11 best free iPhone apps
The iPhone is a powerful device right out of the box, with slick apps to handle browsing, calling, typing, photography, and more. But with third-party apps, your iPhone can do so much more. Some, such as keyboard apps, extend its basic capabilities. Others integrate key cloud services such as Google Drive. Yet others, such as password managers and VPNs, keep your phone and your online life secure.
These 11 apps let you get the most out of your iPhone. All offer plenty of useful functionality for free; I’ve detailed any extra-cost versions.
The iOS keyboard has come a long way, especially with the introduction last year of QuickPath “swipe” typing. But Google’s Gboard keyboard leverages the search giant’s power to enable a whole new class of features. In addition to searching for emoji, GIFs, and stickers, you can also easily find and insert links to YouTube videos. Or you can look up any term or name you’re having a hard time remembering, such as the name of a movie you wanted to mention in your email. You can also look up addresses in Google Maps or your Google address book, or foreign words in Google Translate, all without leaving the message you’re typing.
Just the facts, without the tracks. Mozilla’s Firefox Focus privacy-first mobile browser automatically blocks advertising, social media, and website analytics trackers on the sites you visit. It also erases browsing history every time you close the app. To avoid accidentally sending you to a sketchy site, autocomplete only works for several hundred of the web’s top destinations, vetted by Mozilla for safety. Focus is an extremely lightweight app, without bookmarks or the tabs that pile up ad infinitum in Safari. It lets you quickly get the info you need without leaving a trace for others to follow.
It’s nearly impossible to formulate, let alone remember, strong passwords for the dozens of sites and online services you use. This is a job for a password manager, and LastPass is the best deal out there, offering a free version with all the features you’ll need. (You can pay for options such as family accounts.) It generates and stores an unlimited number of passwords and autofills them in website and app login screens. LastPass also stores handy information such as credit card numbers for easy entry into online forms. All the logins and other info are encrypted and synced through the cloud so you can also access them from your computer through apps or a browser.
Switching to the coffee shop Wi-Fi is a great way to save on your wireless bill, but it also leaves your web traffic vulnerable to anyone else who logs into that unsecured network and might want to sniff out your traffic. Cloudflare’s 1.1.1.1 provides a basic virtual private network, encrypting connections between your iPhone and cloud-based security service Cloudflare. (Unlike full-fledged VPNs, the app doesn’t mask your IP address, so it enhances security but doesn’t provide sweeping privacy protections.) Cloudflare’s network also optimizes internet traffic routing, so 1.1.1.1 Warp could speed up your surfing. The paid version of the app promises a bigger speed boost for $4.99/month.
Why is this app taking so long to download? Or why is this video so choppy? The free Ookla Speedtest app lets you determine if your connection is to blame. It pings a server near your location and both uploads and downloads bundles of data to gauge the average speeds your connection is achieving. Speedtest can be a handy tool to determine, for instance, if you can still get respectable bandwidth when you switch over from your data-capped cellular service to a free Wi-Fi hotspot connection.

Source: Fastcompany.com

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