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Your phone comes with a stack of apps to get you started – and everything is fine, to a certain degree. But if you stick to the applications that Apple and Google have offered you, you will miss a whole world of quality third-party alternatives. Here we will guide you to the best we have used.
We will avoid anything from Google, Apple, Facebook and Microsoft here, as well as major players such as Snapchat, Spotify and Netflix, which you probably already know. If you have your own suggestions, we would like to hear them in the comments.
1) dark sky
Dark Sky operates rings around other weather apps (especially those preinstalled on iOS and Android) since 2011, when the Kickstarter project was launched. Initially, he focused on hyperlocal weather forecasts for the next 30 minutes, using algorithms to predict what was likely to happen in the near future depending on current conditions.
Since then, it has grown to become a more comprehensive weather forecasting tool, but Dark Sky is still at its best when it warns you to walk around with the umbrella or tell you exactly when the rain will stop. Detailed animated radar maps showing the evolution of time are worth only the price of admission.
- Dark sky is $ 4 for iOS and $ 3 a year for Android
2) Dropbox
Google, Apple, and Microsoft have all tried to copy what Dropbox has been doing since 2008, but none of them have done so well: synchronize files seamlessly between computers and mobile devices, back up files in the cloud, allowing you to share them quickly and easily with other people (even with passwords and expiration dates attached, if you need them).
The only drawback is the meager 2GB of storage space that you get for free. To make the most of Dropbox, you must actually pay your $ 10 a month and earn up to 1 TB of space. As a paying customer, you benefit from offline access to files, a 30-day version history, remote device cleaning and automatic download of files. photos and videos that you take on your smartphone.
- Dropbox is free, with an optional subscription, for Android and iOS
3) spark
Excellent synchronization, Spark developers: the Android version of the famous iOS mail client just arrived and coincides with the outbreak of Google Inbox. If you're looking for a smart, smooth, and intuitive way to manage messages that are not managed by Apple, Google, or Microsoft on your phone, then Spark deserves to be installed on your smartphone.
The best parts of Spark are the way it can prioritize and rank your emails for you, which makes sorting your inbox easier. For $ 8 a month (or less if you pay annually), you can get more cloud storage, more e-mail templates, and more features for teams of people, but the free version should be enough for most.
- Spark is free, with an optional subscription, for Android and iOS
4) fantastic
When it comes to lists of the best calendar apps available, Fantastical is usually at the top of the rankings and it's not hard to understand why: the app is clear, clean and smart across the board. Best of all, it syncs pretty well with all the calendars you've already set up with Apple and Google (you do not have to use their apps for them).
You can easily set up new events and appointments using natural language – Fantastical will simply know what you mean – and the app allows you to easily switch between your day's details and the view. together a month or a year. Our only reservation about Fantastical is that it is not available for Android at the moment (if you use Android, try aCalendar).
- Fantastic is $ 5 for iOS
5) covered
You probably think that your current podcast application is very good, but give Overcast a whirlwind to see what you're missing. There are many features to like, including the carefully arranged interface, the intelligent tools to save time (removing silences and adjusting the speed without affecting the height), and the ability to try out podcasts without subscribing.
The functionality of custom playlists is also great, as is increasing the voice to hear the dialogue, as well as the sleep timer that lets you switch to your favorite podcast. You do not have to pay anything to use Overcast, but you will see ads. the withdrawal of advertisements costs $ 10 a year. Alas, there is no Android version: Pocket Casts is pretty much our preferred cross platform option.
- Covered is free, with an optional subscription, for iOS
6) First day
Day One is such a good digital journaling application that it prompts you to start logging in order to use it. Gathering photos, videos, notes and other memories of a day is a pleasure. All of your previous entries can be searched for and sorted in different ways – by date, place, or tag, for example.
The application also includes many smart keys: callbacks, IFTTT integration, support for various export formats, password lock, automatic weather record, and so on. A lot of the app can be used for free, but if you pay $ 25 a year, you can upgrade to store an unlimited number of photos and videos, set up multiple newspapers, and more.
- Day one is free, with an optional subscription, for Android and iOS
7) Firefox
You probably know Firefox on the desktop, but have you ever considered installing it on your phone instead of Safari or Chrome? It may be time to make the change: do the same on your laptop and, of course, your passwords, bookmarks, browsing history and everything else are automatically synchronized with your smartphone.
So, what makes Firefox attractive on mobile? It offers advanced tracking protection, data limitation that websites can collect on you, a very fast search tool and a dark mode that affects the sites you visit as well as the application itself. As for the desktop, Firefox for Android and iOS includes a playlist screen to catch up on items of interest.
8) Feedly
RSS is still alive and Feedly is showing it in its best light. Escape the whirlwind of social media, or Apple's chosen titles, and receive your news in a concise, easy-to-read, chronological way. Feedly can retrieve new articles on almost any site, even those without RSS feeds, and excels in the way it allows you to browse and sort the proposed news.
Sign up for a professional account – $ 65 a year – and you can add more than 100 sources, as well as access very useful features such as Google keyword alerts, more advanced filters and searches, and the ability to add notes and highlights to the elements of your feed. A subscription activates integrations with other services such as IFTTT and Evernote.
- Feedly is free, with an optional subscription, for Android and iOS
9) signal
It's hard to recommend messaging apps because you have to try to swap your friends and family, Apple does not allow any other application to handle SMS on iOS, and because most of the most important options belong to Facebook. That being said, Signal very honestly claims to be the default email application on your smartphone.
It is lightweight, clean and protected by end-to-end encryption. You know that your discussions are protected from prying eyes. Admittedly, there are not many alternatives to the interface, but Signal has a surprising number of useful features to explore, including support for missing messages, audio notes, and group conversations.
10) Citymapper
Citymapper is not a replacement for Apple Maps or Google Maps, but it gives a lesson to great players when it comes to getting you from A to B on public transit. It contains many features that work and avoid the confusion of menus and dialog boxes. Moving around a city should be as simple as Citymapper allows.
Take functions such as calling back when your stop is approaching, for example, or summing up at a glance the number of calories you burn while walking, biking or taking a taxi: these are smart keys, and they are reliable. The app helps reduce travel stress, even if it only affects the main urban areas at the moment.
11) bear
Bear is one of those apps that adds style and panache to the most mundane tasks – in this case, take notes on your phone. For starters, the interface is elegant and elegant, making typing and editing a pleasure. Then there are smart organizational tools, such as how hashtags can work as labels, automatically sorting your notes into categories.
You can write notes with your voice, set up task lists, quickly scan your notes, and export them in a variety of formats. Add a premium subscription ($ 1.50 per month) to edit the color theme, access more export options, sync your devices, and more. Bear is only available for iOS, unfortunately, but if you use Android, try Notion.
- Bear is free, with an optional subscription, for iOS
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