Best Apps For Iphone 2021

This is not just a list of the best apps-we tried to also include some background information, reasons why they were chosen, an explanation of how they are used and most importantly which market niche they are best suited for. We came up with the list after combing through hundreds of app directories and critics’ lists from all over the web.

Best Apps For Iphone 2021

Drafts
best iphone apps: drafts

(Image credit: Agile Tortoise)
Agile Tortoise makes a great note-taking and quickfire writing app with the aptly named Drafts. Fire Drafts up, and the app throws you a quick blank page with keyboard at the ready. New entries and notes get placed into an Inbox so you can tag and sort them later.

Alternatively, you can use any of the dozens of useful quick actions and app integrations to turn your jotted-down text notes into documents, tweets, social media notes, emails or messages, while Inboxed notes can be tagged for sorting, flagged for importance, or archived. The text editor itself is highly customizable, allowing you to tweak everything from spacing to line heights and margins.

A $2.99/month premium subscription to Drafts lets you add and edit quick actions; it also adds themes and icons while introducing workspaces and other handy productivity features.

Download Drafts for iPhone

Flow by Moleskine
best iphone apps: Flow by Moleskine

(Image credit: Moleskine Studios)
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Moleskine isn’t just about physical journals and notebooks anymore. The company has made a strong push into iOS apps, highlighted by Flow, an impressive drawing and note-taking app that does justice to Moleskine’s notebook roots. Flow is ideal for the iPad’s more expansive screen, but you’ll find a solid iPhone version, too.

Users can draw or take notes on an infinite-width canvas that lets you customize everything from your writing tools (virtual pens, pencils and markers in a variety of colors and sizes) and paper (from Moleskine’s traditional ivory paper to black, white, and blue, with options for grids and more). Additions in the Flow 2 updated included real-time collaboration, vertical documents (ideal for the iPhone’s screen) and a pencil case feature that puts your drawing tools on your iPhone while you use your full iPad screen as a canvas.

The app is free for a 7-day trial, with subscriptions costing $1.99 per month. With that fee, you get cloud storage and app updates.

Download Flow by Moleskine for iPhone

Voice Dream Reader
best iphone apps voice dream reader

(Image credit: Voice Dream)
If you need your iPhone to do the reading on your behalf, turn to Voice Dream Reader. This 2021 Apple Design Awards winner has earned raves for boosting the accessibility features of Apple’s phones.

You can set Voice Dream Reader to work on documents and ebooks, with the app’s text-to-speech prowess taking over the reading for you. Your $19 purchase gets you one premium Acapela voice and there’s support for 36 built-in iOS voices across 27 languages that you can also enjoy for free. Otherwise, in-app purchases allow you to select from more than 200 other premium voices.

In addition to support for PDF, Plain text, MS Word, MS PowerPoint, RTF, and Google Docs as well as ePub ebooks and web articles, Voice Dream Reader includes a built-in scanner for converting printed text into speech.

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Download Voice Dream Reader for iPhone

Best iPhone utility apps
When you’re on the hunt for the best iOS apps, don’t overlook utilities. Many of them may handle just one task, but that one task can make your iPhone that much easier to use.

Just Press Record
just press record

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The stock Voice Memos app in iOS 14 does an good job as a voice recorder, but if you’re looking for something more muscular in the vein of Google’s Recorder app for Android, try out Just Press Record, a $4.99 one-tap recording app for iPhone, iPad, and Apple Watch that also adds some useful features like built-in transcription features for easy note taking. Users can record from a long press on the app icon, from a lockscreen or notification widget. The app can transcribe speech with support for a number of languages and spoken punctuation commands.

Recordings are sorted by date and time, and can be manually renamed. The transcription also allows you to search through recordings for specific terms. You can sync recordings and transcriptions to iCloud, where they can be shared to a variety of apps.

Download Just Press Record for iPhone

Calzy
best iphone apps calzy

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Calzy takes a neat approach to calculator apps with a “Memory Area” for quickly saving and labeling calculations, variables, and other bits of data that you might want to store for easy reference across multiple sessions. The $2.99 app also includes a configurable keyboard, 3D touch support, scientific functions, history and bookmarking, as well as multitasking support.

Calzy is an excellent all around calculator app, and it’s no surprise that the app can point to an Apple Design Award on its resume.

Download Calzy for iPhone

Deliveries
best iphone apps deliveries

(Image credit: Deliveries)
Deliveries is one of the best iPhone apps because it handles everything associated with your packages. You can track parcels through a variety of services, including UPS, USPS, FedEx and DHL. A simple system allows you to enter package information through tracking numbers or via iCloud syncing that pulls delivery information from your emails and receipts to automatically populate your incoming deliveries list.

With that info at hand, you can then view a quick timeline summary of incoming and delivered packages and ETAs; you can even find the location of your packages on a map where available, or through the provider’s online tracking portal. A Today widget keeps you informed of incoming packages and notifies you of package arrivals.

Deliveries is a subscription-based app now, with $1 a month unlocking all the app’s features.

Download Deliveries for iPhone

1Blocker
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best iphone apps: 1blocker

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1Blocker has been optimized for Apple’s Safari browser, with the goal of making your mobile browsing experience faster and more secure. Install this best iPhone app on your phone, and it will block ads, pop-ups and trackers. And that’s something most iPhone users would welcome, even at $2.99 a month for a premium subscription. (Don’t worry — 1Blocker’s basic blocking skills come free.)

Rather than blocking content of a downloaded page, 1Blocker works with Safari’s content blocker API to tell the browser what to block in advance, saving time and resources. 1Blocker features more than 115,000 blocker rules, custom regional ad blocking settings, and easy-to-use custom rules settings.

Download 1Blocker for iPhone

Best iPhone photo apps
We think the iPhone 12 Pro Max is the best camera phone you can get. But even a great camera deserves some great apps that let you tweak and edit your shots.

Photoleap by Lightricks
best iPhone apps: photoleap

(Image credit: Lightricks)
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Photoleap by Lightricks is the latest edition of the award-winning photo app, complete with a new name. (You may remember it as Enlight Photofox.) Whatever name it goes by, you can use this best iPhone app to create stunning double exposures and other artfully manipulated effects on your images.

Photoleap comes with a wealth of tools to affect color and tone, with filters, masks and layer effects making it easy to stitch together photos using a variety of blending modes and tools to keep everything seamless. The app offers some effects free, with an unlimited subscription unlocking all features for $6.99.

Download Photoleap by Lightricks

Spectre Camera
best iphone apps spectre camera

(Image credit: Lux Optics)
A few years back, Spectre Camera took home Apple’s iPhone App of the Year honors. And this $3.99 download is still worth adding to your phone.

Spectre Camera delivers beautiful long exposure shots, with the help of AI and software magic to stabilize the shot, process light trails, and remove crowds, moving vehicles, and other ephemeral elements. The result is a photo highlighting the perfect scenic view.

Spectre takes in hundreds of shots during the exposure time saved as a live photo, so you can view and share the exposure in progress, individual stills, or the final result.

Download Spectre Camera for iPhone

Best iPhone health and fitness apps
Your iPhone can be a valuable tool when it comes to healthier living, thanks in part to the built-in Health app which you can use to keep tabs on health and fitness data. But the best iOS apps can aid in that cause, tracking your exercise, monitoring what you eat and helping you get a better night’s sleep.

Lose It
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best iphone apps lose it

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You need all the help you can get when it comes to losing weight, and the calorie-counting capabilities of Lose It can come in really handy. This iOS mainstay lets you log both meals and exercise activity. You also enter in some personal information — weight, height and goal weight — and Lose It calculates how many calories you can consume each day to stay on plan for losing weight.

A barcode scanner helps capture nutrition data, and Lose It also has the ability to sync exercise information with other apps.

Download Lose It for iPhone

Runkeeper
best iphone apps runkeeper

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When you go for a run, make sure that Runkeeper comes with you. The app uses the sensors in your iPhone to track your physical activity. In addition to runs, you can also use Runkeeper for cycling, hiking and anything else where you’re logging distances.

The app records your pace, distance, total exercise time, calories burned and other useful metrics, and also comes with a variety of training plans, complete with reminders and gamified challenges. Runkeeper becomes even more of a must-have if you’ve got an Apple Watch, since the app works with Apple’s smartwatch, too.

Download Runkeeper for iPhone

Wakeout
Best iPhone Apps: Wakeout

(Image credit: Andres Canella)
Finding it hard to break away from your desk for a workout? Wakeout promises to bring the exercises to you in the form of brief workouts geared to your location and designed to get you moving and energized.

You’ll find a library of some 1,500 exercises in Wakeout, with new packs added each week. The exercise are flexible — you can perform them sitting down, standing up or even in bed. It’s a great, non-stressful way to get yourself in the habit of taking time to move around and stay active, so it’s no wonder that Apple awarded Wakeout App of the Year honors for 2020.

Full access to the app costs $4.99 a month with a free trial available to see if Wakeout is right for you. We think it will be, since Wakeout was the best iPhone app according to our Tom’s Guide Awards 2021 for the best phones and apps.

Best apps for iphone 13

Fantastical: Best planning tool for new iPhones
best apps for new iphone fantastical

(Image credit: Flexibits)
Toting around an iPhone means you’ve got a computer in your pocket, with all the organization tools that implies. And few apps can keep you on top of your day-to-day activities like Fantastical.

You get the typical day, week, month and year views with Fantastical, but the app really earns its stripes with a DayTicker that shows upcoming appointments in a glanceable way. Fantastical also takes advantage of the widget support in iOS so that your events, tasks and to-dos are always front-and-center if you prefer.

You can download Fantastical for free to manage basic events. But a $5/monthly subscription opens up the full slate of Fantastical features, including cross-device syncing, extended weather reports, and management for video calls in Google Hangout, Google Meet and Zoom.

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Download Fantastical for iPhone

Pcalc: The best calculator for new iPhones
best iphone apps for new phones pcalc

(Image credit: TLA Systems)
Yes, the iPhone has its built-in calculator app, and it’s fine for doing basic math on the fly. But the $9.99 Pcalc offers that something extra in a beautiful-looking package. Highlights include an optional RPN mode, multi-line display, paper tape and support for multiple undos and redos. You can even customize the look of your calculator’s buttons.

If the thought of paying $9.99 for a calculator when the iPhone already has one, you can try out Pcalc Lite for free. It offers the RPN mode, undo and redo support and unit conversions and constants, plus a choice of two layouts — just enough to give you a taste of the power of the full version of Pcalc.

Download Pcalc for iPhone

Bear: The best writing tool for the iPhone
best apps for new iphones bear

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Believe it or not, many people consider the iPhone a great device for writing, even if the largest screen space available is the iPhone 13 Pro Max’s 6.7-inch display. Maybe all those people who enjoy writing on the iPhone do so through Bear, a writing app designed to make you want to jot down whatever’s on your mind.

Bear lets you get started quickly, and a focus mode can block out distractions when you want to focus on the writing in front of you. You can turn to Siri and the built-in Shortcuts app to quickly create Notes in Bear, and if you have an Apple Watch, you can even dictate notes. There’s a to-do list feature if your notes tend to focus on upcoming tasks, and encryption features keep sensitive notes out of view.

Hashtags keep everything organized, and even let you link different notes together. Themes and typography let you tweak the app’s look to your liking. The basic note-taking features in Bear are free, while a $15 annual subscription unlocks all of its capabilities.

Download Bear for iPhone

Yelp: The best app for finding new places
best apps for new iPhones yelp

(Image credit: Yelp)
Yelp’s reach is so extensive that Apple even builds its ratings and reviews directly into iOS 15’s Maps app. But to unleash the full power of Yelp, you’ll want to download the free app onto your iPhone.

Yelp can do more than just find restaurants. It’s also a business directory for finding services, getting quotes and booking appointments. Filters let you refine your search and see what exactly people have to say about the business you’re researching. A collections feature even lets you group together places you’ve found on Yelp for easy finding later on.

Download Yelp for iPhone

Overcast: The best podcast manager for your new iPhone
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I’ve never been that impressed with Apple’s built-in Podcasts apps, so I turn elsewhere for an app to download, organize and play all the podcasts I listen to. My pick for best podcast app is Overcast, which not only helps you find podcasts but improves playback, too.

Features include Smart Speed, which speeds up the playback with minimal audio distortion, and Voice Boost for consistent audio quality. You can also create playlists of your favorite episodes for better podcast management.

Overcast is a free download, though you can pay $10/year to hide the ads that otherwise appear within the app. You may find yourself eager to pay for Overcast anyhow, given all the features packed into this podcast manager.

Download Overcast for iPhone

Carrot Weather: Best weather app for new iPhones
Best apps for new iphones carrot weather

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Thanks to Apple’s purchase of Dark Sky, the built-in Weather app for iOS 15 is very fully featured, so you may just wind up sticking with what’s already installed on your iPhone. But if you prefer a little attitude with your daily forecast, Carrot Weather is a great addition to any new iPhone.

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Carrot Weather has the forecast features you’d need in a weather app — hourly outlooks, 7-day forecasts, wind and rain data. But the app lets you choose one of five personalities for the voice assistant that delivers weather updates (and a torrent of verbal abuse, should you opt for one of Carrot’s more extreme personalities.) Features like Time Travel (where you can look up historical weather patterns) and AR Mode (which overlays the forecast over real-world images captured with your iPhone’s camera) add to the fun.

You can download Carrot Weather for free, though a $5 monthly fee unlocks premium features that let you further customize the look of the app, draw from more weather sources and get alerts about changing conditions.

Download Carrot Weather for iPhone

Lose It: Best weight loss assistant for new iPhones
Lose It best apps for new iPhones

(Image credit: FitNow)
Lose It has been around since Apple first started allowing third-party apps on the iPhone. There’s a reason for its staying power — this calorie-counter can help you meet your weight loss goals, with a number of clever tools that are just a tap away.

You enter your target weight into Lose It, and the app calculates the amount of calories you can consume each day. To make sure you’re staying on target, you enter the food you consume — a task that Lose It simplifies by letting you scan bar codes and even take pictures of food to help enter in your intake info. Challenges and gameification take some of the tedium out of weight loss.

Lose It is a free download, though you can unlock additional features aimed at aiding weight loss efforts by paying for a premium subscription. If you’re looking for a completely free option, check out the FatSecret calorie counter, which helped one of my Tom’s Guide colleagues lose weight over the holidays.

Download Lose It for iPhone

Waze: The best way to find cheap gas on your new iPhone
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best apps for new iphones waze

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While Maps has made a lot of strides in recent years — iOS 15 Maps offers a particularly solid update to the navigational features — you still might feel compelled to turn to a third-party app to help you get around. Consider Waze, which offers drivers a number of different features to simplify getting from Point A to Point B.

Waze’s primary function is to use alerts about traffic, accidents and police speed traps to find a quicker, easier route for your travels. But the features don’t stop there — you can also use Waze to find the cheapest gas on your drive, which can be extra beneficial when prices at the pump are on the rise. Best of all, these features are all available for free.

Download Waze for iPhone

Libby: The best app for finding something to read
libby by Overdrive is the best app for new iphones

(Image credit: OverDrive)
If you’ve just shelled out for a new iPhone, chances are you’re feeling a little light in the wallet. That’s a shame since the books, movies and music you’d want to tote around with you on your phone costs money, too. But your local library has many books available for free, and Libby is your ticket for getting them on your iPhone.

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Libby works with libraries all over the world to offer a collection of both e-books and audiobooks that you can check out and read via your iPhone. You can either download the titles for offline reading or stream them if space is at a premium on your phone. Features on this free app include the ability to adjust text size (making it more readable) or alter the playback speed on your audiobook. You can even add bookmarks and notes when there’s some text that particularly grabs you.

Download Libby for iPhone

Star Walk: The best app for stargazing with your new iPhone
best apps for new iphone star walk

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Among its many other talents, your iPhone can be a portable observatory with the right stargazing app. And for my money, that title goes to Star Walk.

Star Walk contains a detailed star map, showing the many constellations you can find in the night sky. Even better, point your camera skyward at night, and Star Walk can use augmented reality to tell you precisely what you’re looking at. You can use a Time Machine to travel back in time to see specific celestial objects, and Star Walk has some pretty detailed information on exactly which stars, planets and astronomical phenomena you’re looking at.

The app is a free download, though a Star Walk Plus subscription removes ads and lets you access a celestial calendar detailing astronomical events and meteor showers, among other things. An annual pass costs $5.

Download Star Walk for iPhone

Duolingo: The best way to learn a language on your new iPhone
best apps for new iphones duolingo

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There’s a reason Duolingo has become a popular method of picking up new languages. The app turns learning into a game, and we’re more likely to stick with something when it’s fun to do. Having Duolingo right there on your iPhone makes it pretty convenient, too, since you can enjoy an impromptu lesson whenever you have a free moment.

You can pick from around three dozen languages on Duolingo, and basic lessons are free. Duolingo Plus removes ads from the app and includes downloadable courses and a mastery quiz for making sure these quick lessons are taking root.

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