iPhone 11: The must-have productivity apps

Apple

iPhone 11: The must-have productivity apps

By Brandon Vigliarolo September 24, 2020, 8:38 AM PDT bviglia

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iPhone 11

Image: Shara Tibken/CNET

iPhone 11

Apple’s iPhone 11 series was released on Sept. 20, 2019. With a new device comes the chance to start fresh with a totally new phone, and potentially new apps, but which apps should you choose?

It can be hard to whittle down the thousands of apps in the App Store to a few top choices, and new ones with great features appear all the time. That said, there are a few essentials that have been around for a while and are nearly universally loved for their productivity-boosting power. If you’re getting an iPhone 11, now’s the time to take one of these productivity apps for a test drive.

SEE: More must-read mobile tech coverage (TechRepublic on Flipboard)

Image: Shara Tibken/CNET

Google G Suite

Yes, there are technically quite a few apps that fall under this category, but they all support each other and should really be downloaded together.

Google Drive is one of the most popular cloud storage platforms for a reason: It has a great interface, it makes sharing documents easy, and it is free. To get the most benefit out of Google Drive, it’s best to also download Google Docs (Google’s cloud word processor), Google Sheets (Google’s spreadsheet app), and Google Slides (Google’s PowerPoint).

SEE: More must-read mobile tech coverage (TechRepublic on Flipboard)

Adobe Scan

Image: Adobe

Adobe Scan

Along with electronic signatures comes electronic documents–but what if the thing you want to digitally sign is on paper? You use Adobe Scan.

Adobe’s OCR scanning app has excellent recognition rate, solid OCR, and outputs scans to PDF with just a few taps. If you find yourself with documents to digitize, don’t forget to check out Adobe Scan.

SEE: More must-read mobile tech coverage (TechRepublic on Flipboard)

Image: Adobe

HotspotShield

If you travel a lot or work in public spaces, you need to use a VPN–without it, your connection could be exposed to any passerby who is skilled enough to sniff it out.

HotspotShield is an easy-to-use iOS VPN app that is designed to do just what its name implies: Protect you when you’re using Wi-Fi hotspots. It isn’t free, at least not after its seven-day trial, but that’s standard for any VPN app worth installing.

After the trial, it will cost you $12.99 USD a month, but it’s a justified cost for staying safe on public Wi-Fi.

SEE: More must-read mobile tech coverage (TechRepublic on Flipboard)

By Brandon Vigliarolo

Brandon is a Staff Writer for TechRepublic. He's an award-winning feature and how-to writer who previously worked as an IT professional and served as an MP in the US Army.

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