There's an app for that circa 2024
July 13, 2024 11:25 AM   Subscribe

Finally upgraded to an iPhone 15 base model after being on an iPhone 8 for years. I've missed out on so many new features and this feels like a new experience. What are your recommended apps? I'm excited about using my phone again - help me do all the cool stuff?

So many of the apps that I have on my old phone no longer work with the new one - and a lot of them I don't even really use anymore. I feel like a kid exploring again so I want to know what's a good app that you would absolutely recommend.

Some details:
- Currently looking to declutter my photos (delete duplicates, sort into folders, etc)
- I use Notion on my desktop but haven't really figured out how to make it work on my phone
- Not really a gamer but I like those that are calming and have nice graphics
- I used to have an app to track my meds, my pantry, my plants etc. But all no longer work now.

+ If you have any neat tips and tricks to share, that would be awesome.
posted by benimaru to Technology (10 answers total) 10 users marked this as a favorite
 
iOS will search through your photos and videos automatically and suggest the merger of duplicates on your device. Give it some time to chew through the data.
posted by JoeZydeco at 11:37 AM on July 13 [3 favorites]


Some of the apps I use regularly:

- FlowSavvy can connect to your calendar and block out time for tasks automatically, and if your schedule changes or you don’t get to something it will automatically recalculate for you. Not sure how it works with Notion but I love it for scheduling and task management.
- Hello Weather is a little more colorful and intuitive to me than native iOS weather.
- How We Feel for emotion tracking, Bears for gratitude journaling.
- Little Memory for encouraging just a little bit of journaling each day and being able to look back over the years.

Betwixt is a simple but beautiful game I’m working through.
posted by brook horse at 12:15 PM on July 13 [1 favorite]


Seek lets you scan and identify lifeforms. Try to collect them all! If you want you can share your observations online, where they become Science.

Merlin is Shazam for birds.

Avenza is an offline map app. They have tons of free maps of parks and hiking trails and the app will show your location on the map even when you don't have cell service.
posted by steveminutillo at 3:54 PM on July 13 [3 favorites]


Google Lens (on the Google app) is great for quick-and-dirty translation - just point your camera at some words and it translates them on the screen - it's like magic!
posted by atlantica at 10:28 PM on July 13


Radio Garden gives you access to radio stations around the world

Hoopla and Libby give you access to free audiobooks, ebooks, and other media based on your library card

If you're into flowers and plants and the above mentioned Seek isn't good enough, Picture This is the best app in this category (free for occasional use, subscription for more)

As for "new" (for you) iOS features, if you take a picture of something that has text in it, tapping on the little icon in the lower right will allow you to select the text.

The Apple "Find My" app allows you to use other devices to locate your phone. Or if you have Air Pods, you can use your phone to locate them like a tracking device.
posted by gwint at 7:17 AM on July 14 [1 favorite]


Kanopy is like Hoopla and Libby, but for video.

Ghostery and Wipr are good Safari adblockers. Your phone provider probably has their own mobile security app.

Tmrw is my current favorite weather app. Try the native one first, though, it's been greatly improved over the years and might do everything you need.

Streaks is good for habit-tracking of all kinds.

If you're a native Outlook or Gmail user, you might prefer their apps to the default Apple Mail.

Calm and Endel are good meditation/relaxation apps.

I'm not crazy about subscriptions, but Apple has some good ones (Arcade, Fitness, iCloud, Music, News, TV, plus Apple One to bundle combos of these).
posted by box at 9:04 AM on July 14


For journaling, Day One is hands down great.

Carrot Weather is a snarky little thing.
posted by kathrynm at 9:46 AM on July 14


If you like birds:

Seconding Merlin for identifying them--use w/eBird or iNaturalist if you're a more serious birder, or just as a standalone thing.

Audubon Bird Guide is good and free, and Sibley and Peterson also have their own guide apps if you're more partial to one of the other.

WingSpan, if you like birds and also like Euro-style board games.
posted by box at 9:49 AM on July 14


If you're a cyclist: Cyclemeter.

Libby library app.

Sorted reminder app

Fantastical calendar app

Too Good To Go food app is awesome

Cardhop for contacts

Black Magic Cam camera app

Google Earth

Drafts (getdrafts.com) for idea capture

Gmail

Arc web browser and

Arc Search

Signal and Telegram for messaging

Pocket Casts for podcasts.

You can track Meds with Apple Health. Plants I just do with Sorted but you could use Reminders as well.

I used Butterdocs.com web app for writing.

I posted some tips and tricks before.
posted by dobbs at 3:17 PM on July 14


It's true that using Notion on desktop is much easier and more powerful than it currently is on mobile. Notion still has a lot of progress to make in its mobile application to make it as user-friendly as the desktop version.

For my part, I still choose to use Notion to centralize all my notes, ideas, thoughts, and tasks. To make it easy to use on my phone, here are some tips I've implemented.

- First, you can design your Notion pages with mobile view in mind. From experience, if you use databases, which I recommend in Notion, it's better to use two particular database views that work well on mobile: Gallery and Table views. Other views are not yet ideal for use on phones, especially when there are many properties in the databases.

- Another option would be to create a page dedicated to mobile use. This would allow you to have the design you want on desktop and an adapted design for your mobile by using database views or linked database views. You can have the same information visible on different pages with different designs.

If you don't have the technical skills to design your own Notion systems for desktop and mobile, you can use pre-configured Notion templates. However, be careful to choose templates that suit you, as there are many options on the market. You can start with free Notion templates before deciding to invest in more elaborate systems.

Anyway, I'd recommend keeping Notion on your phone because Notion team is working hard on improving the experience on its app, and improvements are coming soon.

hope this helps :)
posted by qntnv at 1:30 AM on September 19


« Older Lightweight, non-invasive family budgeting app?   |   Floss for tight teeth? Newer »

You are not logged in, either login or create an account to post comments