New features can make your iPhone better, which is why people upgrade their great iPhones every year, including to the new iPhone 15 series. But another way to get the most out of your iPhone is by pairing it with some great apps. Some native services make iPhones some of the best phones out there, like iCloud or iMessage. However, an underrated benefit of choosing an iPhone as your daily driver is to have access to a slew of great applications with fantastic developer support.

To make sure you're getting all that you can out of your iPhone, you should download some apps right off the bat. From essential apps to productivity apps and more, there's something for everyone on this list. You can use this as a starting point to figure out which of the 4 billion+ apps on the App Store are the right fit for your iPhone.

Essential apps

Halide Mark II

If you know a little bit about photography and use an iPhone, you probably feel limited by the stock camera app on iOS. iPhones do pack excellent cameras with great features, but you don't have access to manual control of the sensors like you might find on an Android device. That changes when you use Halide, which is an advanced camera app made for iPhone that even won an Apple Design Award in 2022.

With Halide Mark II — the second version of the app — you get greater control of your iPhone's camera. This includes macro mode, portrait and depth mode, and even complete manual control of the sensors. Halide also says that you can shoot in RAW format on all iPhones with its app, not just the ones that officially support it via ProRes RAW. The stock camera app is great for people who just want to take quick photos without any customization, but Halide Mark II is best for professionals who want to change things like exposure, aperture, and more. It's available with a monthly $3 subscription, a yearly $12 subscription, or a one-time purchase of $60.

Apple Weather

Apple Weather is a unique option worth mentioning because the app as we know it today largely stems from Apple's acquisition of Dark Sky in March 2020. Dark Sky was one of the most popular weather apps across iOS and Android while it remained independent. However, when Apple purchased it, the company announced plans to shutter both the iOS and Android apps over time. Now, many of the Apple Weather app's best features come from the ill-fated Dark Sky.

That means that Apple Weather is one of the best weather apps out there, and it's an iPhone exclusive. You can see live intensity levels of rain over the next hour in your area and can even be notified of when rain is coming ahead of time. Plus, the Apple Weather app offers precipitation maps for one or 12-hour intervals, allowing you to plan your day straight from the native app. Aside from temperature and precipitation, Apple Weather also offers air quality index readings, wind speed and directional metrics, and more. It's more information than most of us could ever need, all in a built-in app found on all iPhones.

Aftership

Apple started rolling out a package tracking feature in Apple Wallet years ago, but it hasn't exactly taken off. In fact, you can't even track Apple Store purchases in the Wallet app as of now. Luckily, the third-party app AfterShip fills the gap even better than Apple's proposed solution. AfterShip has more than 100,000 ratings on the App Store, and it's earned nearly perfect reviews from users.

It's easy to see why. AfterShip is an extremely simple package tracking aggregator that almost anybody can use. After copying a tracking link to your iPhone's clipboard, it will automatically be imported into AfterShip when you open the app. Then, the app will show the status of all your tracking links, create viewable tracking maps, and send out push notifications to your phone when there has been a shipping update. It's an invaluable tool for iPhone users and should be one of the first apps you download.

Productivity apps

Notability

Notability isn't just one of the best note-taking apps available on iPhone. It's one of the best note-taking apps on any platform, and it just so happens to be exclusive to the Apple ecosystem. There's an iOS app, as well as another version for iPadOS and macOS. However, thanks to Apple Silicon making its way to the Mac, they're all essentially the same app. The different versions are just scaled and optimized for each screen size.

This app is a word processor, document editor, and note-taking powerhouse all in one. You can create new documents from scratch, edit existing ones, create new PDFs by scanning physical documents, or use hundreds of community-built templates. The best feature offered by Notability is synced recordings, though. With this feature, you can record a lecture or meeting while you type or write notes by hand. Afterward, tapping on a specific word or drawing will play the audio that was recorded at the exact moment you wrote the note. If you frequently take notes during meetings or lectures, this feature is unmatched.

Notability now has a free tier and switched to a subscription-based model. To get access to all the features, you'll need to pay $3 per month or $15 per year.

Adobe Acrobat Reader

Being able to quickly open up a PDF document on your iPhone can be a useful tool for work or school, and no app does that better than Adobe Acrobat Reader. It's an advanced PDF viewer and editor that closely resembles the corresponding versions available on iPadOS, macOS, Android, and Windows. So, if you've used Acrobat on those platforms, you'll already feel comfortable with the Acrobat app for iPhone.

There are a lot of things Acrobat does well for free, like PDF viewing, annotating, cloud storage, and sharing. Paired with the Adobe Scan app, you can create and upload PDF versions of physical documents or books to the Acrobat app as well. However, the app improves with a subscription because that opens up features like PDF editing. It's an incredibly useful tool, and one of its best features is filling and signing documents on the go.

Audio & video apps

Overcast

If you like to listen to podcasts, Overcast is one of the best podcast clients on any platform, thanks to its feature set. You get all the features you'd expect, like the ability to download playlists for offline playback and optional notifications for when new episodes arrive, but there's so much more.

For example, a feature called Smart Speed lets you listen to podcasts at quicker speeds without distorting the voices within or making them sound unnatural. If you've listened to podcasts or videos at 2x speed before, you know why this is a great feature. Even better, Voice Boost equalizes every podcast on the platform so that they are all leveled at the same volume. This will save you time, as you won't have to adjust the volume whenever you start a podcast. Best of all, the app is free with ads. To remove the advertisements, you can pay a $10 per year subscription.

\Spotify

iPhones come with the Music app pre-installed, but Apple Music isn't the best streaming service for everyone. Next up would be Spotify, which is the top streaming service in the world by a number of metrics. The free version is extremely limited these days, but Apple Music doesn't have a free version at all, so we can't dock too many points from Spotify for that. For better or for worse, Spotify also offers music, podcasts, and audiobooks all in the same app, and it works across basically every platform.

Users will enjoy many of the features Spotify offers, like song and playlist recommendations. You can also share playlists and songs with friends on the app, so there's a strong sense of community. Fans also love Spotify Unwrapped, which is a recap of a user's yearly music listening that is great for sharing on social media. Picking a streaming service largely comes down to personal preference, but it's clear Spotify is one of the best ones you'll find on iPhone.

Content creation apps

iMovie

Apple makes great video and audio editing apps, like the professional-grade Final Cut Pro and Logic Pro. But even more impressive might be iMovie, which is a simple video editing app that just about anyone can learn to use. It's available for free on iPhones and other Apple devices, and it's exclusive to the company's platforms. With a feature called Magic Movies, iMovie will create a video from a selection of photos and videos in your photo library automatically. That's with no editing required, and it is an amazing feat for a free app.

If you know a little bit about video editing, iMovie can keep up with your skill set as well. There are storyboards for people who are a bit more advanced, and power users can directly edit on a timeline. With stock templates, visual effects, and audio included right in iMovie, it's hard to find a better video editing app that is included with a smartphone. If you have to video edit on the go, try using the iOS-exclusive iMove before looking to a third-party solution.

Photomator

Photomator is an excellent photo editing tool for iPhone that gives you the option of buying a lifetime license for $70. That's a lot of money, but it's less than paying perpetually for an Adobe Creative Cloud subscription. The free version is pretty good as well, although it's a bit limited and only lets you save a limited number of photos. The app is great for making color adjustments but also has more advanced features like gradient masking and unwanted object removal.

The best part of the Photomator app is that it has clearly been intentionally designed for iPhone. Some content creation apps are just cramped versions of tablet or desktop apps, but not Photomator. It has sliders that are easy to use and icons that can be easily accessed, which is a nice touch. The team is also adding some artificial intelligence features, which could be handy in 2024.

Luma Fusion

For those who want a little bit more power than iMovie provides, there's LumaFusion. Despite Apple releasing Final Cut Pro for the iPad last year, LumaFusion is widely considered to be the best editing app for the iPad. Until Apple releases FCP on the iPhone, it's also the best editing app on iOS. There's a lot to take advantage of in LumaFusion, like editing multiple streams of video and audio. You can synchronize multiple camera feeds, use the magnetic timeline, and preview edits on an external monitor. Plus, it's designed for touch, which makes a big difference on iPhone.

Adobe Lightroom

Adobe's Lightroom app for iPhone is a fan favorite for social media enthusiasts and digital creators. It brings many of the essential features from the desktop Lightroom app to the iOS version, but many require a subscription to access.

As the name suggests, Lightroom is a go-to choice for people who want to edit the color of their photos in a few taps. There are even adaptive color presets provided by Adobe that automatically apply color profiles to your images. Adobe is also bringing AI features to the photo editing app, like background blur. You can adjust which part of the photo to blur, the shape of the blur, and more. All of that is done with AI, making it great for beginners or people looking for a simple app.

If you already have a Creative Cloud subscription, Lightroom is a must-use tool on your iPhone. For everyone else, consider the cheaper Photomator app instead.

Health and fitness apps

Pillow Sleep Tracker

Apple has improved its native health offerings as of late, and the Apple Watch now offers sleep tracking by default. But the experience is limited, and I'd still recommend Pillow for people who want real, in-depth insights into their sleep. You can use whatever Apple device you have available for tracking, including iPhone, iPad, and Apple Watch. It'll work best with Apple Watch due to the added onboard sensors, but the iPhone app is useful for people who don't want to purchase a dedicated wearable.

There are a ton of different metrics you can view with Pillow, including a sleep quality score and sleep stage analysis. You can also see your sleeping heart rate, heart rate variability, and heart rate dip. Some of these are available through Apple's native Health app, but some are new. The added metrics include respiratory rate, environmental audio, and body temperature. You might need newer Apple Watch models to take advantage of certain features, but overall, Pillow is a do-it-all sleep-tracking app that can give you added insight into your health.

Apple Fitness

Apple's official apps are surely a benefit of using an iPhone, and Apple Fitness is rapidly growing. It originally started as an Apple Watch companion app that served as the source of all your smartwatch's health and fitness data. Now, it's a full-fledged workout app complemented by a Fitness+ subscription service. You can see your Activity Rings, start workouts, and even complete guided exercises via the Fitness+ catalog. It's an experience similar to Peloton but fit for the Apple ecosystem.

The experience gets a lot better when you own an Apple Watch since you can record a lot more data. You can track your progress, compete with friends, and even earn badges for certain milestones. Since Apple makes the Fitness app, you get great integration across the ecosystem. That includes Apple TV, where you can participate in guided exercises on the big screen. All told, Apple Fitness is a workout app made for the iPhone, and fitness gurus won't want to miss out.

Nike Run Club

Nike has been making health and fitness apps for Apple products dating back to the iPod days, and that experience has paid off in the Nike Run Club app. It's one of the best running apps you'll find anywhere, and it completes with Strava for that title. However, there are a few things that Nike Run Club does better than Strava, like user interface design, guided runs, and training plans. You can easily track your running progress with Nike Run Club, and the app suits both beginners and experienced runners.

Compared to the native Apple Fitness app, the Nike Run Club app displays critical running metrics more intuitively, including interactive heart rate, pace, and elevation maps. There are also a slew of advanced metrics available in Nike Run Club, and the app can be as powerful as you make it. For those just getting started, there are guided audio-based runs in the app led by world-class running trainers. It's a must-try app for runners and walkers, and it might even beat Apple Fitness and Strava.

Travel apps

Flighty

Flighty is a fantastic app for travel, offering a capable free version and even more features behind a Pro subscription. At its core, Flighty is a flight tracker that will let you know all kinds of information about your itinerary, including when your flight is delayed or behind schedule. But the app is far more advanced than your average flight app because it pulls data straight from FAA feeds. That means you, as a traveler, will have the same information available to you as the pilots flying your plane. These include taxi times, ground radar, proximity radar, and delay forecasts.

The app became even better with the release of Live Activities and Dynamic Island. With these features, you can keep tabs on your flight times and trip right from the Lock Screen or any app with the Dynamic Island. If you're someone who constantly checks their airline's status page for updates, Flighty can take some of that worry away. That's a must when traveling, and that's why everyone should give Flighty a try on their next trip.

AllTrails

If you're the type of traveler who looks for adventure everywhere you go, AllTrails is a must-have companion. The service has been so well-received by users and critics alike that both Apple and Google honored the app in its 2023 app awards. It offers users access to more than 400,000 trails and presents the information simply. Once you've selected a trail, it'll give you a detailed map and directions to ensure you stay on course.

Beyond that, AllTrails is known for giving users the tools to find the perfect outdoor expedition. For example, there are a ton of different filters you can apply to sort through the numerous trails in your area. You could ask only to see trails with a waterfall or ones that are pet-friendly. Whatever you're looking for, AllTrails has it, and it's easy to find.

Why you need the best apps

Apps have the potential to be more impactful on a phone's user experience than even the best accessories, so finding the right apps is crucial. While there are plenty of first-party apps installed on your iPhone right out of the box, you'll be missing out if you don't install some third-party apps.

If you're just starting to discover the world of third-party apps on the App Store, a good place to start is with the apps in the essential apps and travel apps sections. These are the apps designed for everyday use and ones that can seriously come in handy when you're traveling. From there, you can explore other kinds of apps that might elevate your experience, like productivity apps or content creation apps. Whatever you choose, this list represents the best apps you can get on an iPhone today, so you can't go wrong with any of them.