I don’t plan to write up a ‘Best Of’ app roundup like I did last year. Instead I recommend everyone read Federico Viticci’s comprehensive list for 2018 apps.

Below, you’ll find a collection of the 60 apps I consider my must-haves on the iPhone and iPad, organized in nine categories; whenever possible, I included links to original reviews and past coverage on MacStories.

Launch Center Pro is similar to Shortcuts. It helps you set up automated tasks. Now that Apple has opened up NFC a bit, Launch Center Pro can now make use of NFC tags.

During the beta, testers used the stickers for a variety of tasks, like launching directions to their next event from a sticker placed in the car, or one that sent their ETA to their loved one and launched directions home. Other testers put a sticker in the fridge to launch a shopping list to add new items to; or placed stickers around the home to trigger HomeKit shortcuts; or placed a sticker by their bedside to help them set alarms, and more.

A cool blend of the physical and digital worlds. You can put an NFC tag anywhere.

Phone repair employees from Flint Audio Studio in Middletown, Rhode Island have been accused of stealing nudes from customers’ smartphones.

An RI State Police investigation has found that 13 women between the ages of 22 and 47 never gave anyone from Flint permission to go through their “media files, make copies and later disseminate them.” Nonetheless, the women allege that store employees stole and shared their nude images and videos.

My first thought was about the apps I’ve reviewed specifically for hiding nudes. But instead I’ll comment that you shouldn’t need to go out of your way to hide nudes. People shouldn’t be rooting around in your camera roll in the first place. Although I do think it would be great if Apple let us lock/hide entire albums.

In 2016, Amazon launched an annual prize for computer science students, with the aim of improving Alexa’s conversational abilities. Users can say «let’s chat» and participate in the experiment. However, while there have been improvements to Alexa, Reuters learned that the experiment produced some very dark moments too.

But Alexa’s gaffes are alienating others, and Bezos on occasion has ordered staff to shut down a bot, three people familiar with the matter said. The user who was told to whack his foster parents wrote a harsh review on Amazon’s website, calling the situation “a whole new level of creepy.” A probe into the incident found the bot had quoted a post without context from Reddit, the social news aggregation site, according to the people.

It seems that WhatsApp, a Facebook-owned messaging app, has had a problem with users sharing child porn. Apple removed Tumblr from the App Store because people were sharing CP on its platform. Should Apple remove WhatsApp as well?

A report from two Israeli NGOs reviewed by TechCrunch details how third-party apps for discovering WhatsApp groups include “Adult” sections that offer invite links to join rings of users trading images of child exploitation.

Policing WhatsApp is more difficult than Tumblr due to the former’s use of encryption. But it seems that these abusive chat groups had child porn in the group name itself, so they aren’t exactly sneaking around. Maybe Apple needs to give WhatsApp a time out.