Indispensable additions to your iPhone
Our selection of the very best apps for iOS devices, from creativity to organisation
From social media to social gaming, from multi-format messaging to mighty reference tomes, you name it, there’s probably a free iPhone app for it.
Open the App Store on your iPhone and search for an app. If there’s a ‘Get’ button instead of a price, then the app is free to download and use (although there might still be in-app purchases needed for certain features).
FROM App Store
NEEDS iOS/iPadOS 13.4 or later
What could we write about Facebook that you haven’t read already? Not much we’ll wager, but as it’s one of the major social-media platforms and has a great free application for the iPhone and iPad, we won’t exclude it from our list. Using the free Facebook app is far more convenient than accessing the website. It offers the same features, but is perfectly tuned to the iPhone and its touchscreen. You can read incoming news, post to your timeline and more, but if you want the personal messaging feature, you also need the Messenger app (also free).
Wikipedia
FROM App Store
NEEDS iOS 14 or later
If there’s something you need to look up online, chances are it will be on Wikipedia. It’s an encyclopaedia that anyone can edit or add to. If there’s a subject you think needs a page, you can add one. If you think there’s a mistake on an entry, you can correct it. If a page needs updating or adding to, you can do that too. Of course, this means it’s prone to both errors and vandalism, but it’s still worth having for when you need to check your facts. Just don’t depend on it for writing essays or magazine features… It’s completely free, with no adverts.
TikTok
FROM tiktok.com
NEEDS iOS 10 or later
The social media app TikTok is based on short user-made video clips. Choose who to follow – including celebrities as well as your friends and family – and enjoy their videos on your iPhone. You can also make your own and share them with the world in the same way. These videos can last from 15 seconds to 10 minutes, so they won’t take up huge amounts of your time (unless you watch hundreds of them, of course…) The more successful TikTokers have become moderately famous, allowing them to take corporate sponsorship for influencer marketing. It’s the new advertising.
Google Maps
FROM App Store
NEEDS iOS 13.4 or later Google’s free Maps app complements the Apple Maps app very nicely. The two navigation giants offer similar features and information, so which you prefer is mostly a matter of taste. Google’s Street View is definitely ahead of Apple’s similar Look Around feature, though. It covers almost the entire world, while Apple’s equivalent is limited to major cities in a handful of countries. Naturally, as Google Maps is free and Apple Maps is bundled with iOS anyway, there’s no reason not to have both applications on your iPhone, meaning you can take your pick.
Radio Garden Live
FROM App Store
NEEDS iOS 11 or later Radio Garden Live plays radio stations from around the world. As well as organising them according to genre or country, it offers a rotatable globe displaying the locations of each internet radio station. A non-profit Dutch radio and digital research project, you can mark stations as favourites, explore local, national and international stations and more. At time of writing, there was a problem with listening to overseas stations from the UK, but the developer hopes to resolve this issue soon and it can be negotiated via VPN.
BBC News
FROM App Store
NEEDS iOS 12.1 or later
The BBC News app is a useful way of following UK national and international news.
It covers areas such as politics, science, environment, technology and sport, but if you’re very interested in the latter there’s a separate BBC Sport app too, which is also free. You can make an account on the app so you can identify subjects that are of special interest to you, and have them curated automatically. There’s a section for stories that are especially popular, and also a dedicated area for videos, which you can watch on your iPhone.
Calendarium
FROM piotrknapczyk.com NEEDS iOS 9 or later Historians take note. Calendarium gives you a list of important historical events that happened on today’s date, whether it happened last year or deep into antiquity. Scroll up and down for more events, and tap one for a pop-up window giving links to Wikipedia. You can use the chevrons in the bottom corners of the screen to move forwards and backwards through the calendar, tap the planet Saturn at the top left for a map of where the planets are today, or tap the ‘i’ icon opposite it for further information. It even shows the times of the day’s sunrise and sunset.
Speedtest by Ookla
FROM speedtest.net NEEDS iOS 13 or later
How fast is your internet? Are you getting the speeds you’re paying for? With Speedtest by Ookla you can check. It’s a great little utility that does one job, and does it well. Open the app and it identifies your service provider. Tap the Go button and it connects to a local server and performs a test on both your download and upload speeds. Check them against what your ISP says you should be getting, but remember, the figures they quote are for optimal conditions. You’re bound to lose a little speed depending on the cabling you have. You can rate your ISP in the app too.
what3words
FROM what3words.com NEEDS iOS 14 or later what3words could save your life. The app divides the world into three-metre squares and gives each one a unique combination of three words. So if you’re lost or in trouble, anywhere in the world, you can call the emergency or rescue services and give them the three words. They can then find your location to within three metres. It works literally everywhere, regardless of whether there are landmarks nearby. You could be on the moors with no idea where you are or on a sinking boat in the middle of the sea – the app will have your whereabouts.
Duolingo – Language Lessons
FROM duolingo.com NEEDS iOS 14 or later
Parlez-vous Français? Sprechen Sie Deutsch? With Duolingo, you can. It’s the most popular language school on the web. Almost all features are free, but a subscription removes ads and offers a little more. The free version is still enough to teach you a language though, with lessons based on vocabulary, grammar, pronunciation and listening skills. You can link up with friends, progress through leagues, and enjoy short stories. It offers more than a hundred courses over 42 languages. You can even learn Klingon (Star Trek) if you fancied the challenge!
FROM whatsapp.com NEEDS iOS 12 or later
With WhatsApp you can send messages to friends, family and colleagues, just like you can with Apple Messages. You can also use it like FaceTime, making video and audio calls over the web. You can add pics to your messages, and even join and maintain groups of up to 256 people for group chats. The app is free to download, and free to use as it depends on an internet connection. WhatsApp is multiplatform, which is ideal if you need to connect with people who don’t use Apple devices, and it’s encrypted end to end, so no one can snoop on your communications.