For the past 15 years , the way we think about and use technology has been completely reshaped . What was once a hardware - first diligence quickly became a software - first one , and this radical evolution of technology can be traced back to one pivotal present moment . In 2009 , Apple debuted the iPhone 3 G and the first App Store . This launching ushered in a young era : the smartphone , complete with apps . It also debuted one of the best commercials , complete with a catchphrase that is sometimes still used today : There ’s an app for that .
For many years , theiPhonehad a overplus of apps that were not available on Android . While most of these are now available cross - platform , not every developer has encompass the billions of likely customers who do n’t have an iPhone . Even now , some apps found first on Io and can take months or years to launch onAndroid .
I ’ve used an iPhone alongside an Android phone for more than a 10 , and while I can mostly utilize an Android phone without issue , there are a few iPhone - exclusive apps I ca n’t detect good alternatives for . Here are five iPhone apps that I wish were available on Android .
Flighty
I recently write aboutfive apps and accessories that I ca n’t travel without , and Flighty is the one that ’s transform my travelling experience . It ’s the ultimate app if you spend a lot of time in the melodic phrase like I do , and it is also consummate if you ’re an air geek .
There are many reasons I have sex Flighty . First , it automatically synchronise flights from email , TripIt , or your calendar — and it syncs the reservation reference point , so there ’s no need to go and hunt it down after if I require it . Second , it gives me more precise datum about the taxiing and actual fell time and highlight expected holdup . It also syncs connection data and flags gate data , luggage claim belts , and delay before airport boards are update .
Beyond that , Flighty offers diachronic datum as well , which is amazingly helpful . I ’m currently in Dubai , and a friend asked me when I was last here . I think it was last December , but they thought it was two twelvemonth ago ; a nimble tone at my historic flight of stairs in Flighty show me it was last twelvemonth and the specific dates and itinerary I guide .
I apportion my itineraries with crime syndicate as I travel a destiny . When you ’ve got multiple bookings that often overlap , it can be arduous to keep racetrack of , not just for my family but also for myself . Flighty allows me to keep these all in one position , and it ’s far more effective than looking at a calendar . I can also add someone else ’s flight of steps to track , safe in the noesis that it will disappear afterward if I ’ve marked it as a friend ’s flight . This app is in a conference of its own , and I desperately wish it were on Android .
PDF Expert
I contract a lot of documents on the go , and I ’ve yet to discover an Android app as in force as PDF Expert . It ’s published by one of my favorite developer , Readdle , the developer of Spark Mail . While apps like Superhuman ( another iPhone - exclusive app for the long time ) have replaced Spark in my workflow , PDF Expert remains the only PDF app I use on my iPhone and Mac .
PDF Expert is the most complete PDF app I ’ve ever used . Paying for the Pro upgrade has saved me hours , quite literally . The documents I sign on are sentence - sensitive and realm in my inbox while I ’m on the go . PDF Expert allows me to gloss or redact the textbook , take in a document , choose from one of my save signatures , and export it to iCloud to post later . It also synchronise to the Mac or the iPad , and the latter make using the Apple Pencil Pro to delete or save new signature tune an absolute breeze .
Yes , there are great deal of PDF apps for Android , but none have prove as effective as PDF Expert . After many years , it is still my go - to PDF app and one my stage business ca n’t function without . I would jazz it if Readdle bought its full cortege of apps to Android , but while Spark Mail made the jump , it seems unlikely we ’ll see any other apps accompany suit — PDF Expert included .
Parcel
The most effective apps for me are the I that make my life easier , and as Apple and Steve Jobs said back in 2009 , there ’s an app for everything . Parcel is the perfect app for traverse deliveries on hundreds of package couriers worldwide . There ’s also a World Wide Web interface , but the iOS and Mac apps are minimalistic and perfect .
I receive C of packages every year , whether from Amazon or the 10000 of companies that charge me products to look back . Every tracking number locomote directly into Parcel , and then I receive push apprisal updating me on the packet status . Yes , it ’s easy enough to track a package or two individually , but imagine throw to track multiple packages arriving on the same day with unlike parcel couriers .
Parcel is also available on a Mac , but in realism , it is one of the key ground I have an iPhone , at least alongside the Apple Watch and Apple Health . Whether you track package for work or personal reasons , you’re able to store up to 200 saving in Parcel and even export the entire history to PDF . There ’s no better way to track your software on any political program . Oh , and the give subscription is $ 5 per year with no ads . It does n’t get effective .
Apple News
Apple News is my favourite news aggregation app . There , I said it . It achieves what others like Flipboard were ineffectual to do : sync hundreds of feeds — some of which are expensive when purchased standalone but are included in the Apple News+ subscription — and play up stories that I require to read .
Apple News is so effective that I ’ve find stories from a range of new topics I would n’t otherwise be count for . It ’s tight become one of the first apps I see to it in the sunup , and it ’s one of the apps I miss the most when I ’m not using the iPhone .
Apple has an chance to capture Android users who want this experience , but it has so far opt not to do so . This is surprising give that , while there may be some users who would n’t buy an iPhone if Apple News came to Android , there are likely zillion of others who have no intention of buy an iPhone but may be uncoerced to grease one’s palms the $ 13 per calendar month subscription for Apple News+ if it were available on Android . Hey Siri , is anyone at Apple listening ?
Fantastical and iA Writer
The four apps above are ones I apply daily , but there are other apps I ’ve used before or still apply that would be skillful to have on Android . Fantastical is one of the nicest calendar apps for Mac , iPad , or iPhone , and is resonant of Samsung Calendar but with more features . negociate multiple calendars and time zones on the go can be challenging , but Fantastical makes it so much comfortable .
Then there ’s iA Writer . If you have ever comment on Reddit or written elsewhere in Markdown , you ’ll know that remembering Markdown shortcuts and command can be a challenge . iA Writer makes it effortless to drop a line on the go and print this directly on your internet site or copy and glue it to Reddit .
However , you may be inquire why iA author is on a list of iPhone - exclusive apps , especially when it has its listing on the Play Store . The answer is that the developer harbinger a few months ago that iA Writer was being pull from Android , which means current Android users will presently be lament its loss .
The iPhone and Android app gap
Although many of the apps I use daily on my iPhone are also available on Android , there are mass of differences between the two . Some developers build both as Electron apps to have similar interface and experiences , but others choose to progress special Android apps compared to their iOS counterpart — simply to say they offer backing .
Meanwhile , other developer concentrate entirely on the iPhone . Why ? The solution is fairly straightforward : Android , by definition , make it loose to sideload any app , and pay apps often quickly become usable for “ free ” via alternate generator . iOS users do n’t have this lavishness but have also proven well more likely to give for premium features and apps .
Of naturally , I ’m not a distinctive consumer . I have multiple devices on both platform , which makes me rosy as the lack of these apps on Android is n’t a dealbreaker overall . However , it ’s apps like these — and the remainder in quality between some iPhone and Android apps — that ensure I ’ll always keep an iPhone on me .
