We continue to get a tremendous amount of positive feedback on our ongoing series on well designed iPhone apps that everyone should check out, and the reason for that is fairly obvious: it’s hard to find great apps. The right app can completely change your iPhone experience dramatically though, and we have made it our mission to help as many people as possible find great apps that make using their iPhones a little bit more enjoyable.
For more gorgeous iPhone apps you need to try, check out our earlier posts in this series.
So far we have covered some truly great apps in this ongoing series, but there’s plenty more to cover thanks to the thousands of skilled mobile developers out there who continue to build creative new apps.
We’ll cover five fantastic iPhone apps in this installment and we have plenty more to share with you in the weeks and months to come. If you know of a great app that we haven’t yet covered though, feel free to leave a note in the comments section or ping me on Twitter.
Harmony 2
In the very first post in this series on great iPhone apps, I featured the only game I play regularly on my iPhone.
Now, there are two games I play regularly on my iPhone.
Just last week, BorderLeap released the sequel to this fun puzzler — Harmony 2 — and it’s just as addictive as the original. The company made some great changes in the second edition of Harmony though, and I have really been enjoying most of them.
First things first: Harmony 2 is a puzzle game that tasks the user with rearranging tiles according to their colors. Tiles are mixed up at first, and each one contains a series of dots representing how many times it can be moved. The goal is to use up every move and finish with the tiles arranged appropriately by color.
The new version of Harmony brings some interesting changes. First, levels are now split up into different groups. In the original game, there are 1,000 levels and if you get stuck on one, you’re in big trouble.
If you get stuck in Harmony 2, you can move on to a new group of levels and circle back at a later time.
Because this game makes such great use of color, Harmony 2 also includes a new feature that allows players to save each level as a wallpaper after it’s completed. This is also a nice touch — and if you mix in our advice on making your own stunning iPhone wallpapers, your phone is in store for a great makeover.
There’s also great new music in Harmony 2, and it can definitely help keep you calm when you’re stuck on a level.
Harmony 2 is a $1.99 download in the App Store (discounted for a limited time from $3.99), but BGR readers are in for a treat. To celebrate the launch of Harmony 2, BorderLeap gave me five promo codes to give away to BGR readers.
Want to download this great game for free? Drop me a note on Twitter and I’ll send five lucky readers a promo code via DM (set your account to accept all DMs or follow me in order to ensure that you can receive the code).
UPDATE: The Harmony 2 codes are now gone. Congrats to @JSKGreenblatt, @Music_Pain_Love, @ChaseML, @jason_strongarm and @TinaL38
Acompli
There are plenty of email clients in the iOS App Store, but only a handful are really worth checking out. Acompli is definitely among the select few that are worth a look.
This app is as close to Outlook as you’ll get on the iPhone. I don’t mean that the app looks or behaves anything like Outlook, but rather that it’s a one-stop shop for both email and calendar that gets the job done and gets it done well.
Here are some highlights from the app’s description:
Work Your Way:
Work the way you want, whether that’s inbox zero or inbox 5,000. Acompli is designed to help you manage even the largest inboxes with ease. Fast search, quick filters and easy file attachments allow you to handle more emails from your phone.Conquer Your Calendar:
Switching between your email and calendar apps is now a thing of the past. Easily view your calendar, share available meeting times, schedule meetings, get reminders, and more, all tightly integrated with email.Solve Attachment Disorder:
Find, view and attach any file easily and quickly. Send large files from your mobile inbox even if you haven’t downloaded them to your phone. Browse all email attachments in one list, locate key files by sender or search to find any file you need, anytime.Find Anything Fast:
By typing just a few letters, find emails, people or files. Acompli predictive search is fast, comprehensive and intelligent. As you begin typing a keyword, Acompli search suggests topics or people related to your search, even highlighting them for easy scanning. Less typing means finding everything faster.Your Important People:
People are at the center of all your communication, which is why Acompli builds your contact list based on your email patterns. Ranked by the people with whom you communicate most, see all related emails, meetings, files and contact info at a glance. Manage relationships like never before with Acompli.
Acompli supports Microsoft Exchange, Office 365, Google Apps, Gmail, Outlook.com, Hotmail, and Live email services, and it is completely free in Apple’s App Store.
CalPal
Not everyone wants their calendar mixed with their email on the iPhone, and there’s certainly nothing wrong with that. For those looking for a unique standalone calendar option, CalPal is a sleek and unique option.
This nifty calendar app is designed to make coordinating with friends, family and colleagues as simple and seamless as possible. It sync with any calendars you might already have on your iPhone and it offers a beautiful new interface.
The most interesting aspect of this cool calendar app is revealed when collaboration comes into play.
CalPal is more than just creating a meeting and sending a static invitation to attendees. Events in this app are collaborative and can be edited and updated by each attendee. There is also an integrated messaging feature that lets attendees chat right in the app.
CalPal is a free download from the App Store.
Creative Writer
If you’re looking for a unique app to help get your creative juices flowing, look no further.
Creative Writer by Resonaca is an app designed to unburden your brain while you’re writing. The app supports a wide range of content styles and once a style is selected, it continuously suggests the next word to be entered in your text as you type.
There are two modes in this app, and a single tap on a button switches between them.
The first mode completely replaces your iPhone’s keyboard with a word cloud, so instead of typing you just scroll through the available words and select each one to place it in your text. The second mode brings the phone’s keyboard back so you can type yourself, and it moves the recommended next words to a single line above the keys.
From the app’s description:
Creative Writer helps you write fascinating texts very quickly. Write awesome mails, messages or notes in minutes! No typing — just follow your genuine writing intuition by tapping on the stream of words.
First, select the genre you want to write in: fiction, poetry, classics, emotional, you&me, direct speech, love, quotations, or cooking.
Then, simply begin composing whatever you’d like to say using the creative keyboard. The suggested words are pulled from greatest literature in the genre of your choice and intelligently generated on the basis of the last words you’ve written.
Creative Writer is a free download for a limited time, but it usually costs $3.99. A stripped down Lite version is also free right now, on sale from its normal price of $0.99.
Frontback
Selfies are so 2013. In 2014, a selfie is only half the story.
A new wave of apps has begun to flood the App Store. With these apps, users are able to capture a selfie as well as the scene in front of them, and both photos are combined into one image.
Among all the apps we’ve seen with this functionality, Frontback is likely the sleekest.
Some highlights from the app’s description:
App Features
• Capture your best moments using both front and back cameras.
• Write short captions mentioning @friends and #hashtags.
• Add location such as restaurants, museums, or music festivals.
• Share instantly via SMS, Facebook, Twitter, Tumblr, email, and more.
• See all your friends’ photos or explore the most entertaining photo community on the planet!Camera Features
• Swipe horizontally to switch between the front and back cameras.
• Swipe vertically to flip the top and bottom panes.
• After the photo is taken, swipe horizontally to flip backwards text.
• Tap any photo for the retake option.
• Try the self-timer for even more creativity or group photos.
Frontback is free in the iOS App Store.
Want to check out some more gorgeous iPhone apps? Be sure to read our earlier posts in this series.
