We at iPhone Life are app fanatics and it turns out many of our readers are as well! Here are some favorite apps from our team and readers, from apps to support your hobbies to apps to amp up your lifestyle. Enjoy!
Best Apps: Staff & Reader Picks
Here's our roundup of the best apps the iPhone Life staff and readers recommend to friends, family members, and internet strangers. For more iPhone tips, check out our Tip of the Day newsletter.
iNaturalist - (Free)
Connect with other nature lovers to share plants, fungi, and animals. Share images, keep a record, and get accurate identification for what you find.
Merlin Bird ID by Cornell Lab - (Free)
Identify not only the birds you see but also hear! Use a picture or audio recording and let the world's largest database teach you more about birds.
knitCompanion knitting & more - (Free)
Create knitted projects by following patterns and tracking your progress. Upload any pattern for whenever and wherever the mood strikes.
Headway: Daily Book Summaries - ($8.99/month)
Learn something new every day by reading condensed versions of popular self-help and motivational books based on your interests. Save fun facts you wish to review and remember.
Zillow Real Estate & Rentals - (Free)
Search for your next home whether you want to buy or rent. Explore real estate agents, loan officers, and types of properties, plus get your mortgage estimates directly in the app.
Rover—Dog Sitters & Walkers - (Free)
Find the best walkers or dog sitters for your precious pups. Browse profiles, photos, and honest reviews, and go to work or travel without worrying about your furbabies.
Motivation - Daily quotes - ($14.99/year)
Think more positively with Motivation, the app that notifies you with inspiring quotes throughout the day. Choose your theme and save your favorites to get personalized suggestions.
Etsy: Shop & Gift with Style - (Free)
Browse handmade or vintage products and crafting supplies. Support small businesses across the world or in your town and find unique goods to gift or keep them all to yourself!
Delightful: NA Drinks - (Free)
Discover zero proof products and see ratings to help you pick. Delightful also helps you find restaurants and bars that serve non-alcohol drinks.
JustWatch - Movies & TV Shows - (Free)
Be the first to hear about the latest movies and TV shows and find out exactly where and how to watch them. Get notified when content you like is added to your go-to streaming service.
Unfold: Video & Photo Editor - (Free)
“I really love using tools that allow me to combine my writing and my photography. Unfold is a fun way to do just that! It makes sharing snippets of my writing to social media way easier by offering a variety of templates to choose from.” - Rheanne Taylor, Video Production Manager
Splitwise - (Free)
“Splitwise does the math for you. It takes all the stress out of tracking shared expenses. It can be used for splitting household expenses, but also for things like group vacations. The premium version gives you access to in-depth tracking and charts of spending for a more comprehensive household-expense-tracking app. You can also choose to ‘settle up’ what you owe the other people in the group in the app by connecting Venmo, PayPal, or your bank account.” - Sarah Kingsbury, Editorial Director
NPR - (Free)
“I use the NPR app to catch up on the day’s news or listen to my favorite NPR podcasts. My favorite feature is the Live Radio tab; users can enter their zip code and listen to the nearest NPR station’s broadcast live, 24 hours a day.” - Leanne Hays, Feature Writer
Scuba diving Watch | Oceanic+ - ($9.99/month)
“I just got my scuba diving certification, and this app lets me use my Apple Watch Ultra as a dive computer. The app keeps track of my dives and stats better than an old-fashioned diving log, and since I wear it 24/7, it helps me avoid decompression sickness by monitoring my predicted nitrogen levels.” - Olena Kagui, Feature Writer
Bitwarden Password Manager - (Free)
“Bitwarden offers the best security in the business and a shockingly low subscription cost for premium features: $10 per year! That’s right, per year! There’s no better time to make passwords a worry of the past, and Bitwarden is the password manager to use.” - Cullen Thomas, Senior Instructor & Video Producer
BeReal - (Free)
“This is my current favorite social media app. You receive a push notification at a random time every day encouraging you to post. When you're ready, the app takes a photo using both your front and rear cameras simultaneously, capturing your face and whatever you happen to be doing at that moment. There are no filters, so no unrealistic curation of people's appearance. You can only see your actual friends, and the photos vanish after 24 hours, so there's no endless scrolling. I love how minimal this app is and the way it thoughtfully fosters real human connection for a few minutes each day. I hope more app developers follow this trend!” - Nicholas Naioti, Ad Specialist & Video Producer
Amazon Kindle - (Free)
“Right now, I'm absolutely obsessed with the Kindle app. The way it seamlessly syncs the audiobook from Audible to highlighted sections of the page is a lifesaver when it comes to multitasking while reading. I love that I can read on any of my devices and can always pick up exactly where I left off, no matter which one I'm using! It’s also great to be able to carry all my books with me everywhere I go.” - Rachel Needell, Feature Writer
Google Translate - (Free)
“Google Translate has become a must-have app for anyone traveling abroad. Quickly and confidently find the words you are looking for at the train station, translate a menu at a restaurant, or create a transcription of your tour guide's presentation in real time! Perhaps the best part of Google Translate is that it is 100% free to use.” - Austin Durr, Marketing Assistant
If you liked this photo and video app list, check out our full list of best iPhone apps in the categories of entertainment, finance, health and fitness, dining and cooking, and more.
