I’ve always believed that technology exists to make our lives easier. In today’s post, I thought I’d share with you some of the best iPhone apps I’m using, alongside my favourite iPad apps. The best part of these apps is that apart from one, the rest are all free to download and use.
The nice thing about having a partner who’s an avid Apple fan means I get the older versions of accessories that are still in great condition when he upgrades.
When I inherited Xavier’s iPad about a couple of years ago, I didn’t know how much that would change my life. Today, I use it a lot for work and personal activities. I even bought a bag to fit it in when I head out!
BEST IPHONE APPS:
BELLABEAT PERIOD DIARY
I’ve been using this app since 2017/early 2018 to track my menstrual and ovulation cycle. I love that it’s accurate in predicting my cycles and ovulation dates. You can add period-related notes on your calendar. Really helpful for family planning!
PREGNANCY AND BABY TRACKER WTE
In short, this app’s called “What to Expect.” It’s a great app for expecting parents to track your baby’s growth in the womb. It tells you week by week what your little one looks like, what you might be experiencing and also what developments your baby is going through. It’s really exciting, and you can participate in the discussions on the forum too.
When it was time for us to reveal my first pregnancy to Xavier’s family during Christmas, we used the code word “framboise” (raspberry in French) to signal that it was time. Aurélie was the size of a raspberry then, and we just felt that it was super cute.
LATER APP
OK, enough about the baby stuff. Let’s move on! I’ve tried a few social media scheduling apps but Later is the one I’ve stuck to for years now. The UI is pretty instinctive and I love how easy it is to preview all your images at one shot. You can set the time and hashtags for each post, and when the time comes for your post to go live, you’ll receive a notification to let you know.
I work mostly with the desktop version of this and then use the iPhone app to post. Sometimes, I also upload photos directly from my iPhone but I do all my scheduling on my desktop. I’ve mainly used this app for Trouvée.Co’s Instagram posts, but am trying it out for my personal page too.
The free version allows 1 social media account and 30 free posts per month.
ADOBE LIGHTROOM
What would I do without presets! I discovered presets early this year and downloaded Lightroom for my iPhone just so I could use them. In love with this because it makes photo editing a breeze. I buy my presets online and use them all with this app.
SNAPSEED
Before Adobe Lightroom, I was heavily using Snapseed to edit my photos. You can adjust things like contrast, colour saturation and curves, and even add some basic filters, like a glamour glow to your images. Sometimes I still use this in conjunction with my presets, simply because I’m so used to it.
GOOGLE CALENDAR
Oh what would I do without this real-life scheduling app! With so many things going on, it’s easy to forget when I have appointments, courses to attend and when I need to be posting something up for a brand. My default app screen is the monthly calendar view, so I can tell just how busy I’m going to be at a quick glance. I’ve set the app to notify me of events 30min before their scheduled time, and somehow I also have notifications the night before.
If I have to choose only 1 app out of this list, this would be it. It’s one of the most underrated best iPhone apps out there. Definitely, 100%, cannot live without it.
BEST IPAD APPS:
ZINNIA JOURNAL & PLANNER
Oh my gosh. This is major love!
This journaling app is really fun to explore. You can add stickers, washi tape, headers, mood trackers… write (with an Apple Pencil) or type words out, or add your own photos (resized, rotated) anywhere on your pages. There are ready templates and even full journals that you can fill in on your own, but you can also start on a blank slate.
The free version gives you 3 journals with a maximum of 3 double pages each – and that’s enough for me. I have a monthly calendar view, a couple of blank pages for note taking, a page for my daily manifesting and a daily templated to-do list page that I can erase and start over at the beginning of each day. Talk about paper saving!
NOTABILITY
Remember I said that one app in this list is paid? This is the one – and rightfully so.
Notability was introduced to me by my brother-in-law, who is also a realtor. This app is perfect for note taking because not only can I write in it, I can also add images and scale them as necessary. I can also write on those images if I want to. When I attend courses, I can download notes either in pdf or jpg/png/gif formats and write my own notes on top of them. I can also combine notes/images/pdf into one large file so they are easily accessed.
There are many other functions in this app which you can explore. The app is priced at a one-time fee of US$8.99. If you’re looking for a note-taking app, just know that 80,000 reviewers who gave this app 4.8 stars out of 5 cannot be wrong.
OVERDRIVE
I discovered this app quite by accident when I was trying to find a better way to read on my iPad. Overdrive allows you to borrow books for free from your local library. All you need is your login ID and password. Once the due date is up, the books you borrow will just be taken off your bookshelf, so you don’t have to worry about library fines.
If there is a title you want but all the copies are out on loan in all of the local libraries, you can set up a notification for when it becomes available again. You don’t even have to pay a fee for this service.
For me, this saves so much hassle. I love how environmentally friendly it is too. You can check out a couple of titles I recently added.
ADOBE PHOTOSHOP SKETCH
I use this only on my iPad to sketch my jewellery designs for Trouvée.Co. Then, I take a screen shot of my draft and send it to my head artisan overseas via Whatsapp. This is such a convenient way to do business and I love how I can easily draw lines and add measurement notations around my designs.
I might need more complex 3D tools in future, but for now, this is more than sufficient.
My top app from this list is, of course, Google Calendar. It’s followed closely by Notability and then Zinnia. If you do end up downloading any of these apps, let me know. I’m sure they’ll add some productivity and inspiration to your day!