7 Must-Have iPhone Apps Everyone Should Install in 2026

Quick Answer

Seven genuinely useful iPhone apps worth installing: WakeOut (quick home workouts), Flow (drawing & notes), Passport ID Photo Maker (compliant ID photos), Realm (fiction podcasts), Deliveries (package tracking), PhotoLeap (pro photo editing) and Skiplagged (cheap flights & hidden-city fares). Most are free with optional paid tiers. Each is covered below with what it does best.

Applications make your phone a versatile tool. Be it a fitness tracker or a video editor – open the App Store and turn your iPhone into anything! However, finding the best apps for your purpose is not always easy. The platform currently offers around 2.22 million applications and you cannot spend hours searching for a relevant app, can you? That’s why I’ve pulled together this short list. I’ve rounded up 7 must-have iPhone apps that cover the needs I reach for most — fitness, notes, photos, tracking and travel — so you can skip the endless scrolling. Let’s dive in.

WakeOut

If you’re a fitness enthusiast stuck at home, then this amazing health app will work wonders for you! WakeOut revolutionizes the idea of healthcare and fitness by incorporating exercises into daily-life activities. You do not need to dedicate specific time or purchase equipment to exercise. Just open this app on your iPhone and start exercising with whatever items you have. The app features 1800 unique exercises to do in 35 different scenarios. You can be in your kitchen and perform a few curls with the milk cartons. Or, you could be working in the home office and do lifts with the chair to improve blood flow. WakeOut also comes with the Activity Plan and Active Timer to remind you about exercises throughout the day. So, you can always keep yourself on track and live a healthier life!

Flow

Flow is the perfect app to boost your productivity and creativity. The app is a complete digital notebook for drawing, writing, and sketching. So, you can take notes and craft your ideas on-the-go. The app features an array of tools, such as pens/markers. And each tool is available in a diversity of colors and sizes. You will even find the canvas (virtual paper) in different forms. These include traditional ivory paper, black paper, grids, and much more. Thus, you can jot down or draw your ideas realistically. Flow also offers an option of real-time collaboration. So, you can make your iPhone the pencil case with all the tools and your iPad’s expansive screen the canvas. All in all, if you’re a creative mind, then this app will enable you to take your productivity to the next level. In case you’re wondering, you don’t have to spend much either. The app comes with affordable monthly subscriptions of up to $1.99. Plus, you get a free 7-day trial to explore all functionalities before making a purchase.

Passport ID Photo Maker

There’s no need to visit a photographer whenever you need an image for legal documents. With Passport ID Photo Maker, you’ll get 100% approved photos right on your iPhone! It is a free and easy-to-use photo editing app. Using it, you can create a professional passport photo in minutes. You can also prepare photos for ID cards, visas, driving licenses, and other official documents. The app has a simple interface with a four-step photo-making procedure. Select a document type, take your photo, edit, and save it. You can also edit the technical aspects of the image, like saturation. Find more detailed instructions on how to take passport photos with your iPhone here. What’s more, the Passport ID Photo Maker offers document templates for more than 130+ countries. Once done, you can also print the photo directly from the app. Or share the photo through email or social media.

Realm

Previously known as Serial Box, Realm is a fiction-audio brand created with best-selling authors, offering suspense-filled stories narrated by names like Tatiana Maslany and George Takei. Note: the standalone Realm app has wound down — its shows are now distributed as regular podcasts, so the easiest way to listen today is to search “Realm” in Apple Podcasts or Spotify rather than downloading a dedicated app. Their immersive sound effects, combined with interesting plots, make listening to podcasts a wonderful experience. Plus, you can also switch to reading via dedicated scroll/swipe options. Moreover, the app lets you customize the text as per your preferences. You can adjust the line height, custom margins, letter, and word spacing for a personalized reading/listening experience. There’s also an option to choose between five optimized interfaces. Realm allows you to download the stories too. So, one can keep himself updated with the newest chapters anywhere and anytime.

Deliveries

Did you know 62% of online buyers shop monthly, 26% shop weekly, and 3% shop every single day? That’s a lot of orders on the way! Indeed, the online marketplace is the most convenient and efficient way to make purchases. From clothes to TVs, we get almost everything online. However, with so much shopping, it is difficult to track the orders. You need to know when a particular parcel will arrive so that you can schedule your day ahead. Otherwise, the package you have been waiting for so desperately will get returned to the seller! Well, Deliveries on the Apple app store is here to solve that problem. It is a package-tracking app that maintains a record of your purchases. You can view the arrival time and current location of all your shipments. The app also provides complete seller information. So, you can contact them. Moreover,  Deliveries adds a Notification Center widget to inform you about urgent deliveries without opening the app.

PhotoLeap

PhotoLeap is a professional-level photo editing app available on the Apple app store. It equips you with all the necessary tools to create stunning, artistic masterpieces! The app enables you to mix, blend, and combine photo layers. You can even change backgrounds to make creative photo combinations. When in a hurry, you can apply any of those premium filters provided by PhotoLeap. It also features writing and drawing tools for creating graphics on the images. You can use these tools to make social media posts, business posters, and memes from scratch. Also, PhotoLeap offers RAW support and 16-bit image depth support for pro-level tonal adjustments. There are options to change the canvas size as per your preferences too. Although most of these features will be free, you can unlock all of them with a subscription of $6.99. Yes, we know it sounds expensive. But, this app is a cheap investment for individuals associated with the visual fields. If you’re a photographer or video editor, this app is all you need to make your iPhone the on-the-go workspace!

Skiplagged

Skiplagged is the perfect travel partner you need to make your trips convenient and cost-effective. The iOS app enables you to find the cheapest flight and hotel prices anywhere you go. Its advanced and refined search engine finds the best travel deals so that you can save hundreds of dollars easily! The app has a simple interface with easy-to-navigate features. You can filter flights by takeoff/landing time, duration, and the number of layovers. Its search engine also unravels hidden-city flights and arbitrary round-trips that aren’t visible easily elsewhere. The app also sends alerts when the fare drops to help you save as much as possible. Moreover, Skiplagged lets you book hotels using last-minute, special deals. It also provides reviews and authentic traveler ratings to help you make better decisions.

Frequently Asked Questions

What apps should everyone have on their iPhone?
Beyond Apple’s built-ins, a good mix covers health (WakeOut), productivity (Flow), photo editing (PhotoLeap), package tracking (Deliveries) and travel savings (Skiplagged) — the seven above cover most everyday needs.

Are these iPhone apps free?
Most are free to download with optional paid upgrades. Passport ID Photo Maker and Deliveries have free core features; Flow, PhotoLeap and others offer inexpensive subscriptions (roughly $1.99–$6.99) to unlock everything.

Is Skiplagged legal and safe to use?
Skiplagged is legal to use for finding fares, including hidden-city routes, though some airlines discourage the practice. Book carry-on only (a hidden-city trip skips the final leg, so checked bags would go to the wrong city) and don’t do it on a round-trip.

Do I still need the Realm app?
No — the standalone Realm app has wound down. Its fiction shows are now available as regular podcasts, so just search “Realm” in Apple Podcasts or Spotify.