Ever scroll through the App Store and feel like you’re repeatedly seeing the same big-name apps? The App Store is full of useful and cool apps that don’t always get the spotlight. These are the apps that quietly do amazing things, have a small but loyal fanbase, or just haven’t had their big moment yet. We’ve done the digging for you and found some of the best underrated apps on the iOS App Store that we think you’ll love and use.
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1. Open Food Facts – Product Scan
Ever been standing in the store, staring at all those food labels and wondering what’s actually good for you? This app is like a helpful food guide right on your phone. Just point your camera at the barcode of a food item, and done! Open Food Facts tells you all sorts of easy-to-understand stuff about packaged foods from a huge collection of over 3.5 million foods. It will show you which snack bars have better nutrition or are kinder to the environment.
What’s cool is that it keeps your info private – you don’t need to sign up or share anything. If you have milk or nut allergies, you can set up alerts to quickly see if a product might be a problem. It’s a really handy way to make smarter choices when you’re buying food.
2. Toolbox by Paperclip
Toolbox by Paperclip is like a personal digital scraper. If you are scrolling through media like pictures or videos in this app’s explore inspirations tab, or if you share the link of the same from other app or browser to Toolbox, all the media inside that will be scraped by the app, and you can just select whatever you want to save on your device from that.
But that’s not all! This app is also like a super handy file converter and editor, all in one place. If the picture is in the wrong format, you need to make a video file smaller to share, or you want to trim a voice recording.
It can handle tons of different file types – photos, videos, audio, even PDFs, and those zipped files. And the best part? It does all this right on your phone locally, so your private stuff stays private.
3. Unfold: Story & Reels Maker
When you see those cool-looking stories and reels on Instagram or TikTok, you wonder how people make them. Unfold is the one for making your social media posts look super polished and creative, even if you’re not a design expert. It gives you tons of easy-to-use templates for all sorts of things – Instagram Stories, posts, Reels, even stuff for TikTok and Snapchat. It is especially handful for the creators, editors, and influencers who like to make their content visually appealing for their audience.
But it’s not just about looks. Unfold also has cool filters and effects to make your photos and videos pop, plus fun fonts to add your style. If you’re trying to grow your online presence, it even has tools to help you plan your posts ahead of time and create a simple website for your bio link where you can share more about yourself or even sell things.
Note: To get access to all the templates and remove the watermark, you need to upgrade to the pro version.
4. (Not Boring) Weather
This is the best iPhone weather app if you are tired of the same old boring weather apps that just show you numbers and icons. The “(Not Boring) Weather” app lives up to its name! It turns checking the forecast into something cool. Imagine opening your weather app and feeling like you’re almost in the weather – you can see the rain, hear the thunder, and watch the wind vividly move across your screen, kind of like a 3D video game.
But it’s not just about looking good. This app also gives you all the important weather info you need, like how the temperature is changing, the air quality, pollen levels, and even when it might rain down to the minute. You can also put cool widgets right on your home and lock screen to see the weather at a glance. Plus, it keeps you alert about any big storms or heat waves coming your way. It even shows you the phases of the moon!
It is free to use for as long as you need. But you can upgrade for real-time widgets, faster forecasts, more in-depth weather data like AQI and pollen, free skins, app icons, and wallpapers.
5. Flighty – Live Flight Tracker
Ever feel stressed about flight delays when you’re traveling? Flighty is like having a smart travel buddy who always knows what’s going on with your flight – and often knows even before you see it on the airport terminal display. Flighty sends alerts quickly when your flight is delayed, sometimes way faster than the airline’s SMS. So you can be the first to know if things change.
But it’s more than just delay alerts. Flighty can also tell you why your flight is delayed, which is super helpful. It can even show you where your plane was up to 25 hours before your flight. If you’re meeting someone at the airport, you can easily share your flight status with them so they know exactly when to expect you. The best part – Flighty shows all the details in the Dynamic Island on your iPhone, providing you with continuous flight updates.
It’s packed with all sorts of cool info that even pilots use, like live flight plans and weather updates. Plus, it can automatically keep track of your flights by connecting to your calendar or forwarding your emails. If you travel even a little bit, Flighty can take a lot of the worry out of flying.
6. Paste – Endless Clipboard (Paid App)
Paste is like a super smart clipboard app for everything you copy – text, links, pictures, files, you name it. It saves it all, so you never have to worry about losing something important again. With Paste, you get this never-ending history of everything you’ve copied. If you remember copying something but can’t find it, you can just search for it in the app. The only catch is – it is paid.
You can even open the clipboard directly from your keyboard and paste instantly. You can see big previews of what you copied before you paste it somewhere else. And if you use more than one Apple device (like an iPhone and an iPad), Paste uses iCloud to automatically keep everything you copy in sync across all of them. It’s like having one big, organized clipboard that follows you everywhere.
7. RunPee
Going to the movies often comes with the dilemma of when to sneak out for a bathroom break without missing crucial parts of the film. RunPee cleverly solves this by providing the best times to take a restroom break during a movie, all while letting you know exactly what you missed with a quick synopsis.
The app features a built-in timer that vibrates your phone moments before a suggested “peetime,” ensuring you don’t disturb other people. Beyond bathroom breaks, RunPee also keeps you informed about any extra scenes after the credits, letting you know if they’re worth staying in your seat for. For those who arrive late, the app even provides a summary of what they missed in the first few minutes. It’s a useful app for many people.
8. Money Manager Expense & Budget
Keeping track of your money doesn’t have to be complicated, and Money Manager Expense & Budget is designed to make it easy. This app is like a helpful notebook for your finances, letting you quickly record down what you spend and what you earn, whenever and wherever you are. Once you enter your info, the app can show you simple charts and stats that give you a clear picture of your spending habits.
You can set up different categories for your expenses, like groceries or rent, and even create smaller sub-categories if you want to get more specific. The app lets you manage all your different accounts in one place and even works with different currencies if you need it. You can also see your financial info in different timeframes, like weekly, monthly, or yearly, and use a calendar view to see past transactions.
9. LocalSend
Ever wanted to quickly share a file with someone who has an Android, iPhone, Mac, or Windows, but without having to email it or use some cloud app? LocalSend is a really handy app that lets you do just that. It’s like a super simple way to send pictures, videos, and other files directly between devices from different ecosystems that are close to each other, using your Wi-Fi.
What’s really cool is that it doesn’t need the internet to work, and doesn’t save your files on some company’s server. It just sends them straight from one device to another. It’s fast, easy to use, and there’s no limit to how many files you can send. The download speed is also really fast, regardless of the device you are using.
10. Airalo: eSIM Travel & Internet
If you are worried about expensive phone bills when traveling to another country, Airalo is a good option. Instead of buying a new physical SIM card when you arrive, you can use Airalo to easily download a digital SIM, called an eSIM, for over 200 countries.
You get online in minutes after you land with Airalo. Pick a plan you need for your destination, install it on your phone through the app, and you’re good to go. This way, you can avoid those crazy roaming charges your regular phone company might hit you with. Airalo offers different kinds of plans, so you can choose one that fits your trip and your budget.
11. Dazz Cam – Vintage Camera
Looking to give your photos and videos a cool, retro vibe without the need for complicated editing? Dazz Cam is a photo editing app that brings the look of classic 80s film cameras right to your iPhone. It’s designed with simplicity in mind, allowing you to capture authentic vintage-style images and videos with just a single tap, letting you focus on the moment rather than post-production.
Dazz Cam offers a variety of retro film formats to choose from, inspired by real film stocks like 135 film, 120 film, and even toy cameras, recreating the unique colors and textures of vintage photography. Beyond stills, you can also record videos with a retro feel, mimicking formats like 8mm and 16mm film, as well as VHS tapes.
The app also includes fun extra features such as double exposure effects, a timer for self-portraits, and a flash option. You can even import existing photos from your library to apply these vintage styles.
Note: You need to buy a pro version to unlock all the camera and accessories that costs $6.99.
12. PDFelement: PDF Editor, Viewer
Dealing with PDF files is always tricky, but PDFelement is like a smart assistant that helps you do all sorts of things with them right on your iPhone. It lets you read, edit, and even change PDF documents almost as easily as working with a Word file. You can fix typos, add or remove words, and even move pictures around.
What makes this app really cool is its built-in AI tools. You can actually chat with a PDF to ask questions and get quick answers, translate documents into tons of different languages, and even have it summarize long PDFs for you. It can also check if the text was written by a human or by AI.
Beyond editing, it’s also a great PDF reader with different viewing modes to make reading comfortable, and it can even read the PDF aloud to you. You can also highlight text and add notes, just like marking up a paper document. Plus, it has a built-in scanner to turn paper documents into digital PDFs, and it can even convert PDFs into other file types like Word or images, and vice versa.
Note: A Few features are available only for limited use, like Chat with AI, and you need to upgrade to Pro to fully access them. But many features like editing PDF and adding text, are free.
So, there you have it, folks! These hidden gems might just become your new favorite go-to apps for making your iPhone even more useful and fun.
