Third-Party Apps

We're all aware that there are millions of apps in the App Store, which means there’s very little chance any one of us has heard of even a quarter of what’s available. That’s why we love to look for lists of the coolest iPhone apps, best apps for iPhone, and now, the best unheard of apps, including apps for travel, photography, dating, and more. Lots of cool apps are bound to slip under the radar. But we’re all excited when a new app we’ve never heard of turns out to be fantastic, and better yet, free. We’ll cover eight apps that aren't trending but are still awesome, educational, and helpful for iPhone users. 

There are a lot of different apps you could use to learn a language, but not all language apps give you the tools to truly become fluent in a language. Babbel offers language learning at a classroom level from the comfort of your smart devices. The app offers fourteen different languages and more than 8500 hours of learning content across them. I chose this app to feature because of the way it engages the learner; it immediately felt different to me than the numerous other language apps I’ve tried. We’ll go over more on what it does and why we love it below.

Apple announced the Apple Business Chat platform at WWDC 2017 and iOS 11.3 has finally introduced us to the program. The Business Chat platform allows iPhone users to connect with companies through iMessages, or from the businesses' app or website, rather than talking on the phone. Apple is rolling out Business Chat slowly; it's only available as a beta version right now, with a limited number of partner companies. Let's stay ahead of the curve and learn how to use Business Chat on our iPhones. 

I don't know about you, but before I purchase an app in the App Store, I like to read a few reviews to see how other customers have liked (or disliked) their purchase. Now iOS 11.3 makes it easier than ever before to sort app reviews so customers can find the information they want about individual apps. Let's get started learning how to find and sort user-submitted reviews in the App Store on our iPhones, so we have more information before purchasing apps. 

You rely on your iPhone for everything, so why not for dinner tonight? If you've been in a recipe rut, or just want help to become the best home chef you can be, download these free cooking and step-by-step recipe apps to get you started. Some of these cooking apps require a trip to the grocery store, while others help you find recipes to work with ingredients you already have in the fridge. As a bonus, if you lack motivation, check out our top foodie Instagram account choices to get all the culinary inspiration you need.

The numbers in the Cambridge Analytica Facebook scandal just keep climbing, from an original 55 million to a new estimate of nearly 87 million account holders who have had their data breached. This is because the quiz, "This Is Your Digital Life," collected data not only from Facebook users who completed it, but from all their Facebook friends as well. Facebook has barred the personality quiz from the platform and sent a message to all account holders who took the quiz, but if you'd like to make sure your data wasn't also breached, there's a way to find out. Let's check and see if our Facebook accounts have been compromised by Cambridge Analytica; it's easy to do right from your iPhone. 

Facebook Privacy: How to Delete Facebook Apps

  1. Tap on the x to the right of the app you want to delete.
  2. Choose Delete App or Delete App & Activity from the pop-up menu. I recommend Delete App & Activity.
  3. After deleting your chosen app, you'll receive a notification telling you the app may still keep data you've previously shared.
  4. After you tap Close, you'll see a screen like this:

The next time your Facebook app refreshes, the apps you deleted will completely disappear. 

If you've ever wondered how to delete multiple contacts on iPhone or how to create groups of contacts (hint: it requires a computer), then you know the iOS Contacts app that comes with your iPhone has a few shortcomings. For the casual user, these shortcomings may be no more than an inconvenience; but for power users who manage hundreds or thousands of business contacts, these shortcomings may be deal breakers. If you're looking for a great alternative to Apple's Contacts app, read on for three alternative address book, phone book, and contacts apps that will meet your contact-management needs.

I love gaming on my iPhone, and I am happy to pay for an app. But too often, I’ll get into a ‘free’ game only to end up spending more on in-app purchases than I ever would have on a single game for any regular gaming console. Which is why Riptide GP: Renegade is such a refreshing surprise. I spent $2.99 for the initial game, which is a great price considering the developers don’t upsell you within the app at all. The graphics are beautiful, the racing controls are the smoothest I’ve ever tried, and it feels like a normal game because once I buy it, it’s fully-featured and ready to play. All of this combined makes Riptide GP: Renegade the best racing game on the iPhone. We’ll cover more on what this game offers and why I love it below.

Everyone has to eat to live, which is why apps that make planning, shopping, and preparing healthy meals are a godsend. This year I’ve been cooking the most I ever have in my life, and I’ve quickly realized how difficult it can be to keep all the recipes I’ve tried (or want to try) organized. And on top of that, there seemed to be no way to use those recipes to create a shopping list. But what I didn't previously know about is today’s incredible app: Paprika 3. For a one-time purchase of $4.99, this app allows you to save recipes from the internet without having to type any ingredients or directions. You can create a list of everything in your own pantry, build a meal plan with recipes you’ve saved, and add whatever you need to buy to a grocery list. All the work that takes place outside of the kitchen can be done with Paprika 3. There’s a whole lot this app can do, and we'll cover it all below.

I have never used my Photos app to properly sort my pictures into albums, and I’m going to make an educated guess and say that this is true for most of us. We take a bunch of photos at an event or with friends, share the ones we love, and let the others take up space on our devices. When it comes time to find a photo, I’m always searching through the All Photos album, scanning for the one I need. But there is a better way! I found Slidebox because I was looking for an app that would let me easily create albums, sort photos into those albums, and delete the photos I don’t need to keep. To my absolute delight, Slidebox allows me to do this super easily by using swiping gestures to quickly sort through photos like you sort through potential connections on Tinder. Learn more on why I love this app and what it does below.

Organizing your life so that it works for you instead of against you is a great way to lower overall stress and free up some brain power. Wunderlist is a to-do list and task manager that allows you to easily keep track of any area of life, get reminders about what you need to do, and collaborate with others from right within the app. I also use Wunderlist to make lists of random things I want to remember, such as movies I want to watch or books I want to read. On the surface, it’s easy to look at Wunderlist and see just a to-do app, but the plethora of features make it an incredible tool for staying organized and on top of things without having to remember it all yourself. We’ll go over more on what Wunderlist does and why we love it below.

Kik is a free messaging app that lets you send text messages, videos, GIFs, stickers, and more to friends who've also downloaded the Kik app. Kik users can also find new friends to message; and since the Kik app has over 300 million users, the odds are good that you'll find at least a few people you'd like to chat with. It's easy to get started using Kik; rather than using your phone number to create an account, all you need is an email address and username. Once you've downloaded Kik and created your account, you can use the app to message your friends who are also on the platform, and invite other people in your phone contacts to join. There's one problem though: Kik is easy to download on your iPhone, but what about Kik for iPad? Despite the lack of an official Kik app for iPad, there are ways to work around this missing offering. Let's get started learning how to get Kik for iPad. 

It’s the time of the year when we could all use a little help staying healthy. Between winter, the holidays, and New Year’s, the parties are plenty and the food is too good to turn down. But simply keeping track of what you’re eating makes staying (at least somewhat) on track easier. Or if you’re hoping to adopt healthier choices in 2018, set yourself up for success with Lifesum. The beautiful user experience and plethora of features, from tracking to recipes, makes developing a healthier lifestyle enjoyable. Check our what Lifesum does and why we love it below.

There are the apps we try and the apps we use. For the longest time, Day One sat on my iPhone as a wonderful journaling app I never used. Then iPhone Life magazine’s managing editor Rheanne Taylor showed me how she organizes her Day One journaling app. And in that moment, I realized I completely missed arguably the best feature this app has: the ability to create multiple journals. I’ll go more into her brilliant organization below. But with a simple change of outlook, the app has become more invaluable to me than any other note-taking, journaling, or markup app available. If you’re not familiar with Day One, then you’re really in for a treat. This journaling app is beautifully designed and works like a dream. I’ll go over more on what Day One does and why we love it below.

Google found a clever way to make people pay attention to its already impressive Arts & Culture app: selfies. If you’re on social media, you’ve likely seen someone's face next to a piece of art that looks eerily similar—they probably did that with the Google’s Arts & Culture (Free) app. Once you’ve found your doppelgangers, you can learn more about the artwork and the artist that created it. Aside from this really cool feature, there is an incredible reservoir of information available within the app. Anyone with an interest in art, art history, iconic figures, and culture will be delighted by the plethora of fantastic information from around the world and throughout time. We’ll go over more on what the app does and why we love it below.

Let me start off by saying that this is not a perfect app, but I still think Evolve (Free) is worth your time. It’s an app that’s still building momentum, so it lacks some of the features I’ve come to take for granted in an app such as MyFitnessPal. But I’ve been using this app to track my calories for over a week, which is something I’ve never before been able to do every day. But Evolve’s minimalist user-interface makes a huge difference in the level of stress or discomfort I feel when tracking calories. Other apps have amazing features; but for me, it’s often too much. Evolve’s goal is to make tracking food the easiest and simplest it’s ever been. And at this, it succeeds. The clean, unobtrusive interface lends beautifully to this, and the streamlined design is mirrored in Evolve’s features. One of the app’s most promoted features is the ability to track what you’ve eaten with only your voice, which is meant to take only ten seconds (and sometimes does). I’m going to dive into the specifics of Evolve below; find out if it’s right for you.

The Crown, an exclusive Netflix offering, won Best Drama at the Golden Globes this year, and viewers are already excited about news about The Crown Season 3. Will The Crown cast change much? Who will the new Crown actors and characters be? Will Helena Bonham Carter really join The Crown cast? We'll have to wait to find out, but speculation sure is fun! For now, though, if you haven't watched The Crown yet you haven't fallen too far behind. Seasons of The Crown are ten episodes each, and Season Two just premiered on Friday, December 8, 2017. This means that you have nearly all year to watch seasons 1 and 2 of the Crown and can look forward to wrapping your 2018 holiday gifts while watching The Crown Season 3. Here's how to stream The Crown online through your iPhone, iPad, Macbook, or Apple TV.     

If you have fond '90s cartoon memories of watching Ms. Frizzle and the gang take amazing trips in their magic school bus, I have great news! Your kids can enjoy The Magic School Bus in an updated form, The Magic School Bus Rides Again. In this reboot of the classic kids cartoon, Ms. Frizzle becomes a college professor, so her little sister Fiona Frizzle takes her place as teacher and bus driver at Walkerville Elementary. There are episodes reminiscent of the classic cartoon: trips to outer space, through the human digestive system, and under the ocean, but also shows with updated themes like renewable energy. If you're looking for an educational cartoon on Netflix that you can watch and enjoy as much as your kids will, this is the one!

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