If you have a Nextcloud instance powering most of your cloud storage, then you should also know that there's an incredible number of apps that you can install easily. These extend on Nextcloud's functionality, giving you more features for free that you can use at any time. Some of them use your files, while others just add entirely new options to make your Nextcloud instance even better.

To add these apps to Nextcloud, click your profile icon in the top right and click Apps. You will then be brought to a repository showing all of the apps that you can install. There are also some external apps that you can install in Nextcloud from the likes of GitHub, though we're only going to be using the ones you can install from within your self-hosted instance.

5 Calendar

Everything you need from a calendar app

Nextcloud's Calendar app works like any other, but that's what makes it so good. You don't need to do anything special to make it work. Once you install it, you can create events, appointment schedules (so someone can book a meeting with you on your calendar), and import your calendar from another service. That includes Google Calendar, so if you want to start migrating your entire personal calendar to Nextcloud you can absolutely do that.

The Nextcloud dashboard will show you your events for the day, and it can integrate with Nextcloud Contacts, meaning that you can invite people from your contact list to events, too. You can add due dates, reminders that will activate an alarm in your browser, and you can sychronize your calendar with your phone, too. It's a do-it-all calendar app, and the best part is that you're self hosting it and integrating it in an already established ecosystem.

4 Cookbook

Track your recipes

If you like to cook and you have a NAS running Nextcloud, Cookbook is a great tool to try and get to grips with. It works essentially like Mealie, except not as advanced. If you don't want the advanced features of Mealie, though, then this will work perfectly. It can still import from a URL, which makes adding recipes incredibly easy.

One feature of Cookbook that I really like is the ability to decrease or increase the servings. If a recipe, by default, is for two servings, you can increase or decrease the servings in your browser and it will scale the ingredients in accordance to what you need. In the above example, I can decrease the serving size to one, and it will half the amount of everything required.

If you want to use Cookbook on your smartphone, too, there are both Android and iOS apps that can access it, so you're not just restricted to your browser.

3 Bookmarks

Sync your bookmarks privately

If you keep a lot of Bookmarks, then Nextcloud's Bookmarks app might be perfect for you. It does exactly what its name suggests; it tracks your bookmarks for you, and you can import your bookmarks from your browser so that you can access them anywhere. There's a progressive web app that you can install so that you can use it on your phone easily, and there are extensions you can install to keep your bookmarks synced across different browsers.

It's a pretty simple application, but Bookmarks can change how you manage your bookmarks in your browser. At the very least, it can make things easier, so that's a plus. As well, it can automatically archive pages that you bookmark, so even if the content goes missing you can still access it in the future as a snapshot of it is taken when it's imported. This feature isn't enabled by default, but if it interests you, you can enable it in the settings.

2 Talk

A Zoom replacement that's better than Zoom

Zoom is so popular partially thanks to its simplicity. Start a meeting, give someone a link, and they can just join and talk immediately. That's exactly how Nextcloud Talk also works. You can create a private call with a link that you can give to another person, and that other person can then join the call and chat with you.

It's a really, really simple application, but that's exactly why it's so good. You don't need to deal with Zoom or anything like that, and because you're self-hosting it, it's entirely private, too. If your internet connection is fast enough to host a video call on both ends, it makes a great alternative to most video platforms considering how quick and easy it is to get set up with.

Even better, there's also another app called "Talked" that you can install in Nextcloud and will enable call recording if you want it. For the five people that still used Skype, this is a great option to switch to, as well!

1 Nextcloud Office

A true Google competitor

Nextcloud Office comes with Nextcloud AIO, which you can install under Windows. However, for a vanilla Nextcloud instance, it's a separate app that you install. You'll also need to install Collabora, as Nextcloud Office relies on it. Once done, though, you'll have a complete Google suite competitor with a complete in-browser experience for managing documents, all integrated with Nextcloud.

If you're someone that wants to move away from the likes of Google and Microsoft, then Nextcloud Office is one of the best options out there. Because it's collaborative, you can share links with others and work on documents together. Those documents are then easily retrieved in your Nextcloud instance, just like you would expect from any other cloud-based document service.