Jeff Gamet's Top iPhone and iPad Apps for 2014

2014 was a good year for iPhone and iPad apps, and a few stood out as must-have choices for me. Curious which apps earned a special place on my iPhone and iPad? Read on to see which apps I just can't live without.

Fantastical 2 for iPad

It's no secret I'm a big fan of Fantastical on the Mac and iPhone, so I was over-the-top happy when Fantastical 2 for the iPad was released. The app lets you create events and tasks with natural language, like "lunch with Bryan on Tuesday." It sports list and full week calendar views, TextExpander touch support, Fantastical 2 for the iPad is priced at US$7.99.

Fantastical 2 for the iPadFantastical 2 for the iPad

Workflow

I love how easy it is to automate tasks on my Mac with Automator, and now I can do pretty much the same on my iPhone and iPad with Workflow. The app lets you build workflows that throw together all kinds of actions, and can even work across multiple apps. You can automate file sharing, creating tasks and events, snap photos and share them with friends or social networking services, and build your own extensions to use in other apps. It even lets you save your workflows as apps on your iPhone or iPad Home screen. The best part is that you don't need to have any coding skills; everything is just drag-and-drop. Workflow is regularly priced at $4.99, but is available for a limited time at $2.99.

Workflow for the iPad and iPhoneWorkflow for the iPad and iPhone

PDFpen 2

PDFpen 2 for the iPhone and iPad is my go-to PDF editor when I'm on the go, which makes sense considering PDFpen for the Mac is one of my favorite apps, too. The app lets you make changes to PDF files, add notations and highlights to documents, add signatures, add or remove pages, edit images, sync with Dropbox or iCloud Drive, and more. PDFpen 2 costs $19.99.

PDFpen 2 for the iPhone and iPadPDFpen 2 for the iPhone and iPad

Transmit for iOS

My FTP app of choice on the Mac is Panic's Transmit, so imagine my excitement when it was released for the iPhone and iPad. It offers full-on file management for FTP, SFTP, WebDAV, iCloud Drive, and Amazon S3 servers, and it works as a Share option in other iOS 89-compatible apps. It sucks that Apple forced Panic to remove file upload support, but that's straightened out and the feature is back in just as it should be. You can pick up Transmit for iOS for $9.99.

Transmit for the iPhone and iPadTransmit for the iPhone and iPad

AirBrowser

Looking for a better way to view websites from your iPhone or iPad on a big screen? AirBrowser has you covered because it lets you display desktop versions of sites instead of just mobile. It uses Apple TV and AirPlay to get sites to your television, supports multiple tabs, keeps track of bookmarks, and lets you use gestures to simulate mouse movement as if you were using a desktop or laptop computer. AirBrowser costs $4.99.

AirBrowser for the iPhone and iPadAirBrowser for the iPhone and iPad

1Password

Keeping track of your passwords is a pain because they're different for every service you use—or at least they should be. 1Password is like my own digital security blanket because it keeps track of every login I have, can generate new passwords for me, stores other critical information like my credit card numbers, and it syncs with 1Password for the Mac. The app's built-in Web browser is pretty slick, and thanks to iOS 8 extensions, I can fill in my user name and password on websites in Mobile Safari, too. Better yet, 1Password is free to use, but for $9.99 you get the ability to use even more categories, use tags to organize entries, work with multiple password vaults, and create custom fields.

iPassword for the iPhone and iPadiPassword for the iPhone and iPad

Monument Valley

I'm not much of a gamer, so the fact that I'm all about Monument Valley is a pretty big deal. This puzzle game is beautiful to look at with its MC Escher-style graphics, and its subdued music makes for a mystical mood as you work through each level. The game includes ten levels, plus you can buy the Forgotten Shores add-on pack with eight more levels for $1.99, and for an extra $0.99 you could get the special Ida's (RED) Dream level in November to support the Global Fund to Fight AIDS. I completed all of the levels, which is unheard of because I typically lose interest in games and stop playing well before I reach the end. I've even gone back and played the levels again. That's how much I love Monument Valley.

Monument Valley for the iPhone and iPadMonument Valley for the iPhone and iPad