Friday, February 1, 2013

16 Apps for Your iPhone That Are Better Than the Ones Apple Made

Apps are a great way to supercharge your iPhone experience and Apple's App Store is full of outstanding options. Some stand-out apps are even better than Apple's very own apps.

If you're looking to get more out of your phone, check out this list we put together of Apps that replace Apple's and make your phone more useful and fun.

1. Instead of Apple's Mail App, use Mailbox to quickly get your inbox to zero.

Kevin Smith/Business InsiderMailbox is one of the most anticipated apps of 2013. The email client uses gestures to quickly get your inbox to zero.

One of our favorite features is the "Later" option, which pushes an email away and re-circulates it to the top of your inbox at a time you choose.

Mailbox isn't available yet, but you can sign up for the reservation list here.

Price: It will be free


2. Use Google Maps instead of Apple Maps.

Kevin Smith/Business InsiderEveryone knows Google Maps is superior to Apple Maps. Google Maps for iPhone is fast, functional, beautifully designed, and most importantly, won't get you lost.

Price: Free






3. Use Fetchnotes instead of Notes
.

Kevin Smith/Business InsiderApple's stock notes app isn't that great. Fetchnotes improves on note taking and productivity in general. The app makes taking notes as simple as writing a tweet and has an excellent system of tagging using hashtags.

Price: Free






4. Use Check the Weather instead of the regular weather app
.

Kevin Smith/Business InsiderCheck the Weather supercharges your mobile weather experience. We love the app because it integrates Dark Sky, an app that tells you down to the minute when it will rain.

Besides a precipitation checker, users also have access to an extended 10-day forecast as well as an hour-by-hour forecast.

Price: $0.99


5. Spotify gives you access to a massive library of streaming tunes while freeing up space.


Kevin Smith/Business InsiderSpotify is a streaming music service that lets you stream millions of songs from all the major record labels for $9.99 per month.

Songs aren't stored directly on your device, which frees up a ton of space that you can use for other things like photos and apps. (Although you can store songs for offline listening if you want).

Price: Free



6. Use Clear or Checkmark instead of Reminders.

Clear is a simple to do list list that makes keeping track of lists and tasks very simple. The app is beautifully designed and it feels satisfying to remove completed tasks with a swipe.

Price: $1.99

Checkmark is a location-based reminders app that is much more polished than Apple's stock Reminders and gives added functionality like a timer feature, a distance list, and location-based reminders.

Price: $4.99


7. Use Brewster instead of Contacts.

Kevin Smith/Business InsiderBrewster is a personalized address book that understands your social networking relationships and merges everything into a beautifully-designed app.

Brewster recently updated it's iPhone app, making it possible to sync your entire Brewster address book with the built-in iPhone address book making the app that much more useful.

Price: Free

8. Use Chrome or Dolphin instead of Safari.

We wish Apple would let users set Chrome as the default browser. Chrome is fast, doesn't use a lot of memory, and syncs with your Google account. If you use Chrome on the desktop, you'll want to use it on the iPhone and iPad too.

Price: Free

Dolphin is another alternative browser for iPhone that recently had a big overhaul. The new version supports a desktop app called Dolphin Connect, which lets you sync your desktop browser settings with Dolphin on your phone.

Price: Free


9. Use Fantastical instead of the regular calendar app.

Kevin Smith/Business InsiderFantastical's goal is to help you add new events to your iPhone's calendar as quickly as possible. The layout is also a lot better than Apple's regular calendar app, letting you see upcoming events in a handy list view.

Price: $1.99






10. Use Camera+ instead of the regular camera app.


Camera+ has a ton of features that help it to stand out from the iPhone's stock camera.

Camera+ allows users to zoom in up to six times, touch focus on a certain area, adjust your phone's flash, and enhance photos with a special clarity filter.

Price: $0.99 (currently on sale)


11. Use Flayvr instead of the Photos app.

Kevin Smith/Business InsiderYour iPhone's built-in Photos app is just a hodgepodge of random photos and videos.

Flayvr fixes that problem by organizing everything into easily digestible events. You don't have to stress yourself out trying to sort your photos and videos into albums.

Price: Free



12. Use Bloomberg instead of the Stocks app.

Kevin Smith/Business InsiderBloomberg's app is great for Wall Streeters, but it's also excellent for those who want to stay on top of personal investments and financial news.

Besides just providing stock information, we love how easy it is to access to company information and financials quickly.

Price: Free



13. Use Rise instead of the Clock app.

We've been looking for a way to ditch Apple's built-in alarm app because it's a bit too complicated.

Rise is a minimal alarm clock app that is beautifully designed and lets you set your alarm simply by swiping up and down. Even better, you have the ability to set progressive alarms, repeating alarms, and wake up to your own music.

Price: $1.99


14. Use Google Voice for your voicemails.

iTunesThe Google Voice app doesn't completely replace the iPhone's Phone app, but works well with it as a great way to manage your voicemails.

All your voicemails are transcribed to text by Google. You can also send free text messages and make international phone calls on the cheap.

Price: Free


15. Use Prey instead of Find My iPhone.

iTunesPrey is an open sourced anti-theft tracking app. Prey not only tracks your iPhone, but also lets you keep an eye on all of your devices.

Prey has all the features of Apple's Find My iPhone, but we really like how the tracker uses the front-facing camera for picture support (so you can take a picture of the thief) and rings out a loud alarm if you've misplaced your phone.

Price: Free


16. Use AudioMemos instead of Voice Memos.

iTunesApple's Voice Memos app is pretty weak. You can't email longer recordings, and everything else has to sync with iTunes. It's annoying.

That's why we enjoy AudioMemos, a robust app that lets you upload your recordings to Dropbox or iCloud. You can also adjust the quality of your recording to save storage space.

Price: $0.99

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