10 often ignored and forgotten Apple stock apps on iPhone and iPad

In this guide, we’ll introduce you to some lesser-known and often overlooked apps by Apple that come pre-installed on every new iPhone or iPad, including the one you have.

New iPhones and iPads come with around three dozen pre-installed apps.

Many of them, like Phone, Settings, Camera, App Store, and such, are essential for fully using your device, while others, like Music, Notes, Calendar, Reminders, Mail, and Weather, are popular and loved by many.

At the same time, there are some excellent pre-installed Apple apps that people either ignore, hide away in an obscure folder named Apple, Crapple, or Extras, or straight-up delete to reduce clutter.

Let’s get you acquainted with these neglected apps and hopefully nudge you to use them. The reasoning behind this is simple—these apps by Apple are free, easy to use, show no ads, don’t take up much local space, and ensure privacy.

Compass

I recently moved to a new place, and in my culture, it’s recommended to position the bed, set up the work table, and even hang certain wall photos in specific directions. Having the Compass app pre-installed on my and my wife’s iPhones has proven super helpful in figuring out the East, West, North, and South directions.

Even if your use case varies, this simple app can be an excellent companion on hikes, helping you know the directions, see the coordinates, and check elevation. If you have an Apple Watch, the Compass app there can even alert you when you reach a specific elevation.

Measure

Coming back to my house-moving story, the Level feature inside Apple’s Measure app proved to be an invaluable tool for hanging pictures correctly on the wall. In fact, the service person who came to set up our kitchen water purifier forgot his leveling tool and ended up using the Measure app on my iPhone.

You can also use the Measure app to measure the distance of walls, tables, and even a person’s height.

Magnifier

The Magnifier app can be helpful if you or a person in your family, such as a parent or grandparent, wear glasses and have difficulty seeing small print on things like medicine bottles or food packaging.

In addition to that, the app is also helpful for individuals with major visual disabilities, as it can detect people, furniture, and doors and alert them. In some cases, it can even offer instructions on how to open a door!

Journal

The App Store has several journaling apps, and one I particularly like is DayOne. But as with many third-party apps, you either need to purchase it or subscribe to a recurring plan.

So, if you want to keep your subscriptions in check or are simply looking to start journaling, you should explore the built-in Apple Journal app. It’s also available on Mac, so you can comfortably jot down the happenings of your day from your desk.

Freeform

In addition to using the Notes app to create ideas, you should try out Freeform. It offers an easy canvas to plan your design or project. You can work with photos, videos, audio, PDFs, docs, web links, and other types of files in the Freeform board.

Best of all, your work is saved to iCloud and synced across your iPhone, iPad, and Mac.

Translate

I get that Apple’s Translate app doesn’t have as many languages as Google Translate, but it does support the most popular global languages like Spanish, French, Chinese, German, and more.

The Translate app can convert both typed and spoken words and sentences. It also has a conversation mode so you can easily talk with someone speaking a different language. You can even assign it to the Action button for quick conversation.

On top of that, you can use its Camera to convert foreign words and sentences you encounter in your physical space.

Finally, you should also know that you can use the app offline, which is especially handy when you’re traveling to places with limited or expensive cellular data plans.

Stocks

If you’ve invested in stocks or like to stay updated on how your favorite publicly traded company is doing, you can use the Apple Stocks app instead of some other third-party app.

Stocks works well, supports widgets, and even displays relevant news stories to keep you informed.

Passwords

Apple Passwords app stores your account credentials, Wi-Fi passwords, Passkeys, two-factor authentication codes, and more in one spot. You can also use it to autofill when logging into apps and websites.

I get that this is a new app, and its adoption will increase gradually. But if you’re on the fence today, don’t ignore it any longer—assuming you don’t use an Android phone alongside your Apple devices.

When you decide to switch, use our tutorial to import existing passwords from other apps to Apple Passwords.

Tips

This has to be one of the most overlooked Apple apps because we all think we know everything about our devices. In fact, it’s not uncommon to get agitated when the Tips app notification pops up on your iPhone, iPad, or Mac.

But if you’ve switched from Android to iPhone or got your parents an iPhone, the Tips app can be a great place to learn new things and make the most of your device.

Honorable mention: iWork suite of apps

I’ve seen many long-time Android and Windows PC users download Microsoft Office apps immediately after setting up their new iPhone, iPad, or Mac. Then, many of them get disappointed when the apps require an expensive subscription to work meaningfully. This is partly because several PC manufacturers include some version of Office apps for free, so many people don’t even think about paying for them.

This is where Apple’s free and excellent iWork suite of apps comes in. Apple’s Pages, Numbers, and Keynote are equivalent to Microsoft Word, Excel, and PowerPoint. They come pre-installed, support all popular file types, and have a user-friendly layout. You may find yourself loving these apps after just a few days of use.

What are your thoughts on these apps?

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