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iOS and iPadOS Apps Worth Checking Out - February 2021

Over on our YouTube channel, we have an ongoing video series that's meant to highlight new, interesting, and useful apps for the iPhone and the iPad that we think are worth downloading and checking out.


There are so many apps in the App Store that it can be difficult to find new high-quality apps to download, plus it's easy to overlook awesome apps that are a bit older. Our February picks include apps for customizing your Apple Watch and iPhone, finding and managing Apple Music, keeping track of TV shows, taking notes, and more.

  • Soor ($4.99) - Soor is a music player that integrates with ‌Apple Music‌ and aims to make it easier to find new music. There are multiple themes, along with full ‌Apple Music‌ controls for searching for content, liking songs, sharing content, and adding songs to playlists. It comes with a set of widgets that can be added to either the Home screen or the Today center, and it has an attractive Now Playing interface.
  • TV Forecast (Free) - TV Forecast lets you keep track of the TV shows that you're watching, providing an easy way to mark which episode you're on. There are notifications when a new episode is about to air, and you can share progress with friends and family. There's information on actors in TV shows, and you can get recommendations for new shows to watch. TV Forecast is free for five shows, but costs $0.99 per month for more.
  • Moloko (Free) - Moloko is a theme app that makes it easier to customize your iOS Home screen by swapping out the icons. It offers up a range of themes that have customized icons for both built-in and third-party apps, and they're simple to install so you don't need to use the Shortcuts app and replace icons manually. Note that you will need to install a profile to use the quick icon swapping.
  • Aviary ($3.99) - Available on all Apple devices, Aviary is a third-party Twitter client that can be used in lieu of the default Twitter apps. It has a simple, clean interface that can be customized the way you like it, plus it supports modern features like polls, hashflags, trends, and more.
  • Craft (Free) - Craft is a document creation and management tool that you can use for taking notes and organizing your thoughts. It supports Markdown, backlinks, code snippets, images, and videos, and anything you create can be shared via a weblink. Craft is free, but there is a $4.99 per month "Pro" subscription option. The Pro version supports larger file options, offers more storage, and has a version history feature.
  • BuddyWatch (Free) - BuddyWatch is an app that makes it easier to create new watch faces for your Apple Watch. You can share watch faces, see watch faces designed by other people, and get watch face suggestions based on your preferences.
  • Kitty Letter (Free) - Designed by The Oatmeal's Matthew Inman, who also created popular game Exploding Kittens, Kitty Letter is a word game where you create words from a jumble of letters to form an exploding cat army to attack your neighbor and defend your home. You can play the single player campaign or go head to head against your friends.

Have a favorite iOS app? Let us know in the comments. We're always looking for new iOS app ideas, and we always check out suggestions from MacRumors readers. You can see our recommendations from previous months, and don't miss our Mac app series featuring great Mac apps worth taking a look at.

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Top Rated Comments

yellow8 Avatar
75 months ago
I'd recommend QuickScan - a camera Scanner with professional-quality OCR (image to text) and text integration into the generated PDF (wow!)

* no ads
* no data collection (everything happens on device)
* 100% free with optional tip to support the project

Note: I'm the author of the app. AMA.
➡️ QuickScan v3.6 on the App Store ('https://apps.apple.com/app/id1513790291') :apple:
Score: 6 Votes (Like | Disagree)
75 months ago

I'd recommend QuickScan - a camera Scanner with professional-quality OCR (image to text) and text integration into the generated PDF (wow!)

* no ads
* no data collection (everything happens on device)
* possible tip to support the project

Note: I'm the author of the app. AMA.
➡️ QuickScan v3.6 on the App Store ('https://apps.apple.com/app/id1513790291') :apple:
And last, but not least, NO SUBSCRIPTION! I’ve just downloaded QuickScan for a try - thanks.
Score: 2 Votes (Like | Disagree)
75 months ago
The Files app. I love having all my different cloud storage accounts in one convenient app.
Score: 2 Votes (Like | Disagree)
AppliedMicro Avatar
75 months ago

May I ask why you make this app when there is a lot of apps that already do this? How do you get OCR, isn't this done with complex AI I doubt you programmed your own. Why not just use Readdle Scanner Pro
As far as I know, Apple provides language-aware text-recognition frameworks (Vision/VisionKit) for developers to work with/incorporate into their apps.

I'm not affiliated with QuickScan or its author(s) and don't know how OCR is performed in the app.

According to Scanner Pro's privacy label in the App Store, Readdle may collect and process User ID, Device ID usage and other analytics data.
Score: 1 Votes (Like | Disagree)
75 months ago
LANDSCAPE!!

My most missed feature of all the early Apple Apps is a Landscape layout for Apps like Music.

Soor doesn't seem to address this ... but neither to do the vast majority of Music apps.

So Magsafe my iPhone in Landscape for Maps in my car ... and deal with sideways Music continues.

But if anyone knows an app that solves this, I'd buy it.

I'd dump Apple One package in a heartbeat for any alternative ... whether 1 time or new subscription.
Score: 1 Votes (Like | Disagree)
joshwenke Avatar
75 months ago

I'd recommend QuickScan - a camera Scanner with professional-quality OCR (image to text) and text integration into the generated PDF (wow!)

* no ads
* no data collection (everything happens on device)
* possible tip to support the project

Note: I'm the author of the app. AMA.
➡️ QuickScan v3.6 on the App Store ('https://apps.apple.com/app/id1513790291') :apple:
I would highly recommend this app!
Score: 1 Votes (Like | Disagree)
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