5 default iPhone apps I ditched as soon as I tried these alternatives

Summary

Over the years, Apple has built up a selection of solid native apps for the iPhone.
While Apple’s own iOS apps might be pretty great, third-party developers often go a step further, providing extra features and functionalities.
Here are 5 third-party iPhone apps that beat Apple’s internal efforts — at least in my eyes.

Apple’s default iOS apps for the iPhone are pretty great. They follow a consistent design language, they’re simple and yet reasonably powerful, and they come free out of the box. That being said, the App Store is home to a dizzying number of third-party alternatives to pick from, with vast swathes of developers vying to one-up each other in the innovation department.

With this in mind, I’ve crafted a list of 5 third-party iPhone apps that I believe outclass Apple’s in-house offerings in just about every way. These apps all look and feel native to the system, while providing tons of additional features, toolsets, and customization options to fiddle around with.

5 third-party Android apps I insist on using instead of Google’s defaults

Google makes some excellent Android apps — but they pale in comparison to these third-party versions.

1 Overcast

The best third-party podcasting app

Overcast

Overcast is a podcast player with unique features for the iPhone and other Apple devices. The Smart Speed feature helps you get through podcasts faster without distorting audio.

There are several excellent podcasting apps available for the iPhone, each of which brings something unique to the table when compared to Apple’s own Podcasts app. While I love Pocket Casts and AntennaPod, my personal favorite player has got to be Overcast. The app is full-featured, yet it comes with an interface that’s aesthetically pleasing and simple to understand.

A voice Boost mode, custom playlists, a sleep timer, and support for both Apple Watch and CarPlay are present here, and the single-person developer claims that there are no third-party analytics, trackers, or ad services within the app. Overcast is free to download and install, with a paid Premum subscription tier available for removing advertisements.

iPhone apps I always delete right away header

New iPhone? Delete these apps immediately

The iPhone ships with some pretty solid default apps, but not all of them are winners — here are the ones I always delete right away.

2 Clear

The best third-party note-taking and reminders app

Clear: Minimalist Todo Lists

Clear is an expertly crafted to-do list that features a unique gesture-based interface.

As with podcasting apps, there are a wealth of popular note-taking and reminder apps available for the iPhone. Apple’s default Notes and Reminders apps get the job done, but third-party alternatives often come with additional features, organizational tools, and cross-device syncing options. Personally, I rely on Clear to keep on track with my personal lists of to-dos and errands.

Clear offers a gorgeous gradient-style interface design that I can’t get enough of.

Clear offers a gorgeous gradient-style interface design that I can’t get enough of, as well as a novel gesture-based navigational system that feels fluid and responsive. I also love the small flourishes of audio throughout – these crisp sound effects make swiping through my notes feel all the more satisfying.

Clear is free to use, and a Pro version is available for unlocking widgets, Apple Watch support, per-list personalization settings, monthly in-app collectibles, and more.

Android apps I delete immediately header image

5 Android apps I delete immediately from every new phone

I hate clutter almost as much as I hate superfluous apps — here are the defaults that I always delete when setting up a new Pixel phone.

3 Solves

The best third-party calculator app

Solves: Calculator for All

Solves is a third-party calculator app for the iPhone, iPad, Apple Watch, and Mac that provides an attractive-yet-powerful interface.

Apple’s first-party Calculator app lagged far behind the competition up until the release of iOS 18 in the fall of last year. Today, the app finally boasts a dedicated backspace button, a dual-column view, as well as iPad support. Nevertheless, third-party alternatives continue to outshine Apple’s efforts. While there are plenty of more powerful alternatives on the App Store, I always gravitate to Solves.

I appreciate the haptic feedback, the animations, and the fact that the app respects my iPhone’s light mode setting.

Solves works across the iPhone, iPad, Apple Watch, and Mac, and it comes with plenty of useful features. These include cross-device history sync, color theming, an adaptive user interface, and more. In practice, using Solves simply feels better than using Apple’s Calculator — I appreciate the haptic feedback, the animations, and the fact that the app respects my iPhone’s light mode setting.

Solves is free to use and comes with no ads out of the gate, but a single-time Solves+ purchase is required for additional theming, unit conversion tools, and other more advanced settings.

6 free must-have apps I always install on my iPhone

These iPhone apps are entirely free, and they’re installed on my iPhone at all times.

4 Albums

The best third-party Apple Music app

Albums: Music Library Player

Albums is a third-party music player for the iPhone that taps into Apple Music, and provides listening stats, track organizational tools, and more.

If you’re an Apple Music subscriber, then the third-party Albums app is an excellent piece of supplementary software. The app puts musical albums front and center, which is a breath of fresh air in today’s world of single-focused and highly automated playlists. If you want to sit back and listen to LPs the way the artist intended, then Albums is worth its weight in gold.

Albums requires an active Apple Music subscription to function. At this time, the app doesn’t integrate with other music streaming services like Spotify.

Albums comes with a ton of extra features, including Last.FM compatibility for keeping track of your listening metrics, Siri, iCloud Sync, and CarPlay integration, and an in-line notes feature for jotting down your thoughts as you play back your favorite tracks. The base app is free to use, and there’s a Premium version available which unlocks additional library insights, album tagging, a release radar feature, and other goodies.

You won’t find these 9 excellent apps anywhere on the Google Play Store

F-Droid is a free and open-source alternative app store for Android – here are my favorite apps that are exclusively available on the storefront.

5 LocalSend

The best third-party AirDrop replacement

LocalSend: Transfer Files

LocalSend is a cross-platform application that makes it easy to wirelessly send files from one device to another.

Over the past while, I’ve found Apple’s default AirDrop protocol to be a rather unreliable experience. The feature is pitched as an effortless way to wirelessly transfer files from one Apple device to the next, but I find the tool to be slow, unresponsive, and prone to seizing up entirely.

As a result of this, I’ve made the switch to LocalSend, which is a free and open-source (FOSS) alternative that works across all platforms and operating systems ( Android, Windows, and more).

I’ve never encountered even the slightest hitch when using LocalSend to transfer my files, and its cross-platform compatibility is a major bonus from my perspective. The app’s interface is simple and clean, and the auto-generated display names are a charming touch that I genuinely appreciate.