So you’ve finally cleared up enough space to install iOS 8, or you purchased a new iPhone 6.
While iOS 8 doesn’t look radically different, Apple’s new operating system is capable of stunning visuals, and apps can now do more than ever thanks to widgets and app extensions.
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From cutting-edge mobile games to gaining access to your favorite apps with just a swipe, there’s no doubt that iOS 8 has ushered in a new era for apps.
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Use Litely to turn your iPhone photos into subtle masterpieces.
Litely brings professional-grade photo filters to the iPhone, and its new update for iOS 8 introduces four new smart adjustments that let you tweak contrast, temperature, highlights, and shadows.
Price: Free
Customize your iPhone’s keyboard with “Fleksy.”
Above: Fleksy
“Fleksy” claims to be the fastest keyboard in the world, but it also comes with plenty of customization options. You make your iPhone keyboard better suited to you with options to change the color, or free up some screen real estate with the ability to shrink or expand your keyboard.
Price: $0.99
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“Lifesum” is a great way to track your lifestyle choices.
Above: Lifesum
“Lifesum” calls itself “the celebrity entourage of health people guiding the superstar through their day.” The app helps you track what you eat thanks to a built-in barcode scanner and search feature, and thanks to iOS 8, “Lifesum” can now import your exercise information directly from Apple’s “Health” app. If you’re out and about, you can also see your daily progress with the iOS 8 widget in the Notification Center.
Price: Free
“Tumblr” now lets you post to your blog from within other apps.
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Above: Tumblr
“Tumblr” has been around for a while, but it’s now optimized for iOS 8 and the iPhone 6 with full-width posts. Thanks to its iOS 8 extension, it’s now possible to post directly to “Tumblr” while inside other apps by using the new share button.
Price: Free
“Post-it Plus” turns your paper notes into virtual ones.
Above: Post-it Plus
Sometimes it’s best to work on paper, but that doesn’t mean your work has to stay there. With “Post-it Plus,” you simply take a picture of up to 50 square post-its and the app will turn them into virtual notes that you can organize and share how you like.
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Price: Free
Apple’s iMovie app is the best way to edit on the iPhone.
Above: iMovie
With iMovie, you can edit an entire film or add cool effects. Thanks to iOS 8’s extensibility feature, the iMovie app extension also lets you add a filter, animated titles, and soundtrack to any clip, right from within the Photos app.
Price: $4.99
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Try out a new way to type with “Swype.”
Above: Swype
“Swype” has always been huge on Android, but with iOS 8, you can now enjoy a new style of texting that lets you use a swiping gesture rather than taps to form words.
Price: $0.99
“Plunder Pirates” is a fun way to show off how iOS 8 environments pop with detail.
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Above: Plunder Pirates
Made from the same studio that brought you “Angry Birds,” “Plunder Pirates” lets you build your own 3-D island and set sail in a pirate ship to battle against other ship captains. It’s also optimized using Apple’s new Metal technology, which allows developers to build right on top of the GPU to optimize graphics and prevent games from taking up too much space, so it will look great on your iPhone 5, 5S, or 6.
Price: Free
“Epic Zen Garden” shows you what your iPhone’s graphics are capable of.
Above: Epic Zen Garden
Apple demonstrated “Epic Zen Garden” at WWDC in June to show off what iOS 8 is capable of, and for good reason. This peaceful virtual environment is brimming with detail, and you can interact with literally thousands of cherry blossoms, scores of butterflies, and plenty of other eye-catching effects.
Price: Free
“PopKey” lets you send thousands of GIFs with your iPhone’s keyboard.
Above: PopKey
Thanks to iOS 8’s new ability to work with third-party keyboards, you can now access a GIF collection right at your fingertips. “PopKey” helps you find the perfect GIF, letting you search by keyword or by GIFs that are trending. And the best part is you can select and send a GIF right from within iMessage.
Price: Free
If you see something you want to view later, save it with Pocket.
Above: Pocket
Pocket lets you save articles, videos, and links for later viewing, even if you’re stuck without an internet connection. Pocket now features an iOS 8 app extension, which lets you save things directly from within Safari so you can save and continue browsing without hopping between apps.
Price: Free
“Yahoo Weather” has never been easier to access.
Above: Yahoo Weather
“Yahoo Weather” has been updated to look incredible on the iPhone 6’s bigger screen, and thanks to its new iOS 8 app extension, you can now check out the current weather around you with a single swipe down of the Notification Center.
Price: Free
The new “BuzzFeed” widget lets you stay on top of viral posts with a swipe.
Above: BuzzFeed
If you’re in the mood for some quizzes or just want a laugh, BuzzFeed’s app has your back. And thanks to its new iOS 8 update, there’s now a widget that will let you see trending posts in the “Today” view in the Notification Center. Just swipe down.
Price: Free
“Asphalt 8” is the best-looking racing game out there.
Above: Asphalt 8
The latest update of “Asphalt 8” for iOS 8 update gives the visuals a boost, and you can now race three times as many opponents.
Price: Free
Filling in passwords and login info has never been easier with “1Password”‘s iOS 8 extension.
Above: 1password
“1Password” securely stores all of your passwords, logins, and credit-card info in one place so you don’t have to keep track of them. 1Password’s new iOS 8 app extension will now fill in your login details and passwords right from within Safari and your favorite apps, all by using your iPhone’s Touch ID fingerprint sensor.
Price: Free
Add to your journals in a flash with the “Day One” app extension.
Above: Day One
“Day One” is a modern journaling app that keeps note-taking simple yet elegant. You can now see flashbacks of your previous entries directly from your iPhone’s Notification Center, and the iOS 8 app extension lets you save and send photos and links right into the app without opening it.
Price: $4.99
“Modern Combat 5: Blackout” now looks even better thanks to iOS 8’s Metal graphics.
Above: Modern Combat 5: Blackout
“Modern Combat 5: Blackout” features a solo campaign, four customizable classes, and a multiplayer mode to keep you busy. And thanks to Metal in iOS 8, there are five times more particles, improved explosions, upgraded environments, and richer weather effects.
Price: $6.99
“Mr. Crab” is a beautiful arcade game that shows how Apple’s Metal graphics will transform casual games, too.
Above: Mr. Crab
“Mr. Crab” is simple to start playing: Just jump your way to the top, and try to rescue as many baby crabs as you can while avoiding enemies.
Price: Free
“Defenders” is a gorgeous tower-defense game that also uses Metal in iOS 8.
Above: Defenders
“Defenders” takes the familiar tower-defense genre and infuses it with collectible cards that represent your towers, spells, and traps. The game’s vibrant colors and graphics look beautiful, but don’t them distract you. It’s your job to build up a good collection so you can keep the waves of evil mutants away.
Price: Free
Evernote is the best for collecting your notes and ideas in one easy-to-access place.
Above: Evernote
Whether you’re writing, collecting pictures, making a list, or scanning business cards, Evernote is the best app for storing your projects, and they’ll sync across all devices. The new iOS 8 widget lets you quickly create notes from the Notification Center, and you can now save content directly to Evernote using the iPhone’s share menu.
Price: Free
This story originally appeared on Www.businessinsider.com. Copyright 2014
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