Following are a random selection of the apps that I enjoy having on my phone, but you might not find in the “top app” lists on the iOS App Store. They are sorted alphabetically.
DarkRoom
If you would like to edit photos on your phone, especially raws, DarkRoom is the way to do it. Hard to show this app, so I suggest giving the free trial a run for its money.
Halide
Want to up your photography game on the iPhone? Halide is an incredible camera app that will make custom, macro, and raw photography so much easier than the default camera app.
Longplay
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Longplay is simple enough: It will show you albums you used to listen to a lot, but haven’t recently. It has other features too, but I have only ever used the one 😂
MakePass
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Have you ever gotten an event ticket, membership card, or insurance card that doesn’t support Apple Wallet? MakePass will allow you to create your own Wallet card in a few minutes, barcode and all!
MaskerAid
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Want to share photos, but not faces? MaskerAid will help you rapidly place emoji on your photos so you can share pictures without oversharing to people you don’t know.
MusicHarbor
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Want to know when your favorite artists release a new album? MusicHarbor will track all the artists you like and keep you in the know.
Noir
Dark mode is amazing, and some websites are blindingly bright if they don’t yet support it. Noir fixes that by making the entire web support dark mode.
Paku
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Curious about the air quality around you? Keep PurpleAir open in a tab for half the year? Live in California? Paku uses PurpleAir data in an app that does nothing else, so you can see the air quality on a map or in a widget and get on with your day.
PCalc
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Want to upgrade you calculator, or get a calculator on the iPad? PCalc is a classic Mac/iOS app, and will do everything you want and far more. It also has at least one game hidden away in the help menu, plus an AR experience, etc.
Reeder
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Miss Google Reader? Still follow RSS feeds? Reeder will scratch that itch. Reeder makes it easy to follow any RSS feed, with no cloud service required. Your phone will track any feed, and keep track of articles you have already seen. Also, it can act as a read-it-later service.
Spectre Camera
Looking to create long-exposure photos? Spectre is a great tool for night photography, flowing water, moving traffic, and the like.
Super Headache
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This app couldn’t be more simple: Tap a button when your headache starts and it will ask every few hours if the headache is gone. Then tap a face to record the severity, and the app writes the data to Apple Health.
Yonks
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Are there any events you want to keep track of in the past or future? Enter them into Yonks and you can track them down to the second. See how long since you graduated college, met someone, or when your upcoming trip is, all in one list