to show which ones you own. Get it

93. Big Brother News. Who's whining at who in the latest pointless argument inside the Big Brother house? Find out here. Get it

94. Chizzat. Live chat to your Facebook friends on your profile. For those who are just TOO DAMN IMPATIENT to wait for wall-to-wall. Get it

95. Your Hottest Friend. Vote on which of your friends you'd most like to spoil the friendship with a slightly-taboo shagfest. Get it

96. Project Playlist. Simple and cool app that integrates with your playlist on Music 2.0 site Project Playlist. Get it

97. Girl On Bus. Suitably silly animated game where you have to stop a cartoon girl called Maggie from toppling over on the bus. Get it

98. Friend Tracker. Find out who's been reading your profile with this app, which lets friends click on a link to let you know they stopped by. Get it

99. Magnetic Words. Stick fridge poetry all over your profile, and see how many rude phrases people come up with.Get it

100. Virtual iPhone. Much less expensive than a real one, with no battery worries. Get it

101. Chuck Norris. Just because. Get it

Write Your Own Facebook App in 5 Minutes

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Do you know that the Facebook Apps Directory now contains more than 350,000^ Facebook applications for their 300 million users.

Whether you are looking to embed presentations in your Facebook profile or want to share your favorite books and movies with friends or just want to spend time playing a word game with strangers, chances are that there already exists a Facebook app to solve your problem.

However if you are feeling a little more adventurous and want to develop your own Facebook App that works the way you want* and doesn't carry any third-party branding or advertising, here's a an easy tutorial to help you get started.

[*] Check out apps.facebook.com/digitalinspiration.

[^] For comparison sake, the Apple iTunes store is relatively bigger as it has about 85,000apps for their 50 million iPhone + iPod Touch users worldwide.

How to Write a Facebook Application in 5 minutes

The Plan: We'll write a basic Facebook app that will have links to our social profiles and a Google site search box. Later, you can expand the idea to build slightly more complex applications that contain RSS feeds, video clips, etc.

Things you need: You don't have to be a "geek" for writing basic Facebook Applications. All you need is some knowledge of web programming languages and some free space on a web server where you'll host your Facebook app (which are nothing but simple PHP files).

OK, let's get started.

Step 1. Assuming that you already have an account on Facebook, add the Developer application to your Facebook profile and then click "Set Up New Application".

Step 2. Give your new Facebook App a name, agree to the terms and then upload some image for your application logo.

Step 3. From the Application settings, choose Canvas and set FBML as the rendering method. The other option is IFRAME but we'll use FBML for the moment to keep things simple.

Step 4. Using any WYSIWYG HTML editor (or even notepad), write the content that you want to display inside your Facebook application.

In this example, we are adding just two hyperlinked images with a Google search box and therefore the code looks something like this:

Step 5. Log in to your web server where you'll be hosting the Facebook App and create a sub-directory called "facebook". So if you domain is example.com, the Facebook app can be accessed from example.com/facebook.

Under the facebook directory, download (wget) the application template and rename the file to index.php. Replace the API Key and the Secret key in index.php with real values and also copy-paste the HTML (that you created in Step 4) into the index.php file.

Step 6. While you are inside the "facebook" directory, download the Facebook library(through wget) and extract the files in this archive via gunzip and tar. Now execute the following command to move facebook.php and other library files outside the facebook-platform subdirectory.

$ mv facebook-platform/client/facebook*.php .

Step 7. We are almost done. Go back to your Facebook Application page in the browser, click "Edit Settings" and set the values for Canvas.

• The Canvas Page URL - choose a nice vanity URL for your Facebook application.
• The Canvas Callback URL - location of the web service where your files are hosted (in our case, this will be example.com/facebook).

That's it. Anyone can now add your Facebook app to their profiles either in the Boxes tab or in the sidebar of the main profile page.

Check the "Stay Connected" box on this Facebook page for a working demo.

Extend your Facebook Apps

We just created a basic app but you can make it more useful with simple modifications. Some ideas:

#1. You can incorporate RSS feeds in your Facebook apps though a feed parsing library like SimplePie.

#2. You can track your Facebook application usage via Google Analytics. Just add the following code in the PHP code.

#3. You can use the same CSS Styles and color schemes for your Facebook Apps that are used on the main Facebook site.

#4. If you want to embed YouTube video or Slideshare presentations in your Facebook apps (as shown here), you should use the <fb:swf> tag.

#5. Instead of using a plain search box, you should consider using the Google AJAX search API (see example) as that will let you customize the look and feel of search results to match other elements on the Facebook page.