I’ve been using smartphones since the iPhone 3G and writing about them for almost as long, and it’s their apps and games that get me excited about their potential.
Of course, not all apps are worth celebrating: there are many that are of low quality and others that I prefer to limit my interaction with (like most social media platforms). But for me, there are a handful of apps that are truly indispensable: apps that I use most of the time and without which I’d feel a little lost.
I’ve collected my five favorites below. They’re all on Android and iOS, and in my opinion, they’re neither so obvious that they’re not worth mentioning, nor so specific that no one likes them. I hope there is something here that you like too.
1. Pocket casts
- Download Pocketcast on Android
- Download Pocketcast on iOS
You probably listen to podcasts, but if you listen to one of the more well-known players like Apple Podcasts or Spotify, you might want to consider looking further, as some of the lesser-known apps are really good.
I’m just saying light Lesser known here because Pocket Casts are far from unknown; It has been around since 2011 and has since proven itself to be a reliable, visually appealing and versatile podcast player.
Pocket Casts offers multiple themes, a layout that makes podcasts easy to discover and follow, and a variety of tools, such as options to shorten silence, change playback speed, increase volume, and use a sleep timer.
You can also view transcripts, control playback via a smartwatch, and bookmark episodes. AirPlay, Chromecast, CarPlay and Android Auto are also supported. You can also search for and play episodes via the Sonos app.
These are most of the main features of the app, but this is just a scratch of the tools and buttons available in Pocket Casts. But even if none of that interests you, the colorful and intuitive interface makes searching for and listening to podcasts fun.
2. Proton mail
- Download Protonmail on Android
- Download Proton Mail on iOS
Chances are you use Gmail for your email, or probably Outlook or iCloud, which aren’t necessarily bad, but also not the best option if you value privacy. For this I would recommend Proton Mail.
This app encrypts your emails so that only you and the recipient can read them, not even Proton has access. Proton Mail also blocks trackers to prevent email senders from seeing that you’ve opened their messages and from seeing your IP address or device information.
As you’d expect from a privacy-focused service, there won’t be any ads in your inbox either, and while privacy is at the core of Proton Mail, the app also has a nice interface and useful features like one-tap unsubscribe, swipe gestures, labels, folders, and an optional dark mode.
There are also security tools; For example, the app flags suspicious emails as possible phishing attempts.
Overall, Proton Mail seems like a premium email service worth considering, even if you don’t care about privacy. The only downside is that you’re limited to 1GB of storage with the free plan; If you want more or more e-mail addresses, you have to pay.
3.1 Passwords
- Download 1Password on Android
- Download 1Password on iOS
While Proton Mail is great for privacy, 1Password or another password manager is almost essential for security.
Dedicated password managers like 1Password are probably less needed than in the past as Apple and Google have integrated their own options into their hardware and software, but personally I’d still opt for a third-party option.
This way, if someone hacks your Apple or Google account, they won’t have access to all your passwords, while if you log into a third-party password manager, you’ll still have to go through two-factor authentication to log into your Apple or Google account (assuming you’ve set this up). So in my opinion it is generally safer to store your passwords elsewhere.
But in addition, some third-party password managers also have stronger security built in, which is one of the reasons I use 1Password specifically. It uses two-level encryption and requires both your “master password” and a unique secret key to decrypt your data. If a hacker only has one, he’s lucky. In addition, 1Password regularly undergoes independent security audits.
In addition, it is simply very practical and well designed. It works on virtually all platforms, has browser plugins, can generate passwords for you, also lets you store notes and documents securely, and can securely share anything you’ve stored in the database.
The 1Password app in particular also works well: it’s intuitive, provides access to all the features mentioned above, and in my experience the autofill function works consistently.
4. AccuWeather
- Download AccuWeather on Android
- Download AccuWeather on iOS
It’s hard to get excited about weather apps, and honestly AccuWeather is no exception, but it’s still an extremely useful app that I use almost every day.
You see, this is not your average weather app: instead of focusing on the next day’s weather in general, it offers hyperlocal forecasts that predict the weather almost exactly where you are and predict how it will change from minute to minute.
You might think it’s probably not very accurate, but in my anecdotal experience it tells me future conditions (and especially if it’s going to rain) better than other weather apps.
That’s why it’s a great tool to use if you’re just starting out. This allows you to see how the weather will develop over the next few minutes or hours and also lets you see if the downpour is likely to last long enough for you to run fast.
Of course, there is much more here. You can also consult the more conventional hourly forecasts and even consult them up to ten days in advance. AccuWeather also tells you things like how hot it was and what the actual temperature was, wind speed, humidity, UV index, and anything else you’d want from a weather app.
There are also weather maps and extras in the paid version which never bothered me, as even the free version offers a more complete weather app than most competitors.
5. Postbox
- Download Letterboxd on Android
- Download Letterboxd on iOS
I’m a big movie fan, so maybe I like Letterboxd more than the others, but if you haven’t used it yet and already use IMDB for movie information, I recommend you give it a try because it has almost completely replaced IMDB for me.
Letterboxd is similar to IMDB in many ways: it offers a database of movies, complete with run times, trailers, cast and crew lists, reviews and user ratings. But in my opinion, it is conceived and designed in a much more attractive and intuitive way.
It also seems to attract users who, like me, are movie buffs. Although many reviews are somewhat entertaining, the actual ratings may seem more thoughtful than those on IMDB because there are fewer high and low ratings.
Personally though, I mainly use it to record and rate movies I’ve seen, create and view movie lists, and look up stats like: top rated decades, most watched genres and themes, and which movies I’ve rated higher than the average user, and many other things.
Some, especially many of the stats, require a subscription, but you can get all the basics for free, including most of what you’ll find on IMDB, in a much easier to use app.