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iOS and iPadOS Apps Worth Checking Out - February 2021

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Over on our YouTube channel, we have an ongoing video series that's meant to highlight new, interesting, and useful apps for the iPhone and the iPad that we think are worth downloading and checking out.


There are so many apps in the App Store that it can be difficult to find new high-quality apps to download, plus it's easy to overlook awesome apps that are a bit older. Our February picks include apps for customizing your Apple Watch and iPhone, finding and managing Apple Music, keeping track of TV shows, taking notes, and more.
  • Soor ($4.99) - Soor is a music player that integrates with Apple Music and aims to make it easier to find new music. There are multiple themes, along with full Apple Music controls for searching for content, liking songs, sharing content, and adding songs to playlists. It comes with a set of widgets that can be added to either the Home screen or the Today center, and it has an attractive Now Playing interface.
  • TV Forecast (Free) - TV Forecast lets you keep track of the TV shows that you're watching, providing an easy way to mark which episode you're on. There are notifications when a new episode is about to air, and you can share progress with friends and family. There's information on actors in TV shows, and you can get recommendations for new shows to watch. TV Forecast is free for five shows, but costs $0.99 per month for more.
  • Moloko (Free) - Moloko is a theme app that makes it easier to customize your iOS Home screen by swapping out the icons. It offers up a range of themes that have customized icons for both built-in and third-party apps, and they're simple to install so you don't need to use the Shortcuts app and replace icons manually. Note that you will need to install a profile to use the quick icon swapping.
  • Aviary ($3.99) - Available on all Apple devices, Aviary is a third-party Twitter client that can be used in lieu of the default Twitter apps. It has a simple, clean interface that can be customized the way you like it, plus it supports modern features like polls, hashflags, trends, and more.
  • Craft (Free) - Craft is a document creation and management tool that you can use for taking notes and organizing your thoughts. It supports Markdown, backlinks, code snippets, images, and videos, and anything you create can be shared via a weblink. Craft is free, but there is a $4.99 per month "Pro" subscription option. The Pro version supports larger file options, offers more storage, and has a version history feature.
  • BuddyWatch (Free) - BuddyWatch is an app that makes it easier to create new watch faces for your Apple Watch. You can share watch faces, see watch faces designed by other people, and get watch face suggestions based on your preferences.
  • Kitty Letter (Free) - Designed by The Oatmeal's Matthew Inman, who also created popular game Exploding Kittens, Kitty Letter is a word game where you create words from a jumble of letters to form an exploding cat army to attack your neighbor and defend your home. You can play the single player campaign or go head to head against your friends.
Have a favorite iOS app? Let us know in the comments. We're always looking for new iOS app ideas, and we always check out suggestions from MacRumors readers. You can see our recommendations from previous months, and don't miss our Mac app series featuring great Mac apps worth taking a look at.

Article Link: iOS and iPadOS Apps Worth Checking Out - February 2021
 
Article Link
https://www.macrumors.com/2021/02/18/top-ios-apps-february-2021/
SongShift is a favorite app of mine has always been. They help me transfer playlists between different music providers. I primarily use it so my friends can share playlists with me who have Spotify.
 
Love using “Scan Thing“ on the iPhone for a quick scan of objects. It’s especially handy for selling Apple gear and those ebay/Craigslist/Swappa images.

For the iPad (and also iPhone) I recently re-discovered ”Meistertask” for task management. Just love the colors and the UI and have been using it successfully now for work and home projects (which feel the same during COVID-19 😂).
 
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magsafer said:
Love using “Scan Thing“ on the iPhone for a quick scan of objects. It’s especially handy for selling Apple gear and those ebay/Craigslist/Swappa images.

For the iPad (and also iPhone) I recently re-discovered ”Meistertask” for task management. Just love the colors and the UI and have been using it successfully now for work and home projects (which feel the same during COVID-19 😂).
Click to expand...
Good recommendations. Excited to try them out!
 
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Super fan recently of "Comedy Showcase". They have been releasing new stand up comedy. I found a few new comedians I like.
 
MacRumors said:


Over on our YouTube channel, we have an ongoing video series that's meant to highlight new, interesting, and useful apps for the iPhone and the iPad that we think are worth downloading and checking out.


There are so many apps in the App Store that it can be difficult to find new high-quality apps to download, plus it's easy to overlook awesome apps that are a bit older. Our February picks include apps for customizing your Apple Watch and iPhone, finding and managing Apple Music, keeping track of TV shows, taking notes, and more.
  • Soor ($4.99) - Soor is a music player that integrates with Apple Music and aims to make it easier to find new music. There are multiple themes, along with full Apple Music controls for searching for content, liking songs, sharing content, and adding songs to playlists. It comes with a set of widgets that can be added to either the Home screen or the Today center, and it has an attractive Now Playing interface.
  • TV Forecast (Free) - TV Forecast lets you keep track of the TV shows that you're watching, providing an easy way to mark which episode you're on. There are notifications when a new episode is about to air, and you can share progress with friends and family. There's information on actors in TV shows, and you can get recommendations for new shows to watch. TV Forecast is free for five shows, but costs $0.99 per month for more.
  • Moloko (Free) - Moloko is a theme app that makes it easier to customize your iOS Home screen by swapping out the icons. It offers up a range of themes that have customized icons for both built-in and third-party apps, and they're simple to install so you don't need to use the Shortcuts app and replace icons manually. Note that you will need to install a profile to use the quick icon swapping.
  • Aviary ($3.99) - Available on all Apple devices, Aviary is a third-party Twitter client that can be used in lieu of the default Twitter apps. It has a simple, clean interface that can be customized the way you like it, plus it supports modern features like polls, hashflags, trends, and more.
  • Craft (Free) - Craft is a document creation and management tool that you can use for taking notes and organizing your thoughts. It supports Markdown, backlinks, code snippets, images, and videos, and anything you create can be shared via a weblink. Craft is free, but there is a $4.99 per month "Pro" subscription option. The Pro version supports larger file options, offers more storage, and has a version history feature.
  • BuddyWatch (Free) - BuddyWatch is an app that makes it easier to create new watch faces for your Apple Watch. You can share watch faces, see watch faces designed by other people, and get watch face suggestions based on your preferences.
  • Kitty Letter (Free) - Designed by The Oatmeal's Matthew Inman, who also created popular game Exploding Kittens, Kitty Letter is a word game where you create words from a jumble of letters to form an exploding cat army to attack your neighbor and defend your home. You can play the single player campaign or go head to head against your friends.
Have a favorite iOS app? Let us know in the comments. We're always looking for new iOS app ideas, and we always check out suggestions from MacRumors readers. You can see our recommendations from previous months, and don't miss our Mac app series featuring great Mac apps worth taking a look at.

Article Link: iOS and iPadOS Apps Worth Checking Out - February 2021
Click to expand...
With App analytics analyzing your app interactions at all times i’m always really avoiding apps. Its just a matter of privacy. Ie:Shopping on a browser is better imho
 
yellow8 said:
I'd recommend QuickScan - a camera Scanner with professional-quality OCR (image to text) and text integration into the generated PDF (wow!)
  • no ads
  • no data collection (everything happens on device)
  • possible tip to support the project
Note: I'm the author of the app. AMA.
➡️ QuickScan v3.6 on the App Store :apple:
Click to expand...
And last, but not least, NO SUBSCRIPTION! I’ve just downloaded QuickScan for a try - thanks.
 
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LANDSCAPE!!

My most missed feature of all the early Apple Apps is a Landscape layout for Apps like Music.

Soor doesn't seem to address this ... but neither to do the vast majority of Music apps.

So Magsafe my iPhone in Landscape for Maps in my car ... and deal with sideways Music continues.

But if anyone knows an app that solves this, I'd buy it.

I'd dump Apple One package in a heartbeat for any alternative ... whether 1 time or new subscription.
 
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I don't see the need to pay for an app like TV Forecast when TV Time is completely free and excellent.
 
yellow8 said:
I'd recommend QuickScan - a camera Scanner with professional-quality OCR (image to text) and text integration into the generated PDF (wow!)
  • no ads
  • no data collection (everything happens on device)
  • 100% free with optional tip to support the project
Note: I'm the author of the app. AMA.
➡️ QuickScan v3.6 on the App Store :apple:
Click to expand...

May I ask why you make this app when there is a lot of apps that already do this? How do you get OCR, isn't this done with complex AI I doubt you programmed your own. Why not just use Readdle Scanner Pro

magsafer said:
Love using “Scan Thing“ on the iPhone for a quick scan of objects. It’s especially handy for selling Apple gear and those ebay/Craigslist/Swappa images.
Click to expand...

nice feature, but I don't have a use for it. I really like the idea
 
I’ve ended up using my iPads more than my iMac now , as has been said the files app is amazing and so useful

A real game changer IMO
 
MacBH928 said:
May I ask why you make this app when there is a lot of apps that already do this? How do you get OCR, isn't this done with complex AI I doubt you programmed your own. Why not just use Readdle Scanner Pro
Click to expand...
As far as I know, Apple provides language-aware text-recognition frameworks (Vision/VisionKit) for developers to work with/incorporate into their apps.

I'm not affiliated with QuickScan or its author(s) and don't know how OCR is performed in the app.

According to Scanner Pro's privacy label in the App Store, Readdle may collect and process User ID, Device ID usage and other analytics data.
 
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Tried Aviary from the recommendation here. It's a well designed app, but like every other third party app it's limited by the latest Twitter API.
 
I like the Soor app as well, but continue to be frustrated by the lack of an iPad app. That said, it's still great even if you only use the widgets, as it has the ability to launch Apple Music directly. Yup, I paid $10 for a prettier Apple Music widget.

www.macstories.net

Using Soor’s Widgets and Magic Mixes

[aside title=”Editor’s Note” align=”center” width=”wide”]Every year, we publish around 60 issues of MacStories Weekly and the Monthly Log for Club MacStories members. MacStories Weekly is packed with our favorite apps, app collections, shortcuts, answers to Club members’ questions, a column...
www.macstories.net www.macstories.net

Here's a MacStories article about how they use three of Soor's widgets in a stack to quickly access the various music controls. If anything, it makes the case for widgets to be made more interactive.

I am also recently using the following apps:

Hush (another ad blocker)
apps.apple.com

‎Hush Nag Blocker

‎Browse the web like it should be – free of nags to accept cookies or privacy invasive tracking. It's tiny, fast, free, open, secure and without any access to your data. “I’d recommend Hush to anyone who uses Safari” — John Gruber, Daring Fireball SECURE AND PRIVATE Hush doesn't have any...
apps.apple.com apps.apple.com

Bobby (tracking subscriptions, since outflow seems to have been abandoned)
apps.apple.com

‎Bobby - Track subscriptions

‎Bobby is the easiest way to get insights in your fixed costs. Manage your subscriptions and get notified when a bill is due. EASILY ADD SUBSCRIPTIONS Adding subscriptions is easy, choose from hundreds of existing subscriptions or create your own custom subscriptions. Enter all contract...
apps.apple.com

Pins (a pinboard reader that's still being maintained)
apps.apple.com

‎Pins for Pinboard

‎Pins, a modern Pinboard app for macOS Big Sur and Monterey. * Access all of your bookmarks. Supports accounts of all sizes. 1,000 bookmarks? Piece of cake. 20,000? No problem. 50,000? Pins can handle that. * Use Smart Collections to filter your bookmarks by title, description, tags, URL. *...
apps.apple.com apps.apple.com

Nudget (moving on from walletry, a budgeting app since Next no longer seems to be actively maintained either)
apps.apple.com

‎Nudget: Spending Tracker

‎Finally. A budgeting app for the rest of us. A focus on speed & simplicity transform the daunting task of budgeting into a fun and insightful experience. OUR AMAZING REVIEWS SAY IT ALL “Nudget makes it easier than most budgeting apps to get started and keep up with expense tracking.” - John...
apps.apple.com apps.apple.com

Sticky Widgets (pretty, but unsure of what to make of it yet)
apps.apple.com

‎Sticky Widgets

‎"It's perfect, honestly." - Myke Hurley, Connected "What makes Sticky Widgets great is the simplicity of the experience." - Ryan Christoffel, MacStories "This is a great concept." - Dave Mark, The Loop Welcome to Sticky Widgets, the absolute easiest way to put a sticky note on your home...
apps.apple.com apps.apple.com
 
I was trying moloko, but I cannot get the icon packs to install and I cannot find profiles on my iphone settings. Any tips?
 
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