10 iOS Apps Every Blogger Should Have

I’ve been writing this blog for nearly two years, and what has started initially as a hobby has become one of the major parts of my life now. Because of this, I am constantly looking for new ways to make it easier to get more done, preferably while doing other things (the work of a Mammy is never ever done!). Generally when you see me I’ll have my iPhone on me, it’s a bit like an extra body part, so meshing the two together generally makes sense and does then make up a lot of my blogging work. For example, my phone serves as my main camera, my notepad on the go, my tracker of stats and my main source of contacting other bloggers and people I work with for writing purposes. It’s also where I play my sudoku, but that’s another story.

There are a couple of apps I absolutely could not do without that have made blogging a lot easier – I’d recommend them to anyone who is looking at taking their blogging a bit more seriously but with limited time to do things – lots of them can be easily worked into a multi-tasking lifestyle!

WordPress (download here)

Let’s start with the basics. This is the app of the platform I blog from; where I can write up posts on the go and check in with how my stats are doing, as well as replying to comments when I’m not at my computer. Generally myself and the app get along well, we do have some arguments when I’m convinced I’ve got the right password and it disagrees, but in general I like being able to do up my drafts on the go and just make it pretty when I get to my computer later on. Best of all the app is free!

PS Express (download here)

Though I do most of my photo editing and design stuff for the blog online, using Canva and PicMonkey, this app is great for doing something up in a hurry – especially when its making photos that I’m in appear a lot less like I’ve not been sleeping! The lovely people at Photoshop do what they do best in this free app – while not as comprehensive as their other packages, it does enough to make images that are blog-worthy! I especially loving the blemish repair tool; bye bye crappy skin day!!

Buffer (download here)

To get lovely people reading my posts, I do a lot of promotion using Facebook and Twitter, with some on Instagram sporadically, and more recently a lot on Pinterest. However, marketing my posts can start to feel like a full time job unless I schedule them in advance -reminders to followers of my different social media accounts that posts they may have missed are there – I’ve definitely found this helpful with upping my page views. It is also a great platform for managing multiple social media accounts in the one place instead of having a million and one tabs open! As well as an iOS app, which is fantastic and easy to use, I also like to use the website for Buffer when I’m in laptop blogging mode, as it is just so easy to complete posts, get them scheduled and know that they’ll not get hidden among the rest after a day or two. So important – if your content is good, and you know it’s good, don’t allow it to hide away – keep scheduling that bad boy into the future – otherwise how will your new readers find it?

Google Analytics (Download Here)

Speaking of all those new readers, it’s probably a good idea, if you don’t already do so, to keep an eye on your blog stats – your readership, what posts are popular, how long people are staying on the site and if they’re interested in checking out more of your stuff when they’re finished reading whatever they’ve clicked on that has caught their attention. To me, I find the Google Analytics website a bit of a maze, and require a lot of coffee to make my way through it, however I do find the app far more user-friendly, and gives me the information I need to obsess over just how many people have read my latest post. Ahem. Very useful one for your toolkit, and again, free. Who would ask for more?

Evernote (download here)

Baby brain is alive and well in the Bad Mammy house, despite the baby being a big and bold twenty-month-old so technically not a baby anymore. This app helps me to collate the thoughts that I’ve got on the go, instead of having them on scraps of paper, never to be found again, or in notes which will never be looked it. It takes clips of media too; recordings and pictures, all of which can be handy to piece something together later on when I’ve got more time to make it polished. Best of all, it connects directly to the versions on computer/tablet which means easy use regardless of what technology I’ve got at my disposal. Definitely worth a look for organisation on the go!

Facebook(download here) / Facebook Pages (download here)

If you’re not on Facebook, you’re at a distinct disadvantage in the blogging world. For me, quite a lot of my traffic originates on Facebook, between using my personal page, different blogging-related groups and a blog Facebook page (which is definitely worth a like. Just saying) I do a lot of my marketing on there. It’s quick, easy and EVERYONE is on there – as much as people complain about the changes it makes and privacy settings, it is definitely the addiction of the last decade. The apps on the phone make it usable on the go; most of my link sharing is done from my phone as there isn’t any real pretty-ing left to do, I can copy and paste my link, add a bit of a description and add it to different groupings and parts of Facebook, while also conversing with other bloggers and people who leave comments (which I love receiving) on my phone in an instant. Micro-blogging, as it’s known, is great for getting a quick message out there when you’ve not got time (or material) for a long post but have something to say. Both of these apps are VERY handy to have.

Twitter (download here)

Twitter is actually more on my used-for-blogging list than Facebook on a day to day basis – chat is quick, easy and a whole lot less restricted than it can be on Facebook thanks to not needing to be in groups/be friends with people on Twitter in order to converse. It can be a great way to get opinions on ideas you’re thinking out for a blog post, for promoting it or finding others who you can potentially collaborate with. The use of hashtags is an art to learn but is very useful for connecting your posts to a broad range of people who are actually looking for the same things you’re writing. The iOS app is very user-friendly and quick to learn – two things I definitely look out for, as if it’s too complicated, I’m not likely to bother.

Pinterest (Download here)

The final one on my list, though not my final app that I use (that list is far too long) is Pinterest. Described by other bloggers as “Google for Bloggers”, my love of Pinterest is two-fold – not only is it a great way to introduce others to your content, it is also a great way of gaining inspiration and learning new things from others dependent on what you’re interested in. By searching for things like “Blogging Tips”, “Social Media” or “Writing Cues”, you’re given an entire feed filled with content, mostly advice based, at your fingertips. The iOS app is no less accessible than the computer version and can be really handy for pinning things you want to get back to later on the go. I do a lot of my pinning and reading on buses; have to have something to keep my brain alive! As with all of the apps above, this is also a free app.

Over (Download Here)

This wasn’t initially on my list when I first wrote this post – however, since then a major update has happened which has changed the way I use this app completely. It’s fantastic for on the go graphic designs for my blog, for making title images, graphics to put up on social media, editing photos and adding text over them and a million and one effects. It also makes finding stock photos really easy, as it has Pixabay built in, and a number of other add-ons which make it indispensable. While this isn’t a free app (€3.99 isn’t bad though!), it also offers some further content which is paid, however I’ve not had to purchase anything as of yet and am finding it brilliant for on the go graphics, so I would definitely recommend giving it a try!

As I said, this is by no means a comprehensive list, I’ve got quite a lot of other apps in constant use on my phone, lots of them for blogging, but these are the main ones. If you’re not already using these, I really do recommend checking them out.

I would love to know what your must-have iOS Apps for iPhone Blogging are – let me know in the comments below!