Top Productivity Apps for iPhone to Boost Your Efficiency
As long as we're glued to our iPhones, why not use them to better manage our goals?
iPhone users know how convenient life has become thanks to the little device in your hand. You can use it for any and every task you have--and most of us do!
Since we're all hooked to our iPhones anyway, why not take advantage of it? Here are some iPhone productivity apps that help you organize your life, boost your focus, and generally get stuff done!
Best iOS Productivity Apps on Your iPhone
One of the great things about your iPhone is that it comes with many built-in and free apps and other features that you can use for work and time management.
Notes is a basic but essential tool that the iPhone offers. You can take down important information, upload pictures and links, and even integrate one note into another. Plus, you can sync it across your iOS devices and with your email, so all your important Notes are accessible all the time.
The Apple Calendar app lets you plan your day by the hour, schedule important events, and set reminders not just days, but years in advance. It can also sync with other apps to automatically add events to your schedule as soon as they're confirmed.
Reminders is a to-do list app, where you can add your goals, break them down into smaller tasks, and set alerts based on task time, urgency, and location. You can even add and save images and important links that go with your goals.
The Mail app lets you add multiple email IDs and receive all your emails in one device. You can even share the emails on your iPhone through other apps and sync your Notes on your email as a backup.
Freeform is a cool but underrated iOS app, using which you can unleash your creative side. Illustrate and edit digital art masterpieces on the app for work or fun.
Shortcuts helps streamline the workflow on your iPhone, by allowing you to club apps, set automation to run apps at certain times, and even enable a "Do Not Disturb" mode for special situations.
iCloud Keychain is a syncing app, through which you can save the login credentials of different apps, and ensure data and activity from separate apps is constantly uploaded across devices.
Voice Memos is the iPhone's audio recording app, that lets you save important audio messages and meetings and integrates the saved memos into other devices.
Screen recording lets you record activity on your iPhone as you're doing it, so you can remember important systems and ways of doing things. You can also share the recordings with others in case you're making tutorials.
Background Sounds works as a white noise app, for those who like to hear soothing or aesthetic audio while working.
With iMovie, make trailers and short movies that rival Hollywood blockbusters. With features like Storyboard, Multi-Touch, and trailer templates, you can create stunning videos to show off to everyone.
Now, as cool as Apple's ecosystem apps are, sometimes they might not have all the features you're looking for. So, here's a list of some third-party productivity apps you can download on your iPhone:
Best Productivity Apps to Download on your iPhone
Todoist
Todoist is the ultimate to-do app you can use to track your habits, work and study goals, and even daily household chores. Create different projects and design them in order of priority, and let daily reviews show you how much of your to do list you were able to accomplish every day. It also has some cool collaborative features so you can work with others on a project, meaning better teamwork and accountability!
Sorted^3
If you're into time-boxing, Sorted^3 is the app for you. It lets you hyper-schedule your day so each task is planned precisely. Add details while scheduling tasks so you know exactly what you need to do to finish it. You even get a notification when it's time to stop and move on to the next task.
GoodReader
If you work with a lot of documents and need to keep them organized, use GoodReader. You can use it to save, manage, and read any type of file you want. You can also annotate and encrypt your PDFs before transferring them to others.
Adobe Acrobat
Adobe Acrobat is a great PDF reader and editor. While you may have to pay for a licensed version to unlock all its features, it is totally worth it--read, annotate, edit, and customize your PDFs any way you want.
Calendars 5
Calendars 5 is an event and task management app that helps you track upcoming events and tasks. With features like Smart Calendar and Task Manager -- with the option to sync with your Google Calendar as well -- you can set up assignments and appointments so you never miss a deadline.
Due
Due is another reminders app that lets you set alerts for all your tasks and goals, so you're not constantly having to remember due dates. You can even set repeat alerts for recurring tasks.
1Password
If you've ever thought, "I wish there was an app that just remembers and inputs all my passwords for me", 1Password is your answer. Store not just your IDs and passwords, but even confidential information like payment details, addresses, and notes in the app—it acts like a password vault that opens only with a code or Face ID scan (just like native Apple apps). When logging in to any app or website, 1Password automatically puts in the relevant password needed so you do not even need to type it out. Pretty awesome password manager, right?
Day One
Day One is a journaling app that makes sure you never let go of the habit. Unlike any other note-taking app, you can not just write down your thoughts and ideas, but also organize the entries by themes or relevance and add photos and videos where needed. The app will even remind you to write if you miss a day and give you prompts if you're feeling a bit stuck.
Freedom
Freedom is arguably one of the best productivity apps for iPhone out there. This amazing app lets you block all distractions and procrastination-inducing tools during work time, so you can focus and make some progress. While the free version works well, the paid app even lets you schedule blocking times so you're prepared in advance.
Looking for a blocker to save you from distracting websites? Try our tool Dopanope here!
Microsoft Outlook
Microsoft Outlook is probably the only worthy alternative to Apple Mail. The app is actually a suite of useful Microsoft products like Exchange, Office 365, Outlook.com, Gmail, Yahoo, and iCloud accounts. At the heart of it is the Microsoft Focused inbox, but you can even use the calendar and OneDrive Cloud Storage options.
Pocket is for those who like to, (or are forced to) postpone productivity, especially reading. Use it to save articles or interesting reads to get to them when you're free and can focus on them. The iPhone app also has a discover option in case you run out of things to read, and lets you listen to the articles as well.
Snapseed
iPhone cameras are great, but if you like to go the extra mile and touch up your photos, Snapseed is the app for you. It is a surprisingly powerful photo editor with pre-existing filters for an instant glow-up. You can even use a full suite of editing tools to manually adjust the brightness, contrast, shadows, perspective, curves, grain, and other aspects of your photos.
Streaks
Finally, Streaks is the habit-tracking app you've been looking for--break bad habits, form good ones, and maintain pace over time. You create your own tasks, assign them a unique icon, and check them off in-app or using an interactive Home Screen widget. Use it to track everything from brushing your teeth to the number of miles you've run in a day!
How to Choose the Right iPhone Apps to Boost Your Productivity
Now, there's a whole load of apps to choose from, how do you go about it? Try to think about these points so you can make a solid choice:
Ease of Use
A productivity app should be intuitive and easy to use -- you can't get efficient with your work and time if you spend hours just trying to learn all of the app's features. So, whether you pick a built-in iPhone app or download a third-party app from the App Store, make sure you're comfortable using it and don't have to think too much to make it work.
Options to Customize
Work goals and habits differ from person to person, so you need an app that has customization options. A cookie-cutter template won't always work for your different projects.
Impact on Battery, Storage
Some productivity apps may be really helpful, but drain your battery with excess use. Or, they may be too heavy on data and eat away at your storage--especially if you don't have a high capacity to begin with. So, make sure the app is compatible with your iPhone's battery and data capacities.
Integration and Syncing
If you like to work across devices and tend to use different task management apps, then you want them all to work together. A productivity app that can be synced across all your Apple devices and used in tandem with your Mail, Calendar, and other apps would help boost efficiency, and leave you with no excuse for not getting work done.
Final Thoughts
Use productivity apps to make your iPhone a device for efficiency and success!