These are the absolute best iPhone apps available right now, from productivity apps to apps for traveling, reading, listening to music, and more.
Why you can trust Pocket-lint (Pocket-lint) — There are thousands of iOS apps to choose from — so many, in fact, that it can be hard to suss out which ones are worth trying. Whether you’re an experienced iPhone user or someone who has recently left Android for iOS, finding the perfect app for, say, sending email or checking the weather or jotting notes or playing a relaxing game is no easy task. You have a multitude of options, and with the App Store serving up ads in some search results, it’s even more difficult to discern which apps are the best. Luckily, we at Pocket-lint have tried more apps than you can imagine and have been using iPhone since 2007. To help you out, we’ve made this ultimate guide of the best iPhone apps. Download any one of these, and you won’t be disappointed. We’ve arranged everything by category, so it should be easy to digest. BEST APPS CATEGORIES • AR and VR (non-games)• Books, audiobooks, and podcasts • Cloud storage• Education • Dating and relationships• Film and TV • Finance• Food • Games• Messaging • Health and fitness • Photo and video • Music• Productivity • Security• Social media • Shopping• Travel and transportation • Smart Home • WeatherBest iPhone appsApple App Store — IkeaAR and VR (non-games)Google Cardboard Google Cardboard is an app that works with Google Cardboard-compatible VR headsets (also called viewers) and your iPhone. It not only helps you set up a Cardboard viewer but also includes a few VR experiences to get you started. Try it now: Google CardboardGiphy World This AR-powered app lets you overlay GIFs onto the real world and share your creations with friends. Imagine drawing in the air with cat GIFs. Try it now: Giphy WorldIKEA Place IKEA Place lets you virtually see 3D, true-to-scale IKEA products in your space. It includes most of IKEA’s catalogue, like sofas and chairs, and helps you to better understand the furniture’s size, design, and functionality in your home. Try it now: Ikea PlaceInk Hunter AR can help you plan your next tattoo! InkHunter lets you preview what a tattoo might look like on your skin. Just draw a marker on yourself, and point your device camera on marker, and the app will show the design at every angle. Try it now: Ink HunterMeasureKit Although Apple now offers a Measure app directly in iOS, there are alternatives, likd MeasureKit, which has nine AR tools: Ruler, Magnetometer, Trajectory, Face Mesh, Marker Pin, Angles, Person Height, Cube, and Level. Try it now: MeasureKitSky Walk Star Walk is a popular stargazing app. It’s an interactive guide to the night sky, following your every movement in real-time and allowing you to explore over 200,000 celestial bodies and get access to information about anything you find. Try it now: Sky WalkVuforia Chalk Vuforia Chalk combines live video, audio, and the ability for a remote person to annotate their live view. Annotations accurately stick to real-world objects, even when people move around. Imagine, for instance, using this as a field technician. Try it now: Vuforia ChalkWallaMe WallaMe allows you to draw messages and hide them in the real world. You can leave the message anywhere, and they’re only visible to your friends, though you can search for other hidden messages using a map interface. Try it now: WallaMeApple App Store — DropboxCloud storageApple iCloud Drive This is Apple’s own cloud storage service. Documents, media, and folders that you store in iCloud Drive stay up to date across all of your Apple devices, so you can access them from your iPhone, iPad, iPod touch, Mac, or PC, and on iCloud.com. You get 5GB of space for free to start. Try it now: iCloud DriveDropbox Dropbox lets you store files and folders to the cloud and share them, scan docs, and collaborate with others, with everything safely synced across all your devices — so you can access it anytime, anywhere. You get 2GB of space for free to start. Try it now: DropboxGoogle Drive Google Drive is similar to Dropbox, only you get 15GB free to start, and it directly supports Google’s entire product portfolio. You can see your Google Photos or Google Docs files, for instance, and invite others to view, edit, or leave comments. Try it now: Google DriveApple App Store — BumbleDating and relationshipsBumble It’s a dating app similar to Tinder. Only, with Bumble, women make the first move so that all users can form relationships in a more respectful way. Try it now: BumbleOKCupid OKCupid is all about rich profiles, where you can show off your personality and interests. You can answer thousands of questions about yourself, or just a few, and it algorithm will helps you connect with people who share your passions. Try it now: OKCupidTinder Tinder is a really popular dating app. It works like this: Match. Chat. Date. You swipe right on a profile picture/profile to like someone, or use the swipe left feature to pass. If someone likes you back, it’s a match, whom you can chat. Try it now: TinderGrindr Grindr is a social networking and chat app for gay, bi, trans, and queer people. It’s not as fully featured or pretty as, say, Tinder, but it’s still the No.1 option for the LGBTQ community. Try it now: GrindrApple App Store — AcornsFinanceAcorns Acorns is an investment app that automatically invests your spare change. It’s for the novice investor who doesn’t understand the market. Try it now: AcornsAffirm Get approved quickly for short-term loans (in the US) that you can spend practically anywhere on the web, from Lowe’s to Walmart! Try it now: AffirmCoinbase Coinbase is one of the most popular cryptocurrency wallets available, as it supports a range of different ones, including bitcoin. For instance, it makes it easy to securely buy, use, store, and accept bitcoin, as well as ethereum and litecoin. Try it now: CoinbaseCredit Karma You’ve probably seen the commercials. They’re legit. Credit Karma lets you see your credit profile (without dinging your credit), get credit monitoring, check out personalised recommendations, even file your taxes for free. Try it now: Credit KarmaMint Want to see how you spend your money? Mint is the free money management and financial tracker app that bring together your bank accounts, credit cards, bills, and investments and see what you’re spending and where you can save money. Try it now: MintRobinhood Robinhood lets you buy and sell stocks and exchange-traded funds without paying a commission. You can start a portfolio and invest in your favourite companies. Like Acorns, it’s meant for novice investors who want to buy and trade. Try it now: RobinhoodSquare Cash Ever ask your mom to pick something up at the store? With this, you can deposit money instantly into her Square Cash wallet or her bank account (there may be some small fees associated). You can even buy and sell bitcoin with this app. Try it now: Square CashVenmo Venmo is like Square Cash, but with a social layer. You can add notes to your payments for others to see, and like or comment on friends’ stories. Try it now: VenmoApple App Store — HQGamesAlto’s Odyssey This is a sequel app to Odyseey Adventure. You play the role of a snowboarder, flying down an endless, gorgeous landscape. While Adventure had players on a cold mountain, Odyssey throws in some pastures and desert landscapes. Try it now: Alto’s OdysseyClash Royale Clash Royale is a tower rush game in which you can duel players from around the world in real-time in both 1v1 and 2v2 Battles. The objective (three minutes into the game) is to destroy opposing towers as well as the «King tower». Try it now: Clash RoyaleFortnite This is a Battle Royale game where you squad up and compete to be the last one standing in 100-player PvP. You’re supposed to build cover, battle your opponents, and survive the longest to earn your victory. Try it now: FortniteHQ Trivia HQ Trivia is a popular live game show where you can win real cash prizes. Every day, you tune into the HQ live show to answer trivia questions, which range from easy to hard, and see if you can win cash. Try it now: HQ TriviaHearthstone With this card battler, you’re the hero who uses cards to «sling spells, summon minions, and seize control» of the battlefield. You can jump right in, build your deck, hone your skills, and fight for glory in the Arena and duel players. Try it now: HearthstoneLEGO AR Studio LEGO AR Studio is an AR app that lets you play with virtual LEGO toys and sets in your real-world environment. You can move and position everything, learn details about your set, and try movie-making. You control the entire experience. Try it now: LEGO AR StudioMonument Valley This is a sequel to 2014’s Monument Valley. It’s an indie puzzle game, where the goal is to guide Ro and her child through mazes, optical illusions, and impossible objects in order to complete the puzzle. Try it now: Monument ValleyPokemon Go This game put mobile AR experiences on the map in 2016. It allows you to be a Trainer who can search for Pokemon in the real-world, as well as do catching, hatching, evolving, and more. You can even compete in epic gym battles. Try it now: Pokemon GoPUBG Mobile This is a Fortnite-like Battle Royal game in which 100 players parachute onto a remote island. Players have to locate and scavenge their own weapons, vehicles, and supplies, and defeat every player to be the last one standing. Try it now: PUBG MobileSky: Children of the Light Fly across sprawling landscapes to help celestial beings find their way back to the heavens in this jaw-dropping social quest. Try it now: Sky: Children of the LightThrees Threes is an indie puzzle game where the player slides numbered tiles on a grid to combine addends and multiples of three. The game ends when there are no moves left on the grid and the tiles are counted for a final score. Try it now: ThreesWizards Unite Harry Potter: Wizards Unite is an augmented reality (AR) mobile game that will see you immersed into the Wizarding World. You will become a witch or wizard, walking among muggles, defending the International Statute of Wizarding Secrecy to ensure that the world remains a secret. Try it now: Wizards UniteApple App Store — ClueHealth and fitnessClue Clue is a period tracker app that uses science to help you discover patterns in your menstrual cycle, get personalised reminders about your period, PMS, ovulation, and fertility, and track everything from your mood to exercise. Try it now: ClueCouch to 5K Ever wish you were a runner? Then check out the official Couch to 5K training app! It says if you spend just 20 to 30 minutes running — three times a week for nine weeks — you’ll be ready to finish your first 5K (3.1-mile) race. Try it now: Couch to 5KC25K C25K is another Couch to 5K program. Like the others, it mixes running and walking, gradually building up your strength and stamina. Try it now: C25KGet the superb Ivacy VPN for less with this amazing Christmas dealFertility Friend Fertility Friend is another fertility tracker. It has an advanced ovulation calculator, menstrual calendar, fertility chart, and period tracker. Its aim is to help you get pregnant, with personalised trying-to-conceive tips and analysis. Try it now: Fertility FriendHeadspace Headspace is a guided meditation app. The basics course is completely free and will teach you the fundamental techniques of meditation and mindfulness. After that, with a subscription, you can access the full Headspace meditation library. Try it now: HeadspaceSynctuition Synctuition is another meditation app, although it’s a little less guided than Headspace.
