Springboard's Best App Picks – March 2025
Although my opinion of Apple has slightly changed in recent times, that's not to say I've stopped looking at and trying out various apps on my devices.
One thing I was proud of at Future was being able to highlight, countless, developers, and their apps that could help users in many different ways. I now want to carry on the tradition here.
With that in mind, I want to highlight a few apps, once a month, that I've been using on my iPhone, Mac, and other devices that deserve a mention. There's no strict amount to this list — it could be three in one edition or four in another. It's simply what I've spotted and what I've been using that I feel needs to be on the list.
If you're a developer and you want to let me know about any updates or new apps you're working on, please email me.
Croissant
It's fair to say that social media is currently in massive flux. Some companies in the category are fast becoming the main ones to use, while others are showing their true colors to aid a government. But this can mean you're using multiple social apps at once, and posting to them separately can be a chore. This is where Croissant comes in. Developed by Ben McCarthy, known for the camera app Obscura and Ketchup for Pokémon fans, and Aaron Vegh, an iOS developer and Author. You only need to sign in with your Threads, Bluesky, and Mastodon accounts, then you can use Croissant to post to these networks all at once. It's incredibly easy to use, and one of those apps that makes you think, "Why hasn't someone done this before?"
Croissant is free to download but has a paid tier that allows you to post to multiple accounts, as well as other exclusive features, for $2.99 a month / $19.99 a year, and $59.99 as a one-off payment.
Shareshot
Back at TechRadar and iMore, I'd make sure that any articles featuring apps are shown in the main header banner instead of a press photo. To me, it gave the reader confidence that I was using what I was writing about, instead of giving them fluff. However, making sure the images fit into an iPhone or iPad frame would only work 50% of the time, which was endlessly frustrating. Even after leaving Future, I still found myself wasting time trying to make frames fit.
That's why, when I came across Shareshot earlier this year, it instantly replaced what I've been doing for years, while also improving how I create banners. Created by Marc Palmer and Mark Levy, Shareshot is available for iPhone, iPad, Vision Pro, and now Mac. You can unlock all of its features for $1.99/month or $14.99/year, which removes the watermark, allows for custom frames, and much more.
Before Shareshot, I'd take a screenshot, and run a Shortcut to blend the image into an iPhone frame. Next, I'd drop it into Adobe Photoshop or Photopea, add a background color to match the site's theme, and upload the image. Now? I just drop the image in, or Shareshot detects a new screenshot via Photos and blends it into a frame. From there, I can tweak colors, shadows, and more. This is far, far easier than before, and ultimately, it's even fun to do!
Having spoken with Palmer ahead of the macOS launch, improvements are already on their way, such as video support and improved export options, both of which I'm really looking forward to! If any ex-colleagues reading this have been struggling with their own banners lately (hello!), do yourself a favor and use Shareshot.
Quick Reviews
Although Quick Reviews' developer, Matt Birchler, has a soft spot for Metal Gear Solid: The Twin Snakes, I can forgive him because of his new app. In previous years, I've seen Birchler post on various social networks with reviews featuring an elegant template. I subsequently found out that anyone could create something similar via a website he made for it. As a result, I was pleased to see Birchler announce the development and eventual release of a dedicated app for Quick Reviews.
For anyone unaware, you can quickly write up a 'quick review', complete with the type of media, such as a movie, game, and more, followed by adding an image, a description, and a rating. I can say for myself, at least, that when I watch something, I'm on my iPhone as well, so it makes perfect sense to release Quick Reviews as a dedicated app. I've also had a lot of fun creating reviews for previous posts. For instance, I used it for the Jedi Power Battles review, the Tomb Raider IV-VI Remastered review, and the Lara Croft and the Guardian of Light review. Ultimately, Quick Reviews has a great user interface and is fun to use. There's also a paid option to enhance your reviews with more detail, as well as a Letterboxd import option and unlimited review history for $9.99/£9.99 per year.
Dumb Phone
I came across this app just after iOS 18 came out in 2024. One of the first thoughts I had, was how useful it would have been when I was back at the phone shop as tech support. I could have shown this to a new user, almost terrified to use an iPhone for the first time, and eased them into how the device could benefit them.
Developed by Michael Tigas, Dumb Phone transforms an iPhone into a minimal list by showing every function and app from your handset through a simple list. You can create pages to display multiple lists, add a widget to your home screen so the lists can be easily available, reduce animations, and lots more. It's fantastically useful, and it makes me wonder if an iPad version could benefit users further.
You can download Dumb Phone for free with an option to upgrade for $2.99/month, $9.99/year, or for $24.99 as a one-time payment, which unlocks all of the app's functionality.
Micro Social
For the record: I don't use Micro.blog, a social networking site built around blogging. But when I saw that my good friend Greg Morris was creating an app to bring the platform to your iPhone, I revived my old account and gave the app a go. I can happily report that Micro Social is well made, works great, and even reminds me of Tweetie, a third-party Twitter client before the company acquired it. Micro Social is so polished it could easily be mistaken for the official client for Micro.blog. I even love the look of the icon.
There's also 'Micro Social Plus', which unlocks extra features by paying a small, medium, or large tip. This includes reply suggestions, book recommendations, and more. A standout is a smart 'Micro Gram' feature, which displays an Instagram-style layout on the Photos tab from the people you follow.
If you're a heavy user of Micro.blog, download Micro Social. Also worth noting, Greg offers a sponsorship that grants access to a TestFlight app build that showcases features currently in development.
Flycast
Since Apple changed its rules in 20224 to allow emulators on the App Store, I've been using them on my iPhone, iPad, and Apple TV like there's no tomorrow. Being able to easily play games and take screenshots has been a lot of fun. For some reason, no dedicated Dreamcast emulators — or even multi-system ones like RetroArch — support Sega's final console. Although a big fuss has been made about JIT recompilers (Just In Time), which can give a big speed boost to certain emulated consoles on Apple devices, I've never thought its absence would be an issue for a console released back in 1999. In the meantime, I've been using a great emulator on my Mac called Flycast.
Compared to other Dreamcast emulators I've used in the past, such as Chankast, Redream, and more, Flycast wins out by being so easy to set up and configure. For example, I can enable a VMU display to show up in a corner as I play Sonic Adventure, alongside a widescreen hack in a couple of clicks. Recently, Flycast brought back support for online play, with many games ready to go. Wes Fenlon's newsletter, Read Only Memo, published an issue in February all about it. Although it's currently impossible to play Dreamcast games on iPhone and iPad, I'm hoping Flycast will come to Apple's mobile devices soon, as it's currently the best in showcasing why the Dreamcast was ahead of its time.
Again, I've always loved trying out new and updated apps that can help folk in many ways. Compiling a similar list in 2024 was a lot of fun, and I'm thankful to all the developers who reached out.
I want to bring that back once iOS 19 arrives later this year. But that's it for this month! Let me know about any apps you've been enjoying lately. And if you have a great app or an upcoming update you want to shout about, I'd love to hear about it for a future edition.
Thanks for reading.
