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You just got your hands on a new phone. Of course, your first inclination is to head over to the App Store or the Google Play Store to download your favorite apps onto your shiny new device. While the Engadget team tries to keep our phones relatively unencumbered, there are some apps we can’t do without because they make our jobs and daily lives easier. Below are a dozen of the best that we think you should try.
1Password
1Password
If all you have to do is take one piece of advice from this article, be sure to download one Password manager. It doesn’t have to be what we recommend here. However, we like 1Password for a handful of reasons. Not only does it allow you to generate strong passwords for all of your online accounts, but it also has built-in support for two-factor authentication. That means you don’t have to download a separate app like Authy to keep your logins as secure as possible. If you have access to a Fastmail account, you can also use 1Password to generate random emails for your logins, which gives you another option to protect your privacy. It’s just a well-designed app that is fun, too.
Fire fox
Fire fox
If it has been a few years since you last used Firefox, now is a good time to revisit it. Middle of last year, Mozilla revised the Android version his browser to bring many of his best desktop functions to his phone. In this release, Mozilla added more robust support for third-party add-ons. It also introduced the Enhanced Tracking Protection feature, which prevents trackers from abusing your browsing data. Regardless, with Apple you can use your default browser since Release of iOS 14, there has never been a better time for iPhone users to break free from Safari.
Headroom
Headroom
I have subscribed Headroom at the beginning of the pandemic. Since then, it’s been one of the few apps I use on a daily basis. Yes, Headspace is a meditation and mindfulness app, but it’s so much more too. You will find that it also offers a mix of music to help you focus and workouts to help you relax at the end of a long day. Across the board, everything it offers is excellent and you will find that you turn to more than just him to put your mind at ease.
funnel
funnel
If you have any plans to fly anywhere soon, install funnel on your phone. Although it has grown in a multitude of features over the years, Hopper, at its core, is one of the best ways to save money on airline tickets. As soon as you tell the app where and when you want to fly, it will tell you whether you should book your flight now or wait. In the latter case, it will notify you when it estimates you are getting the best deal. The nice thing about Hopper is that you don’t have to constantly check websites like Google Flights and Kayak.
Libby
Libby
If you’re looking to read more in 2022, forget about buying books through Amazon and Download Libby instead of this. If you are not familiar with that App, allows you to borrow e-books, digital magazines and graphic novels from your local library. All you need is a library card, which most systems in the US offer free. Sometimes you have to wait to check out the books you want to read the most, but you will find that Libby will add dramatically to your reading list.
Open table
Open table
With restaurants reopening in cities across the US and the rest of the world, there’s a good chance you’ll be eating out soon – and so is almost everyone else. That means you will likely need reservations to dine in some of the most popular places in your city. In North America, a single platform that almost every restaurant uses is closest Open table. For this reason alone, it is a must if you eat out a lot. It’s also a handy tool for discovering new sights, as you can filter by cuisine and area.
transit
transit
There’s nothing worse than waiting for a bus on a cold winter’s day or seeing three of them go by in a row. Avoid both situations with one of the best public transportation planning apps available on Android and iOS. transit outperforms where other apps in this category fail thanks to its clean, easy-to-use interface that highlights all the options near you. It also has one of the better algorithms for predicting departure times, so you know exactly when to leave your home or apartment to catch the next bus, train or tram.
paprika
paprika
paprika is the best $ 5 you can spend making yourself easier to eat. At its core, you can download recipes from your favorite websites and make them accessible on all of your devices. You can also use it to scale the size of the meal you want to cook and convert between metric and imperial measurements. Add a meal planner, shopping lists and a tool to track the ingredients in your pantry and you have a must-have app for home cooks.
Pocket casts
Pocket casts
As podcasts get more popular every year, there’s a good chance you’re already listening to a handful of your favorite shows every week. As much as Spotify wants to convince you that it has the best podcast app, this award goes to Pocket casts. We like it because it provides a consistently great experience for any supported system. And if you’re using a mix of Apple, Google, and Microsoft platforms, you don’t have to worry about syncing either. It’s also nice to use software that doesn’t feel trapped between two worlds like Spotify. Pocket Casts tries to be nothing more than a podcast listening app. That cannot be said of Spotify, and it is often a source of frustration for those who turn to him for music.
bag
bag
Another way to read more in 2022 is by downloading it bag. It is among the most popular reading apps and allows you to save articles that you find online. Much like Pocket Casts, the compelling thing about this app is that it offers a consistently excellent device-independent experience, making it a great option for those who haven’t gone onto a single ecosystem before. Whether you use Chrome, Safari, or Edge, you can install a browser extension to save articles you stumble upon. You can then read them later on your phone or tablet without the distraction. Just don’t forget to make a dent in your pocket reading list every now and then.
Telegram / signal
telegram
We understand that sometimes it can feel like a Sisyphean chore to ask your friends and family to install a different messaging app on their phone, but the hassle has never been worth it. In telegram and signal, you’ll find two of the most secure chat apps out there. We especially like Telegram here at Engadget because it feels complete from a features standpoint. For example, it includes an editing feature that comes in handy with typographical errors and a secret chat tool when you want messages to go away. When you switch to Telegram or Signal, you also break free from the meta-ecosystem. That may not seem like a lot, but if Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp do went down earlier this year, it has given many people the opportunity to communicate with their friends and loved ones.
Tunnel bear
Tunnel bear
According to a password manager, a VPN is one of the best tools you can use to protect your privacy online. Again, there are many options, but we like Tunnel bear for its simplicity and the quirky Ursine theme. A VPN isn’t as important as a password manager, but you should get one if you travel frequently or use public WiFi in places like cafes and libraries. Using a VPN in these contexts ensures that your connection is protected by encryption so that any information you send remains safe and private.
Snapseed
Snapseed
Most of the newer phones come with great cameras. Even so, even with the latest iPhone, Samsung Galaxy, or Google Pixel, almost any photo can benefit from editing before sharing. The options for photo editing apps are almost endless, but if you want something that works well, look no further than Snapseed. It’s an old favorite that offers a comprehensive suite of editing options but never gets bogged down in too many sliders and dials. Best of all, it’s easy to save changes to your camera roll and upload them to apps like Instagram.
