Got yourself an iPhone 12 or an iPhone 12 Pro? Congratulations! It’s now time to load it up with some apps. But here’s the catch; the App Store is loaded with thousands of apps, and that can make things overwhelming. Hence, we’ve managed to come up with a list of useful apps that should help you get going for the time being. Let’s get started.
Top Apps for iPhone 12 mini, iPhone 12, iPhone 12 Pro, and iPhone 12 Pro Max
1. Widgetsmith
iOS 14, which comes pre-installed on your iPhone 12 or iPhone 12 Pro, features re-sizable and detail-rich widgets that you can insert right onto the Home screen. You can find a list of the best apps with widget support here. However, you can also create your own customizable widgets with Widgetsmith.
After installing Widgetsmith, select a widget size (small, medium, or large) and pick a widget category (time, date, reminders, health & activity, etc.). You can then specify font types, tint colors, background colors, border colors, and so on, to customize the widget with.
You can create as many Widgetsmith widgets as you want. The app even lets you craft custom widgets by adding your own images and text. While being free to use, Widgetsmith does require an annual or monthly subscription ($19.99/$1.99) to unlock the weather-related widgets.
Download: Widgetsmith
2. Color Widgets
Color Widgets is another fantastic widget customization app. Unlike Widgetsmith, though, the app comes with an array of terrific-looking pre-made widgets that are super-easy to customize.
Select a size, change the font style and color, pick a background color, and away you go. To make things better, you can also set your own background pictures should you want.
While Color Widgets provides several free widgets for use, you must make a one-time payment of $3.99 to unlock the better-looking widget styles and designs.
Download: Color Widgets
3. 1Password
Your iPhone 12 or iPhone 12 Pro comes with iCloud Keychain for password storage and management. However, it only works within the Apple ecosystem. If you use a PC instead of a Mac, for example, consider going the 1Password instead.
1Password lets you create strong, unique passwords and syncs them across all popular mobile and desktop platforms. It also lets you store other sensitive information such as credit card numbers and addresses.
On the iPhone in particular, it comes with Face ID supports, letting you seamlessly auto-fill sensitive information into sign-in fields and forms. 1Password requires a monthly or annual subscription of $3.99 or $35.99, but you can try it out 30 days for free.
Download: 1Password
4. Soor
Soor is a phenomenal-looking third-party Apple Music app for the iPhone. It comes with an intuitive, gesture driven user interface, supports light, dark, and black themes, sports Musixmatch integration, and features full-fledged widget support. If you find the default Music app on the iPhone 12 to be lacking, then Soor is something that you must definitely consider switching to. However, it will set you back by $4.99.
To sweeten the deal, Soor also provides a dizzying array of widgets that are superior in functionality to the native Apple Music widgets in almost every way.
Download: Soor ($4.99)
5. Chrome/Firefox
In iOS 14, Safari is vastly improved with superior performance, better anti-tracking, and integrated language translation capabilities. However, it’s limited to the Apple ecosystem, which makes it a hard bargain if you use a Windows or Android-based device alongside your iPhone 12.
Chrome and Firefox are great alternatives to Safari. Both browsers are available across all popular platforms, syncs browsing data effortlessly, and are rock-solid performance-wise. Firefox, however, does take the edge over Chrome when it comes to privacy, so do keep that in mind.
To make things better, iOS 14 also comes with the ability to change the default web browser. So, you can completely avoid using Safari if you want to.
Download: Chrome
Download: Firefox
6. AdGuard
If you plan to stick with Safari, do consider getting AdGuard. It’s a content blocker that thwarts additional site trackers and helps safeguard your privacy. AdGuard also does away with advertisements for a clutter free browsing experience. Just remember to whitelist the sites that you support.
Download: AdGuard
7. Clock Face
If you love analog clock faces, then you must definitely install Clock Face. It comes with loads of customizable analog clock widgets that you can readily add to your iPhone 12’s Home screen.
Whether it’s a plain clock face or a Rolex-inspired designed, there’s a widget for everyone. You do have to pay $1.99 to unlock most of the clock faces, but that’s just peanuts for what you get in return.
Download: Clock Face
8. Gmail/Outlook
The native Mail app on your iPhone 12 is sufficient for most email-related tasks. But if you want something better, you should switch to Gmail or Outlook. Both apps offer superior email composing and management features, and also support all popular email service providers. iOS 14 even lets you change the default email client, so you can completely ditch the Mail app for good.
Download: Gmail
Download: Outlook
9. Google Photos
The iPhone 12 and the iPhone 12 Pro come with outstanding camera systems that are capable of producing mind-blowing photos and videos. However, that will also eat up your iCloud storage in no time. If you don’t want to keep paying for additional storage tiers all the time, you should switch to Google Photos.
Google Photos lets you upload an unlimited number of photos and videos (albeit at slightly compressed quality), making it a must-have app on the iPhone. Unlike iCloud Photos, you can also sync your images to all major platforms, including Android.
Download: Google Photos
10. Documents by Readdle
Documents by Readdle is a vastly superior file manager compared to the native Files app on the iPhone 12 and iPhone 12 Pro. It can integrate with all popular cloud storage services (Google Drive, Dropbox, Outlook, etc.), lets you organize files easily, lets you preview file types, and more. Sure — you can do most of that on the Files app as well, but Documents by Readdle makes everything far more intuitive.
Download: Documents by Readdle
11. Weather Line
The native iOS 14 Weather widgets are dull and uninspiring. However, the widgets from Weather Line not only look downright catchy, but also relay loads of weather-related information. The large Weather Line widget, for example, reveals everything from precipitation, humidity, to cloud cover, helping you keep tabs on the current weather with just a glance at the Home screen.
Get a Weather Line subscription for $3.49/month, and you get to view additional weather-related information such as an Air-Quality Index. That should also unlock widget customization options.
Download: Weather Line
12. Pinterest
iOS 14 finally brought the ability to customize the Home screen. If you want to a source for inspirational ideas, then you must definitely install Pinterest.
Download: Pinterest
13. Walli
The wallpapers that come with your iPhone 12 can get boring fast. But that’s where Walli comes into the picture. Grab it from the App Store, and you can download tons of cool wallpapers at the snap of your fingers. The Featured and Popular tabs in Walli should also help keep things interesting.
Download: Walli
14. Shazam
Want to identify a song? Just use Shazam. Let it “listen” to a track for a few seconds, and you should get the name of the song and artist immediately. You can also sync your discoveries to Apple Music.
Download: Shazam
15. Overcast
Overcast is a great free alternative to the native Podcasts app on your iPhone 12. It comes with superior playback capabilities such as Smart Speed and Voice Boost, provides better personalized recommendations, and lets you create playlists with custom smart filters.
Download: Overcast
16. Apollo for Reddit
Using Reddit? Then you must install Apollo. It’s vastly superior to the regular Reddit app, and comes with fast navigation controls, customizable gestures, and more. Apollo for Reddit also features up to 15 phenomenal-looking widgets that let you do a ton of stuff from keeping tabs on your Reddit feed to tacking on subreddits such as Showerthoughts and Jokes right on the Home screen.
Download: Apollo for Reddit
17. Halide
If you got yourself an iPhone 12 Pro, you will get the ability to shoot photos and videos in Apple ProRAW in a subsequent iOS 14 update. But until then, Halide should handle the job just fine.
Download: Halide ($4.99)
18. YouTube
YouTube comes preinstalled on your new iPhone, but iOS 14 gives you even more reason to start using it. Apple now supports Google’s VP9 codec, so you can finally stream 4K video in YouTube. That, combined with the Super Retina XDR display on your iPhone 12 and iPhone 12 Pro, should make for a feast for the eyes.
Download: YouTube
19. Reeder 4
Reeder 4 provides an elegant and streamlined RSS reading experience on the iPhone. If you subscribe to an RSS service, make sure to grab it. And yes — it does support dark mode.
Download: Reeder 4 ($5)
20. Google Maps
Apple Maps is better than ever in iOS 14. But if you live outside the USA, then Google Maps is a must install. You can use it to find your way anywhere.
Download: Google Maps
What Are Your Favorites?
That’s it! There are loads of other useful apps on the App Store, so don’t forget to experiment. If you have your own personal favorites for the iPhone 12 and iPhone 12 Pro, drop in a comment and let us know.
