iOS apps

Read Cult of Mac’s latest posts on iOS apps:

Price drop: Use your iPhone to instantly identify plants with this AI-powered app

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Identify any plant in seconds with Plantum plant ID app for iPhone, now $14.97.
For a limited time, this plant ID app for iPhone costs just $14.97 for life.
Photo: Cult of Mac Deals

If you love gardening or you’re just curious about nature, Plantum is a must-have addition to your iPhone. The plant ID app serves as a sort of pocket botanist, enabling instant plant identification by photo for all kinds of flora.

For a limited time, you can get lifetime access to this AI-powered app for only $14.97.

Price drop: Use your iPhone to scan and fax documents with this multipurpose scanning app

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Turn your iPhone into a scanner and fax with $140 off SwiftScan VIP.
Save $140 on SwiftScan VIP and turn your iPhone into a scanner.
Photo: Cult of Mac Deals

While the world is increasingly going digital, paper documents are still in use and need to be incorporated into your workflow. The SwiftScan VIP app bridges the gap between paper and digital by turning your iPhone into a convenient scanning and faxing multitool. And right now, it’s on sale at the best price you’ll find online.

Today in Apple history: Dev defends I Am Rich, his totally useless $1,000 app

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I Am Rich iPhone app cost $1,000 and was totally useless.
The I Am Rich app could be yours for the bargain price of $999.99.
Photo: Ste Smith/Cult of Mac

August 10 Today in Apple history: Dev defends I Am Rich, his totally useless $1,000 app August 10, 2008: The developer of I Am Rich, a pointless iPhone app that sold for a whopping $999.99, defends his notorious creation as “art.”

After Apple removed I Am Rich from the App Store in the wake of controversy over the app’s outrageous price and total lack of usefulness, its creator, German developer Armin Heinrich, says he made it as a sort of joke.

Price drop: Learn your dream languages with a lifetime subscription to Babbel

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Learn new languages for life with the award-winning Babbel.
Learn new languages for life with the award-winning Babbel.
Photo: Cult of Mac Deals

Whether you want to get more from your travels or boost your career opportunities, speaking an additional language is one of the most rewarding ways to do it. And the most convenient way to learn? With an award-winning language-learning app like Babbel.

The Babbel app teaches you a new language with short daily lessons that take only 10 or 15 minutes that you can take on your iPhone or Mac. Right now, you can grab a lifetime subscription to every single language on the app for only $139.97 (regularly $599). That’s a 76% discount on this incredible software, but this price drop only lasts until July 17.

How to take fabulous fireworks photos with your iPhone

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These tips will help you take better fireworks photos.
These tips will help you take better fireworks photos.
Photo: Richard Dongses/Flickr CC

Last year’s fireworks made you say ooh and ahh, but when you look at your iPhone photos from that night, the sound you make is more of an ugh. Want to shoot better fireworks photos this time around?

Don’t blame Siri or some engineer in Cupertino for previous photo fails. The iPhone camera, as mighty as it is, can’t do all the thinking for you — especially in challenging lighting conditions like a fireworks display. But with a little thought and preparation, you can make this holiday worth reliving on your iPhone camera roll.

Below are some simple tips to make your iPhone fireworks photos sizzle.

3 reasons you shouldn’t close your open iPhone apps

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Should You Quit Your Apps?
Betteridge's law of headlines says no.
Image: CollegeDegrees360/Wikimedia Commons/D. Griffin Jones/Cult of Mac

It’s good to know how to close apps on iPhone for those times when an app is acting buggy or becomes unresponsive. It’s really easy — just swipe up to see your running apps and swipe up again to close them. However, does this mean you should you quit open apps? No, not at all.

Despite what you may have heard, quitting apps on iOS usually makes things worse, not better. It’s a myth that quitting apps will save battery life, make your iPhone run faster or free up memory. Overall, it negatively impacts your iPhone performance. Here’s how to close iPhone apps — plus three reasons why you shouldn’t rush to do it.

This app can identify more than 33,000 plant species

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This $20 app can identify over 14,000 plant species.
Identify and care for plants with the NatureID app, just $20 for Father’s Day.
Photo: Cult of Mac Deals

fLove spending time outdoors or nurturing greenery? Consider Plantum, an AI-powered plant identifier that’s like a flora encyclopedia you can carry around in your pocket. This iOS plant identification app can identify more than 33,000 plant species and offer tips on plant care.

It comes in handy whether you’re walking through the great outdoors or managing your garden. And for a limited time, a lifetime subscription is on sale for just $16.97 (regularly $59.99). That’s the lowest price on the web!

Podcast fiends will love this app’s premium features

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Listen to podcasts across your Apple ecosystem with this $40 app.
This trendy podcast app syncs with your entire Apple ecosystem for under $40.
Photo: Cult of Mac Deals

Sure, Apple’s Podcasts app is free. But it’s also kind of basic. If you’re a total podcast freak, you’ll surely enjoy an alternative podcast app like Player FM. It offers advanced features like customization, organization and personalized search. It can even automatically compress downloaded episodes to save space on your devices, without compromising audio quality.

The app works on iPhone, Mac, iPad, Apple Watch and CarPlay, with easy syncing across all Apple’s platforms. And for a limited time, you can get a lifetime subscription to Player FM’s premium plan for just $39.99 (regularly $120).

Use this app to turn your photos into cool collages

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You don't need a collage degree to make something cool with this collage app, only $39.99.
Transform your photos into eye-catching collages with this easy-to-use app.
Photo: Cult of Mac Deals

Pic Stitch is a versatile collage app for iPhone, iPad and Android devices. With this easy-to-use software, you can take advantage of a robust menu of editing tools, and hundreds of layouts, to customize your photo collage before you can share it to social media — without ever leaving the app.

And instead of paying the normal price of $149, you can get a lifetime subscription to Pic Stitch Pro for $39.99. That means you won’t wind up paying monthly fees for a collage-making app that will give you years of utility.

Keep your kid safe online with this iPhone monitoring app

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The words
Monitor your children's iPhone activity 24/7 with mSpy.
Photo: Cult of Mac Deals

The internet is massive, weird and full of things nobody should see, let alone children. However, as wild as the internet may be, it is also a resource your kids will need to get familiar with, especially for school. To balance those two things, you need a parental control app for iPhone like mSpy. (It works for Android devices as well.)

The stealthy spy app lets parents track their children’s online activity, including texts, calls and GPS. For a limited time, you can get a lifetime of mSpy for just $119.99 with code ENJOY20. That’s a massive discount off the regular price of $1,079.82.

Promote mindfulness and creativity with Groodles art therapy app

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Use art therapy from Groodles to promote relaxation and emotional expression, now $39.99.
Add art therapy to your emotional health regimen with Groodles, on sale for less than $40 for life.
Photo: Cult of Mac Deals

Art therapy can be a powerful tool for your emotional well-being, yet it can be difficult to find accessible tools to use it to its maximum potential. Groodles changes that by putting an art therapy app on your iPhone or iPad.

Named one of AppAdvice’s top apps of January 2024, Groodles is designed for all ages and to be as accessible as possible. Children and adults alike can benefit from Groodles and its promotion of art therapy for self-expression and stress relief. Right now, lifetime access costs just $39.99 (regularly $149).

Digitize your tax docs (and everything else) with this top iPhone scanning app

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Save time and space with this on-the-go scanning app for a low price.
Scan all your tax documents with the easy-to-use iScanner app.
Photo: Cult of Mac Deals

When it comes time to deal with tax season, the amount of required documents can quickly become overwhelming. You could always attempt to collect and protect paper printouts like some kind of hoarder. But the smart move in this modern era is to digitize all your documents with an iPhone scanning app.

With all your documents scanned, you will benefit from a major shortcut when filing taxes. And you can streamline the scanning process by picking up a discounted lifetime subscription to the highly rated iScanner app. Normally priced at $199, you can get this iPhone app for only $31.99 with code ENJOY20 for a limited time.

Apple still wants control of sideloaded iPhone apps in the EU

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Sideloading means no Apple App Store
Sideloading means no Apple App Store, but Apple isn't giving up all control.
Graphic: Apple/Cult of Mac

Although the European Union requires Apple to allow sideloading of iPhone applications, Cupertino reportedly hopes to review apps before they become available for installation from outside the App Store.

Apple also expects developers to voluntarily send a percentage of all revenue generated through sideloaded iOS applications.

Protect up to 6 devices for life with this $33 VPN deal

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Save $130 on this VPN service that can be applied to six devices.
Stay safe, and avoid regional streaming restrictions, with $130 savings on this versatile VPN.
Photo: StackCommerce

You can’t be too safe online, and a trustworthy VPN can help make sure your private information isn’t exploitable.

Rather than go through each day as a vulnerable internet user, lock down online protection with lifetime access to BulletVPN. Normally sold for $162, this plan (which works for up to six devices) is available for only $32.97 through January 28.

Capable, low-priced PDF editor is optimized for iOS 17

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PDF Editor free offer
If you want a high-quality, feature-rich PDF editor but don't want to pay top prices, PDF Editor PDF Book Reader could be for you. Claim your free one-year subscription now!
Image: PDF Editor PDF Book Reader

For anyone who only needs a PDF editor to occasionally sign or modify a document, paying Adobe Acrobat’s monthly price may be too much. So it’s a good thing you have less-expensive yet feature-rich apps like PDF Editor PDF Book Reader to try.

People have relied on the app for years, and now it’s optimized with new features to work brilliantly on iPhones with iOS 17 and on iPads with iPadOS 17. Plus, Cult of Mac readers can get a free one-year subscription to the app (details below).

How to track Santa from your Mac, iPhone or iPad

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How to track Santa from your iPhone or iPad
Tracking Santa as he flies across the world delivering toys is easy.
Photo: Cult of Mac

It’s Christmas Eve, and Santa Claus is on his way. You can find out exactly where he is with the help of NORAD and your Mac or iPhone. You can even track Jolly Old Saint Nick’s progress in real time.

Here’s how to keep an eye on Santa’s progress.

Best free weather apps for iPhone and iPad in 2023

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The Best Weather Apps
There are SO MANY weather apps to choose from, but these are the best free ones.
Image: D. Griffin Jones/Cult of Mac

In a world with about 10,000 weather apps — that’s an actual estimate, not a huge exaggeration — how do you choose the best free weather app for iPhone or iPad that you can trust and that includes the features you want most? It’s not easy. But a mix of full-featured free weather apps (most with premium versions) and specialty apps can cover all the bases for you.

We’ll go over some of the best weather apps below, whether you just want to avoid getting wet or if you’re a total weather freak who can’t get enough data, visual or otherwise.

AnyTrans lets you migrate data between iOS and other devices with a tap

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Gift easy management of data and content between iOS devices, iTunes and iCloud with AnyTrans®, now only $20.
Make data management a breeze with AnyTrans.
Photo: Cult of Mac Deals

AnyTrans is a file-management app every Apple user should own. Users can effortlessly transfer and manage all their digital content between their Apple devices and accounts with this tool, whether they have every Apple device on the market or are simply trying to streamline their lives.

Through December 25, it’s on sale for only $19.97 (regularly $79).

Edit video on iPhone and external drives with powerful LumaFusion [Awesome Apps]

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Edit video on iPhone and external drives with powerful 'LumaFusion'
With LumaFusion, you don't need storage space on your iPhone to edit huge video files on an SSD.
Photo: LumaTouch

Awesome AppsWith an iPhone 15 Pro or Pro Max, you can record high-resolution video directly to an external SSD. And the latest version of the iPhone app LumaFusion lets you edit with the video still on the external drive, too. Don’t try that with any other video editor for iOS.

That’s on top of the many other features of the iPhone and iPad application, which offers multitrack video editing with a focus on controlling everything with touch.

Podurama app uses AI to make podcasts better than ever

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It's hard to find great podcasts, but not if you use the Podurama app.
It's hard to find great podcasts, but not if you use the Podurama app.
Image: Podurama

The world of podcasts is wide and deep, so finding great ones in the wilds of the internet can be daunting. But with the AI-powered Podurama app, you can find and organize podcasts to your heart’s content — and sync them for listening on various devices.

SPONSORED
This post is brought to you by Podurama.
Better yet, you can use Podurama for free. And if you want all the features, you can buy the lifetime premium version for half off right now!

Get in the habit of reading, track flights, and use iPad as a monitor [Awesome Apps]

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iPad screen showing three apps: Flighty, Reading Time and Orion.
This week’s Awesome Apps: Reading Time, Orion and Flighty.
Photo: Leander Kahney/Cult of Mac

Awesome AppsIn this week’s Awesome Apps roundup, we have a book-reading app that will help you make reading a habit; a free app that turns an iPad into an external monitor for game consoles or cameras; and a great travel app that puts critical flight information on your Apple Watch.

Build a reading list and track your progress [Awesome Apps]

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Reading Time for iPhone
A smarter way to keep your reading list organized.
Photo: D. Griffin Jones/Cult of Mac

Awesome AppsReading Time for iPhone and iPad lets you build a library of books, then tracks your progress as you read. It encourages reading by making everything easier and more fun.

You can easily scan books by their barcodes to add them to your library. When you start a reading session, a Live Activity will show up on your Lock Screen, in the Dynamic Island or in StandBy.

The Reading Time app keeps track of your progress with detailed stats — like your reading speed, and estimated time until you’re finished — in an organized dashboard of books.

Hit the slopes, amuse your dog, and run a freelance biz [Awesome Apps]

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Jolly Pet dog game running on an iPad with dog looking on.
Jolly Pet is popular iPad game for canines -- and some humans too.
Photo: Leander Kahney/Cult of Mac

Awesome AppsThis week’s Awesome Apps include a comprehensive skiing and snowboarding app with a ton of features, an app for running every aspect of a freelance business, a social network for photographers that isn’t Instagram, and a simple iPad game for dogs that also helps some humans with their anxiety.