Must-Have Apps for iPhone (2024)

Whether you’re a seasoned iPhone user or someone who recently stopped using Android for iOS, finding the perfect app for anything from sending emails to checking the weather, taking notes to improving your sleep is no easy task. You have so many options and it’s even harder to figure out which apps are the best. In this list, we have brought together the must-have apps for iPhone that you can use to get the most out of your smartphone. 

Also Read: The Best Budget Apps

1Password

1Password that remembers all your passwords for you, lets you create secure passwords, and lets you easily log in to sites and apps, is one of the must-have apps for iPhone. Using this password manager, you can keep all your passwords safe, get VPN support and set up data breach alarms.

Key Features:

• Secure Password Storage: Safely stores passwords, credit card details, and other sensitive information using strong encryption, ensuring that your data is protected from unauthorized access.
• Password Generator: Provides a built-in password generator that creates strong, unique passwords for each of your accounts, enhancing overall security.
• Biometric Authentication: Supports Face ID and Touch ID for quick and secure access to your vault, allowing you to unlock your password manager with a simple biometric scan.
• Auto-Fill Capabilities: Integrates with Safari and other apps to auto-fill login credentials and payment information, making it easier to log in to websites and complete transactions securely.
• Secure Document Storage: Allows you to store and encrypt important documents, such as IDs and bank statements, within the app for easy access and added security.
• Travel Mode: Provides a travel mode that allows you to temporarily remove sensitive data from your device while traveling, with the option to restore it upon return.
• Cross-Device Sync: Syncs your passwords and data across all your devices via 1Password’s secure cloud service, ensuring that you have access to your information wherever you are.
• Watchtower: Monitors your saved passwords for potential security breaches and alerts you if any of your credentials are found in known data breaches.
• Customizable Categories: Offers customizable categories and tags for organizing your passwords and data, making it easier to manage and locate information.
• Sharing Options: Enables secure sharing of passwords and other sensitive information with trusted contacts, ensuring that you can collaborate safely without compromising security.

1Password on the App Store

Also Read: The Best Password Managers for iPhone

Sleep Cycle

Sleep Cycle is a smart alarm clock that monitors your sleep patterns and decides when to wake you up for a light nap. It’s also one of the best Apple Watch sleep tracker apps enabling you to get even more detailed analysis as Apple Watch is able to monitor your heart rate. 

Key Features:

• Smart Sleep Tracking: Monitors and analyzes your sleep patterns using advanced algorithms, providing detailed insights into your sleep cycles, quality, and duration.
• Intelligent Alarm Clock: Wakes you up during your lightest sleep phase within a customizable window, ensuring a more refreshed and natural wake-up experience.
• Sleep Statistics and Trends: Provides comprehensive sleep statistics and trends over time, helping you understand and improve your sleep habits with actionable data.
• Sleep Notes and Insights: Allows you to add notes about your daily activities or lifestyle changes, correlating these with your sleep quality to identify factors affecting your rest.
• Personalized Sleep Analysis: Offers personalized sleep analysis based on your individual sleep patterns, providing tailored recommendations for improving your sleep quality.
• Relaxing Sleep Sounds: Features a library of soothing sleep sounds and ambient noise options designed to help you fall asleep faster and improve sleep quality.
• Snore Detection: Includes a snore detection feature that records and analyzes snoring sounds, offering insights into how snoring may impact your sleep.
• Integration with Health Apps: Syncs with Apple Health and other health apps to integrate sleep data with your overall health and wellness metrics.
• Sleep Diary: Maintains a sleep diary where you can track and review your sleep history, along with any changes or patterns that may affect your sleep.
• Customizable Wake-Up Window: Allows you to set a flexible wake-up window that adapts to your sleep cycles, ensuring that you wake up at the optimal time within your chosen timeframe.

Sleep Cycle on the App Store

Also Read: The Sleep Apps for Apple Watch

Headspace

Headspace is a guided meditation app. The basic course is completely free and will teach you the basic techniques of meditation and mindfulness. After that, with a subscription, you can have access to the entire Headspace meditation library.

Key Features:

• Guided Meditations: Offers a wide variety of guided meditation sessions tailored to different needs, including stress relief, focus, and relaxation, helping users cultivate mindfulness and mental clarity.
• Sleep Sounds and Stories: Features a selection of soothing sleep sounds and bedtime stories designed to help users fall asleep faster and improve overall sleep quality.
• Sleepcasts: Provides immersive, audio-guided Sleepcasts that create calming narratives and environments to help users drift off to sleep and stay asleep throughout the night.
• Personalized Recommendations: Uses data from user preferences and activity to offer personalized meditation and sleep suggestions, ensuring that the content is relevant to each individual’s needs.
• Progress Tracking: Allows users to track their meditation and sleep progress over time, providing insights into their practice and helping to set and achieve wellness goals.
• Mindfulness Reminders: Sends gentle reminders and notifications to encourage regular meditation practice and mindfulness throughout the day.
• Daily Meditations: Includes daily meditation practices designed to fit into users’ busy schedules, offering short, focused sessions that can be easily incorporated into daily routines.
• Meditation Courses: Provides structured meditation courses that cover a range of topics, such as managing anxiety, building resilience, and enhancing emotional well-being.
• Easy-to-Follow Instructions: Features simple, user-friendly instructions for meditation practices, making it accessible for both beginners and experienced practitioners.
• Integration with Health Apps: Syncs with Apple Health and other health apps to integrate meditation and sleep data with overall health and wellness metrics, offering a holistic view of user well-being.

Headspace on the App Store

Also Read: The Best Meditation Apps

ExpressVPN

ExpressVPN, which allows you to go online quickly and securely and offers a free 7-day trial, is one of the most preferred VPN apps in the App Store. As being one of the fastest VPNs on the market, ExpressVPN claims that it stores no activity logs, no connection logs, and no data that would allow anyone to trace a specific network activity or behavior back to an individual user. 

Key Features:

• High-Speed Servers: Provides access to a global network of high-speed servers, ensuring fast and reliable internet connections for seamless browsing, streaming, and downloads.
• Strong Encryption: Utilizes advanced encryption protocols, such as AES-256, to secure your online activities and protect your data from hackers and surveillance.
• No-Logs Policy: Adopts a strict no-logs policy, ensuring that your online activities and personal information are not tracked or stored by the service.
• Easy-to-Use Interface: Features a user-friendly interface with one-tap connection, making it simple to connect to the VPN and secure your internet connection without complex settings.
• Unlimited Bandwidth: Offers unlimited bandwidth with no data caps, allowing you to use the internet freely without worrying about throttling or restrictions.
• Global Server Network: Connects to servers in numerous countries around the world, enabling you to bypass geo-restrictions and access content from different regions.
• Secure Wi-Fi Connections: Protects your data on public Wi-Fi networks by encrypting your connection, safeguarding your personal information from potential threats.
• Split Tunneling: Allows you to choose which apps or websites use the VPN connection and which bypass it, offering flexibility and control over your internet traffic.
• Kill Switch: Includes a kill switch feature that automatically disconnects your internet if the VPN connection drops, preventing any unprotected data leaks.

ExpressVPN on the App Store

Also Read: The Best VPN for iPhone

Nike Training Club

Next in our list of the must-have apps for iPhone is Nike Training Club, offering more than 185+ free workouts, which you can do with or without equipment, designed by experts for all levels. If you want to use your iPhone as a workout assistant, you should give NTC a try. 

Key Features:

• Diverse Workout Library: Offers a wide range of workouts, including strength training, cardio, yoga, and mobility exercises, catering to various fitness levels and goals.
• Personalized Training Plans: Provides customized training plans based on user goals, fitness level, and preferences, with progressive workouts designed to help achieve specific fitness objectives.
• Expert Guidance: Features guidance from experienced trainers and athletes, delivering expert instruction and motivation through video demonstrations and audio cues.
• Workout Customization: Allows users to customize workouts by selecting specific exercises, adjusting duration, and modifying intensity to fit personal needs and preferences.
• Goal Setting and Tracking: Enables users to set fitness goals and track progress over time, offering detailed metrics on workout performance, achievements, and milestones.
• In-App Challenges: Includes various fitness challenges to engage users, foster motivation, and promote consistency by setting goals and competing with friends or the community.
• Guided Programs: Provides access to guided programs focused on specific areas such as strength building, endurance, or flexibility, offering structured and goal-oriented training.
• Integration with Apple Health: Syncs with Apple Health to integrate workout data and track overall wellness metrics, providing a comprehensive view of fitness progress and health.
• Offline Access: Allows users to download workouts and access them offline, ensuring that fitness routines can be maintained without an active internet connection.
• Community Features: Connects users with a supportive community for sharing progress, participating in group challenges, and engaging with other fitness enthusiasts.

Nike Training Club on the App Store

Also Read: The Best Free Workout Apps for iOS

TED

Designed to “feed your curiosity and expand your world”, this app contains thousands of free videos from experts in the field. Using TED, you can browse its library of thousands of inspiring, informative, and transformative videos for free, with personalized recommendations tailored to your interests.

TED on the App Store

Key Features:

• Extensive Library of Talks: Provides access to a vast collection of TED Talks covering a wide range of topics including science, technology, education, and personal development, delivered by experts and thought leaders.
• Curated Playlists: Offers curated playlists and themed collections of talks, helping users discover new content based on their interests and preferred topics.
• Personalized Recommendations: Features personalized recommendations based on viewing history and preferences, suggesting talks that align with individual interests and viewing habits.
• Offline Viewing: Allows users to download TED Talks for offline viewing, making it easy to access inspiring content without needing an internet connection.
• Subtitles and Translations: Provides subtitles in multiple languages, enabling users from around the world to follow along with talks in their preferred language.
• Search and Discover: Includes powerful search functionality to find specific talks, speakers, or topics, along with discovery features to explore new content based on trending or popular talks.
• Bookmark and Save: Enables users to bookmark and save favorite talks, creating a personalized list of content that can be revisited at any time.
• Interactive Features: Offers interactive features such as the ability to share talks via social media, email, or messaging apps, and engage with the TED community through comments and discussions.
• Speaker Profiles: Provides detailed profiles of TED speakers, including biographical information and links to their other talks, allowing users to explore more content from their favorite speakers.
• Daily Inspiration: Delivers daily inspiration through featured talks and notifications, keeping users motivated and engaged with fresh, thought-provoking content.

Google Maps

Google Maps is the only map app you’ll ever need. With over 220 countries and regions placed on the map and hundreds of millions of businesses and places on the map, you can get real-time GPS navigation, traffic and accurate public transport information.

Key Features:

• Detailed Maps and Navigation: Provides comprehensive maps and turn-by-turn navigation for driving, walking, and biking, including real-time updates and route adjustments based on traffic conditions.
• Real-Time Traffic Information: Offers live traffic updates and congestion information, helping users choose the fastest routes and avoid delays.
• Street View: Features Google Street View, allowing users to virtually explore streets and neighborhoods with panoramic, 360-degree imagery.
• Local Business Listings: Includes detailed information on local businesses, including hours of operation, contact details, user reviews, and photos, helping users find services and amenities nearby.
• Offline Maps: Allows users to download and access maps offline, ensuring navigation and location information is available even without an internet connection.
• Public Transit Information: Provides schedules and route information for public transportation, including buses, trains, and subways, to assist with planning commutes and travel.
• Place Recommendations: Offers personalized recommendations for restaurants, attractions, and other points of interest based on user preferences and location.
• Explore Feature: Helps users discover popular places and hidden gems in their vicinity or in destinations they plan to visit, with curated lists and suggestions.
• Real-Time Location Sharing: Allows users to share their real-time location with friends and family, enhancing safety and coordination during meetups or travel.
• Integration with Google Services: Seamlessly integrates with other Google services, such as Google Search and Google Calendar, for a more cohesive user experience and easier access to relevant information.

Google Maps on the App Store

AccuWeather

If you travel a lot and need a weather forecast app to plan your travel, AccuWeather is one of the must-have apps for your iPhone. The popular weather app, where you can get information about the “minute by minute” weather conditions that you can personalize, gives you an idea about severe weather warnings, live weather forecasts, precipitation conditions, and expected weather events. 

Key Features:

• Real-Time Weather Updates: Provides up-to-the-minute weather information, including current conditions, temperature, humidity, and wind speed, ensuring users have the latest data at their fingertips.
• Severe Weather Alerts: Delivers timely and accurate alerts for severe weather events, such as thunderstorms, hurricanes, and tornadoes, helping users stay informed and prepared for adverse conditions.
• MinuteCast®: Offers MinuteCast® precipitation forecasts, giving hyper-local predictions on when and where precipitation will start or stop within a specific area.
• Daily and Hourly Forecasts: Includes detailed daily and hourly forecasts, offering insights into upcoming weather conditions and trends for better planning throughout the day and week.
• Weather Radar: Features high-resolution weather radar with real-time updates, allowing users to track storms, precipitation, and weather patterns visually on an interactive map.
• Customizable Notifications: Allows users to set up personalized notifications for weather alerts and updates based on their location and preferences, ensuring they receive relevant information in a timely manner.
• Severe Weather Maps: Provides access to specialized maps, including radar, satellite imagery, and severe weather maps, for a comprehensive view of current and upcoming weather conditions.
• Weather Widgets: Offers customizable weather widgets that can be added to the home screen for quick access to current weather conditions and forecasts without opening the app.
• Pollen and Air Quality Information: Includes data on pollen counts and air quality levels, helping users manage allergies and make informed decisions about outdoor activities.
• Weather News and Videos: Features a section with weather-related news, videos, and expert analysis, providing additional context and updates on significant weather events and trends.

AccuWeather on the App Store

Also Read: The Best Weather Apps for iPhone

Audible

By using Audible, one of the best audiobook apps with more than 425,000 audiobooks, you can determine the speed of narration and speed up the narrations that seem slow to you. The app, which allows you to download the book offline when you do not have internet access, also allows you to change the book if you do not like the voiceover.

Key Features:

• Extensive Audiobook Library: Offers a vast collection of audiobooks across various genres, including fiction, non-fiction, self-help, and more, allowing users to access a diverse range of literary content.
• Original Audio Content: Provides exclusive Audible Originals and content, including original series, podcasts, and performances, created specifically for Audible subscribers.
• Personalized Recommendations: Delivers tailored recommendations based on listening history and preferences, helping users discover new audiobooks and audio content that align with their interests.
• Offline Listening: Allows users to download audiobooks and audio content for offline listening, ensuring that content is available even without an internet connection.
• Bookmarking and Notes: Includes features for bookmarking and making notes within audiobooks, enabling users to easily return to important sections or jot down thoughts and reflections.
• Adjustable Playback Speed: Provides options to adjust the playback speed, allowing users to listen at a pace that suits their preference, whether faster for efficiency or slower for better comprehension.
• Sleep Timer: Features a sleep timer function that allows users to set a timer for stopping playback, ideal for listening before bed without worrying about the content playing all night.
• Whispersync for Voice: Supports Whispersync for Voice, enabling users to switch seamlessly between audiobook and eBook formats on supported titles, syncing their progress across devices.
• Library Management: Offers tools for managing and organizing your audiobook library, including sorting, searching, and categorizing content for easy access.
• Audiobook Sharing: Allows users to share audiobook recommendations with friends and family, fostering a community of listeners and helping others discover new favorites.

Audible on the App Store

Also Read: The Best Audiobook Apps for iPhone

Any.do

Any.do, which has been used by more than 30 million people and featured in places such as WSJ and NYTimes, is among the best calendar apps for iPhone, where you can manage many life and work related tasks from making a shopping list to creating a business event, with a combination of to-do-list, reminder, and calendar features. 

Key Features:

• Task Management: Allows users to create, organize, and prioritize tasks with customizable lists and categories, helping to keep track of daily responsibilities and long-term goals.
• Integrated Calendar: Combines tasks and events in a unified calendar view, enabling users to schedule and manage appointments, deadlines, and reminders alongside their to-do lists.
• Smart Reminders: Features intelligent reminders that can be set based on time, location, or recurrence, ensuring that important tasks are not forgotten and are completed on schedule.
• Daily Planner: Provides a daily planner view that outlines tasks, events, and reminders for the day, helping users stay organized and focused on their priorities.
• Collaboration Tools: Offers collaboration features for sharing tasks and lists with others, facilitating teamwork and allowing users to delegate and track progress on shared projects.
• Voice Input: Includes voice input functionality for adding tasks and notes hands-free, making it easy to quickly capture ideas and tasks on the go.
• Cross-Device Sync: Syncs tasks and lists across multiple devices, ensuring that users have access to their to-do list and planner from any smartphone, tablet, or computer.
• Integration with Other Apps: Integrates with popular productivity apps and services, such as Google Calendar, Outlook, and Dropbox, to streamline task management and enhance workflow.
• Focus Mode: Features a focus mode that helps users concentrate on one task at a time by minimizing distractions and promoting single-tasking for increased productivity.
• Customizable Themes and Layouts: Allows users to personalize the app’s appearance with customizable themes and layouts, creating a user experience that suits individual preferences and needs.

Any.do on the App Store

Also Read: The Best Calendar Apps for iPhone

AdBlock

As a smartphone owner, one of the main problems you encounter is disruptive ads in almost every web page. AdBlock is one of the best ad blockers for iPhone, that will allow you to block 99% of popups, banners and video ads. 

Key Features:

• Ad Blocking: Effectively blocks ads on websites and within apps, enhancing the browsing experience by removing unwanted and intrusive advertisements.
• Customizable Filters: Offers a range of customizable filter lists that allow users to tailor ad-blocking preferences, including options for blocking specific types of ads and domains.
• Privacy Protection: Enhances privacy by blocking trackers and analytics scripts that collect user data, helping to protect personal information from being monitored and sold.
• Improved Browsing Speed: Speeds up page loading times by removing ads and scripts that can slow down websites, resulting in a faster and more efficient browsing experience.
• Whitelist Feature: Provides the ability to create a whitelist of websites where ads are allowed, enabling users to support their favorite sites or access content that relies on advertising revenue.
• Easy Setup and Use: Features a straightforward setup process and user-friendly interface, making it easy to activate and configure ad-blocking features with minimal effort.
• Analytics and Reports: Includes tools for monitoring and analyzing blocked ads and trackers, providing insights into how much ad traffic and tracking are being prevented.
• Support for Multiple Browsers: Works with various browsers, including Safari, to ensure comprehensive ad-blocking across different web browsing environments.
• Automatic Updates: Regularly updates filter lists and ad-blocking rules to adapt to new types of ads and tracking technologies, maintaining effective protection over time.
• Integration with Safari: Seamlessly integrates with Safari’s content blocker settings, allowing users to activate ad-blocking directly within the browser’s preferences.

AdBlock on the App Store

KMPlayer

If you are an active video content consumers, you sometimes need a video player other than iPhone’s own video playback tool. This is why, Last in our list of the must-have apps for iPhone is KMPlayer, one of the best video players for iPhone, which allows you to play 4K or even 8K videos without any performance loss.

Key Features:

• Multi-Format Support: Plays a wide variety of video and audio file formats, including MP4, MKV, AVI, and more, ensuring compatibility with diverse media files.
• High-Quality Playback: Offers high-definition video playback with support for various resolutions, including HD and 4K, providing a crisp and clear viewing experience.
• Subtitle Support: Includes built-in subtitle functionality with support for multiple subtitle formats, allowing users to easily add, sync, and customize subtitles for their videos.
• Advanced Playback Controls: Features advanced playback controls such as adjustable playback speed, video and audio synchronization, and frame-by-frame navigation for precise viewing.
• Customizable Interface: Provides a customizable user interface with options to change themes, layouts, and control settings, allowing users to tailor the app to their preferences.
• Audio and Video Filters: Includes a range of audio and video filters and enhancement options, such as brightness, contrast, and equalizer settings, to adjust media playback to personal tastes.
• Media Library Management: Allows users to organize and manage their media library, with features for sorting, tagging, and creating playlists for easy access to favorite content.
• Network Streaming: Supports streaming from network sources and media servers, enabling users to play content directly from remote locations or networked devices.
• Picture-in-Picture Mode: Offers a picture-in-picture (PiP) mode that allows users to continue watching videos in a small, resizable window while using other apps on their iPhone.
• Gesture Controls: Features intuitive gesture controls for adjusting volume, playback speed, and video position, providing a convenient and interactive way to manage media playback.

KMPlayer on the App Store