Block ads, never forget the bins, count things, and much, much more
Often, our app round-ups are about ambition. We look at apps at the cutting-edge of what’s possible on iOS, stretching what’s achievable using your iPhone or iPad. This round-up takes a different approach, delving into apps you can install and sort of forget about – until the moment you have need of their unique features.
You see, it’s not that these apps aren’t really great – it’s that they’re mostly very focused. Combined, they act almost like a Swiss Army knife, offering all sorts of one-shot tools you don’t know you need – until the moment you really do.
1Blocker: block web ads
Websites can be deeply annoying, throwing all kinds of rubbish at your eyes when you have the sheer audacity to want to read something. 1Blocker (free + IAP) largely eradicates the cruft. Install it, and then flick switches to block ads, trackers, social widgets, comments, and other annoyances. Those things then won’t bother you again. Want more nuance? You can define whitelists for individual websites.
Adobe Acrobat Reader: sign a PDF
One for businesspeople reading this feature. There you are, happily going about your day, when – DING! – you get a message that a document absolutely must be signed within the next eleven seconds, or your company will be hurled into the heart of the sun. (Hyperbolic? Not for the typical manager.) No problem: get Adobe Acrobat Reader (free) on your iPhone, scribble your sig, and then send the revised document on.
Adobe Scan: scan any document
Apple’s Notes app includes scanning. Frankly, though, the user flow isn’t exactly intuitive. By being a bespoke, dedicated scanning app, Adobe Scan (free) makes it much easier during those times when you need to quickly snap a receipt, scan a QR code, or transform a pile of papers into a PDF, and fling that to the other side of the world in an instant.
Bin Day Alert: take out the trash
The planet won’t save itself. This is why it’s increasingly rare for people to chuck all their waste into a massive skip. Instead, you may end up with a range of colored bins, each with its own collection cycle. Don’t waste brain space remembering these dates – have Bin Day Alert ($2/£2) do the hard work instead. You get a widget, and a couple of alerts per bin type, too.
BirdNET: identify birdsong
Want to know what’s warbling nearby, to learn whether it’s an adorable tiny bird or a terrifying raptor preparing to sink its talons into your head and claim ownership over your person? Then you’re in luck. Wave the BirdNET (free) app in the vague direction of reasonably loud birdsong, select some audio, and it’ll dutifully let you know what’s lurking.
Cheatsheet Notes: make mini notes
Apple’s Notes is fine for the kind of long-form notes you often edit. But you need Cheatsheet Notes (free + $6/£6 per year) for smaller things you never remember, but that are nonetheless vital: your hotel room; your new car’s license plate; combinations for luggage, so you don’t have to break into it with a hammer while on holiday. Once your notes are set up, they appear in a widget.
Google Authenticator: access 2FA codes
Are you using two-factor authentication (2FA) for important accounts? Given how often websites are breached these days, you should be. Apple’s Passwords app supports 2FA codes, but we prefer having them in a separate space – the efficient, user-friendly Google Authenticator (free). If you’ve multiple devices, you can sync your codes across them as well – but ensure they are all secure if you do.
Google Translate: translate anything
Most people don’t need something translating that often. But there’ll be a word you hear and wonder what it means. Or you’ll be on vacation, see a menu in a foreign tongue, and want to be sure you’re not ordering flambéed car tire. In which case, get Google Translate (free). It’ll work with typed words or a magical camera view – and dozens of languages don’t even require you to be online.
Memories: prune your photos
On the surface, Memories (free + $2/£2) feels like your own personal ‘on this day in history’ app, serving up snaps from today’s date across the years. But it’s also a painless way to manage a large library – spend a couple of minutes a day deleting redundant pics and you’ll be done a year down the line.
Meteor: check your web connection
You’ll sometimes be online and wonder whether a website’s no longer working, or if your internet connectivity’s suddenly powered by exhausted hamsters. Meteor (free) gives you insight into ping, download, and upload speeds. Usefully, it’ll provide speeds for specific apps and services, too, giving you plenty of information to hurl at your internet service provider. Possibly by pigeon.
MultiTimer: use multiple timers
Apple likes to keep things simple. Perhaps this is why for so many years its Clock app only had a single timer. That’s fine for boiling an egg, but not tracking multiple countdowns. Even today, we’d sooner use MultiTimer (free or $8/£8 per year or $18/£18), which has a huge variety of customizable timers. For free, you get a single board of timers (six, by default); go pro for as many as you like.
Soulver: make fast calculations
Siri can handle basic calculations and conversions, and Apple’s Notes app allows you to add context by writing out sums in plain English. Soulver ($14/£14) is far better, with a more mature and refined system than what Notes offers. Launch the app and a blank sheet will be ready for you to tap out words and numbers. The latter will be intelligently extracted, whether you’re totting up expenses, or finding out how many Euros you can get for a US dollar these days.
Sticker Drop Maker Studio: create better stickers
You can tap-hold a subject in a photo and add it to Apple’s own sticker stash in Messages. We much prefer Sticker Drop Maker Studio ($1/£1). The app gives you more editing options than Apple, along with the means to group large sticker collections into packs, which you can later share with friends.
Tally: keep count
Need to keep count of something, like glasses of water you’ve drunk today, or boardgame scores? You could use your fingers, assuming you’ve enough. Or you could grab Tally 2 (free or $8/£8 per year or $30/£30). This simple app increments an on-screen number when you tap. But options let you adjust values and steps; and if you go pro, you can create unlimited Tally sets and also gain access to the app on your Apple Watch.
Tameno: set repeating timers
Screenshot
There’s already a timer app in this round-up. But Tameno ($4/£4) makes the cut as well, due to its sense of focus. It lets you create repeating timers that buzz your iPhone and/or make a noise each time the cycle completes – until you have it stop. Handy for watering plants, exercising, or brushing your teeth evenly.
Unhabit: block websites
Some websites are a bit too compelling. Should you want to cut one out of your life, Safari extension Unhabit (free) is the way to go. When it detects a blocked site, a warning appears. It can be bypassed, but only after you wait for a horribly slow cooldown timer to complete – by which point you’ll likely have thought better of it.
xSearch: search any website
Save yourself a few taps and bypass the likes of Google by searching sites directly from Safari’s address bar. With xSearch ($3/£3) installed, you can use simple shortcuts to trigger searches on hundreds of sites – for example, ‘am iPhone case’ to search Amazon for an iPhone case. It’s dead easy to set up custom searches for any sites xSearch doesn’t have in its own directory too.
Yoink: stash things for later
When you’re darting about your device, trying to put together a bunch of documents or links for someone, doing so can be complex and time-consuming. But install Yoink ($6/£6) and you get what amounts to a shelf where you can temporarily dump stuff. The app supports a huge range of formats, syncs items using iCloud, and also lets you get at what you’ve stored via Apple’s Files app.