Not everything in life is free, but many great iPhone apps are. And when you can find good software for free, take it.
This list of the best free iPhone apps highlights 50 apps that we at PCMag think have shown outstanding performance, have been well received by a variety of technology users, and are truly "free." No gimmicks, no "membership required" or in-app purchase necessary. Free. Period.
Apple's App Store for iPhone is a veritable bazaar of freebies, and while plenty of them are quite good, many more are duds. We at PCMag sort through hundreds if not thousands of apps a year looking for the best of the best, as well as those elusive and as-yet undiscovered gems, apps that work well or accomplish some feat you didn't even know you needed or wanted to do.
Missing from this list are apps and features (like Siri and Passbook) that come pre-installed on the iPhone, although they are certainly not to be ignored. In particularly, Apple's apps for iTunes, Music, and the App Store typically see a fair share of well-deserved usage, but I suppose you technically paid for them because you bought the phone, so they're not really free, are they? In any case, you don't need to choose to download them, so we're not listing them here. Sadly, Apple's Podcast app is one you do have to download and install separately, but it didn't make this list due to its confusing interface (a serious downer for me, personally).
Games only took three slots on this list, in part because a lot of great games aren't free—for more iPhone game recommendations, including paid apps, see "The 25 Best iPhone Games."
To see the 50 best free iPhone apps of 2012, click through the links below to find 10 apps listed per page. If you have more recommendations for more free apps that we need to check out, post your suggestions in the comments. We're always on the lookout for the next great app!
Adaptu Wallet
Adaptu Wallet for iPhone is great for entry- to mid-level budgeting enthusiasts, packing many unique features. It's both free and ad-free. And it's the closest thing to a mobile wallet on an iPhone yet. Not only does the app display your latest account balances in real-time and send you bill reminders, Adaptu also tracks loyalty programs, forecasts your spending, and lets you photograph and store images of all the loose ends in your wallet, like your insurance, Social Security, and business cards. All of this sits under bank-grade security, which is more than you can say for your physical wallet.
Adobe Photoshop Express
Digital photography editing, until very recently, has been a task best suited for desktop and laptop computers, but Adobe proved that it could be done in the mobile space with Photoshop Express, a free photo-editing application for the iPhone and other iOS devices. Photoshop Express is a powerhouse of a mobile app, and can even handle noise reduction (extraneous particles that show up on photos). All in all, Adobe Photoshop Express is a solid tool for making light photo edits on your iPhone.
Airport Utility
The free AirPort Utility manager from Apple lets you control your Wi-Fi network and AirPort base stations, including AirPort Express, AirPort Extreme, and Time Capsule, right from your iPhone. When you launch the app, you'll see a pictorial representation of your network and devices that will tell you what's connected to what and how. You can change the network and Wi-Fi settings, start or restore a base station, access networking information (like DNS server, router address, IP address), and more.
BBC News
Among news apps, The BBC's has one of the best interfaces—clean, with relevant headlines, good photos, and no advertisements. (Whether you agree with its angles and choice of coverage is another matter.) As far as international news organizations go, though, the BBC really does have correspondents in every corner of the globe, as well as varied and widespread topics. Another perk is that you can elect to view some news in other languages, such as Urdu, Arabic, and two kinds of Chinese.
Brewster
The Brewster iPhone app may be one of the most visually appealing contact managers you'll find, tapping into multiple social networks for images of people you know. It insists on having access to your iPhone Contacts and either Twitter or Facebook to work, though.
Cards
When Apple introduced its Cards app for iPhone (free to download; cards $2.99 each U.S., $4.99 international including shipping), it created a very good tool in a particularly niche-y space, one that's easy to overlook but actually provides a lot of value to the average consumer. Using the Cards app to buy and mail customized greeting cards, with your own photos and text, is surprisingly cost effective, given that birthday cards and whatnot easily cost more than $3 at retail, not including postage. With the app, you can choose from a good number of well-designed templates across several occasions—congratulations, thank-you, birthday. The cards themselves are beautifully constructed.
Chrome 
Chrome for iPhone is just Safari with a better interface and a few more features, but it's a must-have app for desktop Chrome users. Anyone who has fallen in love with the "Omnibox," or combined URL address bar and search bar, won't want to use anything else.
Converter Plus
This all-in-one calculation app, Converter Plus, delivers numbers on nearly everything, from currency conversions to loan-interest figures. It converts metric to imperial measurements for temperature, cooking volumes, length, and more.
Draw Something Free
Draw Something Free, the latest app craze, pits both iOS and Android users in simple gesture-based drawing competitions. Pick a word from a list of three, draw it on your screen with your finger using a variety of colors and brushes, and then send it to your friend to guess what you've drawn. You win coins if your friend guesses correctly. It's very simple and, like Words With Friends, the addiction lies in the robust social aspect. For more iPhone game recommendations, see "The 25 Best iPhone Games."
Dropbox
If your files live all over the place—your office computer, home desktop, laptop—having a dependable syncing program is a must. Dropbox, the service and productivity tool that lets you store your files in the cloud and access them from anywhere you have a signal, fills that role nicely with a Dropbox iPhone app. It has a simple interface, easy uploading, and swift syncing across all accounts.
Visit page two, to check out The 50 best free iPhone apps of 2012 (11-20)….
Copyright © 2010 Ziff Davis Publishing Holdings Inc
ESPN Score Center
ESPN's free app lets you check the game quickly, and discreetly when necessary (that is, with your phone under the dinner table), for your favorite teams in more sports than most other apps. It can pull game data from baseball, basketball, American football, the sport the rest of the world calls football (soccer, in the U.S.), ice hockey, cricket, rugby, and more.
Evernote
Without the Evernote app for iPhone, I'd be a lot less productive while I'm away from my desk. This free, straightforward note-making app outrivals most competing apps thanks to its strong search capabilities and effortless organization. But the real key to its success and popularity is that Evernote synchronizes all your files by saving them to a cloud service, meaning anything you create or alter from your iPhone will be there waiting for you when you log into any other version of Evernote. I use Evernote to write, take notes, and even snap pictures of whiteboards and PowerPoint slides in meetings, so I can remember details later.
Facebook
Social networks thrive with a reliable app—you've got to be social on the go—and Facebook for iPhone is solid. Despite occasional crashes, Facebook loads pretty fast and has a decent interface for viewing photos. The design is intuitive to navigate, too.
Flipboard
Flipboard, an app initially designed for the iPad that curates content from your social networks and Web partners (think periodicals, blogs, etc.) based on your interests and turns them into stunning magazine-like digital pages, is now available on the iPhone. The app is free to download and requires a free user account. Flipboard absolutely shines on the iPad, taking advantage of swiping gestures with both visual and interactive grace. On the smaller iPhone, it's elegant, if a little cramped.
Flow Free
Puzzles make for the best kinds of mobile games, in my opinion, because you can play them for 30 seconds or 30 minutes. Flow Free is one such game, with various modes that let you solve puzzles in a timed speed test, or more leisurely. You solve levels by connecting same-colored dots by tracing your finger around a grid, without cross lines and at the same time filing every square on the grid with a line. It's addictive and great for players of all ages. For more iPhone game recommendations, see "The 25 Best iPhone Games."
GAIN Fitness
The iPhone app GAIN Fitness acts as a total workout buddy, coaching you through a fully customized exercise routine as often (or seldom) as you want. While it does have optional in-app purchases to buy special workouts, like yoga, the free app comes preloaded with enough exercises and workout moves to make sure you never get bored.
GateGuru
No matter what app you use to book your travel arrangements or manage your frequent flier miles, you'll still want to pack GateGuru on your next trip to the airport. The free app is chockfull of suggestions and reviews pertaining to airports: food, retail, services, and even the amount of time needed to travel between gates and terminals. The next time you're stuck with a long layover and no idea if you can make it to the cleaner bathrooms by Gate B7, just consult GateGuru for some advice.
Gmail
Speed, better search functions, and color-coded threading make the standalone Gmail iPhone app preferable to the built-in Mail app (where you can access Gmail). Google's Gmail app gives users another choice for managing email. It allows iPhone users to decide what they want in an email app. Do you value search capability over text displayed at readable sizes? Is it more important for your various email accounts to be managed in one app, as Mail arranges them, or would you rather have a dedicated app just for Gmail that looks more like Gmail on the Web, with color-coded threading? The Gmail app searches your entire email so much easier and faster than the pre-installed Mail app.
Gojee – Food & Drinks Recipes
Magazine-like in its display, Gojee is a source for recipes that will leave your mouth watering with stunning photos of gorgeous food and cocktails. You can explore the catalog by searching for something you crave based on suggestions, like "lunch" or "pork," or more specifically by keying in ingredients you want to use. Every result has an ingredients list right on the screen with the image, and you can link to the original source, whether it's a blog or magazine website.
Google Search
Search giant Google has many excellent free apps (as evidenced by the fact that more than one is on this very list), but its namesake search app is the one closest to its founding business, and thus, bursting with some pretty intense features. You can search by typing keywords, or by speaking, or by snapping a photo, as there's a toggle for Google Goggles (in the settings), which lets you take photos of books, landmarks, logos, artwork, barcodes, and more, to find out more about them. You can also save pictures you take, and the app will scan and read any text that appears on them as well. The Google Search app does a lot more than just search the Internet, making it well worth the free download.
Visit page three, to check out The 50 best free iPhone apps of 2012 (21-30)….
Copyright © 2010 Ziff Davis Publishing Holdings Inc
Looking for some new apps for your iPhone, risk-free? Here are 50 great apps that cost nada. (Apps 21 to 30)
Google Translate
With more than 30 languages supported and delivering impressively accurate results most of the time, the Google Translate app is one of the most remarkable programs you can load onto your iPhone. Most people probably won't need it too often, except when traveling or studying a language, but it can be amazingly useful in unexpected circumstances.
iHeartRadio
With the free iHeartRadio app, you can choose any one of 1,500 live radio stations to stream, even if you're not within the radio signal's reach (because it pulls from a digital feed, rather than radio signal). The app has a feature that lets you create customized "all-music" stations based on a music group you like and music similar to theirs. Charge your iPhone before a storm, and, if the power goes out, you use the iHeartRadio app to get updates from your local radio station.
iBooks
If Kindle and Nook don't tickle your fancy, Apple has its own little online bookstore where you can download and save novels, magazines, newspapers, and other reading material—and, yes, many of the books and periodicals are free! This personal digital library works on iPad as well, so you can browse for books on the go from your phone and save them to read on the tablet later.
IMDb Movies & TV
"What was the name of that movie… the one with Ally Sheedy and Fisher Stevens?" The next time you can't remember the name of an actor, television show, or film (Short Circuit, by the way) IMDb saves the day. One of the handiest reference websites on the planet, IMDb never fails when it comes to looking up anything that has to do with TV, film, or Hollywood. The IMDb Movies & TV app also lets you find which movies are playing at your local cinema, and even purchase tickets. With an IMDb account (free or paid for Pro), the app provides even more features, like the ability to create a watchlist of movies you want to see.
Kindle
Read books, magazines, and newspapers right on your iPhone without ever buying an e-reader. From within the Kindle app, you can buy or download for free hundreds of thousands of books, and more than 100 different newspapers and magazines.
LevelUp
LevelUp is an iPhone and Android app that lets you make purchases using your credit card via QR codes that the app displays. Participating merchants simply scan the QR code on your screen, which initiates a credit card transaction, and you're on your way.
MenuPages
The free app and website MenuPages keeps a database of restaurant menus, with prices included. If you've ever gritted your teeth at a restaurant's online menu that omits the prices, try MenuPages for unbiased information. Admittedly, MenuPages is not a great app for every location, but in major U.S. cities, it's awesome, especially when Yelp's recommendations seem skewed by college students who give five-star ratings to fast-food burgers and less-than-fresh sushi. With MenuPages, you can make your own decisions about a restaurant's dishes and prices. The app and website won't give you much insight into quality, but it will help you quickly weed out places that are too pricey or don't serve the kind of food you have in mind. It's also useful for ordering take-out.
Mint.com
The website and service Mint.com helps you keep detailed account of your finances by connecting to your bank and credit card accounts and tracking all the money you earn and spend. The Mint.com iPhone app extends the experience so you can keep an eye on your spending better while on the go. Just enter a few data points in the iPhone as you spend, and you'll be able to see your spending patterns as an easy-to-read chart.
Mozy
Online backup service Mozy lets you access all your backed-up files securely right from your iPhone, letting you essentially take your computer with you in your pocket. Mozy, which is a freemium service, lets you read documents, browse photographs, play your music, and share files anywhere you have an Internet or 3G connection. A MozyHome or MozyPro backup account is required.
MyFitnessPal
The free fitness app MyFitnessPal is one of the best all-in-one calorie counter and exercise trackers for the iPhone. A simple design and interface make using the app a quick chore rather than a fatiguing project, which is essential when trying to reach a long-term fitness or weight goal. The biggest selling point of this app is its exhaustive food and nutrition database, which trounces every competitor's that we've seen.
Visit page four, to check out The 50 best free iPhone apps of 2012 (31-40)….
Copyright © 2010 Ziff Davis Publishing Holdings Inc
Nook for iPhone
Anti-Amazon book lovers might prefer an app by Barnes & Noble for reading on their iPhones, NOOK. NOOK and Kindle largely do the same thing (give you access to an impressive library of books, newspapers, magazines, and other things to read), although their interfaces and experiences are different. Whether you like Amazon or B&N is largely a matter of personal preference. The NOOK app feels a little more graceful in its design, whereas the Kindle app looks more utilitarian.
Onavo
The free app Onavo compresses data automatically to help you reduce data usage on your phone. In other words, it will save you money if you typically exceed your mobile service plan's data allotment. Additionally, anyone traveling abroad with an iPhone should absolutely have Onavo installed. Learn the settings well, but be forewarned that there's no compression for streaming video. Onavo is also not supported on Verizon accounts with iPhone 4.
Opera Mini
When the Safari browser that came pre-installed on your iPhone simply won't load, Opera Mini wins. The first true alternative browser for Apple's iPhone isn't a better browser than Mobile Safari—at least most of the time—but when AT&T's network totally collapses on you, Opera Mini pulls Web pages out where Apple's own browser stalls. Opera Mini is different than other so-called browsers. As a proxy browser, it doesn't actually load Web pages at all. Rather, it sends a request to Opera's servers, which loads the page, compresses it by 80 to 90 percent, and sends your phone a compressed image of the page.
Pay With Square
Pay With Square is a mobile payment app from a company called Square that makes another product/service, also known simply as Square, which small businesses can use to turn their iPads into credit card processing machines. Any merchant that uses Square can accept payments from wallet-less app-lovers, like myself, who carry Pay With Square on their smartphones. What makes Pay With Square unique is it's available at a lot of small businesses, from boutique shops to independent coffee houses, unlike Google Wallet (only available on select Android devices), which is mostly supported in large, corporate chain stores. Pay With Square works on iPhone and iPod touch running iOS 4.1 and later, as well as Android phones running version 2.2 and later (although "small screen" Android phones are not supported).
RedLaser – Barcode Scanner and QR Code Reader
RedLaser, an app that turns your iPhone's camera into a barcode scanner, has long been on every new iPhone owner's list of free apps to download. Over time, the app has only improved, and it's now a multi-functional scanner that works on QR codes, too. When shopping, scan any item with a barcode, and RedLaser delivers detailed information about the product, including whether you can buy it at a better price nearby.
Remember the Milk
One of the draws of the to-do list maker Remember the Milk is that it works with Apple's Siri—on the iPhone 4S only. For earlier-generation phones, it's still a great little app for keeping your tasks organized. Remember The Milk also syncs with a bunch of major Web apps, such as Outlook, iCal, Gmail, and Google Calendar.
RunKeeper
Runners, fitness enthusiasts, and anyone trying to shed a few pounds might know that the iPhone is an incredibly powerful tool at helping you track your exercise. With the RunKeeper app, one of the most popular apps among outdoor runners in particular, you can tap into the phone's GPS technology to map where you've run, jogged, or walked. (You can also manually enter information from indoor runs.) RunKeeper figures out more statistics for you, like your pace, total distance covered, and so on. All your data is synced to RunKeeper.com, where you can view a history of all your activities. The app also has a coaching feature if you want audio some encouragement while you're working out.
Shazam
If you hear a song and don't know what it is (or for the life of you, can't remember who sings it)—Shazam to the rescue! Launch Shazam and hold it as close as you can to the speakers, then let her rip. Within a few seconds, the app will tell you the title, artist, and sometimes even find the album art, too. Shazam is a whiz with most radio-play songs, new and old, originals and covers, but it occasionally gets stumped by obscure b-sides.
Skype
Skype is one of the best free communication tools for the iPhone, not necessarily because of how it works, but because so many people have Skype accounts.The app lets you make both video and audio-only calls, as well as chat with other Skype users at no charge. If you buy Skype credit, you can also call any other phone number, landline or mobile.
Slacker Radio
When I ask my colleagues at PCMag which music streaming service they like best, someone always mentions Slacker Radio, and everyone else's heads start nodding. The same outstanding service you'll find in Slacker Radio's online version is on the iPhone and has been for a long enough time for the company to have massaged the interface and performance to the point that you can appreciate it audibly.
Visit page five, to check out The 50 best free iPhone apps of 2012 (41-50)….
Copyright © 2010 Ziff Davis Publishing Holdings Inc
StumbleUpon
StumbleUpon, one of the most sophisticated and fun ways to explore new content on the Web, delivers an excellent experience on the iPhone, if you can cope with the inherent limitations of the small screen. Without a native mobile-optimized viewing option, it's a little less than ideal on the iPhone.
SugarSync
One of our favorite file-syncing services, SugarSync added an iPhone app to its offering in 2011. SugarSync gives you access to your files from a multitude of devices, no matter if you store them on your laptop at home, desktop computer at the office, tablet, and so on. You can use SugarSync to stream music, back-up photos, collaborate on projects, and more.
TED by TED Conferences
TED's tagline is "Ideas worth spreading," and what better way to spread the ideas from this series of education, explorative, and motivational talks than by carrying them with you wherever you go. TED once was a highly exclusive conference, closed off even to most press, and the organization's greatest accomplishment to date has been to open up the knowledge that comes from its speakers by making videos of their presentations and performances available online to the public. This official TED app works for both iPhone and iPad. If you're unfamiliar with TED, give Jill Bolte Taylor's stroke of insight presentation a try. You'll be hooked.
Trainyard Express
In this captivating iPhone game from indie developer Matt Rix, players lay down tracks to guide trains from their starting points to the stations, sometimes merging with other trains along the way. Trains, starting points, and stations are color-coded. Red trains must end up in red goal stations. A blue train can merge with a red train to become a purple one before it reaches a purple station. As the difficulty increases, the number of trains also increases, as well as the number of objectives in each level. Trainyard Express is an absolutely addictive and fun puzzle game for players of all ages. for more iPhone game recommendations, see "The 25 Best iPhone Games."
Twitter
If you tweet, download the free Twitter app. If you don't tweet and have been on the fence about joining the masses, the iPhone app makes it easy and convenient to get on board the 140-character social network, or just watch what others discuss on the site without actually participating if you prefer to be a silent lurker. It's true that since iOS 5, a lot of Twitter functionality is now directly integrated into the iPhone so you can tweet photos or links that you want to share with greater ease. But you still need the Twitter app (or another Twitter client) to read tweets, see when other people mention you, and fully participate in the social experience.
WebMD
WebMD is much more than a diagnosis app, although you certainly can use it to input symptoms you are experiencing and find some clues as to what's ailing you. It also contains listings for healthcare professionals and pharmacies in your area, as well as first-aid guides—simple instructions for dealing with an emergency that everyone should have accessible to them at any time. This free reference app is one you hope you don't need, but the moment you do, you'll be glad you downloaded it.
Wikipedia
Half the fun of having a smartphone is looking things up when you're in the middle of a bar bet—and hopefully proving yourself right. Wikipedia is the go-to source for fact-checking in the mobile age, and the Wikipedia app usually returns results faster than a mobile search engine.
Yahoo! Axis
Yahoo! Axis brings a refreshing and desirable new take on Web search, getting rid of the middle man, those pesky link-filled result pages. The implementation of this new idea still needs more sanding and buffing, but Pinterest users will find it's better for pinning than the social site's own mobile app. Yahoo! Axis includes a Pin It button bookmarklet directly in the browser for all your mobile pinning needs.
Yelp
The most comprehensive review app, Yelp turns out to be an invaluable tool for finding businesses nearby, especially when you're in a town you don't know well. Yelp's mobile app has helped me find a hairdresser when I was in a pinch in Washington DC, and a suitable lunch while driving through Ohio (shout-out to Moreland Hills!). Need to find an acupuncturist in Austin? Or the most popular coffee shop in Charlotte (emphasis on "popular" and not necessarily "best," by the way)? Yelp's the app to do it.
YouTube
Formerly, YouTube came preinstalled on iPhones, but that's no longer the case. If you buy a new iPhone 5 , you'll want to install the YouTube app so that you can get quick access to all kinds of videos, from movie trailers to tutorials. I've relied on YouTube on my iPhone to figure out so many things in life that I am too embarrassed to ask someone else to teach me, like how to install additional RAM on my laptop, to how to knit in the round. I thank my lucky stars it's free.
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