One of the best things about owning an iPhone is that you get a lot of the newest apps first before they arrive on Android. It may not be fair, but it’s a great perk for iPhone users. That means there’s always something new to try. You can enjoy exclusive apps from Instagram, cutting-edge photography apps, and even an app that will tell you the exact minute it’s going to start raining.
Manual ($1.99) lets you open up the hood of your iPhone’s camera, giving you full independent control of advanced settings like shutter, ISO, white balance, focus, and exposure compensation.
You don’t have to pay any commission fees when you use Robinhood (Free), a stylish new trading app that’s backed by Marc Andreessen and Snoop Dogg. You can access market data and quotes in real-time, and Robinhood makes it easy to stay on top of your portfolio with its Apple Watch app and iPhone widget that you can check from your lock screen.
Fresh Air (Free) is a stunning new weather app that emphasizes visuals with its minimalist weather graph. You can scroll forward in time to see how the weather will be in the future, and it also connects to your calendar app to give you forecasts on upcoming appointments.
Vesper ($9.99) is a note-taking app that takes a lot of the hassle out of organizing your thoughts. You can easily tag each entry so you can search for a specific thought by keyword later, and all your notes will be synced to your Vesper account, free of charge.
Until recently, to create smooth time-lapse videos, you needed expensive tripods and stabilization gear. Luckily, Hyperlapse (Free) from Instagram uses its image-stabilization techniques to smooth out shaky footage, and the results are impressive. It’s great for capturing sports moments, car rides, weather, crowds, and journeys on foot.
Product Hunt (Free) has evolved to become Silicon Valley’s go-to list of rising startups and apps, and there’s now a games category as well. The app allows you to follow startup founders, view curated collections, post new products on the fly, and download apps directly while browsing.
Litely (Free) is a powerful photo app for adding subtle filters to your photos, giving them a film-like tone. You can tap the screen with two fingers to see what your photo looked like before adding any presets, and the app’s non-destructive editing features means you never have to worry about losing your original.
Dark Sky ($3.99) does one thing very well: It tells you exactly when inclement weather, like rain or snow, is going to happen. The app is beautifully designed and features a precipitation timeline that lets you know minute-by-minute predictions for when you can expect rain.
Timeful (Free) is an intelligent calendar app mixed with a to-do list. The app’s algorithm learns how you get stuff done and smartly suggests ways to build new habits and get things taken care of, all on your own terms. Google recently acquired Timeful to incorporate its technology into new products, but you’ll still be able to continue using the app.
Clear ($4.99) is one of the simplest ways to keep track of what you need to do. You can easily drag and re-order your to-dos, and adding a new item is as easy as pulling down your list and typing it in. When you’re done with a task, just swipe right.
Pedometer++ (Free) is perfect for viewing your daily activity and fitness goals with a quick glance. There’s two quick ways to check your daily progress: You can swipe down and see the Pedometer++ widget in your iPhone’s Notification Center, or you can check the tiny red badge on the app icon, which displays your current steps.
Reddit, the so-called “front page of the internet,” is an ever-changing ecosystem of interesting articles, pictures, and discussions, but it’s notoriously messy to browse on your smartphone. Alien Blue (Free) fixes that, wrapping Reddit’s content into an eye-catching design that brings to focus the essentials information like photos, post titles, and comments.
Storehouse (Free) makes it easy to snap pictures and format them into a beautiful and smart layout that lets you tell a story. The Storehouse Newsfeed also features great curated content, and it’s a great place to discover picture-based narratives from talented photographers.
Moleskine’s new calendar app, Timepage ($4.99), is both beautiful and simple to use. The app organizes your appointments in list — there’s no month view — and it also incorporates weather forecasts and lets you quickly hail an Uber right from within the app.
