30 Best iPhone X Optimized Apps

The iPhone X is unlike any Apple smartphone that's come before it, thanks in large part to that extended edge-to-edge screen and the notch housing the TrueDepth camera and Face ID sensors. With Apple about to launch the latest generation of iPhones, all of which are likely to adopt the iPhone X's notched display, we're taking a look at some of our favorite apps that take advantage of the iPhone X's hardware, augmented reality capabilities, and its enormous screen real estate.

(Image Credit: Caitlin McGarry/Tom's Guide)

Halide is among our favorite iPhone photography apps, and it's also leading the way with an interface that doesn't just adapt to the iPhone X screen but also takes advantage of new hardware and software features in the phone. The UI's been redesigned to support the iPhone X's edge-to-edge screen, and even uses the "horns" on either side of the camera and speaker notch to display information like exposure settings. Under the hood, Halide also includes support for depth maps, allowing users to apply portrait effects in iOS 11's Photos app. All of that is on top of Halide's already excellent photographic feature set and uncluttered interface.

Westworld is back, and that means it’s time to re-up your HBO subscription. HBO Now lets you stream shows on your iOS device without signing up for a cable package, and you can easily cancel when your show du jour ends for the year. With its iPhone X-optimized app, HBO looks better on a small screen than ever before.

Focos takes advantage of the iPhone X's dual lens camera and depth recording features to let users tinker around with and refocus images after the fact, delivering a more customizable Bokeh effect with variant shapes, adjustable aperture and diaphragm settings, and added depth filters. You can even tweak your existing Portrait Mode photos after the fact. While it doesn't have the newer customizable lighting features of the stock camera's updated Portrait Mode, it's an excellent addition to your mobile photography bag of tricks. 

Enlight Photofox is the latest edition of the award-winning photo editing app, allowing users to create stunning double exposures and other artfully manipulated effects. The app provides a wealth of tools to affect color and tone, with filters, masks and layer effects making it easy to stitch together photos with a variety of blending modes and tools to keep everything seamless. The app offers some effects free, with an unlimited subscription unlocking all features. 

Where Focos and Enlight provide stunning specialized editing features, when it comes to all around photo editing, Snapseed is still one of our favorites with its combination of ease of use and powerful, pro-grade features and editing tools. The app's arsenal runs the gamut from simple transformation tools, filters, and effects, to more powerful retouching and editing features that you can selectively apply with editing brushes and customizable "Control Points" for more precise enhancements. It's a powerful, easy to use and ad-free photo editor that easily deserves a spot in your iPhone's app drawer.

The Civilizations AR app brings ancient relics and cultural treasures to life using augmented reality to turn your iPhone X into a mobile museum. You can view each artifact in lifelike 3D renderings, using your phone as an AR viewfinder. Not only do you get unprecedented views, you can also zoom in and spin around objects. Be sure to check out interactive features like x-ray views and narrations, and learn about the secrets, origins and history of these global cultural treasures.

A winner of the 2018 Apple Design Awards, iTranslate Converse is a more nimble version of iTranslate's mobile app, focused entirely on two-way voice translation for 38 different languages, with automatic language detection. Speak into the iPhone X's mic, and the app quickly translates your speech into your selected language, complete with text and audio. Then, it's ready to listen for an answer and translate to the first language you used, and provide text transcripts. Converse's main virtue is its ease of use, with a simple interface and few extras to get in the way. Subscriptions start at $4.99 per month, with a free 7-day trial.