Swap Shop July 30th, 2020
Best IOS Productivity Apps Of 2023
The best productivity apps for iOS, to make it simple and easy to do routine office tasks using just your iPad or iPhone.
The iPhone can be just as handy as an iPad when it comes to business use. Although the iPad has the bigger screen to work from, the iPhone is much easier to carry around and work on the go.
Additionally, while there are a lot of iPad business apps (opens in new tab) most if not all of these are just as available for the iPhone, which means you can potentially get more use from them on the go.
However, deciding which business apps to use on the iPhone can be a headache, and you want to avoid filling it up with too many apps. While there are a number of iOS apps that may need to be used according to company policy, there are additional apps worth having around to help with general productivity (opens in new tab), as well as convenience.
With native apps and web apps for mobile devices available across the range of productivity and creativity applications, as well as easy accessibility for Software as a Service (SaaS) (opens in new tab), mobile Apple devices have established their place in the office.
Productivity suites for dealing with documents and spreadsheets still form the core of office work, plus there are a variety of related services available as apps to support that role, not least for document scanning and printing.
Here we'll feature at various handy apps to have for your iPad and/or iPhone to help with general productivity. We'll also list the best office software apps for iOS devices.
Jump to: Best iOS office apps
The best iOS productivity apps of 2023 in full:Why you can trust TechRadar We spend hours testing every product or service we review, so you can be sure you're buying the best. Find out more about how we test.
The leading office suite
Reasons to buy +Market leader
+Full functionality
+Comprehensive features
+Business standard
Microsoft Office remains the most ubiquitous office software on the market, and Microsoft 365 is the cloud-based version that's easy to use from your iPhone or iPad.
While there are other office suites out there, some have problems converting between their own document formats and the common Microsoft ones, such as .Doc and .Docx, with the result that formatting can be lost or mixed up from your documents.
The price isn't particularly expensive, either, when a lot of other productivity apps have similar costs but fewer features and functionality.
Altogether, Microsoft 365 remains the original and best when it comes to office suite software, so this is probably the first one you'll want to look at when considering your options.
Read our full Microsoft 365 review (opens in new tab).
The CRM behemoth has iPhone productivity covered
Reasons to buy +Includes Chatter tool for live communications
+Easy-to-use UI
+Handy notifications feature
With Salesforce establishing itself as such a prominent enterprise platform, its only right they took care of business on mobile. Thankfully, for fans of the platform who like to work on the move, the Salesforce app has plenty to keep you productive outside of the office.
The service's CRM data tools, communication tool Chatter, diary organization, and business process features can all be utilized from your iPhone or iPad. You can also receive updates from accounts on the go, tap into conference calls, access your sales actions via the publisher, log calls, create and update opportunities, and complete sales tasks.
Contextual notifications keep you up to speed wherever you are, as do report dashboards and live updates from your business. If something requires an action, the aforementioned Chatter tool enables you to start conversations with colleagues, with the ability to attach photos and files too.
For organizations that use Salesforce and encourage mobile productivity from their workers, the Salesforce app is an excellent tool to have in the software arsenal.
Read our full Salesforce review (opens in new tab).
The iOS app for everyone in your business
Reasons to buy +Communications tool
+Sales & marketing
+HR features
+Integrations
Enterprise organization and project management is always a complex, multifaceted affair, but Trello aims to ease the headache by bringing everything together on one easy-to-use platform.
The breadth of features on Trello means virtually everyone in your organization is served, from sales and marketing to HR and operations, and teams can design and customize the platform to suit their needs. It also includes over 100 integrations with productivity tools like Google Drive, Slack, and Jira.
This makes Trello an incredibly useful app to have, especially for groups who find themselves on the go, or for collaboration when working from home. Despite the number of features available, the user interface is easy to use and navigate, with clickable links in checklists and comments, plus the ability to attach and send multiple files at the same time.
For an app of this nature, Trello manages to balance features, power, and usability, and this is a very strong mobile tool for work on the move.
Read our full Trello review (opens in new tab).
The biggest selling app you've never heard of
Reasons to buy +Easy to use
+Simplifies management
+Good for employees
HotSchedules is dedicated to managing schedules and shifts between managers and employees. Not only does it allow managers to set shifts, but it also allows employees to swap shifts with each other.
This can provide significant time savings for managers, as all they have to do to publish a shift pattern, and workers who want more hours can claim extra shifts they need, while those who need to reduce their hours in a particular week can do so.
Managers can monitor everything as much as they need to, allowing assigned shifts to be held or swapped as required.
And, of course, employees also find it an invaluable app for helping manage their own work-life balance.
While Hot Schedule might not seem the most obvious app to include in this list, it's definitely useful to consider if you do have multiple employees.
Additionally, even with its admittedly minimal cost, it's the most popular business app in the Apple AppStore.
Read our full HotSchedules review (opens in new tab).
Planning projects with a few taps of your phone
Reasons to buy +Project management
+Collaboration
+Intuitive UI
+Good range of features
Built in the cloud, Wrike is a one-stop-shop for project management, planning and team collaboration. Adaptable to tasks both big and small, organizations ranging from SMBs right up to Fortune 500 companies are among Wrike's purported 15,000 users.
Rather than merely serving as a mobile add-on to your Wrike account, the iOS app aims to be a standalone, multi-functional service in its own right. From creating a brand new account with Wrike to managing workflow across your business and sharing reports, virtually every phase and feature can take place in the app.
The tools include live inbox communication, access to folders, projects and tasks, assigning and scheduling work, sharing images and files, tracking time spent on tasks, accessing personal and shared dashboards, and viewing and sending performance stats to people both inside and outside of your organization.
While the iOS app is free, Wrike accounts themselves are at the more expensive end of the market, with packages for small to medium size businesses (5-200 users).
Read our full Wrike review.
Microsoft may be the company that many Apple users love to hate, but Microsoft's Office suite remains the most widely used around the world, especially when it comes to docs, spreadsheets, and presentations. However, there are alternatives you can consider and we feature the best of those here:
Lightweight, powerful and easy to use if you don't mind the ads
Polaris Office is a free office suite that runs across all platforms. It also has a handy iPhone and iPad app that lets you access your documents from anywhere. Everything you need is in one handy application.
Polaris Office is fully compatible with MS Office and supports most file types such as ODT, PDF, PPT, DOC and XLS. Within the app you can open all file formats including PowerPoint and Excel. All of these formats can be opened, edited and saved through the application.
The app also supports writing with pen and the use of pointer features meaning you can draw and edit as if you were writing on actual sheets of paper.
You can view PDF's directly from your iPhone or iPad and can easily convert them into another format to edit them. There is no need to extract files with Polaris Office, you can view them through the app.
It comes with 1GB of Cloud storage of its own but you can connect your own cloud storage provider with it in order to gain more storage. Polaris also supports over 18 languages.
One of the main criticisms of the free app is the ads that can interrupt the service. However, this can easily be resolved by purchasing the remove ads option.
There are also several different price tiers that will give you access to more cloud storage and annotation on PDF. All payments are based on a recurring subscription and will automatically renew.
Read our full Polaris Office review.
2. GoodReader
Great for viewing and editing PDFs and other documents
Reasons to buy +Excellent support
+Easy to use
GoodReader was developed by GoodiWare Ltd which was started by Yuri Selukoff. It was first released in 2010.
The app can read and view documents in different formats such as DOC, PDF and XLS. It is mainly a PDF reader and within it you can make changes to PDF documents.
GoodReader enables users to read, edit and sign PDF files. From here you can also make annotations within your PDF document such as highlighting and drawing. Signing PDF documents only takes three taps. The app makes everything very simple.
You can store your data simply and efficiently though cloud providers such as Dropbox and OneDrive. GoodReader also supports copy and paste along with the ability to Zip/Unzip and unRAR files and folders.
Any users of the old version can use a migration assistant that will help to move files to the new app seamlessly. Users new to GoodReader will enjoy the text-to-speech feature which supports a large number of languages.
3. Documents
Lightweight and powerful, with many extra features
Reasons to buy +Lightweight
+Compatible with iWorks
Documents for iOS is developed by Savy Soda who are located in Melbourne, Australia. Documents works with Dropbox, OneDrive and Google Drive to give users optimal storage. Editing can be done both online and offline.
The app includes a Text Editor, a spreadsheet app and a file manager. With the use of all three this gives users the ability to open all MS Office files along with full compatibility with iWorks. It fully supports all TXT and CSV files but there is limited support for DOC and XLS files through Google Docs.
Included within Documents is a Photo Album tool which helps users to manage their photos easily.
Spreadsheets are fully functional and supports all formulae, formats and basic features associated with Excel. Files that you create within the app can be opened by Notepad, OpenOffice, and Word amongst others.
This appears to be a popular app with users having very little to criticize about it. However, one of the few complaints is that there is no ability to search within a document and that it always requests you save a document whether you have made changes or not.
A formidable free office suite if you can stand the ads
Reasons to buy +Free to install
+Full office suite
WPS Office (Writer, Presentation and Spreadsheets) is an office suite developed by Chinese software developer Kingsoft. The suite is available on both iPhone and iPad. The app is free but ad-supported, though you can remove these by paying either a monthly or yearly subscription. The suite's comprised of WPS Writer, WPS Presentation and WPS Spreadsheet.
The WPS PDF reader has the ability to convert PDF to WPS and is able to read Adobe PDF files. The app supports a number of file types such as DOC, RTF, DOT, PPTX, TXT and HTML amongst others. All documents are fully compatible with Microsoft Office and Google Docs.
The app allows you to securely encrypt your files with passkeys and you can edit your documents without the fear of losing your work with the auto-save option. Features include the ability to track changes, comments and run spell checks.
The app can present documents straight from your iPhone/iPad to a compatible TV or projector. WPS for iOS also supports 47 different languages.
It seems that if do not purchase the premium subscription within the app then you will be plagued by intrusive ads while using the service.
Read our full WPS Office review.
Use Apple's own colorful productivity apps if you have enough space
Reasons to buy +Microsoft Office compatible
+Excellent design templates
Reasons to avoid -Documents display differently in MS Word
Pages is part of the iWork productivity suite and is developed by Apple. However, the suite can not be installed in one handy app but is divided up into three separate apps: Pages (word processor), Numbers (Spreadsheet software) and Keynote (presentation software).
Pages can open DOCX, DOC, RTF and TXT files. It can export files through PDF, DOCX, RTF and EPUB. If collaborating with users of Microsoft Office, you will need to convert the file into either a PDF or DOCX file before sending as it is not fully compatible with MS Office and can cause readability issues.
You can annotate and draw within documents using the Apple Pen. This is an easy to use tool that allows you to add drawings in several different ways besides the Apple Pen e.G. 'fill tools'.
Pages also has its own Apple designed templates for letters, resumes and posters which are easy to use.
With the collaboration tool users can see exactly who is working on the document at the same time as them, can share the document publicly and can easily follow other users edits. It is also available on documents that are stored in iCloud.
The general consensus amongst users is that the app should be more compatible with MS Office. Even though you can convert documents into DOCX files, they can still appear different in MS Office.
Read our full Apple Pages app review.
We've also featured the best free cloud apps for business.
Which iOS productivity app is best for you?When deciding which iOS productivity app to use, first consider what your actual needs are, as sometimes free apps only provide a limited service, so if you need to use advanced tools you may find a subscription is much more worthwhile. Additionally, free and budget software options can sometimes prove basic when it comes to the variety of tools available, while higher-end software can really cater for every need, so do ensure you have a good idea of which features you think you may require.
How we tested the best iOS productivity appsTo test for the best iOS productivity apps we first set up an account with the relevant app. We then tested it to see how it could be used for a wide range of different purposes and different situations. The aim was to push each software platform to see how useful its basic tools were and also how easy it was to get to grips with any more advanced tools.
Read how we test, rate, and review products on TechRadar.
GEAR EXPO 2023: The Best New Effect Plugins For 2023
© Soundevice Digital null GEAR EXPO 2023: 2023 has already been a great year for effect plugins, with all manner of releases challenging the very definitions of both mix and creative processing. And we have the best of them, right here.
Plugin effects are becoming more powerful by the day, with previous standard filters, EQs, delays and compressors becoming way more creative as processing power on host computers increases and allows the software to unleash its full potential.
Here, we've rounded up what we think are the most revolutionary creative effects of the year so far, so you know what to get busy with over the coming months. We've included both those that we have either just reviewed and some of the latest effect releases.
So let's get into the future effects that you will be using for everything from sound design to creative vocal compression.
Soundevice Digital PluralisPluralis could well be one of those 'why didn't they do that before?' plugins. It takes a reasonably common process or two – in this case MS processing and other ways of splitting your signal – but uses them with delays. We've seen it with compressors and EQs, but rarely, if ever, with delays.
It works like this: Pluralis has two regular delay engines with standard controls (Time, Feedback, Colour and so on) which you can use as 'standard' delays should you wish. However, it also features four modes with which you can split your audio into two parts, so that each of the delay engines can then act on them. The modes are Mid/Side, Left/Right, Quiet/Loud and Low/Hi.
Mid/Side splits your source audio into its middle and side components for processing with the two engines. Left/Right, you guessed it, splits audio left and right for individual processing, and Quiet/Loud splits your audio into quiet and loud parts for each delay engine to act upon. Finally Low/Hi does the split by frequency so the two delays can act on both LF and HF bands.
Pluralis sounds fairly straightforward, so you wonder if there's a good reason why this hasn't been done before - as in, maybe it sounds rubbish. However, from what we've heard the very opposite is true, so we're looking forward to getting our hands on the plugin for an imminent review.
Pluralis is €79 (special intro price of just €19 until May 31), and available now from Soundevice Digital/United Plugins.
Soundtoys SuperPlateAnnounced at the NAMM show in April, Soundtoys SuperPlate includes five iconic reverbs plus a lot of added extras. You get emulations of an EMT 140, EMT 240, Audicon, EcoPlate III, and Stocktronics RX4000, plus extra analogue saturation by way of models of EMT V54 and 162 preamps.
It was largely developed because Soundtoys owns some of these legendary reverbs and simply "wanted to bring the distinctive sound of our collection into the world of modern audio".
SuperPlate does include some modern features like built-in modulation and an EQ, plus extra reverb parameters such as infinite decay time, pre-delay and decay ducking. And thanks to these 21st century features, Soundtoys says that SuperPlate is a much more viable and versatile plugin than it otherwise would have been.
SuperPlate will be sold individually for $149 or as part of the Soundtoys 5.4 bundle ($499) which now includes 22 effects. It's also an optional extra for Soundtoys Effect Rack owners, who get it for just $59.
There's more information at the Soundtoys website.
Audio Damage Replicant 3Audio Damage's Replicant originally appeared way back in 2007 and has become famous for being a one-stop shop for stuttered, IDM-esque glitchiness. It's taken a while for it to reach its third iteration, but with a slick new GUI and a ton of new features, Replicant can now do a lot more than 'just' glitch.
Replicant's interface has been vastly improved, and everything's laid out in an orderly fashion, making it relatively easy to use. The plugin enables you to loop, slice, reverse and rearrange audio in real time. Alongside the original STUTTER slice effect, it's been outfitted with DELAY, REDUKT (bitcrusher) and RINGMOD (ring modulator) effects.
Watch a sound demo from YouTuber '2 small figures in a landscape' below.
The plugin's Replicator sequencer is now geared up for more complex rhythmical effects. There's also a new envelope feature that allows for cross-fading audio slices, an onboard filter, controls for pitch and panning, and several dials for parameter randomisation that can create unpredictable, probability-based patterns.
The new version of Replicant works well with MIDI, too, and is also available as an iOS app, meaning touchscreen-based performances are only a download away.
Replicant 3 is available in AU, VST3, AAX and CLAP formats for $69, but is only $20 for owners of the previous versions. Find out more at the Audio Damage website.
The iOS app will only cost you $2.99 and is available from the App Store.
AudioThing MantisPlugin companies are digging deep into history to find things to emulate and AudioThing might well have struck gold with Mantis. It's a software recreation of a Carlsbro Mantis, a rare BBD delay/echo unit from the '70s - no, we hadn't heard of it either, but it does sound cool.
You get an echo section with four taps and four swell selectors, and a rotafaze section mimics the wow/flutter of a tape echo or turns the device into a chorus/delay.
Mantis has two modes: vintage or modern. The hardware version had a fixed based delay time, but in vintage mode here it can be set between 0.512ms and 51.2ms. The modern mode, meanwhile, has a base delay time of one second, syncable to host tempo.
The frequency response in BBD circuits changes depending on the speed of the base delay, being brighter at faster rates and darker at slower ones. Having these different settings enables you to experience this.
Mantis is available now for PC and Mac in VST/AU/AAX/CLAP formats for $59 and on iOS devices for $12.99 from the Apple store. Find out more and download a demo version on the AudioThing website.
Antares Auto-Tune Vocal CompressorYou know about Auto-Tune? You know about compression? If it's a 'yes' to these, it's fair to say you have already guessed what Auto-Tune Vocal Compressor is about.
However, this latest Antares releases is also billed as "the world's first dual-stage vocal compressor plugin with machine learning," so promises to analyse your track and suggest "optimum" settings that you can use.
Vocal Compressor features two compressors, each of which has four popular compression styles (FET, Opto A, Opto B and Modern). Once the software has suggested settings for these you can then go in and tweak them to taste.
There are artist presets included with Auto-Tune Vocal Compressor, and these cover a range of vocal styles and genres. There's also a Warm feature to apply tube saturation and harmonics to vocals across one or both compressors.
Auto-Tune Vocal Compressor (PC/Mac, VST/AU/AAX) is available at no extra cost for subscribers to Auto-Tune Unlimited, which is $25 a month or $175 a year. You can also buy a perpetual licence for $179 - this includes one free year of Auto-Tune Unlimited. A free 14-day trial to Auto-Tune Unlimited is available to everyone, regardless of previous trials or subscriptions.
Find out more at the Antares website.
Polyverse SupermodalPolyverse Supermodal is a filter plugin on steroids. It is capable of going way beyond the remit of a traditional filter, and allows you to achieve creative effects and extraordinary sound design.
You get a 'straight' filter that can be switched between low-pass, high-pass and band-pass, but the Modal filter to its right is where the real fun is. Here you can switch between modelled filters. Each of these has complex algorithms essentially comprising of hundreds of different filters that, according to Polyverse, "produce resonating modes in an acoustic model". You can, therefore, use them to model an array of filter types based on real physical objects (piano, bell), vocal formants or complex noise.
There are 27 filter types here, and while they all take you well beyond what an ordinary filter does, it's their combination with the modulation section in Supermodal that impresses us the most.
The mix of filter algorithms and modulation options is a perfect and easily manipulatable marriage, and takes Supermodal to another level that few others have reached. It really is a case of playing a couple of notes or beats through this beast, and creating entire tracks from them.
Supermodal costs $99 and you can get more information from the Polyverse website here.
PSPaudioware PSP 285This 'Plugins of 2023' feature started with a very modern delay plugin, Pluralis, and finishes with what you might call a vintage one.
PSP Audioware's PSP 285 is based on the company's much-loved PSP 84 and PSP 85 processors, and is a creative delay playground with a semi-modular architecture. It enables you to explore the countless possibilities offered when you combine variable sample rate delay lines, and can produce everything from simple slapbacks and echoes to complex rhythmic wildness.
You can enjoy up to 10 seconds of delay time per channel (pre and main), and there's also a modulation section with tempo-synced LFO and envelope follower. A dedicated filter section (17 types are on offer) and close to 400 presets are also supplied.
PSP 285 runs on PC and Mac in VST/AU/AAX formats and is available now for $149. Find out more and download a 30-day demo on the PSP Audioware website.
Looking for more great new gear? Get all our roundup, news, features, tutorials, tips and more at our Gear Expo hub page.
App Store
By MacRumors Staff on April 25, 2023
Jump to How Tos ArticlesThe App Store is Apple's digital software distribution platform for iOS devices. First introduced in 2008, the App Store allows software developers to distribute content that has been created specifically for the iPad, iPhone, and iPod touch. Apps are also available on the Apple Watch through the iOS App Store.
There are well over a million apps in the App Store, and customers have downloaded more than 100 billion apps since the App Store debuted. App Store apps are available with three pricing options: free (and usually supported by ads), free with in-app purchases, or a set cost starting at $0.99 in the US.
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How to Update Apps in iOS 13If you recently updated your iPhone to iOS 13 or your iPad to iPadOS 13 and you can't work out how to manually update your installed apps, then you've come to the right place. Apple has changed the way you update apps in iOS. In earlier versions of its mobile operating system, app updates lived in their own tab in the App Store app, but that has since had to make way for a new Apple Arcade...
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