The Year’s 100 Best iPhone Apps

Last week DailyTekk brought you The 100 Best iPad Accessories and the week before that our annual list of The 100 Best, Most Interesting Blogs and Websites of 2014. This week we’re bringing you the best-of-the-best iPhone apps in the iOS ecosystem right now. I guess you could call these editor’s picks (the list is purely based on opinion). There are awesome iPhone apps that aren’t on this list as well, but by breaking the list into 20 categories, it left room for only 5 per section. All links go directly to the app store. Some of the apps are premium (paid) and some are free but all are very cool. Let me know what I might have missed in the comments.

Apps That “Wow”

1. Heard – Capture the moments you might otherwise miss.
2. Glympse – Temporarily share your location with people.
3. Osito – Predictive intelligence to keep you one step ahead.
4. Umano – Interesting articles read to you by real people.
5. MagicPlan – Measures your rooms and draws your floorplan with pictures.

Must-Downloads

1. Launch Center Pro – Launch actions, not just apps.
2. Evernote – Remember everything.
3. Pocket – The place to put things you want to view later.
4. MyPermissions – Find out who has access to your personal info.
5. Zeebox – Your TV sidekick.

Messaging

1. WhatsApp – Simple, personal, real-time messenger.
2. Snapchat – Disappearing photos and videos with captions.
3. Facebook Messenger – Free texting from Facebook.
4. GroupMe – A private chat room for your small group.
5. Tango – Free video & voice calls, texts, photo sharing, games and more.

Video

1. Lightt – Brings your videos together seamlessly as a continuous movie.
2. Magisto – Automatically edit videos (and photos) to share with friends.
3. Vyclone – Friends, cameras, action.
4. Viddy – Turn everyday moments into 30 second videos.
5. JumpCam – A free and fun way to film videos together with your friends.

Photography

1. Landcam – Take full creative control of your photos.
2. VSCO Cam – Separate focus and exposure controls and a variety of filters.
3. Seene – Create shareable 3D photos that bring together image, depth, movement.
4. Analog Camera – A very simple way to capture and process everyday moments.
5. Over – Add designy text and artwork to your photos.

Music

1. Spotify – Access millions of songs.
2. SoundCloud – Share your sounds and discover the sounds of others.
3. Twitter #music – Find new music from around the world.
4. Pandora – Listen to free music you’ll love.
5. Songza – A curated music experience.

News

1. Digg – What the Internet is talking about right now.
2. Flipboard – Read and collect the news you care about.
3. Swell – News radio rebooted.
4. Circa – Save time, stay informed.
5. News360 – A personalized news reader.

Social Networking

1. Path – One-to-one and one-to-many private messaging and sharing.
2. Vine – Create and share short, looping videos.
3. Pinterest – Pin objects to your pinboards and explore the community.
4. Happier – A fun social gratitude journal. Draw inspiration from a positive community.
5. Nextdoor – Free, private social network for your neighborhood.

Lifestyle

1. Birchbox – Discover your next everything.
2. Everest – Makes it easy to achieve your personal goals.
3. 23snaps – Online baby book.
4. JackThreads – Top mens’ contemporary and street fashion.
5. Boxed Wholesale – Like Sam’s Club or Costco on your phone.

Productivity

1. Vesper – A simple note taking experience backed by John Gruber.
2. Mailbox – Put email in it’s place.
3. Any.do – Manage life in a simple, clever and fun way (to-do lists).
4. Fantastical 2 – A calendar you’ll actually enjoy using.
5. IFTTT – Simplify and automate tasks between apps.

Business

1. Boxer – Advanced mobile email.
2. OmniFocus 2 – In depth task management.
3. Soulver – Quicker than a spreadsheet, smarter than a traditional calculator.
4. Scanner Pro – Turn your iPhone into a portable scanner.
5. Expensify – Expense reports that don’t suck.

Food

1. Foodspotting - Share great dishes.
2. Ness – Learns your taste and then finds new places you’ll love.
3. Panna – Cookbook, trendy food magazine and food education in one place.
4. Paprika – Delightfully simple recipe management for everyone.
5. Where Chefs Eat – Restaurant recommendations from the world’s top chefs.

Deals & Rewards

1. RedLaser – Never overpay again—find the best prices for your favorite products.
2. Shopkick – Gives you rewards simply for walking into stores.
3. RetailMeNot – Score the savings you want with coupon codes.
4. Gilt – Designer brands at insider prices.
5. One Kings Lane – Daily sales on home decor items.

Shopping

1. Shopping by TheFind – Every store, every product and the best prices.
2. Slice – Automatically tracks your shipments, price drops and recalls.
3. Cartwheel – Save on things you already buy at Target.
4. Consumr – Instantly browse millions of product ratings and reviews.
5. AnyList – Create and share grocery shopping lists and recipes.

Travel

1. Airbnb – Vacation rentals, homes, apartments and rooms for rent.
2. LoungeBuddy – Find your airport oasis.
3. Hotel Tonight – Book a hotel tonight.
4. Tripit – Organize your travel plans in one place, automatically.
5. Stacks – A modern, gesture-based currency converter.

Health & Fitness

1. Moves – Automatically records your activities.
2. Fitness Buddy – 1700+ unique exercises at your disposal.
3. RunKeeper – Get and stay fit.
4. Sleep Cycle Alarm Clock – An intelligent alarm clock that analyzes when you sleep.
5. WebMD – On-demand healthy living information.

Utilities

1. Dashlane – Password manager and digital wallet (1Password alternative).
2. Scan – The fastest, most user-friendly QR reader and barcode scanner.
3. Lookout – Protect your phone against data loss, theft and other threats.
4. i-Ruler – Measure length in cm or inches using your iPhone.
5. Magnifying Glass with Light – Magnify small or dimly lit text (like a menu).

Weather

1. Partly Cloudy – For fans of data visualization.
2. Dark Sky – Learn up to an hour in advance whether it will rain or snow.
3. Three – Along with the temperature, lists three items you shouldn’t leave the house without.
4. Mizzle – Simple, clean and beautiful weather.
5. Weathercube – No buttons. Just swipe and pinch your way through the weather.

Games

1. Draw Something – A social drawing and guessing game.
2. Angry Birds Star Wars 2 – Angry birds + Star Wars. What can I say?
3. Words With Friends – Word-building puzzle game that pits you against for friends.
4. Tiny Wings – A simple arcade game with a killer soundtrack.
5. Blitz Brigade – Ultimate multiplayer FPS showdown.

Absolutely Don’t Miss

1. Frontback – Camera app that capture you and what you see.
2. BillGuard – Save money and track your spending.
3. Thunderspace – Unwind in a thunderstorm.
4. Mynd – The calendar app with a brain.
5. Word Lens – See the world in your languages. Printed sign translation.