20 Incredible iPhone Apps
Here it is, a list of my favorite iPhone apps. I chose 20 of the most interesting apps on my phone, while excluding big name apps like Twitter, YouTube and WhatsApp. Take a look and let me know your thoughts @timothybucksf on Twitter.
If you're a Mac user, check out '20 Incredible Mac Apps from 2017'.
Newton Mail
Price: $49.99/year Buy Newton Mail
Newton is by far my favorite email app for the iPhone. It has a ton of wonderful features—read receipts, snooze, send later, undo send, sender profiles, connected apps and more.
You might like my article: 'CloudMagic to Newton'.
Newton Calendar
Price: $49.99/year Buy Newton Calendar
Instead of forcing highly-requested Calendar functionality into the Newton Mail app, the creators decided to build a whole new app and include it for free as part of the same subscription. It's still in early stages and is missing a some features. But it keeps getting updates, and it's already good enough that I've switched to it from Fantastical.
NeuBible
Price: $4.99 Buy NeuBible
Of the dozen or so Bible apps I've tried, NeuBible has been my favorite by far because of its functional simplicity.
You might like my full review: 'NeuBible: A Thoughtfully Designed Bible App for iOS'.
Overcast
Price: Free Upgrade: Based on Donations Download Overcast
Overcast is by far my favorite podcast app. I reviewed it years ago.
Audible
Price: Free Download Audible
Listening to audiobooks is a big part of my life, and I've been really happy with my Audible experience over the years. The app is quick, stable and gets regular updates.
You might like my article: 'Why & How I Listen to Audiobooks'
Halide
Price: $4.99 Buy Halide
If you're a photographer or just want to learn how to shoot with complete manual control, Halide is for you. It's really well designed, has an option to shoot in RAW and ingeniously takes advantage of the iPhone X notch.
Focus
Price: Free Download Focus
Focus is a super cool app for taking and editing Portrait Mode photos. It shows you the different layers of data that Portrait Mode captures and allows you to add effects and edit specific layers. This is great for adding improved bokeh effects in the background and subtler blurs in the foreground.
Deliveries
Price: $4.99 Buy Deliveries
Deliveries is perfect for those of us who order a lot online. It's really quick to add new items, and you can view their shipping progress in the app or in a helpful widget.
CARROT Weather
Price: $4.99 Upgrade: Premium or UltraPremium Memberships Buy CARROT Weather
I've always been a Dark Sky user. But I recently installed CARROT Weather, and I simply like the information layout better.
Workflow
Price: Free Download Workflow
Workflow is one of my favorite iOS apps. It's a tool that I use every day to automate simple tasks on iOS like playing specific playlists with a tap or messaging my wife with exactly how long it will take to get home.
You might like my article: '5 of My Favorite Workflows'.
IFTTT
Price: Free Download IFTTT
IFTTT stands for "If This Than That", and it does just that. You create simple rules that automatically take an action when a predefined thing occurs. For example, each time I post on Instagram, IFTTT automatically adds that image to my journaling app. It's really a great little free tool, and it has integrations with hundreds of services.
Really Bad Chess
Price: Free Upgrade: $3.99 Download Really Bad Chess
Think chess, but for any skill level. It has all the same rules, but the pieces you are given depend on your skill level. If you're really bad, you may get 4 queens. If you're really good you may get 12 pawns and no queen.
Square Cash
Price: Free Download Square Cash
Square Cash is a simple, fast way to send cash from your phone. It's like Venmo, but not terrible. (Apple Cash is another great option, but that's limited to other Apple users.)
Instapaper
Price: Free Download Instapaper
Instapaper has been a staple of the iOS App Store for many many years. It has share sheet and browser extensions that make it easy to save content for later, and it's wonderful for reading whatever you've saved
Things 3
Price: $9.99 Buy Things 3
Things 3 is the best to-do app for iOS. It's ridiculously slick, quite powerful and was clearly designed with the user experience in mind.
You might like: 'Switching from Omnifocus to Things 3'.
Buffer
Price: Free Upgrade: Awesome or Small Business Download Buffer
Buffer is the best way to schedule posts for social media. The free tier is perfect for a casual user, and if you're doing it for your job or need more advanced features, you can upgrade to one of their subscription levels. (I've been using the free tier for years.)
Reeder 3
[No longer for sale]
If you still use RSS, Reeder is a solid, dependable option. I've been happily using it for years across iPhone, iPad and Mac.
1Password
Price: $2.99/month Buy 1Password
1Password is the best password manager around. It has really good apps for iOS, Android, Mac and PC as well as extensions for Chrome, Safari, Firefox and Opera.
Rejoinders
Price: $0.99 Buy Rejoinders
This iMessage sticker pack is full of faces from Old Masters paintings. They're really fun!
Photo by Aidan Hancock on Unsplash