Your iPad, iPhone, and iPod touch
come with some solid built-in apps. But the embarrassment of riches in the App
Store can take your device even further.
You know that Men's Health book series and
website, Eat This Not That (http://eatthis.menshealth.com), right? That's the
one that explains why French toast is better than Belgian waffles, from a
nutritional standpoint, or that an A&W chili dog is a healthier choice than
the deluxe cheeseburger. It’s fun to play around with, even if the chances
we’ll actually remember their advice when we step up to the counter are small.
We thought that same concept would be great
for apps, too. Just like you gotta eat, iPhone and iPad users gotta use apps,
but some people don’t venture too far past the packed-in options or maybe
whatever's at the top of the App Store charts. But maybe you're settling for a
plain old cake donut when you could have a mouth-watering strawberry and
Nutella crepe, and have a much better experience. We set out to replace your
everyday apps. The workhorses you rely on. Sample from this buffet and you
won't save any calories, but you will have an even better time using your
iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch.
Camera
If you're like us, you use your iPhone
camera every day. So invest in some better apps—it'll pay off big.
Best for taking photos: Camera+
We named it Best Camera in last year's
"Upgrade Your Apps," (Mar/12, p22), but after trying dozens more
third-party camera apps, Camera+ ($1.99, iPhone/iPad) is still the one to beat.
The Clarity filter alone is worth the price of admission, breathing new life
into dull and lifeless images. If that’s not enough, images from the Lightbox
(developer tap tap tap's version of the Camera Roll) can be synced via iCIoud
to the iPad edition. Camera+ is also the only iPhone camera app we know of to
offer a faux flash for the front-facing camera sure, they just throw up a
PhotoBooth-style white screen as the shot is taken, but that’s still pretty
handy in a pinch.
Best for editing: iPhoto
We get a lot use out of the modest but
simple editing tools built into iOS, but when it’s time to get down to
business, we turn to Apple's ¡Photo ($4.99, universal). Particularly on the
iPad, iPhoto effectively replaces the need for the Mac version, making it an
absolute joy to manipulate images using only your fingers. iPhoto for iOS may
not be perfect (we're still dreaming of syncing to the desktop version, or at
least a way to archive our libraries in the cloud), but it’s one of the best
ways to manage your photos right on the device that shot them.
Best for video: kitcam
One of the new kids on the block, KitCam
($1.99, iPhone) ranks almost neck-and-neck with Camera+ for still images,
offering full manual control over exposure and focus along with plenty of live
filters and lenses. But these same tools can also be applied to the 1080p HD
videos it records, with automatic stabilization and pro tools like manual white
balance adjustment. It’s also one of the few video shooters where you can
access the resolution (288p, 480p, 720p, or 1080p) without having to drill down
into a bunch of settings menus, and it throws in level, histogram, and grid
options for good measure.
Instead of this... try this...
Instead of photo stream, try...Pogoplug
iCloud's free Photo Stream is hard for any
app to beat, simply because third-party options can't upload photos in the
background without the app being opened first. The best free alternative is
Pogoplug, which offers 5GB of absolutely free cloud storage and a universal companion
app capable of performing automatic upload of both photos and videos in your
Camera Roll, a distinct advantage over iCIoud.
Content can be viewed or downloaded from
any web browser, although you'll have to import them into iPhoto or Aperture
manually. However, Pogoplug can also be set up to do its magic over Wi-Fi or
cellular connections, which iCIoud doesn't allow.
Runner up:
Instead of photo stream, try...Photosync
I Who needs the cloud when PhotoSync
($1.99, universal) can transfer straight to your Mac or PC (using a free
desktop client) or even between iOS devices, all without wires? Plus, PhotoSync
can upload to Dropbox, Google Drive, SkyDrive, and Box all at once.
Instead of phone, try...iGVoice
Google Voice is not a VoIP service, but with
developer Lingyun Peng’s iGVoice ($4.99, universal), it can be. Using a free
Google Voice account, the iPhone 5-optimized, universal app can place phone
calls or send SMS text messages to real phone numbers anywhere in the U.S. for
free, with pretty cheap international rates available everywhere else all
without using the precious minutes on your calling plan. The app is best suited
for outgoing calls or texts; users are still better off using the free,
official Google Voice app on the iPhone to receive their voicemails and SMS
with push notifications.
Instead of contacts, try...Smartr
Contacts
Most of us have separate contacts stored in
our email, on devices, and via social networking services like Facebook,
Linkedln, and Twitter, but Smartr Contacts (free, iPhone) makes it easy to
centralize all of that information on your iPhone. It syncs the info from all
of those sources and cobbles it all together, adding photos, email history, and
even a graph of email freguency from the previous year. Essentially, this free
app consolidates your contacts from all over the place while adding some visual
punch, so not only does it supplement Apple's Contacts, it can actually
supplant it.
Instead of calendar, try...fantastical
One of the best Mac calendar apps,
Fantastical ($3.99) hit the iPhone right as we were going to press, and it's a
remarkably stylish and user-friendly option that'll make you forget about the
austere aesthetic of Apple's built-in app. Fantastical’s Ul puts a scrolling
list of days atop the screen, with a quick look at how full each date seems
plus a full listing of events on the bottom. It'll sync with Google Calendar,
iCIoud, and Exchange, but it handles new events beautifully simply tap in
"Tapas on Tuesday at 2pm" and it’ll find the appropriate destination.
Fantastical is every bit as sharp as its title says.
Instead of calculator, try...quick graph
Calculator is handy for guick eguations,
and if that's all you ever plan to do, it should suit your needs. For those who
need more computing power, Quick Graph (free, universal) is an advanced
graphing calculator app that's incredibly useful despite the lack of a price
tag. Simple gueries still fly here, but you'll find a deeper set of options for
building eguations, which can then be mapped in 2D or 3D, as well as saved if
you want them at the ready. And a $1.99 upgrade removes some of the (still
generous) limitations for heavy users.
