CNETAnalysis: Best free iPhone apps 1 – 30 There are now hundreds of thousands of apps available for your iPhone 5, iPhone 4S, iPod touch and iPad, and, surprisingly, many of the best are free. The following list showcases our pick of the 70 best free iPhone apps, and includes iPhone applications for social networking, travel, news, photography, productivity and more. Most of these apps are also suitable for the iPod touch. If your top free iPhone apps aren’t covered, tell us all about them in the comments. And don’t forget to check out our iPhone 5S rumours and iPhone 6 rumours . You can also take a look through the top 10 free iPhone apps with our nifty video. FutTv : sDoO9ix43IlH8 1. Facebook The world’s biggest social network brings a tightly honed experience to the iPhone and iPod touch, but nonetheless still enables you to access your contacts, feeds and other important information. This sense of focus makes it in many ways superior to using Facebook in a desktop browser. 20 Facebook privacy settings tips 2. PhotoSynth We did a bit of a double-take on seeing Microsoft’s name attached to this, not least given the lack of a price-tag. But PhotoSynth is a really great panorama app; it’s user-friendly and fun to use, especially when watching your panoramas take shape while you capture them. 3. RunKeeper The prospect of Nike+ but better and for free might sound unlikely, but that’s what RunKeeper provides. Previously split into ‘pro’ and ‘free’ versions, the developer now generously includes all the features in one free app. That means you can spend no money, yet use your iPhone’s GPS capabilities to track your jogging and cycling routes, and examine mapping and details of your pace and calories burned. Activities can be shared online, and treadmill runs and other exercise details can be entered manually. If you like this then make sure you read 10 bes! t iPhone and iPad apps for keeping fit and 5 sports headphones for iPhone and iPod touch . 4. Pulse RSS has a reputation for being a rather dry technology, feeding you dull lists of headlines. Pulse flips RSS on its head, providing streams of feeds that grab your eye with photographs. It’s perhaps not for the hardcore RSS crowd, but if you follow a small number of feeds, it’s a great choice. 5. Dropbox Plenty of apps exist for transferring content between your computer and your device, but Dropbox is free and easier to use than most of its contemporaries. Dump files you want to sync in a folder on your computer and Dropbox for your device will enable you to access them, download them for offline viewing, and, in many cases, view them. Love Dropbox? Then check out our article Essential tips for every Dropbox user . 6. ABC iView The national broadcaster’s iView service has long been the gold standard for catch up television services in Australia. The ABC iView app not only offers instant and unlimited access to ABC shows on demand, it also offers live streaming of ABC News 24, the ability to stream via AirPlay and parental controls for parents. 7. Skype FaceTime is a great alternative to standard voice calls, but it’s no good if you’re trying to contact someone without a Mac or compatible iOS device. Therefore, Skype remains an essential download. The interface is simple and usable, enabling anyone with a Skype account to make free calls to other Skype users and cheap calls to anywhere in the world. If you’re on Pay and Go, this is particularly handy, but the app also enables iPod touch users to utilise their devices for calls. 10 handy Skype tips and tricks 8. Movies by Flixter Although some aspects of cinema listings app Movies by Flixter are disappointingly US-centric (notably regarding details on upcoming movies and DVDs), it succeeds where it matters. Select a film and the app figures out where you’re located, lists nearby cinemas, and displays times your cho! sen film ! is showing. Efficiency can be further increased by pinning favourite cinemas to the top of the list. 9. TonePad Virtual pianos and guitars are all very well, but purely digital musical toys are more suited to Apple handhelds. TonePad is the best of them, using a grid-based interface that enables you to turn notes on and off and compose pleasing and harmonious loops; your creations can be edited, saved and uploaded to share with other users. 10. Google Maps It’s no secret just how badly Apple’s own mapping app performs since the update to iOS 6 . But fortunately, Google Maps is a free download, and a far better solution than the old Google Maps app as well,b thanks to the inclusion of turn-by-turn navigation and – in some cities – public transport directions. 11. Twitter The official Twitter app might lack some of the features found in the likes of Tweetbot , but it does provide a sleek and simple means of using the service. It also directly mirrors the latest navigational scheme on the Twitter website. Check out 10 best iPhone and iPad Twitter apps for alternative Twitter apps we recommend. 12. Comics In all honesty, Comics is a little awkward compared to using it on an iPad, but you won’t find a better comics experience on an iPhone. The app is free, as are dozens of downloadable comics – and once you run out of those, many more are available to buy. Reading works on a frame-by-frame automated ‘zoom’ basis, and is surprisingly usable. 13. Wikipanion The Wikipedia website works fine on iPhones, but a dedicated app is a better bet. Wikipanion is a freebie which gives you quick access to article sections, in-article search, viewing options, bookmarking, and the ability to tweet about whatever odd fact you’ve just unearthed. Also, wonderfully, there are no ads. 14. Evernote Clients to access the popular Evernote service for storing notes and ideas online are available for so many platforms that we half expect a ZX Spectrum app to be announced tomorrow. ! On the iP! hone, Evernote is efficient and usable, enabling you to rapidly scan your notes and also create new ones. 15. Kindle With iBooks on the iPhone, you might wonder why you should bother with Amazon’s Kindle . After all, the app’s not as pretty as iBooks, nor is there an integrated store (you buy in Safari and sync purchases to the app). However, Kindle offers a massive selection of books compared to Apple’s app and the reading experience is great. 16. Around Me Around Me figures out where you are and lists local stuff – banks, bars, petrol stations and, er, Apple Retail Stores. The app’s reliance on Google Maps info means there are gaps, but it’s nonetheless handy to have installed when in unfamiliar surroundings, and the ‘augmented reality’ landscape mode is amusing, if flaky. 17. Dictionary.com – Dictionary & Thesaurus Over two million definitions, synonyms and antonyms are available in the palm of your hand with this free, offline dictionary and thesaurus . The app is fast and efficient, includes phonetic and audio pronunciation of words, and its interface seems perfectly suited to the iPhone. 18. Air Video Free Air Video Free can stream (and convert as necessary) video from any computer running the free Air Video Server. You only get access to a small number of items per folder or playlist, but some careful planning can get around that limitation. 19. Adobe Photoshop Express If you’re looking for Photoshop-style power, Photoshop Express won’t impress. However, if you’re after a quick, free, highly usable tool for making edits to your iPhone photos, Adobe’s app is ideal. Use it for cropping, straightening, exposure adjustments, colour effects, sharpening and more. For more cool iPhone image editors, check out 10 best iPhone and iPad photo editing apps . 20. iHandy Level Free One of the tools from the excellent iHandy Carpenter toolkit app, iHandy Level Free turns your iPhone into a spirit level. By default, it’ll sh! ow just h! ow wonky your device’s accelerometer is, but tap the calibrate button and you get an accurate and great-looking level. Before reading on, why not check out TechRadar’s top 10 ebook reader apps for iPhone: FutTv : yXv0i7qW2gbYC 21. Pocket The service formerly known as Read It Later enables you to save pages from websites, to read them later, bereft of the advertising and other junk on the original page. The service is free, as is the Pocket app , which downloads your articles, so that you can digest them without a web connection. 22. PCalc Lite “But I’ve already got a calculator on my device,” you might argue. True, but we’d recommend stashing the default Apple app in a folder and replacing it with PCalc Lite . The reason: this is without doubt the finest free calculator for iOS, with a great interface and plenty of options. You can also bolt-on features from the paid version via in-app purchases. 23. iBooks Effectively iTunes for books, the app combines a reader and store, in Apple’s typically usable and integrated fashion. Usefully, iBooks includes PDF support and bookmarks automatically sync across devices. 24. Red Laser The Red Laser bar-code scanner is pretty accurate, even if you’re still saddled with an iPhone 3G. It’s great for checking prices while shopping, and also enables you to get your media collections into Delicious Library if you make use of AppleScript. 25. eBay Mobile On using eBay Mobile , there’s a good chance you won’t go near the eBay website again. The app is fast, has great saved searches (which flag new finds), and enables you to create listings. The last of those things is also improved by the built-in bar-code scanning. Before reading on, why not check out our demos of the best photography apps for taking pictures and editing them on your iPhone: FutTv : X7lj50up2FqbD 26. Seek Jobs When it’s time to find yourself a new job, you probably don’t want to spend your days searching for work on your office ! computer.! The Seek Jobs app lets you search and apply for jobs, shortlist positions and see what jobs you’ve applied for, as well as store and manage your resumes from your iPhone or iPod Touch. 27. Google Earth “Hold the world in the palm of your hand,” says Google about Google Earth , which enables you to fly across the planet by swiping your finger. More integration with content and features from Maps would be good, but Google Earth’s Wikipedia articles and a Panoramio layer at least ensure it’s a great app for seeing the world from your living room. 28. XE Currency XE Currency is a fine example of an app that does what it needs to, without fuss. You configure a list of currencies, and it shows current conversion rates. Double-tap a currency to set its base rate or to define values for custom conversions. 29. Shazam Shazam is an app that feels like magic when you first use it. It’s deceptively simple—hold your iPhone near to a music source, and wait while the app listens and tells you what track is playing. But the sheer technology behind this simplicity is mind-boggling, and while Shazam doesn’t always guess right, it’s worth a download. 30. Bump Another contender for the ‘surely, that’s witchcraft?’ award, Bump enables you to select up to four contacts, then ‘bump’ your device into another iOS device running Bump to transfer details, or to compare contacts. And, yeah, we know there’s an email-based ‘share contact’ option in Contacts, but where’s the fun in that? Best free iPhone apps 31 – 60 31. Foxtel Go Foxtel customers drop a lot of cash every month to access the Pay TV service’s content, so it’s nice that they can now access a large chunk of that content on the road with the Foxtel Go app. Two devices can access the service at the same time, offering live streams of popular channels and catch up on demand services as well. 32. Domain House hunting has been made ever-so-slightly more ! enjoyable! with the launch of the Domain app. Not only does it offer the ability to browse properties to buy or rent like the web portal, it also offers searches of recently sold properties and can showcase locations on a map for easy browsing. 33. Find My iPhone For the paranoid souls out there (or the unlucky ones who’ve had their devices pilfered), Find My iPhone is a must-have download. Assuming you’ve a 2010 or later iOS device, you can set up a free account and locate your devices within seconds. (Note that older devices can also be added to Find My iPhone – you just need a recent one to get things going.) 34. Dragon Dictation Fed up of typing on the tiny iPhone keyboard? Use Dragon Dictation instead, which happily converts your speech into text (with slightly spooky levels of accuracy for a freebie app). You can even punctuate (“Comma! Full-stop!”), and when you’re done the app enables you to fire your thoughts at Facebook, Twitter, Mail or the iOS clipboard. 35. iHandy Torch Free It’s a torch! It’s a cheesy neon light! It’s a hypnotic spiral effect! With slightly annoying ads! (In reality, iHandy Torch Free is a mostly a handy app to have installed in case you get up for a midnight snack or toilet visit, don’t turn on the light and want to avoid smashing your toe annoyingly hard into an unruly cupboard.) 36. Pandora After years of waiting, Pandora recently launched in Australia and has become an essential app for all iOS owners. Creating personalised playlists from any song or artist and streaming it through your iPhone, the Pandora app is free thanks to occasional advertising, although you can pay $4.49 a month to enjoy your tunes ad-free 37. CommBank Kaching Truth be told, we’ve all been using mobile banking since the iPhone 3G arrived on our shores years ago. Kaching is better than most other apps though as it offers immediate mobile payments via email, SMS, Facebook or Bump . You can even grab a special case for the iPhone 4 or 4S that ! lets you ! make NFC payments at PayPass or PayWave terminals using your iPhone. 38. IM+ If you’re an instant messaging fiend, IM+ gives you access to GTalk, Yahoo, MSN/Live Messenger, AIM/iChat, ICQ, MySpace, Twitter, Facebook, and Jabber. With multitasking and push notifications in iOS 4, IM+ has been transformed from a curiosity into a must-have freebie app. 39. Atomic Web Browser Lite The lite version of Atomic is missing quite a few features that are found in its paid-for version, including even basic multitasking support and content resumption on reopening the app. However, for times where you need a single-session browser that automatically dumps everything on exit, such as when buying gifts, this is a handy app to have installed. 40. Virtuoso Piano Free 3 Virtuoso Piano Free 3 won’t turn you into a virtuoso, but it’s a perfectly serviceable mini piano. You can amend the number of keys shown on screen, and buttons enable you to rapidly navigate the full keyboard. You get two built-in voices for playback, to which you can add variable levels of sustain. You might also like: Best alternatives to the default iPhone apps 41. TuneIn Radio Don’t bother buying a DAB radio – just install TuneIn Radio instead and plug your device into a set of speakers. TuneIn Radio has a great interface for accessing over 50,000 digital stations; it also has AirPlay support, and you can use it as an alarm clock. 42. TripView Lite Sydney Sydney’s public transport needs all the help it can get, and this handy app is just the ticket. TripView Lite offers up-to-date timetable info for all of Sydney’s trains, buses and ferries. Frequent users should spend the $2.99 for the full version, which adds the ability to save trips, set alarms and real-time info for public buses. 43. Jamie’s Recipes More a gateway drug for the tasty treats of Jamie Oliver, this IAP-infused app nonetheless flings ten freebie recipes your way and a few videos. The interface in Jamie’s Recipes is lickable, and th! ere’! ;s a handy shopping-list feature, for those of you who don’t fancy arriving back home after fighting the crowds in the supermarket, only to find you accidentally picked up 500 lemons and forgot the chicken. 44. Instagram Take a photo, smash a filter into it, and upload it. Instagram ‘s service is now used by millions of people to share nuggets of visual loveliness, and the app itself is a pleasure to use, and also to browse during moments when you’re not feeling quite so inspired. 45. Google Translate Assuming you’re online, Google Translate is a great app for translating text between 64 different languages; handily, 17 of the most popular also enable you to speak into your device and listen to translations. It’s also considerably cheaper and more portable than 63 translation staff. 46. iMotion HD We say a big PFFT! at CGI. Real animators use stop-motion, until they inevitably go crazy at only being able to craft about three seconds of footage per week. iMotion HD enables you to create such painstaking animations with your device. The sting in the tail: a $1.99 IAP for export, but if you don’t care about that, you can play your creations on your device to your heart’s content. There’s also the free iMotion Remote to use as a remote controller over Wi-Fi for iMotion HD, to avoid you accidentally moving your ‘camera’. 47. TED TED is brain food. The app provides access to talks by insanely clever people, opening your mind to new and radical ideas. You can also save your favourite talks locally, for even easier access, or ask the app to inspire you, based on your mood and available time. 48. Remote The remote for Apple TV is a bit of a joke when you need to do anything more than play or pause. Remote is a free app which provides much better control and the ability to stop yourself going mad when typing things into search fields. It’ll also happily use Home Sharing to pull content from computers on your network to your device, or fire said con! tent at y! our Apple TV using AirPlay. 49. eCoffeeCard Regular caffeine addicts already know the benefits of a loyalty coffee card. The eCoffeeCard app just takes the confusion out of the equation, letting you earn rewards from multiple locations for free. Scan the QR code using the app when you buy a coffee, and the app records your purchase. It can also check in automatically with social networks like Facebook and Foursquare, and shows participating cafes on a map as well. 50. Apple Store Apple fans with a lack of self-control should steer clear of the Apple Store app , which enables you to buy shiny Apple products directly from your device, and also to locate your nearest shrine of tech loveliness (aka Apple Store). 51. BBC iPlayer Watch live TV and browse featured and recent BBC shows in the BBC iPlayer app. There’s a favourites section to get easier access to your top shows, and AirPlay support for firing footage at your Apple TV. (This uses the system AirPlay functionality – start playing a show, double-click the Home button, swipe right twice, then choose ‘Apple TV’ from the AirPlay button.) 52. PayPal While the Commonwealth Bank’s Kaching app is the best mobile banking option around, for customers of other banks, PayPal is a pretty solid performer. You can manage your account on the go, send and receive money and find local businesses using PayPal Here, so you can pay for stuff without cash. Nifty. 53. Camera Awesome Sounding a bit like a rubbish superhero, Camera Awesome is in fact a tool for powering up your device’s camera. You get some useful adjustment and composition options, and a load of varied filters are available via IAP. 54. LinkedIn The social network for professionals, the LinkedIn app lets you find and connect with other users, sync your calendar and edit your own profile. You can also see and save recommended jobs, connect with groups and follow the latest news from your industry. 55. Roamz If you’ve ever found yourself somewhere new and not known t! he best p! lace to buy a good cup of coffee, Roamz is the answer. A locally produced social network app based on your location, Roamz lets you explore your local area using your existing social networks, and discovering what other people say about local attractions. 56. SoundCloud SoundCloud is becoming one of those indispensable online services, storing a huge range of songs and audio clips. Although this app is suitable for browsing and playing, you can also use it to record and upload your own sounds. 57. Flipboard It would be a hard ask to expect the Flipboard experience on the iPhone and iPod touch to match that of the iPad version, but it nonetheless has a good go, transforming your favourite feeds and news sources into a tiny, beautiful digital magazine. 58. Wunderlist The App Store has so many to-do apps that it’s in severe danger of tipping over, due to the sheer weight of digital checkboxes, but Wunderlist is one of the very few that really stands out. The interface is very usable, and the app’s ability to seamlessly sync across devices and platforms makes it a great download. 59. Wikihood This location-aware sort-of Wikipedia client figures out where you are and fires local knowledge at you. Naturally, Wikihood can be a little scattergun in terms of information, but it’s handy for when you’re in an unfamiliar place and have a few hours to kill. There are also offline packs available via IAP for regular users. 60. AirPort Utility Apple’s increasingly freeing its iOS devices from any reliance on a Mac or PC, and this utility continues the trend. If you’ve some shiny white wireless kit at home with an Apple logo, use AirPort Utility to see what your network looks like, muck about with settings, and troubleshoot. Best free iPhone apps 61 – 70 61. 30/30 Timers and task managers are usually designed with extreme efficiency, to the point they practically yell NO FUN ALLOWED in your face. 30/30 , however, provides a streamlined, tactile interface that happens to look gr! eat, is f! un to use, and that makes it a breeze to create lists and define timers. It also enables looping for anyone addicted to the Pomodoro Technique. 62. Google Authenticator This one falls under ‘essential’ rather than ‘amazing’. If you’ve turned on two-step verification on your Google account, chances are it’ll regularly ask for a code. You can get this sent to you via SMS, but it’s much less hassle to have Google Authenticator instead provide the numbers to type in. 63. Chrome Safari’s a perfectly decent web browser on the iPhone, but Chrome has a couple of particular advantages. First, the card-like tabbing system (technically unlimited, but Chrome does tend to get a bit crashy if you open /too/ many) is really very nice indeed; secondly, you can send tabs to your iPhone from the desktop version of Chrome. 64. YouTube Apple binned its own YouTube app from the iPhone, presumably because it hates Google far more than it loves online video. Google’s own YouTube app works much as you’d expect, enabling you to search and watch an almost limitless number of cats playing pianos, people moaning about stuff to their web-cams, and more besides. 65. SBS On Demand Want to watch shows from the Special Broadcasting Service on your own terms? That’s what the SBS On Demand app is for. Thousands of videos, including movies, documentaries and food shows are available, with created playlists syncing across all devices with SBS On Demand, like the PS3 and Xbox 360. 66. Sums Although we’re fond of PCalc, mentioned elsewhere in this selection of apps, there’s something really lovely about Sums . The visual design feels sleek and modern, with a handy tape-style path of totals displayed; even better, operations are performed via gestures. This is a bit weird at first, but it soon becomes second-nature. 67. Cards You might wag your finger at us for including Cards , given that you use it to design cards that then require you to lay down actual money to ! send to p! eople. But Cards itself is free, and it’s actually quite fun to mess around with. As for the cards you send, they cost three quid, but that includes postage and they’re of a very high quality. 68. The Onion There’s often a sense with satirical news site The Onion that you can read the headlines and skip the rest, but it’s a frequently funny publication that also manages to make some important points on a regular basis. The iPhone app is free and has a ‘shake for news’ feature for the lazy and indecisive. 69. Photo Editor by Aviary Another image editor, but Photo Editor is a good ‘un. The interface is clear, and it contains all the tools you’d expect: filters, enhancements, cropping, and the ability to fire that picture of your frothy coffee/amusing dog/current skyline to Flickr, Tumblr, Facebook or Twitter. 70. Gmail “But Gmail works in Apple Mail,” you might say. And this is true, but it works really badly, only making accessible recent messages. By contrast, the Gmail app provides a fuller experience, enabling you to search, thread, star and label items to your heart’s content. For more great free iPhone apps, check out 50 best free iPhone games on the planet
