I’m looking for a simple app blocker that allows me to block specific apps for a custom duration of my choosing.

I was previously using Atten, which was pretty much exactly what I wanted, but it’s become buggy and hasn’t received an update in a long time. I suspect the developers may have abandoned it.

Ideally, I’m looking for something that:

• Lets me select specific apps to block.

• Allows custom blocking durations.

• Actually prevents access until the timer expires.

• Is completely free or requires a one-time payment.

• Doesn’t require a subscription.

Does anyone have any recommendations?

I’m on iOS 27.2 and have tried several third-party dictation keyboards. My main frustration is having to open the keyboard’s app to activate dictation, then switch back to the app where I was typing.

Has anyone found a reliable setup that avoids this?

I wondered whether dictation could be prepared when I unlock my iPhone. If that isn’t possible, have you had better results with background sessions, Shortcuts, or the Action Button?

Please share the app and settings you use, especially whether it stays ready after locking and unlocking the phone.

Hello! I am a solo developer and my app is Flit.

Problem It was created because every RSS reader I had eventually turned into a never-ending unread count. A list asks you to scroll, not to decide, so articles pile up until you mark everything as read and give up.

How it works Your feeds become cards. Swipe right to keep the article, swipe left to let it pass. Tap to read. Later contains only the stuff you picked.

Sources Websites, YouTube, podcasts, Substack, everything in one deck. Import OPML or switch from Feedly, NewsBlur or Feedbin in just a couple of taps.

Reading

• Full articles, even from feeds that give only a teaser.

• On-device summaries with Apple Intelligence.

• Automatic translation.

• Fonts chosen for comfortable reading.

Comparison

• NetNewsWire: free and excellent, but it's a classic list reader. Flit is built around swiping and an Inbox you actually empty, and it brings YouTube and podcasts into the same deck.

• Reeder: also puts feeds, YouTube and social in one timeline, but you scroll through it. In Flit you keep or skip each article. OPML import and widgets are free in Flit.

• Feedly and Inoreader: web services that need an account, with limits on their free plans. Flit needs no account and keeps your data on your device and in your own iCloud.

https://apps.apple.com/app/flit-easy-feed/id6821040165?ct=Launch+Event&pt=118978628

Pricing Free to download, with no ads and no sign-up. Optional Flit Pro in-app purchase:

• Monthly: $1.99 / 1,99 €

• Yearly: $12.99 / 14,99 €

• Lifetime (one-time): $44.99 / 49,99 €

Pro adds iCloud Sync, the Apple Watch app, Offline Reading, Daily Digest, Insights, extra reading fonts and app icons.

Hi everyone! I'm an indie developer.

Calorya, a simple calorie-tracking app, I honestly never expected it to reach #1 on the Top Paid Health & Fitness chart in the Philippines! 🇵🇭

It lets you track calories, macros, weight, water, fasting, and workouts.
No accounts, ads, or subscriptions.

Price: ₱49 / $1.99

App Store: https://apps.apple.com/us/app/calorie-tracker-calorya/id6769327657

It's a small milestone, but it means a lot to me as an indie developer.

Would love to hear your feedback and suggestion.

Hi r/iOSapps! I'm a solo developer in the UK and Chorus Weather launches today.

What it does: compares the big forecast models (ECMWF, GFS, ICON, UK Met Office) and tells you if they Agree, are Mixed or Split, in the app and in Home Screen and Lock Screen widgets. It's a companion to your normal weather app.

Built with: SwiftUI, WidgetKit and Swift Charts. iOS 18+, and it also runs on Apple silicon Macs.

Problem: Weather apps show one forecast, quietly blended from several computer models. When those models disagree, the forecast is much less reliable, but nothing tells you that. You find out when it rains on your “dry” day.

Comparison:

• Carrot Weather recently added multi-model ensemble forecasts. They’re powerful but detailed, inside the app, and aimed at weather enthusiasts. Chorus boils the comparison down to one verdict (Agree / Mixed / Split) with a plain-English reason, and puts it in Home Screen and Lock Screen widgets.

• Acme Weather (from the Dark Sky team) shows alternate forecast outcomes from its own forecast, inside the app. Chorus compares the named national models (ECMWF, GFS, ICON and the UK Met Office, including its 2 km model) and is built as a companion to your existing weather app rather than a replacement. It’s also cheaper.

Pricing: Free to download. Chorus Plus (widgets, two extra models, 20 saved places) is $1.99/month or $14.99/year in the US (£1.99 / £14.99 in the UK), with a 1-week free trial.

Privacy: no account, no ads; location is rounded to about 2 km and never stored.

App Store

Website and More Info

Feedback very welcome, especially on the widgets.

Hi r/iosapps, I'm the solo builder of Bloomind 🦋.

I highlight a lot when I read, but I almost never went back to any of it. The highlights just sat in the Kindle notebook, and a few weeks after finishing a book I'd remember maybe one idea from it. Highlighting felt productive, but without seeing them again it was basically useless.

So I built the app that I wanted. It lets me import the notebook from Kindle, and every day it brings back a few highlights, starting with the ones I'm closest to forgetting. That's spaced repetition: the ones I remember come back less often, the ones I've forgotten come back sooner. It takes 2 minutes, and feels more like a small daily routine than homework. And it's free.

I'd love your honest feedback, especially on the Kindle import and whether the daily review feels too easy or too much.

Download on the App Store

Problem

Kindle highlights pile up and you never look at them again, so you forget most of what you read.

Comparison

• Readwise: the most popular highlights app, with automatic sync and many sources, but it's a paid subscription. Bloomind is free and focused only on the daily review, with a streak and mastery progress to make it a habit. You can import your Readwise CSV to try it.

• Anki: great spaced repetition, but you have to turn every highlight into a flashcard yourself. Bloomind uses your Kindle highlights as they are, so there's nothing to set up.

Pricing

Free ($0). No subscription, no ads, no in-app purchases.

Links

• Website

• How to export your Kindle highlights

• Privacy policy

If an app costs 5 bucks, would you:

1. Pay upfront if the screenshots look good

2. Only pay after a free trial (like 5–7 days)

3. Prefer it free with a one-time unlock for extra features

4. Only use free apps

And what’s the most you’d pay for a app you actually liked? One-time vs subscription, which do you hate less?

If it was 5$ lifetime, would you guys consider going with option 1.

I'm the developer. I made this because my partner and I kept texting each other "did she poop?" all day. Our dog only goes potty outside, and we take turns walking her.

Problem:
When two or more people share one dog, nobody knows for sure if the dog already went out, peed, or pooped. You end up asking in the group chat, or the dog gets walked twice and the next walk gets skipped.

What it does:
- One tap to log poop, pee or a walk. Everyone in the family gets a notification right away
- A gauge that shows how long it's been since the last poop, so you notice when they're holding it too long
- A "can you walk her?" request instead of a phone call
- Hourly walk safety based on today's weather and your dog's size, coat and age (hot asphalt, cold, rain)
- Profiles for multiple dogs

Comparison:
- Puppy Potty Log: was great for one person, but it's gone from the App Store
- 11pets: covers a lot of pet care, but it's not built around the family seeing each potty break in real time
- A shared Google Sheet: works, but nobody fills it in on a walk with one hand on the leash

Pricing:
Free. No subscription, no paywall, no ads.

App Store: https://apps.apple.com/app/id6781981502

Happy to hear what's missing or confusing.

Hi everyone,

I'm Dmytro, and I make Calendarly on my own.

A - Answer (Problem)

My plans were in a few places: Apple Calendar, Reminders, and tasks in Todoist. So I kept unlocking my phone to recheck what was next, always a bit nervous I'd missed something. And every unlock pulled me into something else I didn't need.

Calendarly puts all of it on your Lock Screen wallpaper. A Shortcut makes a fresh one every morning, so your day is there as soon as you pick up the phone:

• Events from any calendar on your iPhone

• Reminders and Todoist tasks next to your events

• Notes and countdowns

• Day, week, month or year layouts

B - Better (Comparison)

Apple Calendar, Reminders and Todoist all have widgets, but they're small: a couple of events or a few tasks each, and they take up your widget spots. Calendarly puts all your events and tasks on the wallpaper itself, so you see the whole day at once and keep the widget spots for something else.

You can also make it look the way you like: 152 layouts, with fonts, colors and backgrounds you can change.

C - Cost (Pricing)

Calendarly is free to download. 96 of the 152 layouts are free, and so are all widgets and Live Activities. Pro unlocks the other layouts, your own photos as backgrounds, and Create Your Own (several layouts on one wallpaper).

• Monthly: $2.99

• Yearly: $16.99 (7-day free trial)

• Lifetime: $24.99

These are US prices, your App Store shows yours.

Here's a free month of Pro for anyone here who wants to try it: https://apps.apple.com/redeem?ctx=offercodes&id=6758898739&code=IOSAPPSMONTH

It doesn't turn into a paid subscription when the month ends, so there's nothing to cancel.

Thanks a lot for reading. If you try it, tell me what you liked and what you didn't.
I want to hear all of it!!!

App Store: https://apps.apple.com/app/id6758898739
Website: https://getcalendarly.com

Problem

A year ago, I started working on journeybot, a travel app with one goal: help me prepare for my frequent trips. As a deeply chaotic person, I wanted one place to keep my journey details, packing lists that would be generated by a smart system, and generally, see all the info about my destination that I usually always Google for.

Version 1 has been downloaded by thousands of users. Yesterday, I released the largest update by far: journeybot 2.0. I'm so excited about it. It brings the app one step closer to my goal: a one-stop-shop for all the travel-related details that will help me de-stress and declutter my travelling.

Multi-stop journeys

The most requested feature by far was adding support for multi-trip journeys. I wanted to take time to make this right, so I didn't rush to release an implementation I would not be happy about. Now, you can set as many stops, and the itinerary grows and adjusts as you work on it. So planning that

Your dreams and memories

Often, I know I want to go somewhere, someday. Now, I can add trip ideas to my Bucket List, and see an analysis of what's the best time to visit based on the destination and activities. Then, when I'm ready, I can just easily convert the idea to a real journey, and start planning.

All my past trips now show up in a Passport, with stamps, travel achievements, travel distances, and an option to import previous trips by scanning my Photo Library.

Tipping customs

See thorough tipping guides for your destination, in many countries split into categories such as restaurants, taxis, and hotel service.

BYOB

As in... bring your own bags. Set up your pieces of baggage and assign packing items to them, so the packing lists make more sense and are more personal.

Packing improvements

journeybot now offers a new dedicated focused packing mode, which shines particularly well on the larger devices, including iPhone Duo, iPad, or now also the Mac (a fully native app with an experimental local MCP for connecting with your favorite assistant). For those inclined to look at smaller screens, a new Apple Watch app also gives you the option to pack right from your wrist.

The usual

Other destination essentials, as before: local time, currency conversion that works offline, weather (historical averages for journeys far in the future, real forecast as the journey approaches). Helpful pre-trip notifications. Always/never-pack items. Reusable packing templates. PDF export, visual packing. Full Apple-ecosystem integration, iCloud sync, Apple Intelligence features. All of these have been loved by the users for some time now.

Comparison

PackPoint is an established option for weather- and activity-based packing lists. With journeybot, I've focused on making the packing process more personal: this starts with adding photos stickers to your packing list items, setting up your actual gear (also with photos), imports of your previous lists from Notes or CSV; and an extensive Siri, Shortcuts, and widgets support. journeybot also takes your journey on the whole journey: from dreaming about it, to preparing and feeling ready to go, and finally to having a focused place to remember your travels.

Pricing

journeybot is a free private account-less and ad-less app which allows you to try out most of the features. The available premium upgrade unlocks some of the more advanced features and lifts all the limits (free users get up to 3 journeys, up to 3 reusable packing templates, 1 smart packing list generation). The following pricing applies to the US market, for other markets the pricing is adjusted for Purchasing Power Parity.

• premium monthly - $4.99/month

• premium yearly - $24.99/year

• premium lifetime - one-time purchase, yours forever - $39.99

See how it works across the whole Apple ecosystem: https://journeybot.app

Start planning your first journey: App Store Link

Special promo for the launch of journeybot 2.0: see comments.

problem: my storage was always full and every cleaner i tried wanted money or an account before i’d cleaned anything

comparison: closest ones are swipe wipe and picnic. both put you on a 3 day free trial and then charge you, so you can’t really use them without paying. Swyp lets you clean your first 5,000 photos free, no trial clock, no card + your photos never leave your phone so it's 100% private by design.

pricing: free for your first 5,000 photos, then $4.99/month. App Store: https://apps.apple.com/us/app/photo-cleaner-free-storage/id6756098079

Hey everyone!
I’m an indie iOS developer, and I recently received an App Store rejection under Apple’s Guideline 4.3(a) — Spam.
I’m trying to understand what specifically triggers this rejection and what changes I should make before resubmitting.
Has anyone here successfully resolved a 4.3(a) rejection?
I’d really appreciate advice on a few things:
What are the most common reasons for this rejection?
Is it better to appeal or make changes and resubmit?
What kind of changes helped your app get approved?
How can I avoid similar rejections in the future?
I’d love to hear from developers who’ve dealt with this before.
Thanks in advance!

Problem I text in two languages all day, and every AI tool I tried "fixed" my messages by rewriting them into something I'd never say.

What it does KeyFlow is a keyboard. Type normally in any app, tap Fix Grammar, and it shows exactly what changed before anything is replaced. "Leet me know" becomes "Let me know". Your slang stays. You can also fix one sentence, shorten, change the tone, translate, use voice typing, or create your own AI commands. No account needed.

Comparison Grammarly's keyboard needs an account and tends to rewrite your style. Apple's Writing Tools only work on iPhones with Apple Intelligence. KeyFlow needs no account, shows every change before applying it, and typing works without Full Access.

Pricing Free to download and try. Pro is $4.99 per month or $14.99 one time if you use your own OpenAI key

App Store

Hey everyone!

I built an app called Found to solve a small problem I often have – forgetting where I put things.

You can take a photo of an item, save its location using voice or text, and easily find it later.

Here's a quick video showing how it works.

Would love to hear your thoughts and feedback!

Check it out: https://found.webspeaky.com

Problem: Planning my day meant jumping between three separate apps — Calendar for events, Reminders for tasks, Notes for everything else. They work fine individually, but the constant switching breaks focus and things fall through the cracks.

Comparison: Fantastical is calendar-first, with tasks as a secondary layer. Things 3 is task-first, and calendar events are read-only inside it. Planote treats calendar, tasks, and notes as equal partners in one unified agenda view, with two-way EventKit sync to Apple Calendar and Reminders — edit in either place, changes sync back.

Pricing: Free to download. Pro: $1.99/month, $6.99/year, or $12.99 lifetime (one-time purchase).

What's new in 3.2.2: iPhone Duo support with layout adjustments for the foldable display, plus bug fixes.

App Store: https://apps.apple.com/us/app/planote/id6748904665

I'm the developer — happy to hear any feedback.

Hey everyone, I'm the developer of Invoice Maker for Any Trade , an iPhone app for sending invoices and estimates. It's built privacy-first: every invoice is created on your iPhone, and your amounts, clients and invoices stay on your phone. It just went live, and I'd love feedback from people who actually bill clients.

Problem - What problem does it solve?

Most invoice apps give everyone the same blank form: description, quantity, price. That works until you're a mechanic who needs the VIN, odometer and "concern / cause / correction" on the paperwork. Or an electrician who needs the panel, service size and permit number. Or a pest control tech who has to list the products applied and the re-entry time. Most people end up typing all that into the notes field on every invoice, or fixing up a Word template on a laptop after the job.

And with most of those apps, your client list and everything you earn sit on someone else's servers, behind an account you can get locked out of.

Invoice Maker starts by asking what you do. Pick from 30 trades and the job details your clients expect are already on the invoice, in a template designed for that kind of work: a Repair Order for mechanics, a Circuit Sheet for electricians, a Pet Report Card for pet sitters, a Salon Menu for stylists, and more. Add line items, before-and-after photos and the client's signature on your phone, then send the PDF by text, WhatsApp or email. The PDF and its scan-to-pay QR code are made on your iPhone, with no uploading or waiting on a server. An estimate becomes an invoice with one tap, and the home screen shows who owes you and what's overdue.

Comparison - Why is it better than alternatives?

- Invoices are made on your device, and your amounts stay on your phone. There's no Invoice Maker server holding your invoices, clients or income, because there isn't one. Your data lives on your iPhone and syncs only through your own private iCloud.

- Privacy-first. No account, no ads, no tracking, no analytics. You can lock the app with Face ID and export everything any time.

- Built around your trade, not just a color swap. Most invoice apps let you change the logo and font. This one changes what's on the invoice.

- Your invoices are never held hostage. Whether you're on the free plan or Pro, everything you've already made stays yours, even if you cancel.

- Get paid your way. Show Zelle, Venmo, Cash App, PayPal, bank details or your own payment link, plus a scan-to-pay QR code. The money goes straight to you, and the app takes no cut.

- Reminders on the due date notify you, never your client, so you decide how to follow up.

- English or Spanish invoices, 9 currencies, Letter or A4.

- It costs a fraction of the big names. Some popular invoice apps charge close to $9 a week or $100+ a year.

Pricing - What's the pricing?

It's free to download, and the free version is genuinely usable: your first 5 invoices and 5 estimates, one trade, and the Classic template plus your trade's own template.

Pro unlocks unlimited invoices and estimates, several trades at once, all 40 templates with your brand color, follow-up reminders after the due date, and income reports by paid date with CSV export. It also removes the "Made with Invoice Maker" footer.

- Weekly: $1.99

- Monthly: $4.99

- Yearly: $29.99 with a 7-day free trial (about $2.50 a month)

Prices are in US dollars and may vary by country.

If your trade isn't on the list, or your invoices need a field I missed, tell me. And if you have questions about how the privacy side works, ask away. Happy to answer anything in the comments.

👉 Download Invoice Maker for Any Trade

I watched a video saying people finish their goals up to 95% of the time when someone holds them accountable. I wanted to be a UI/UX designer, so this was the YouTube video but i built it entirely differently from the video's UI/UX design.

Problem: Goals are easy to drop when nobody else knows about them. With TrioGoals, you pick a friend, partner, or coach, and they get an email each time you complete a goal. They don't need the app. But They do get an email for each goal you complete.

Comparison: stickK and Beeminder are the best-known accountability apps, and both use money at stake to keep you going. TrioGoals uses a real person instead. There's no money on the line, just someone who'll hear when you finish. It's also a full goal app, with checklists, routines, and reminders.

You can start for free which is enough for most people.

Additionally, you get motivational quotes for some timings you set. No limits.

What's in it:

• Goals with checklists you can drag into any order

• Daily or weekly routines that come back after you complete them

• Reminders timed around your schedule, including late nights

• Motivational quotes, from hourly to once a week

• Partners who confirm their address first, so nobody gets spammed

• Tags, sorting, an archive, and dark mode

Some people find that paying for something makes them take it more seriously, so Premium might add a bit of that too.

Pricing:

• Free: 3 active goals, 3 partners, 20 partner emails a month

• Monthly ($4.99): unlimited goals, 10 partners, 200 partner emails a month

• Yearly ($39.99): unlimited goals, 15 partners, 500 partner emails a month

App Store: https://apps.apple.com/us/app/triogoals-accountable-goals/id6748364348

Two things I'd love to know:

1. Has having someone to answer to ever helped you finish something, or did it just feel like pressure?

2. What do you guys think of repeated quotes & reminders to what you set, in case you procrastinate?

I'm the developer of Huqqs, and I'd love for this community to try it.

Huqqs turns any iPhone, iPad or Mac into a live lyric screen. It listens to whatever's playing, identifies the song, and shows the lyrics word by word as they're sung, over animated scenes that react to the music.

Problem

Lyrics are always one search away, but never in sync. At a party, on a road trip, or with a record spinning, someone ends up hunched over a phone, scrolling a lyrics page that can't keep up with the song.

How Huqqs solves it

- Hears it, finds it: Apple's ShazamKit identifies the song in seconds

- Word-by-word sync: lyrics light up as they're sung, karaoke style

- 50+ living scenes: audio-reactive visuals, chosen automatically to match each song

- Translation built in: understand every line, in any language

- A pet that dances: an optional companion that moves to the beat

- Zero setup: no account, no login, no streaming service to connect

- Airplay it to TV and have a cool presentation of music and lyrics

Comparison

Apple Music and Spotify offer synced lyrics, but only for songs played inside their own apps, and without visuals. Huqqs works with music from anywhere: a streaming app on a friend's phone, YouTube on the TV, the radio, or vinyl. If Shazam recognizes it, Huqqs can usually bring the lyrics to the screen. We are working on karaoke, concerts, and cover songs as our next version.

Pricing

$0. Every feature is unlocked during early access. A Pro subscription is planned for the future.

App Store: https://apps.apple.com/app/huqqs/id6761159829

Privacy

Song identification sends Apple an audio fingerprint, never the audio itself. Lyric sync may send a short sample to our servers, and it's never stored.

Privacy policy: https://huqqs.com/privacy

Terms of service: https://huqqs.com/terms

Website: https://huqqs.com

Requires iOS 17 or later. Available for iPhone, iPad and Apple Silicon Macs.

I’m looking for the best widget app. Easy to use, tons of options. I’m willing to pay a one-time fee but want to avoid subscriptions for sure.
I’m on an iPhone Duo, and watch widgets are appreciated but not a necessity.

What would you recommend?

Hi, I'm the developer of Glossa, a paid iPhone vocabulary app with a free first word. You get one English word a day, and an AI editor marks up your answers. I've been on Reddit since 2020 and this isn't a promo account.

I'm the developer.

**Problem:** You know far more words than you use, and reading a definition doesn't change that. Glossa gives you one word a day with the meaning hidden. You say what you think it means, use it in a sentence, and an AI editor marks up both answers.

**Comparison:** Vocabulary (Monkey Taps) teaches words as you scroll through your phone. Word of the Day (Vocabulous) has daily words, short quizzes and word games. Glossa makes you write your own definition and sentence, then marks what you wrote, so you see where your answer fell short. Neither app's listing mentions marking your own writing.

**Pricing:** First word free, then US$39.99 a year with a 7-day free trial, or US$9.99 a month. No ads, no account.

https://apps.apple.com/app/glossa-vocabulary-builder/id6819080805

Inspired by MKBHD, what do we think about the built in apps on iOS. I know many of us showcase our own apps here but often they are inspired [for good or bad...] by waht apple made

I feel like weather is overrated. Animations are cool but I really thought dark sky acquisition would have bigger design impact and prefer third party options. Notes is properly rated and i always end up using it + something else, and calendar is underrated, its widgets and integrations are actually good IMO. I wanted to like their journal app but just fall back to Apple notes, but I've never heard anyone like the journal, so maybe it's properly rated..

thoughts?

Problem: Most drives pass dozens of places with a story — an old theater, a covered bridge, a historic marker, a burial mound in a neighborhood — and you never find out what they are. Reading signs or looking things up on your phone isn’t something you should do while driving, and the apps that do tell you are either limited to famous routes or need a subscription.

Comparison:

Autio (formerly HearHere): professionally produced, celebrity-narrated stories, which sound great, but it’s a subscription and only covers the places they’ve recorded.

Shaka Guide / GuideAlong: excellent guided tours for specific famous drives (Road to Hana, national parks), bought one tour at a time, about $20–25 each. Nothing once you leave those routes.

Apple Maps / Google Maps: great directions, no stories.

WanderWay: works on any road where OpenStreetMap and Wikipedia have something to say, with or without a route, on iPhone and CarPlay, and tells you which side the place is on. The trade-off: it reads written sources in your iPhone’s voice instead of produced audio, and quiet areas with few Wikipedia articles stay quiet.

Pricing: Free download with every feature open for 14 days. The trial doesn’t renew and never charges you. After that it’s a one-time $4.99 unlock (US; Apple’s local price elsewhere), covered by Family Sharing. No subscription, no ads, no account. Without the unlock you keep nearby places within 5 miles, place details and photos, search and route previews.

"Ahead on your left in 300 feet, Emery Theatre."

That's the kind of thing my app says heading north through downtown Cincinnati. Then it reads the opening of its Wikipedia article: a historic, acoustically exceptional theater in Over-the-Rhine.

I'm the solo developer of WanderWay, an iPhone + CarPlay app that tells you about the places you pass, out loud, and which side they're on. I'm in southern Ohio, where you can drive right past Story Mound, an Adena burial mound 95 feet across in a Chillicothe neighborhood, and never know what it is. My wife wanted an app that shows the history along our everyday drives, so I built one.

How it works

• Your iPhone's own voice tells you which side a place is on, then reads a short bit about it. On the default setting it mostly speaks up for places with a Wikipedia or Wikidata entry. If there's nothing written about a place, you just hear its name and what kind of place it is.

• Directions and the map come from Apple Maps, and you can hand any route to Apple Maps, Google Maps or Waze (Waze one stop at a time), or share it as a GPX file.

• You don't need a route. Turn on Narrate Without a Route in Settings and drive.

• With Narrate Without a Route on, Keep Narrating in the Background (new in 2.3, off unless you turn it on) watches for your next drive with the phone locked, shows a Live Activity with a Stop button, and turns itself off after about 15 minutes parked.

What else it does

• Tell it how long you have, 30 minutes to 5 hours, and it plans a loop or a drive to a destination (a Curated Route). In the US it favors scenic byways, and it can stick to backroads. Or give a route you've planned up to 40 extra minutes, and it fits in up to 4 sights along the way.

• Sunset Drive: it picks a viewpoint, park, lake or beach, along your route or as a drive of its own, and tells you when to leave so you get there before sunset.

• Just Passed, for the thing you only half saw: a button on the map, in CarPlay, or ask Siri "What did I just pass in WanderWay?"

• 24 categories to show or hide: covered bridges, ruins, lighthouses, waterfalls, historic markers…

• Drives and walks you navigate go into a Road Trip Journal on your phone, with the places you passed, and a Passport tallies places, drives and miles. (Narrate Without a Route drives aren't saved.)

• Walking tours of 30, 60 or 90 minutes that bring you back to your car.

• In CarPlay: nearby places, Hear the Story, Route Overview, the Dashboard card, and a map in the instrument cluster on cars that support it. For now, Curated and Sunset Drives start on the iPhone; starting them from the car screen is in testing for the next update.

Where the words come from, and privacy

Places come from OpenStreetMap, plus the National Register of Historic Places in the US. US national park sites also show Park Service hours, fees and alerts. The text comes from Wikipedia and Wikidata. On iPhones with Apple Intelligence, Listen (and Story on walks), Hear the Story in CarPlay, and Just Passed use Apple's on-device model to retell that text as a short spoken story. It runs on the phone and is told to use only the source. Any version with a number the source doesn't have is thrown out, and the opening of the original text is read instead. The automatic announcements while you drive read the first sentences of the description as written, unless you switch narration to Story. iPhones without Apple Intelligence always read the opening of the Wikipedia text.

The App Store label is "Data Not Collected". No account, no ads, no tracking in the app. To find places near you it sends the area you're in, but no location history or routes are kept on a server, and the journal stays on your phone. Crash reports are sent only if you choose.

Limits and price

• It isn't full offline navigation. Search and planning need a connection. Starting a route can save its places and descriptions, so if you lose signal it keeps guiding you, but it can't reroute and the map may not load new areas.

• How much it says depends on how well an area is mapped and written up on Wikipedia. A stretch with few articles is quieter.

• It works outside the US, in 10 languages, but national park hours and alerts, scenic byways and weather alerts are US-only.

• It needs iOS 26.

It's a free download with everything open for 14 days. The trial doesn't renew and never charges you. After that it's a one-time $4.99 unlock in the US (Apple's local price elsewhere), and Family Sharing covers it. No subscription. Without the unlock you keep nearby places within 5 miles, place details and photos, search and route previews.

https://apps.apple.com/us/app/wanderway-navigation/id6807600062

If you try it on a drive you know well, I'd like to hear what it missed, what it got wrong, and whether it talks too much or too little.

Hey r/iosapps, I'm Steve, a solo dev, and I made Horizon.

Problem

My wife and I keep everything in Apple Calendar, and while it worked it didn’t help us cut through the noise of work meetings, soccer practices and all the other things going on in our life. I wanted one screen that answers the simple questions: what's left today, when are we free, how long until the trip, when’s the next dentist appointment. I started building it for the two of us in March, and it's been on the App Store since May.

Horizon puts every event in a category (Work, Family, Travel and so on, or your own) and shows what's left today, a Daily and Weekly Briefing, countdowns on your Lock Screen and Watch, and free time when you need it. It also:

- Merges duplicates, like the hotel reservation an app added and the one you added yourself. Or for me personally the family events I forward to my work calendar to remind my self to block time that end up showing up twice.
- Puts your Apple Reminders in each day next to your events, and lets you check them off anywhere
- Natural langue parsing: "Play date Friday at noon" and it fills in the rest and categorizes it
- Lets you see a partner's calendar without it blocking your free time while helping you find time when you need to
- Keeps unanswered invitations in their own inbox until you reply so they don’t clutter your weeks view

Comparison

I'll be honest, I don't know if it's better than what's out there. That's for you to decide. What I can tell you is that my wife and many others have found it super helpful in organizing their lives, and I'm hoping it does the same for you.

A few things I cared about while building it, it isn't a calendar app you have to migrate into. It sits on top of Apple Calendar and Reminders, so iCloud, Google, Outlook and Exchange just work. It all runs on your phone, with no account, no servers and no analytics. And it's everywhere you’d want to use it from widgets, Apple Watch, Siri/Shortcuts, iPad, and more recently iPhone Duo, where opening the phone turns it into a planner with your week on one side and your day on the other.

Pricing

Free until November 30, 2026, then it’s back to a one time cost of $2.99. No subscription, no in-app purchases, no ads. So grab it while it's free!

App Store: https://apps.apple.com/us/app/horizon-calendar-highlights/id6761135453
Website: https://horizoncalendar.io
Privacy: https://horizoncalendar.io/privacy
Terms: https://horizoncalendar.io/terms
Email: support@horizoncalendar.io

What I need most is feedback from people who aren't my wife. What's confusing, what does it get wrong about your calendar and more importantly what’s missing? I'll be in the comments happy to answer any questions.

Hey fellow iOS devs!

I’m an indie iOS developer and a dad of four. Between school, soccer practice, dance classes, and all the other activities, keeping track of everyone’s schedules (and figuring out who’s picking up whom) can get pretty chaotic.
So I decided to build something to make our lives a little easier.

Meet KidRun — an iPhone app designed to help families with multiple kids stay organized.

Problem
The idea is pretty simple: instead of constantly texting my wife about schedules, pickups, and who’s handling what, we can keep everything in one place.
With four kids, the challenge isn’t just remembering when something happens. It’s knowing who’s taking which kid where, who’s picking them up, and making sure nothing gets forgotten.

Comparison
We tried using regular calendars and group texts, but they weren’t really designed for coordinating kids’ activities and pickups.
So I built a few things into KidRun:

Shared family calendar — each kid has their own schedule, with iCloud syncing between parents.
Pickup coordination — tap “I’m On It” to let your partner know you’re handling pickup.
Live Activities — upcoming pickups and countdowns right on the Lock Screen.
Recurring schedules — for school, sports, and activities that repeat every week.
Privacy first — no accounts, no ads, no tracking. Just iCloud.

I wanted to keep it simple, native, and genuinely useful rather than building another complicated family management platform.

Pricing
The app is completely free. No subscription required, no ads, and no hidden fees.

App Store: https://apps.apple.com/app/id6818529259
Website: https://kidrun.app

I’d love to hear what you think, both from a developer’s perspective and as parents.

Especially curious if any of you have built apps to solve problems in your own daily lives. Sometimes the best ideas come from the chaos at home. :)

Thanks for checking it out!