I just got a smartphone! What are good starter apps?

Awesome! Good for you! Let’s start with the basics. ​The standard apps that come preinstalled on the iPhone include:

• App Store
• Calculator
• Calendar
• Camera
• Clock
• Compass
• Contacts
• FaceTime
• Files
• Find My Friends
• Find My iPhone
• Game Center
• Health
• Home
• iBooks​

• iCloud Drive
• iMovie
• iTunes Store
• iTunes U
• Keynote
• Mail
• Maps
• Messages
• Music
• News
• Notes
• Numbers
• Pages
• Passbook
• Phone​

• ​Photos
• Podcasts
• Reminders
• Safari
• Settings
• Stocks
• Tips
• TV
• Videos
• Voice Memos
• Wallet
• Watch
• Weather

You might think that you don’t need to add anymore apps. I mean, look at the 43 you already start with! Let’s organize them first (note: some of them fit in multiple categories).

Shopping:

• App Store, used to buy more apps
• iTunes Store, used to buy music

What else could you get? 

• Postmates, for delivery
• Grubhub for delivery​

Travel:

• Maps
• Passbook, for tickets and passport info
• Compass, tells you where north is

What else could you get?

• Lyft, so you can get places
• Airbnb, so you can find a place to stay (or rent out your own)
• Go Metro, for public transportation
• Waze, for directions
• GasBuddy, for gas

Socializing:

• Contacts, to organize your contacts
• FaceTime, to videochat with people
• Mail, to email
• Messages, to text
• Phone, to call

What else could you get?

• Facebook and Messenger
• Twitter
• Instagram
• Snapchat 
• Whatsapp
• Skype

Photography

• Camera, to take pictures
• Photos, to look at your pictures and videos

What else could you get?

• Instagram, and the apps that go with it
• Snapchat​

Entertainment

• Game Center, to play games
• iBooks, to read books on your device
• Music, to listen to music
• Podcasts, to listen to podcasts
• TV, to watch TV

​What else could you get?

• Kindle to read other books
• Audible for audio books. 
• Youtube to watch other videos
• Netflix for TV shows and movies
• Pretty much any game you could want. I can't list them all

Education

• iBooks
• iTunes U, not to be confused with iTunes
• News
• Podcasts

What else could you get?

• Duolingo, for language learning
• Lumosity, for brain training​

Health/Wellness

• Health.  By itself, it only does so much.  If you sync it up with other apps, it keeps track of vitals, food, etc.

What else could you get?

• Mindfulness, for meditation
• Daily Yoga, for yoga
• Sleep Cycle, for tracking sleep patterns
• Fooducate, for improving your diet

I Don't Want To Download 50 Apps!

I wouldn't do that either.

For the social networking apps, I would only pick the one or two that my friends and family are most likely to use (in my case, Facebook and Instagram), and schedule a tutoring session with your favorite social media tutor (shameless self promotion).

For the other apps, pick one or two things that matter to you, and try them out. If your account is set up, you've tried it once or twice, and you still don't like the app, you can always delete it later. Just make sure to delete your account and THEN delete the app.

Thanks for reading, and I'll continue seeing you on the internet!