Image byKārlis Dambrāns / Flickr
Just when we thought we had get through peak app , 2014 brought us a impudent round of iOS awesomeness we ca n’t live without . message apps and societal net are one-time news : The good apps of the year helped us work smarter and live better than we did in 2013 .
From a HealthKit - integrate activity - tracker to a workflow automator than turns your iOS twist into a multi - tasking auto , Macworld ’s top apps of 2014 take full advantage of iOS 8 and iPhone 6 ( and 6 Plus ! ) features . put in them all and tell us what you cerebrate .
Image byKārlis Dambrāns on Flickr
True , Disney Movies Anywhere does n’t technically need to exist , since it basically just link to your iTunes story and shows the Disney , Pixar , and Marvel claim you ’ve already purchased . Browse for new titles , and you ’re kick back out to the iTunes Store to buy them — so it ’s really just a Disney - fied portal to the iTunes Store . But the app is free , and for a limited time you getWreck - It Ralphfor free for linking your iTunes account , sothat ’s reason enough to download itright there .
you could downloadWreck - It Ralphor your other purchased movies to your twist to see offline , or stream them over Wi - Fi justly inside the app — which has Chromecast support , a overnice extra you wo n’t get from Apple ’s Videos app . Cross - platform kinsperson will appreciate connecting Vudu and Google frolic accounts too , so you may look out on any gimmick .
Price : Free
Some of us give care about squeezing enough forcible natural process into our life history , but do n’t experience like investing in a smartwatch or fitness tracker just yet . That’swhereLarkcomes in . TheHealthKit - incorporate appuses your iPhone ’s M7 ( iPhone 5s ) or M8 ( iPhone 6 or 6 Plus ) sensing element to track your motion and give you a snapshot of your daily and weekly activeness .
Lark ’s most appealing feature article is its colloquial tone . rather of just displaying your activity in chart form ( though it does that , too ) , the app asks you questions about your day and sends you reminder when you ’ve been too sedentary . When I ’m engrossed in work , I ’m not unspoilt at forcing myself to take a geological fault and take the air around . Yet when Lark tells me I ’ve only been active for 25 minutes in an entire day ( so deplorable ) , it gives me the kick I ask to get moving .
Sometimes the sound around you is n’t entirely relaxing — a metropolis night filled with sirens or highway randomness , or a workspace where you take heed nothing but Joe fromAccounting nattering on about red and contraband ink . If you want to alternatively immerse yourself in ambient nature sounds , there ’s no better way to do it than withNaturespace , which offers a wide variety of incredibly naturalistic audio racetrack of rainfall , flatus , wave , hiss , and other ecoscapes .
damage : Free with in - app purchase
This year , I ditched Apple ’s Podcasts app forOvercast , a beautifully designed podcast director with some nifty customization tools . I was originally drawn to its clean layout and the fact that it did n’t haphazardly total twin subscriptions to my feed ( shaking my clenched fist at you , Podcasts ) , but apace grew to rely on its seek / speed functions and playlist tool . Plus , it ’s great for find out new podcasts — Overcast pulls recommendations from citizenry you follow on Twitter , and gives a breakdown of pop podcasts by category .
Though none of Facebook ’s experimental apps were a immense hit in 2014 , its News Feed - sports meeting - news reader appPaperis by far the beneficial — so good , in fact , that it completely replaced Facebook on my base screen . Paper ’s responsive UI , a custom - built framework called AsyncDisplayKit , makes flick through posts and photos inyour News Feed an solely fresh experience . Paper is everything the main Facebook app is not : beautiful , visceral , and free of advertizing . And as a bonus on top of an already adorable app : Paper still offers in - app access to Facebook messages , so you do n’t need toinstall Messenger .
Shopping appSpringdeserves major airscrew for two reasons : It redefine the mobile check experience before Apple Pay was even on our radiolocation , and made shopping for wearing apparel on the iPhone in reality enjoyable . Gone are the cramped point thumbnail , boring product shots , and overflowing virtual carts — instead we get items sorted by brand in an intuitive Instagram - same layout . you could build your own fashion provender by connecting to steel and designers you like , or you could crop for specific items by style or price . The check processonly require two taps ( or two rap and a fingermark , if you have Apple Pay ) . Even if you ’re not into style , Spring ’s ahead - thinking UIis something to applaud .
Hello , Io 8 , and hello , third - party keyboards!SwiftKeyhas quickly become the most wide used third - company keyboard for iOS , and for good reason . It has creepily accurate prognosticative capabilities , and it get comfortably the more you utilize it . When you bulge typewrite , SwiftKey paint a picture the Bible or set phrase it thinks you require to say next , displaying up to three predictions in a word bank directly under the text boxwood . With coarse phrases , it will even predict the next few words before you even start typing .
you may also customize shortcuts and relate it to your Facebook or Google account so it can con your natural language even faster . Once you get used to SwiftKey ’s looking , you ’ll see to love it .
TextExpander had an iOS app before iOS 8 . That app had all my prison term - saving , living - heighten snippets that I use day in and solar day out on my Mac , but the iOS iteration was a small clunkier , requiring you to habituate compatible apps , or type your messages into its notepad to then copy and glue to other apps .
Now that iOS 8 has features like extensions and usage keyboards , you could just installTextExpander 3as a custom keyboard and apply it in any app . It ’s totally splendid and perfectly worth its $ 5 fee for anyone who apply it on the Mac .
Price:$4.99
You ca n’t bewilder a brick without hitting yet another app that put on filters to your images , butWaterlogueis something special . It take you images and turn them into watercolour paintings — convincingwatercolor painting — in one of a multifariousness of styles . While other image filtering apps can make your pictures appear dated or faded , Waterlogue gain them depend beautiful .
Price:$2.99
If you appreciate mechanisation on your Mac , you ’ll loveWorkflow , which is an iOS app that allows you to string up together actions on your iPad , iPhone , or iPod touch to fulfill more complicated tasks . For model , with a water tap you’re able to upload the last photograph you bourgeon to Dropbox or get directions to the nearest coffee shop .
Price:$2.99 introductory cost
