There are so many applications on the app store that it can be quite difficult to pick out the ones you need to improve your personal or business life.
From productivity apps to leisure, learning, music, and socializing solutions, there are all types of apps out there, and for all types of users.
This guide picks out the 20 best iOS apps for your iPhone or iPad, to help you get the best user experience and productivity boost from your device.
20 Best iPhone Apps
| S/N | Name | Highlights | Pricing | Website |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | Microsoft Office Mobile | Word, Excel, Presentations | Freemium | apps.apple.com |
| 2. | Evernote | Notepad, planner, to-do list | Freemium | apps.apple.com |
| 3. | Slack | Team collaboration | Freemium | apps.apple.com |
| 4. | 1Password | Password manager, vault | $3.99 / mo | apps.apple.com |
| 5. | Swiftkey Keyboard | Faster typing, AI keyboard | Free | apps.apple.com |
| 6. | Trello | Project & team management | Freemium | apps.apple.com |
| 7. | Adobe Lightroom | Photo & video editor | Freemium | apps.apple.com |
| 8. | Spotify | Millions of songs for free | Freemium | apps.apple.com |
| 9. | Netflix | Stream movies, series, & shows | $9.99 | apps.apple.com |
| 10. | Headspace | Meditation & stress relief | $12.99 / mo | apps.apple.com |
| 11. | Google Maps | Navigation, local places, sights | Free | apps.apple.com |
| 12. | Grammarly | Grammar checker | Freemium | apps.apple.com |
| 13. | Communication & collaboration | Free | apps.apple.com | |
| 14. | ProCreate | Digital art sketching & painting | $12.99 | apps.apple.com |
| 15. | Duolingo | Learn languages | Freemium | apps.apple.com |
| 16. | MyFitnessPal | Calories counting & exercise | Freemium | apps.apple.com |
| 17. | Google Drive | Cloud storage | Freemium | apps.apple.com |
| 18. | Shazam | Identify any song in seconds | Free | apps.apple.com |
| 19. | Audible | Audio books & podcasts | Freemium | apps.apple.com |
| 20. | Zoom | Virtual meetings & webinars | Freemium | apps.apple.com |
1. Microsoft Office Mobile
Used For: Creating & editing office documents
Microsoft Office is probably the most popular office software package on the market. But here, the applications are redesigned for easier use on a mobile device. Microsoft combines all Word, Excel, and Powerpoint features into one app and it further lets you connect to a third-party cloud service or OneDrive. A Microsoft 365 Personal plan costs $6.99 per month.
Features:
- Create and edit Word, Excel, and presentation documents
- Integrates with a 3rd party cloud storage or a Microsoft account
- Combines all Office features into a single and easy-to-use app
- The documents are compatible across platforms
iOS Version: 15 or later
Price: Freemium
App Store Rating: 4.8
Free Trial: 30 days
2. Evernote
Used For: Note-taking & to-do lists
Evernote helps you to stay organized by making it easy to capture ideas, create to-do lists, and plan stuff to execute, in general. You can clip content to it, share your notes with colleagues, perform searches, and sync across devices. The free version syncs up to 2 devices with a 60 MB monthly uploads cap, but you can remove its limitations and access even more features with a premium plan from $11.99 per month.
Features:
- Capture ideas, create to-do lists, and stay organized
- Easily clip content from the web to add to your notes
- Syncs across devices, so you are always in sync
- Lets you share and collaborate on your notes with others
iOS Version: 13.2 or later
Price: Freemium
App Store Rating: 4.4
3. Slack
Used For: Team collaboration
Slack makes it easy to organize everything about your team in one place, so you can get ahead with your projects and boost productivity. It features chats, audio messages, and video, as well as synchronization across devices and integrations with over 2,000 other services.
Features:
- Communicate with chats, voice, and video
- Includes public and private channels for better focus
- Offers past conversations as a searchable archive
- Integrates with other 3rd party productivity apps
- Easy to customize to your organization and needs
iOS Version: 14 or later
Price: Freemium
App Store Rating: 3.8
Free Trial: 90 days
4. 1Password
Used For: Password management & digital vault
The 1Password app is a leading security solution that helps you to manage your passwords across devices and securely save your digital data in a cloud vault. It comes with 1 GB of vault storage and there are no password limits. Accounts start from $3.99 per month.
Features:
- Securely manage all your passwords from one place
- Generates secure passwords and fills out forms
- Digital vault lets you store important documents safely
- Syncs across devices
iOS Version: 15.5 or later
Price: From $3.99 per month
App Store Rating: 3.4
Free Trial: 14 days
5. Swiftkey Keyboard
Used For: Fast typing
The SwiftKey AI keyboard is a free app from Microsoft that lets you type easier and faster by learning your typing personality and adapting with precise predictions. You can type in multiple languages with ease, include emojis, and even type with swipes accurately. Microsoft additionally includes many colorful themes for free.
Features:
- Easy-to-use AI keyboard for faster writing
- Learns your writing style to make predictions
- Fast & accurate system
- Works in 5 languages at a go without changing settings
iOS Version: 11.0 or later
Price: Free
App Store Rating: 4.6
6. Trello
Used For: Project & team management
If you are looking to organize stuff, then Trello might be your tool. It lets you create and manage anything from a simple to-do list to a large and complex project with your team. You get boards, templates, and Kanban cards to create your workflow for easy collaboration with your guests. Trello is free with generous limitations, while premium plans start from $5 per month.
Features:
- Manage a project with your family or team
- Organize anything with anyone from anywhere
- Create and manage to-do lists with ease
- Uses Kanban boards, calendars, timelines, tables
iOS Version: 15.0 or later
Price: Freemium
App Store Rating: 4.4
7. Adobe Lightroom
Used For: Photo & video editing
Lightroom from Adobe will instantly improve your photos and videos with a professional touch. The app offers easy-to-use filters and presets, including precision sliders, adaptive AI presets, and the ability to customize yours. Lightroom also offers premium plans from $4.99 per month that come with more features, such as 200+ premium presets, a video editor, and a web gallery to showcase your stuff.
Features:
- Easily edit photos and videos on your device
- Powerful and flexible pro-grade tool
- Comes with presets and filters for quick results
- Includes cloud storage to store and showcase your files
iOS Version: 15.0 or later
Price: Freemium
App Store Rating: 4.8
Free Trial: 7 days
8. Spotify
Used For: Listening to music
Spotify gives you access to millions of songs and podcasts for free. You can listen as much as you like, find favorites, create playlists, and more for free. The free plan includes ads and other slight limitations, which you can remove with a premium plan for $12.99 per month.
Features:
- Vast music library with millions of titles for free
- Makes it easy to discover new favorite tracks
- Also includes social sharing features
- Download music with a premium plan
iOS Version: 14.0 or later
Price: Freemium
App Store Rating: 4.8
Free Trial: 90 days
9. Netflix
Used For: Movies, shows, & series streaming
From Tv shows to movies, documentaries, and intriguing series, you can watch the very best on the Netflix streaming service. It offers unlimited streaming from $9.99 per month and lets you watch whatever you like 24 hours a day. There are no complicated plans, no free trials, and you can cancel at any time with no cancellation fees.
Features:
- Stream movies, series, and documentaries direct to your device
- Offers a vast collection of titles for all audiences
- No commitments or long-term contracts, cancel at any time
- Includes personalized recommendations to help you discover new content
iOS Version: 15.0 or later
Price: $9.99
App Store Rating: 3.7
Free Trial: N/A
10. Headspace
Used For: Meditation
Headspace is an app that comes with lots of helpful features to make meditation simple for anyone. It offers features such as guided meditation to help you relax, reduce anxiety, focus your mind, and build resilience. There are also personalized recommendations, progress tracking, breath work coaching, and many answers to the questions you may have.
Features:
- Guided daily meditations with personalized recommendations
- Relaxing & soothing sounds for sleep
- Breath work and anxiety relief sessions
- Track your progress
iOS Version: 14.0 or later
Price: $12.99
App Store Rating: 4.8
Free Trial: 7 days
11. Google Maps
Used For: Navigation
Find your way around for free with Google Maps. This app comes with real-time updates, helps you chart your way from one point to the other, and includes a listing of local restaurants and other interesting places, as well as a car navigation mode with audio directions.
Features:
- Get live traffic updates for your location
- Get turn-by-turn directions to any destination
- Explore nearby attractions, hotels, and restaurants
- Virtually explore locations with Streetview
- Also available in offline mode
iOS Version: 14.0 or later
Price: Free
App Store Rating: 4.7
12. Grammarly
Used For: Grammar checking & polishing
Everyone can benefit from Grammarly’s suggestions. This AI-powered grammar checker with a writing enhancer shows you even silly mistakes that you might have overseen. It is thorough, highly effective in fixing grammar and spelling mistakes, and can help you to polish your writing to be clear and concise with the right tone and engaging words.
Features:
- AI-powered spelling and grammar checker
- Offers real-time writing suggestions
- Cloud-based document management
- Tone detection & multi-word evaluations
- Includes personal writing statistics
iOS Version: 14.0 or later
Price: Freemium
App Store Rating: 4.4
13. WhatsApp
Used For: Communication
WhatsApp is a simple and private communication app that encrypts all your communications. It offers text chats, audio messages, voice, and video calls. It also offers both 1-on-1 communications and group chats, as well as group calls, including video. WhatsApp’s encryption uses very little data to make calls efficiently around the world.
Features:
- Private and group chats, sharing, and updates
- Includes voice and video calls in private or groups
- Share moments through status updates
- Encrypted and secure connections across the planet
iOS Version: 12.0 or later (iPhone only)
Price: Free
App Store Rating: 4.5
14. ProCreate
Used For: Sketches, paintings, and illustrations
Available only for the iPad, ProCreate is an amazing app for anyone gifted with fine art skills. It lets you sketch, paint, animate, and illustrate in a powerful but flexible environment with high-definition canvases up to 16K. Procreate packs all the tools you will ever need, but it does not have a free trial or a free version of any kind.
Features:
- Full-featured art creation system
- Hundreds of handmade brushes & other innovative artistic tools
- Create art in 64-bit color
- Ultra high-definition canvases
- Paint in 3D with supporting tools
iOS Version: 15.4.1 or later (iPad only)
Price: $12.99
App Store Rating: 4.5
Free Trial: N/A
15. Duolingo
Used For: Learning languages
Duolingo is the free, fun, and fastest way to learn any language. The app uses bite-sized lessons to help you speak and hear any of its 40+ supported languages, including Esperanto, Swahili, Yiddish, Zulu, and even High Valerian. You can also practice reading, listening, and writing to boost your grammar skills, and as well, track your progress.
Features:
- Learn 40+ languages for free
- Fun and effective way to learn new languages
- Includes speaking, reading, writing, and listening lessons
- Designed by language experts
iOS Version: 14.0 or later
Price: Freemium
App Store Rating: 4.7
16. MyFitnessPal
Used For: Calorie counting & exercises
MyfitnessPal helps you to reach your fitness goals by tracking your foods and calories. It comes with a large database of menus and includes features to log your exercise and intermittent fasting activities, as well as to monitor your progress. It also has a large community, custom goals, and more.
Features:
- Track your nutrition for a healthy lifestyle
- Contains hundreds of recipes with calorie counts
- Customize your weight-loss, weight-gain, or maintenance goals
- Track your progress and connect with a community
iOS Version: 15.0 or later
Price: Freemium
App Store Rating: 4.7
17. Google Drive
Used For: Cloud file storage
Store and access your files anywhere with Google Drive. You get free 15 GB for a start and can upgrade to 100 GB for $1.99 or 200 GB for $2.99 per month. The platform allows sharing and collaboration. Plus, it supports 100+ file types, fast searches, notifications, and the robust security from Google.
Features:
- Store your content in the cloud and access it from anywhere
- Easily share your files and collaborate online
- Includes native support for 100+ file types
- Quickly find files with intelligent search
iOS Version: 15.0 or later
Price: Freemium
App Store Rating: 4.8
18. Shazam
Used For: Identifying songs
Want to know the name of any song that’s playing? Shazam will tell you in just a few seconds and you can additionally listen or add the song to your playlists. You can also follow along with lyrics and it even works offline and when you are not on the app.
Features:
- Identify any song in a few seconds
- Includes lyrics, playlists, and artists
- Follow any song along with timed lyrics
- Discover popular and recommended songs
iOS Version: 15.0 or later
Price: Free
App Store Rating: 4.9
19. Audible
Used For: Podcasts & audiobooks
Lovers of great stories will love Audible. This app gives you access to podcasts, audiobooks, and original stories, with thousands of titles in each genre. There is offline listening, Carplay, a sleep timer, and seamless switching between devices. The premium plan costs $15.99 per month and comes with an extended selection and other highlights.
Features:
- Discover entertaining and educative podcasts and audiobooks
- Listen anywhere and anytime
- A sleep timer helps you to listen in bed
- Save your collection, create lists, browse & discover original works
iOS Version: 15.5 or later
Price: Freemium
App Store Rating: 4.9
20. Zoom
Used For: Virtual meetings & webinars
Zoom is an integrated communication platform that features business phone calls, webinars, virtual meetings, and similar activities. Each product has its pricing, for example, the free plan allows up to 40 minutes and 100 attendees per meeting, while premium plans go up to 30 hours.
Features:
- Schedule video meetings and join easily
- Host events, webinars, and business calls
- Chat, call, & text with your team
- Easily switch between devices
- Record meetings & transcripts
iOS Version: 11.0 or later
Price: Freemium
App Store Rating: 4.6
Conclusion
Rounding off this list of the 20 best iOS apps and software that you should know of, you will agree that these applications are amazing in their unique ways and there is no one-size-fits-all solution here. So, it’s left for you to pick the ones you need.
