5 Great Apps for Your New iPhone

If you want create a perfect customizable lock screen and home screen, you need Widgetsmith. The app offers a huge collection of customizable widgets to select from—everything from a clock to reminders and much more. Each widget can be dynamically scheduled to appear with rules you define. For example, a weather widget can appear in the morning with a photo widget later in the day. And the app takes advantage of one of the best new features in iOS and iPadOS 17—interactive widgets. Some of the new options include a scrollable photo gallery and even games.

Widgetsmith is a free download and for the iPhone and all iPad models. A $1.99 per month or $19.99 yearly subscription is needed to use interactive widgets, unlock premium themes and fonts, use weather widgets, and more.

Many credit cards offer rewards like cash back, points, and airlines miles. And CardPointers can help you maximize those benefits. The app tracks every category bonus and recurring bank credits from more than 5,000 different cards and helps you select the best card to use for a purchase online or in-store.

With a iOS 17 update, the app added new features including interactive and StandBy widgets and a new augmented reality mode where you’ll just points you camera at a store and see the best card to use.

CardPointers is a free download for the iPhone, iPad, Apple Watch and Mac. The free version allows you to know which card earns the most points for every purchase, keep track of all recurring credits available, and see new card recommendations.

A subscription of $5.99 per month or $49.99 annually will unlock many additional features including the the ability to see a list of nearby stores and which card to use and the augmented reality feature.

There’s always bits of information we need to access but can’t remember when needed. Add those to Cheatsheet so you can access later on all your devices. And the app is ready for iOS 17 with interactive and StandBy widgets to see your notes at a glance.

The app is available for the iPhone, iPad, Apple Watch, and Mac. It’s a free download. A one-time, $5.99 in-app purchase will remove limits of the widget, keyboard, and Apple Watch app. It will also allow you to protect information with a Passcode Lock and organize information with folders.

Crouton is a perfect way to organize all of your recipes and plan meals. It makes it simple and easy to get cooking, no matter your skill level.

And a recent update is highlighted by interactive Live Activities. That makes it easy to move through the steps and increment timers of a recipe from your lock screen and without needing to open up the app. You can also see a meal plan with a home screen widget.

The app is a free download and available on the iPhone, iPad, Apple Watch, and Mac. There is a 5 recipe limit.

Crouton Plus is a one-time purchase of $19.99 where you can add unlimited recipes, share and plan recipes with other, and plan meals with the weather.

There is also a subscription of $1.99 per month or $12.99 per year. Subscribers can discover recipes from blogs, share links with others, and import recipes with AI.

With the rise of remote work, being organized is even more important. And Fantastical is a top-notch alternative to Apple’s stock Calendar. One of the best features is the ability to add calendar items with natural language like “Dinner with mom at 5 p.m. on Tuesday.” The app is well designed and provides a simple way for better organization of all your meetings and to-dos. And with an iOS 17 update, the app now offers interactive and StandBy widgets.

Fantastical is a free download an available on the iPhone, iPad, Apple Watch, and Mac. Free users are limited to a single calendar set. An optional $6.99 per month or $56.99 yearly subscription unlocks Fantastical Premium.

Subscribers can use unlimited calendar sets and access additional features like home screen widgets and collaboration tools.