My Top 10 iPhone Apps

I spend a lot of time on my iPhone; certainly more time than I’d like to admit. I’m constantly on the search for new apps (with particular interest in the ‘Productivity’ and ‘Photography’ categories), have read hundreds of reviews, and am pretty demanding when it comes to good user experience. If it doesn’t wow me, it doesn’t stay on my phone.

With that in mind, I’ve put together a list of my Top 10 iPhone Apps that I use on a daily basis:

1. Calendars by Readdle [FREE]

As a Google Calendar user, the default Calendar app on the iPhone just doesn’t do it for me.

It took me a long time to find a decent free calendar app that ingrates well with Google Calendar and doesn’t smother you with ads, primarily because many of them choose to ignore Google’s event colour coding.

If you know me, you’ll know that I’m an obsessive colour coder. Thus, a calendar app that chooses to ignore the difference between my blue work events and pink social events doesn’t get a look in.

 

2. Pinterest [FREE]

Okay so this is more of an anti-productivity app to be honest, but I do use it every day.

If you love Pinterest, you’ll love how easy it is to endlessly scroll and quickly pin anything and everything that you desire.

 

3. Pocket [FREE]

Download the browser extension for free (available on most browsers), and every time you see an article or website you want to check out later, click the extension button and it will be saved to your ‘Pocket’.

Then later on when you’re on the bus or at an awkward family gathering, you can open the Pocket app and find all of your saved-for-later sites to help you avoid eye contact.

Evidently this is not a new concept; it’s basically a simplified Pinterest, or an app version of synced bookmarking.

 

4. Bloglovin’ [FREE]

This app is so easy and intuitive to use. I love being able to catch up on my daily blogs feed wherever and whenever I like.

You can also get a browser extension for this, so if you’re reading a blog on your computer you can quickly hit the Bloglovin’ button and add it to your feed. It’s basically a prettier, easier version of Feedly.

 

5. Dropbox [FREE]

My laptop died a couple of months ago from a hard drive fault. I’d put off backing up my files for ages, waiting until iCloud Drive upgraded so that I could use that as a backup system. Alas, it was too late, and I lost 100% of my files.

Since then I’ve also read some pretty awful reviews about the new iCloud Drive, so for the moment I’m going to stick with Dropbox. It has all the functionalities I want, has a pretty good capacity in its free version, and I love being able to access my files from absolutely anywhere.

 

6. IMDB [FREE]

This may seem an odd one to include, but I genuinely use this app so much! I am always forgetting the names of actors, or wanting to know the release date of a film. IMDB also has a section with trailers of all the new movies coming out that month, which is great if you’re trying to decide what to watch at the cinema.

 

7. Afterlight [£0.79]

One of the most comprehensive photo editing apps for iOS, I’m always really impressed with Afterlight. It has all the editing options you realistically need when editing on your phone, as well as plenty of customisable filters to suit your fancy. I’d say it’s a must-have, and not too bad for 79p!

 

8. Reminders App [DEFAULT]

Is it cheating to include this?

I’ve tried many, many different note/reminder apps, but I will always come back to the default iPhone Reminders app. I use it for shopping lists, to do lists, films to watch lists etc. I’ve even got a repeat reminder every Thursday night to put the bins out!

The thing I like best about Reminders is it’s sync-ability and integrate-ability (yes, I probably did just make those words up). I love that my phone will buzz a reminder at me when I’m out and about, and that my laptop will alert me when I’m sat at home watching TV. It also integrates really well with aNote, one of my favourite iPad apps. I will never forget anything again!

 

9. Trello [FREE]

Trello is, and always will be, the love of my life.

I organise my work tasks, my blog post ideas, my home improvement plans, and my course modules on it, and check it religiously, with apps on my phone and iPad, and an entire monitor on my desk at work dedicated to having it permanently open and in sight.

You may think I’m mad; I just know I’m pretty damn organised.

 

10. Dog Buddy [FREE]

When we first got Pepper, I spent an entire morning searching for an app that would act as a ‘Puppy Diary’, where I could track her weight, allergies, vet appointments, and write short snippets about her routine each day. A nice, user friendly FREE app for this purpose was irritatingly difficult to find. Dog Buddy was the only one that contained all the features I wanted, and although I would recommend it, I’m still not completely satisfied.

The user interface isn’t very exciting or modern, and I can’t help but feel that there’s a real gap in the market for an app that can help keep track the things I wanted, but also acts as a social platform for your pets. I think it’d be fun if there was a section where you could share tips and advice, as well as important milestones for your pet.

 

BONUS! Create your own website short-cuts:

This is so easy to do and yet not many people realise you can do it.

As you can see, I have created an ‘app short-cut’ to my blog on my iPhone. When I open it, it takes me straight to the mobile version of my site. Of course, I could open up Safari and type it in to the search bar, or open up a bookmark, but why would I want to expend that unnecessary energy?

Open up Safari on the page you want to create a short-cut of, and press the square with an arrow at the bottom of the screen.

Then press ‘add to screen’. You can change the name of your shortcut, and press ‘add’, and voilà! You have essentially made an app!

 

 

 

 

Comment below if there’s an app you think I’m seriously missing out on!