Whether you’re moving from the best Android phones or have never used a smartphone before, loading up your very first iPhone is a big deal. Apple routinely tops our list of the best smartphones for good reason, and the iPhone 16 series has continued that trend — offering incredible battery life, strong performance and excellent camera quality.
Apple also has a big advantage in the form of the App Store. iPhones didn’t really come into their own until people were allowed to download new apps. Those apps unlock a whole new level of functionality in your device, letting you do more than just tinker with the basic features Apple has preinstalled. The only problem is where do you begin? The App Store has thousands of apps to choose from, and our list of the best iPhone apps is still pretty lengthy. It can be pretty intimidating if you’re new to the platform.
Thankfully I’ve spent countless years tinkering with iPhones and their apps, and in that time I’ve picked up a few timeless favorites. So if you’ve just finished loading up your new iPhone, these are the 11 apps you should be downloading first.
Microsoft SwiftKey AI Keyboard
The stock iPhone keyboard is fine, but it's still pretty basic. If you want to have a better experience typing on your new iPhone, you'll want to swap it out for something else — and SwiftKey is my personal favorite.
There are two things I like most about SwiftKey. The first is that its customizable, letting you personalize the look and feel of the keyboard so that it matches your personal feel and writing style. The other is that it comes with an intelligent autocorrect that learns about you and how you type. Over time the autocorrect gets more accurate and helps improve your typing speed. Plus, since it's tied to your SwiftKey account, it can follow you when you swap devices.
SwiftKey also includes various extra features, like emoji and GIF support, as well as Microsoft's Copilot AI. With its own dedicated tab, this lets you utilize the chatbot and take advantage of its features regardless of what app you're in.
Download Microsoft SwiftKey AI Keyboard
WhatsApp Messenger
iMessage may be the go-to app to message people on iPhone or some other Apple device, but what about the other people? RCS may have made communication with Android less painful that it used to be, but it's still horribly insecure — to the point that the FBI has recommended people stop using it.
WhatsApp doesn't have that issue, thanks to end-to-end encryption powered by the Signal protocol — one of the best encryption methods out there. Better still it maintains all the rich communication features you'd expect from iMessage and RCS. Send images and files without horrible compression, react to messages, video call friends, set up group chats, and all the other things you need.
It is another app, but it does mean you can talk to just about everyone. Even businesses, who are increasingly using WhatsApp messages and channels as an extra option to get in touch with someone when you need help.
Download WhatsApp Messenger
ChatGPT
Although ChatGPT is available as part of Apple Intelligence, there's still a case to be made to have the app on your phone. Maybe your iPhone doesn't support Apple Intelligence, or maybe you just want to keep OpenAI's chatbot contained in its own app — rather than spread across multiple areas of your phone.
ChatGPT offers you free and unrestricted access to the chatbot, with the ability to communicate via voice or text prompts. If you need help with brainstorming, writing something important, generating new images or simply learning new things. All you need to do is ask ChatGPT.
The app also lets ChatGPT subscribers access their premium features, assuming they've been willing to pay for them.
Download ChatGPT
Bluesky Social
Do you remember what Twitter used to be like before it got its single-character rebrand? That's what Bluesky seems to be trying to recreate. A microblogging experience without the subscriptions, with a feed that you get to curate and customize. All while keeping itself decentralized and open source, and adequately moderated.
All your favorite microblogging features are here too. Posts are limited to 300 characters, and users are given the option to like and share what other people in their feed have said. Just don't call it retweeting, no matter how similar it may seem. There are even hashtags for those times you want to try and connect your posts with a trending topic.
Download Bluesky Social
Create your own collection of content from across the web, with support for articles, videos, recipes and other kinds of stories. Mozilla-developed Pocket is the perfect place to save stuff you come across, but don't have time to deal with right away — and without clogging up your bookmark folder in the process.
Pocket doesn't just let you save content from across the web, either. It also cleans up the interface to make it effortless to read. It also lets you listen to saved articles like you would a podcast, freeing up your hands and eyes for others. Maybe cleaning up, walking the dog, or working out.
Download Pocket
IFTTT
Every iPhone offers built-in automation, courtesy of the Shortcuts app. It's a very useful tool to have, provided you're more focussed on Apple devices and services. if you want to start automating things from third party apps, then IFTTT offers a little bit more. All with the philosophy "If this, then that".
IFTTT offers thousands of potential automations that you can customize, with the goal of making sure you don't have to save it all manually. Whether you want to send a single post to multiple social media accounts, sync your many calendars together, or have better control over your smart home, IFTTT can make it happen.
Automations can be done automatically, with the use of IFTTT's one-tap "applets" or via home-screen widgets — letting you choose a method that you prefer.
Download IFTTT
Google Drive
Apple may offer cloud storage with iCloud, but it doesn't offer much more than a place to save your files and photos. It's worth having something with a little bit more utility, and that's where Google Drive comes into play.
Not only is Google Drive a cross-platform service, it has a bunch of extra features that'll make file storage a breeze. Intelligent and automatic organization, powerful search functions and the ability to share files with strict permissions limiting who actually has access. It even has a built-in document scanner, which is very useful if you still have to deal with paper documents and letters on a regular basis.
You will need a Google account, if you don't already, and each one comes with 15GB of free storage that covers all of Google's cloud services. You can always buy more, though, as long as you haven't given your money to Apple first.
Download Google Drive
OtterAI
If you've ever had to transcribe a conversation more than a few minutes long, you'll know that it is the exact opposite of fun. Fortunately we have AI to do all this stuff for us, and OtterAI is one of the best options on offer.
The app can record and transcribe what's being said in real time. It doesn't matter whether it's an interview, lecture, meeting or something else entirely. Better still the onboard AI summarize the contents, while also making searching for specific sections of the transcript incredibly easy.
OtterAI also offers automatic slide capture during meetings, and can come up with questions you can ask to see smart and intelligent in front of your bosses. Just be aware that the free version is limited to 300 minutes a month, after which you'll need to pay.
Download OtterAI
Halide Mark II
A professional-tier camera for iPhone that maintains a simple design. That makes it perfect for amateur and professional photographers who want a little more than Apple's stock camera app can offer.
Halide Mark II offers Pro tools, manual controls, and support for RAW photography that cuts out all the post-shot processing you'll see on the stock camera. So if you want your photos free of automated editing and AI interference, this is the app to use. Or, alternatively, pick and choose which processes are actually involved.
Halide also offers manual focus, lock and home screen widgets for quick access, Neural Macro for macro photography without the dedicated lens, editing tools and so many more features I can't possibly list them here. Needless to say, it's probably the most powerful third-party camera app available on an iPhone.
Just be aware that it isn't free. You get a 7 day free trial, after which you'll need to pay for access. Either $3 a month, $20 a year or $60 for lifetime access.
Download Halide Mark II
Acorns
An automated platform designed to make saving and investments super-easy — and you don't need to offer up a large amount of cash to get started. One of the main benefits of Acorns is that you can invest with whatever spare change you have left over, helping to grow that money for your future self to enjoy.
Acorns also offer you the chance to invest in Bitcoin, and add any individual stocks you already own in any publicly-traded companies from the U.S. Plus you can set up specific checking and investment accounts in the app — with options to invest for retirement or for your kids.
Just remember any investment has risks, and growth isn't guaranteed.
Download Acorns
Carrot Weather
Apple's stock weather app is pretty good, but it's also pretty bland. That may be already for some, but Carrot Weather gives you the option of having a weather app with a little bit of sass — plus a bunch of other useful features.
That's right, sass. Carrot Weather has five distinct personalities you can choose from, ranging from professional to the "profanity-laden" overkill mode. So instead of just delivering weather data, it feels like you're getting it from your own personal weather robot.
Carrot also promises total privacy, super-accurate and detailed forecasts, and a built-in Alternate Reality Game. Premium subscribers will get more features like better customization, multiple weather sources, extra radar maps and better notifications.
Download Carrot Weather
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