The 12 Best Apps for 2024
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For iOS and Android users who already know about those well-known, must-have apps like Google Maps, Dropbox, Evernote, and the rest, the following list offers a refreshing pick of newer apps that can transform practically any compatible device.
Here are some of the absolute best apps you’ll want to consider downloading and making good use of this year.
What We Like
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Automatically finds new episodes of followed podcasts.
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Intuitive interface with lots of handy features.
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Listen to podcasts without committing to a subscription.
What We Don’t Like
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Can’t put together lists of episodes you’d like to hear.
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The trim function is useful but can result in choppy-sounding play.
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You’ll need to upgrade to access premium features.
Pocket Casts is a premium app worth checking out if you listen to podcasts and want to discover great podcasts and easily manage your library. Browse podcasts by charts, networks, and categories, and then add the ones you like to play episodes on the fly and create your own playback queue.
The app constantly checks for new episodes, so you always have access to the latest from your favorite shows, with automatic downloading and custom filters to keep them organized. You can also personalize your listening experience with powerful features, including an up-next option, a silence trimmer, chapters, a playback skipper, and more.
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What We Like
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A novel approach to time management.
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Many timer settings and the ability to safelist some apps.
What We Don’t Like
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Must subscribe to Forest in the Cloud to use credits toward planting trees, compete with others, and sync across devices.
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If the phone battery dies, you lose the tree you were working on.
Need to be productive but can’t resist wasting time on your iPhone? Forest is a premium app that motivates you to stay focused by starting every work session with a planted seed in your very own virtual forest. You’ll have to stay in the app to watch the tree grow over the time period that you work and avoid leaving the app or risk killing the tree.
The more you use the app to be productive (and thus grow more virtual trees), the more coins you earn. You can spend coins through the app as donations to help plant real trees in the developing world. To accomplish this, Forest partnered with the non-profit organization Trees for the Future, which helps improve impoverished farmers’ livelihoods by revitalizing degraded lands.
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What We Like
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Replaces bulkier programs likePhotoshop for many uses.
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Easy to use.
What We Don’t Like
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Some advanced features require a paid subscription.
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No eraser tool.
Whether you need to design a new Facebook header photo or create a cover to publish your Kindle e-book, Canva is the free and intuitive graphic design app that can help you get it done in minutes. Upload your images or choose from premium stock photos and illustrations before customizing your design using the app’s easy drag-and-drop feature.
Canva offers a variety of layouts, free photos, fonts, shapes, icons, charts, lines, illustrations, grids, and background options you can use to design your graphic exactly the way you want. When you’re done, save it as a high-quality image to your camera roll or photo folder or share it directly using your favorite social app.
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What We Like
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Huge variety of sounds.
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Easy searching for just the right sound.
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Free to download and use.
What We Don’t Like
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Some sounds are low-quality.
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Icon packs are no longer available.
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You’ll need to pay for a subscription for an ad-free experience.
If you really want to make your smartphone or tablet your own, Zedge is the app you’ll want to use to personalize your device’s ringtones, notifications, and alarm sounds. The app offers thousands of high-quality sounds that are free and easy to download.
Browse through the categories or use the search function to look for a specific sound. From obscure sounds to classic jingles, you can set a custom ringtone for each person in your contact list, so you always know who’s calling.
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What We Like
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No internet connection required.
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Unlike ordinary sound generators, you can mix your own.
What We Don’t Like
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Not as large of a selection as some similar apps.
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Can’t play music from other apps while this is running.
Whether you need to focus on your work or relax and unwind after a long day, soothing sound effects can get you in the right frame of mind. Noisli lets you conveniently mix sounds to create your own sound combos. Its simple, minimal interface lets you select the sounds you want and adjust the volume to create the perfect sound ambiance.
Choose from sounds like rain, thunderstorms, wind, waves, birds, and more. Set a timer for your sound combo with an optional fade-out feature and save your combos to listen to them again and again. You can listen to all sound creations offline, so you never have to worry about remaining connected to the internet.
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What We Like
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Lots of useful hacks for everyday life.
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Crisp and to the point.
What We Don’t Like
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Ad-supported.
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Interface is somewhat cluttered.
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No iOS version.
Crumblyy (formerly called Life Hacks) isn’t new, but it’s regularly updated. This clean, intuitive app features picture cards in various categories like food, health, technology, and more to help you broaden your knowledge and improve your life with tips, tricks, and fact-based strategies.
You can get notifications for daily hacks that can be upvoted to help fellow app users, bookmarked, or shared on social media. Browse hacks manually by selecting a category or using the search function to look for something specific.
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What We Like
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Choose the type and length of meditation desired.
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Geared toward adults but also suitable for children 3 and older, with adult help.
What We Don’t Like
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Subscriptions are expensive.
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Help and customer service are lacking.
Thinking of giving meditation a try? Calm is a free app geared toward beginners. It offers short, guided meditation sessions ranging from three to 25 minutes. Sessions focus on various topics, including anxiety reduction, stress management, improved sleep, breaking bad habits, cultivating gratitude, and more.
In addition to individual sessions, hundreds of programs are available if you’re interested in a long-term meditation challenge. There’s also an option for unguided meditation sessions with a timer and more than 30 soothing nature sounds.
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What We Like
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Easy, effective way to free up space.
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Transfers large files quickly.
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Unearths duplicate files so that you can delete them.
What We Don’t Like
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No support for cloud storage.
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Shares files only with other users of the app.
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No iOS app.
The Files by Google storage manager helps you find files faster, free up space, and share files quickly with others while you’re offline. You can use it to delete old photos quickly, identify duplicate files, get rid of apps you no longer use, and clean up anything else that needs to go in a snap.
One of the best parts about this app is that files can be shared between Android users, similar to Apple AirDrop. As long as you’re physically close to another Android user using Files Go, you can quickly share photos, videos, and other files without using the internet.
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What We Like
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Broad variety of routines to choose from.
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Gives estimates of how long each routine takes.
What We Don’t Like
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Some users might find articles and questions distracting.
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Requires a single payment up front, rather than monthly.
Fabulous is an entertaining and interactive habit app that helps you improve your energy levels, fitness, sleep, and productivity. Based on scientifically proven techniques, you’re challenged to complete daily meditation, work, creativity, exercise, and other types of self-improvement sessions to help you change your habits in as little as 19 days.
You’ll start small with incremental goals that help you build your habit progress over time. Eventually, you’ll have renewed rituals for your morning, workday, and nighttime routines.
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What We Like
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A different way to experience a story.
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Free, seven-day trial offered.
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Subscription gives unlimited access to Yarn content.
What We Don’t Like
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Access to the full selection of stories and features requires a paid subscription.
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Some stories are inappropriate for young users.
Yarn is for the mobile user who wants something different than a cool video game to play or a great book to read. The app features a large library of stories told in text message format as if you were snooping through somebody else’s phone and reading their conversations.
Episodes and conversations are updated daily, and you can enjoy stories from several categories, including mystery, romance, comedy, sci-fi, fantasy, and others. The free version of the app is limited, but you can upgrade to a subscription plan for unlimited access to all stories and features.
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What We Like
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Lets you create reminders without interrupting what you’re doing.
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Reminders appear in the notification shade.
What We Don’t Like
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Syncing between devices is available only with the paid version.
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Works only in apps that offer a Share button or link.
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No iOS app.
Ever find yourself browsing through an app, only to see something you need to remind yourself of later? Remindee is a simple app that lets you create reminders from anywhere within your device, no matter what app you’re currently browsing.
Just tap the share button and then tap the Remind Me option to create a reminder. Set the date and time you want for your reminder, and you’re finished. You also have the option to create a reminder by copying a selection of text, which can come in handy when your reminder is based on a longer message or paragraph of information.
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What We Like
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Great selection of very funny GIFs.
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GIFs can be looped.
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Share GIFs with friends via text and social media.
What We Don’t Like
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Records voice only (can’t add music).
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GIFs show only for a short duration.
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No iOS version.
It’s no secret that people love to share GIFs everywhere online, giving rise to all sorts of GIF-maker apps. Shabaam takes the GIF trend to another level by allowing you to spice up your favorite GIFs with added audio.
Choose a GIF from the app’s extensive GIF library, and then use your device to record your voice (or any sound of your choice) to be dubbed over the GIF. The final product is a short video (because it can’t remain in GIF format due to the audio) that you can save to your device or share through other apps.
Download For:
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