Indispensable additions to your iPhone
Our selection of the very best apps for iOS devices, from creativity to organisation
Spent all your money on a shiny new iPhone? Wallet looking forlorn and empty? Don’t panic!
You can still get the best out of your device by installing amazing free apps.
In this round-up, we list our iOS favourites. They’re top-notch options, whether you fancy a spot of stargazing, finger-painting, meditation, photo editing, or more besides. So give them all a whirl, given that they won’t cost you a penny! Most of them work on iPad too, of course.
Prisma
FROm prisma-ai.com Also on iPad Want to be an artist, but have the painterly skills of an amoeba? Try Prisma. Load a photo, select a filter, and your snap is transformed into anything from a Munch to a Picasso. Some styles sit behind in-app purchases – as does high-res output – but for free there’s enough to fill several art galleries with beautiful works.
Oak
FROm oakmeditation.com Also on iPad Too often, your iPhone’s a source of stress. Oak reasons it doesn’t need to be. If you’ve only a few seconds to spare, you can calm or reinvigorate yourself with some breathing exercises. When you’re able to spare a little more time, there are meditation sessions suitable for newcomers and old hands alike.
Snapseed
FROm facebook.com/snapseed
Also on iPad Snapseed offers a rather baffling slew of options, but persevere and you’ll find the finest freebie photo editing experience on iOS. The app’s packed full of superb tools, from basic adjustments to out-there filters. The interface is intuitive and tactile. Moreover, edits are non-destructive, encouraging experimentation, and edit ‘stacks’ can be saved as one-tap filters for later.
PicCollage
FROM pic-collage.com Also on iPad When you fancy creating something visually striking from a set of snaps but lack time, try loading them into PicCollage. You can rearrange pictures in the grid, apply filters, slather the result in more stickers and scribbles than strictly necessary, and then send it to your friends.
Retrica
FROm retrica.co Ignore the tiresome social network full of gurning users welded to this app and instead live in its camera component. There, you’ll find dozens of retro-infused filters and post-shoot tools for adding stamps, text and scribbles to your pic. Our favourite bit is the collage. This old-school photo booth stitches multiple shots into a grid of images, and beautifully and effectively portrays the passage of time.
Tinycards
FROM tinycards.duolingo.com Also on iPad These digital flashcards aim to infuse facts into your brain that may otherwise leak out of your ears. Duolingo’s own cards are bold and breezy, and there are many third-party sets too. Beyond that, you can make your own custom cards to share.
Night Sky
FROm icandiapps.com Also on iPad Astronomy apps on your iPhone give you a glimpse of the heavens. Night Sky lets you drag about your screen or wave your iPhone in front of your face to adjust the view. When your eyes are done gorging, info pages for celestial objects provide a feast for your brain, and you can pluck planets and constellations from the scene for detailed exploration in dazzling augmented reality views.
Scanbot
FROM scanbot.io Also on iPad Although you can scan into Apple’s Notes, it’s handy to have a bespoke scanner app dedicated to the task. This one will quickly scan, smarten and optimise any document set before your iPhone’s camera. Multi-page scans are supported, along with a range of cloud services for storage.
Quik
FROm quik.gopro.com Also on iPad Your iPhone provides an easy way to shoot video, but editing miniature blockbusters can be a chore. Quik streamlines the process to just a few taps. You select some videos and a theme. The app then finds great moments in your footage, adds transitions, applies the theme, and serves up an edit that’s synced to the beat of the background music. And if you’re not satisfied, everything can be tweaked.
Infuse 5
FROM firecore.com/infuse Also on iPad If you’ve got loads of videos either on your Mac or stashed online, getting them on to your iPhone can take an age – and they may not be compatible. Infuse is the solution – it’ll stream videos from just about anywhere, and will even download cover artwork for titles it recognises.
Overcast
FROm overcast.fm Also on iPad Apple’s Podcasts is a serviceable app for delving into podcasts, but Overcast goes the extra mile. Smart playlists help you organise shows and listen to new things. The best bits, though, are the effects. You can use smart speed and voice boost to shrink silences and enhance clarity, respectively. Smart speed then saves time by cleverly speeding up a show without adversely affecting playback quality.
Feedly
FROM feedly.com Also on iPad, Mac If you never want to miss a story from your favourite websites, use Feedly to create your own personalised newsfeed, mixing and matching online newspapers and niche blogs. You get access to more than 40 million feeds. Other features include the option of a stripped-back clean reading page and easy sharing.
MultiTimer
FROm multitimer.net Also on iPad For some reason, Apple thinks you need only a single timer on your iPhone. MultiTimer, as its name suggests, disagrees. The free version can accommodate up to a dozen timers of varying types, including countdowns, Pomodoro timers, interval/lap timers for exercise, counters and world clocks. Each timer created can have a custom colour and icon, and you can set a delay before each timer starts.
Speedtest
FROM speedtest.net Also on iPad, Mac During those moments you wonder whether your internet connection has actually slowed to a crawl, fire up Speedtest to check. Within seconds, you’ll have an indication of download and upload speeds plus ping rate (reaction time), and these can be recorded to keep track of your connection over time.
LastPass
FROM lastpass.com Also on iPad, Mac Although iCloud Keychain stores your passwords and payment cards, LastPass arguably makes them easier to manage – and, as of iOS 12, it seamlessly integrates into the iPhone experience. There’s also one-to-one sharing, and LastPass is available for Windows and Android, should you use those platforms.
FROM getpocket.com Also on iPad, Mac If you end the day staring at dozens of unread browser tabs, use Pocket. Send links to the service and it downloads articles, but strips content back to a more readable layout that contains only the essential text and images from pages. You can then use the iPhone app to read saved stories during your commute home, or when ensconced in a comfy armchair.
Wunderlist
FROM wunderlist.com Also on iPad, Mac This app comes across as how Reminders should be. It’s straightforward yet offers plenty of powerful features: scheduling, automated inboxes, collaborative lists, the option to upload attachments and comment on a task. It’s good stuff for a shopping list – and having a grumble when someone still manages to forget the milk.