Essential App #4: PayPal
Money makes the world go ’round, right? If that’s the case, then there’s no more essential app than PayPal; and here in the U.S., it’s really the closest thing we have to a virtual wallet — a concept other cultures (like Japan) have enjoyed for years.
If you have a PayPal account (you don’t? Really?) you can perform all the core functions via the app: sending and requesting money, transferring funds and checking your balance. About the only functions missing are those that relate to account settings.
And there’s also the cool bump-to-pay function that PayPal introduced a few months ago that transfers funds between two iPhones bumped together, similar to the way Bump transfers contact info between two iPhones.
But that’s not all — there’s a tool for splitting the check and calculating tip after eating, a bill-reminder and a function that lets you send out requests to collect money from a group.
Of course, it’s only useful to those with PayPal accounts — but the amount of people using the service is growing, and this app is just another reason for that growth to accelerate.
When he was eight, Eli Milchman came home from frolicking in the Veld one day and was given an Atari 400. Since then, his fascination with technology has made him an intrepid early adopter of whatever charming new contraption crosses his path — which explains why he's Cult of Mac's test editor-at-large. He calls San Francisco home, where he works as a journalist and photographer. Eli has contributed to the pages of 
