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Heres a list of some of the most unique and helpful iPhone apps you never knew you needed.
Each one has earned glowing user reviews, is regularly updated, and many have even won awards.
Photo:William Hook / Unsplash
Best of all, theyre all freethough some may offer in-app purchases for extra features.
Plan Home Renovations: Magicplan
Easy to layout your own floor plans.
Customize with images, notes, and more.
It may lack precision some professionals need.
Doesn’t integrate with other design software.
Connect notes using links.
Simple tagging system; create new tags in text using hashtags.
Only available for Mac and iOS.
Some features like syncing between devices requires a paid subscription.
For anote-taking appthat balances simplicity with powerful functionality, Bear really takes the cake.
There’s even an advanced markup editor plus options to export your notes to PDF or Word documents.
The “Not on Netflix” category.
Ads at the start and during videos.
Ad interruptions can be at awkward places.
No filtering options within categories, such as by popularity, date added, or ratings.
There are no subscription fees to pay with this one.
Search for a specific title, browse the categories, and check out the reviews pulled from Rotten Tomatoes.
Save Web Links Fast: Instapaper
Organize your bookmarked articles with folders.
Captures the text of your articles without web clutter.
Add notes and highlighting to articles.
Adjust fonts and themes to customize your experience.
Not optimized for handling other media like video.
Cannot tag articles.
Instapaper helps you solve that problem by letting you save web links for later with a few quick taps.
Stick to Your Budget: Debit & Credit
Makes recording expenses easy.
Use geotagging to speed up adding transactions at frequented locations.
Data is saved in iCloud account.
Doesn’t connect directly to your financial accounts.
Sharing accounts requires two purchased premium licenses.
When it comes to sticking to a budget, simplicity is best.
It can also switch between accounts easily.
Get Leaner, Fitter, and Stronger: Sworkit
Offers a 30-day trial.
Pre-made and custom designed workouts.
Choose curated music playlists on Apple Music and Spotify.
Requires a subscription to use, which is on the pricier side.
Time between exercises is very short, and can be too fast for some.
Manage Email on the Go: Edison Mail
Design custom swipe functions.
Optional thread view for email messages.
Usage terms include permission to read user emails; default is set to opt-in.
Data gathered via the app can be shared with third parties.
Find Your Way in the World: Waze
Alerts for speed traps and road hazards.
Maps are clear and easy to understand.
Traffic tracking, alerts, and alternate routes.
Traffic avoidance can be hit-or-miss sometimes.
Reporting can be a distraction if driving.
It helps you avoid traffic jams, accidents, police traps, and more in real time.
you might even get parking suggestions to help you look for a good parking spot.
Daily reminder to check subscriptions you’re enrolled in.
Using it grants access to emails, which can be read.
Nobody likes having to deal with unwanted or unimportant subscriptions messages in their inbox.
Instead of doing it yourself, let Unroll.Me help.
Discover New Dining Experiences: OpenTable
Find restaurants and get recommendations.
Easy to see available reservation times.
Easy to reserve without calling the restaurant.
Points rewards system has become less rewarding recently.
Popular restaurants may purposefully not list availability during peak times.
Looking for somewhere great to eat?
OpenTable helps you discover thousands of restaurants around the world and lets you make reservations through the app.
Works well with other Readdle apps, such as Scanner Pro and Spark.
Connects to cloud services OneDrive, Dropbox, Google Drive, and Box.
Doesn’t link directly to an iCloud account.
No real downsides or problems with this useful app.
Wouldn’t it be great to have a central hub on your iPhone for your important files?
Documents makes it possible.
you’re free to read, listen, view, or annotate files from one convenient place.
Backup Photos: Google Photos
Powerful and fast visual searches.
Easy to share photos.
Face recognition in photos is sometimes inaccurate.
No advanced editing features.
As an iPhone user, you already have the convenience of Apple iCloud for backing up your photos.
Motivate your cardio workout with charity donations.
More than 40 charities available.
Easy to start using.
Track the total donations you generated for your charities.
Charity donation caps each year; once reached, efforts don’t generate further donations.
Charities are generally large ones; smaller and local options would be great.
Doesn’t offer workout app features such as music or other data monitoring.
Automate More Functions: IFTTT
User-generated applets save you from having to create your own.
Works with voice assistants like Siri and Alexa.
Easy to use and create applets.
May take playing with the app a bit to grasp all the ways you might use it.
Can only create a single step applet.
With IFTTT, you create “applets” that trigger one app to cause an action on another app.
There are also hundreds of existing applets created by others that you might use for yourself.
Use the Discover and Search tabs to see what’s available.
Find Great Deals: Flipp
Find savings on groceries and manage your list in one app.
Printable coupons and interactive circulars for major retailers.
Search items to locate stores in your area where they’re on sale.
Huge number of retailers to choose from.
Lack of a barcode scanner seems like a big missing feature.
Some large retailers don’t offer coupons on Flipp.
If you’re an avid deal hunter, Flipp is for you.
Clip items to your list, and you’ll be prepared to save when you checkout.
Publicly Share Photos: VSCO
Sharing to social networks.
Select different points for focus and exposure.
Doesn’t have a lot of social features like Instagram.
Requires a full subscription to access its full features, though it’s reasonably priced.
Instagrammight be the most popular photo-sharing app at the moment.
Still, VSCO is another worth trying if picture-perfect social sharing is something you really dig.
It’s designed to help creators reach their fullest creative potential.
For mobile photographers who want to take their art above and beyond, VSCO can help them get there.
Shop in One Stop: Gumtree
Posting ads is generally a simple process.
Transactions work with PayPal.
Significant complaints about customer service quality.
Problems with scammers and fraud make using the system risky if you’re not on guard.
It’s your one-stop shop for everything local.
The app uses your location to show you local ads in categories that are easy to browse.
Declutter Your Life: Bunz
Focuses on trading items rather than buying and selling with currency.
Item trading encourages reuse and environmental sustainability.
May have limited or no trades available outside of urban areas.
Issues with racists, misogynists, homophobes, trolls, and the usual dregs of the internet.
Travel times, cost, and “rain safe” details.
Offline functionality so that you might use it in areas without service.
Cities can vary in how comprehensive and effective the app is.
Arrival times, outages, and delays can be inaccurate at times.
Citymapper is the ultimate travel app for getting around major cities across the globe.
Listen to Great Music: SoundCloud
Curated playlists based on activities.
Discover new music and artists.
Ads and subscription fees.
Have to listen to an ad after a couple of song skips.
Some features, like offline listening, are only available with a paid subscription.
It has over 120 million tracks from both new and well-known artists.
You never have to worry about pesky ads.
