Sharing hot mobile-app tips with friends has become a fun pasttime for many of us. Now you have a chance to peek behind the smartphone security codes of some successful local business people, to learn their personal app habits.

As part of a special "App Report" coming Friday in the Jan. 10 print edition of the Puget Sound Business Journal (a sister publication of TechFlash), we surveyed several executives to see how they use their mobile devices – for both business and personal purposes.

Between now and Friday, we'll run their answers to four questions. So get ready to start downloading – and if you've got any feedback after test-driving an app, we'd love to hear from you, too.

The group we surveyed includes executives drawn from responses to an email blast we sent to dozens of people. In case you notice the lack of any women on the list: We sought out a number of women, and unfortunately none participated.

One noteworthy thing about the group is that they're definitely an Apple-loving crowd. We've listed their chosen mobile devices along with a quick biographical line. Today's question follows below.

The group:

Spencer Rascoff, CEO of Seattle-based online real estate site Zillow, uses the iPhone 4S on AT&T and the Android Galaxy Nexus phone on Verizon.

Greg Rankich, CEO of Redmond-based IT and business services firm Xtreme Consulting Group, uses the iPhone 4G.

Blake Cahill, president of Seattle-based social media ad agency Banyan Branch, uses an iPhone and iPad.

Pete Shimer, managing partner of the Seattle office of audit, financial advisory, tax and consulting firm Deloitte, uses an iPhone 4 and a Kindle.

Steve Jones, CEO and partner of Bellevue-based IT consultant firm Explore Consulting, uses an iPhone 4s.

Jim Copacino, co-founder and creative director of Seattle-based ad agency Copacino+Fujikado, uses an iPhone and iPad.

Marc Williams, president of Seattle-based ad agency Williams Helde Marketing Communications, uses an iPad2 and iPhone4.

Dan Voetmann, owner and CEO of Mountlake Terrace-based ad agency Destination Marketing, uses a Motorola RAZR phone and an iPad.

Today’s question: What’s the top mobile app you can't live without to be productive in your business?

Rascoff: The Zillow real estate app, of course! I also use the Salesforce.com iPhone app to keep track of Zillow’s daily and hourly sales results.

Rankich: Facebook Mail, Echofon for Twitter (synchs and organizes tweets), Facebook, LinkedIn.

Cahill: TweetDeck (organizes tweets) and Facebook.

Shimer: iPhone Maps, Google and Alaska Air.

Jones: NetSuite (provides users with business information such as business metrics and customer leads, on the go). It's basically my entire business on my phone.

Copacino: Probably Dragon Dictation. It’s an efficient way to produce emails from a smartphone on the fly, though things can sometimes be lost in the translation. “We need to provide the the tools to do the job” was once translated as “We need to provide the fools to do the job.”

Williams: Maps.

Voetmann: Email.

Tomorrow's question: What app makes your personal life better?