Giant tech companies like Apple are constantly adding new features to their platforms, but they can’t do everything. To fill the gaps, we have third-party apps: these developers can focus on features that Apple products don’t have or aren’t well implemented, and can focus all their efforts on improving those features. It’s truly a win-win, until Apple decides to take these great ideas and implement them on their platforms for free.
This practice is so common that it has a name: sherlocking. It refers to Apple’s search app, Sherlock, which takes functionality from the third-party search app Watson. With every major update to iOS and macOS, Apple introduces features that threaten or effectively replace independent programs. This year, eight such applications and categories are clearly in the crosshairs. In fact, analysts estimate that Apple’s changes to iOS 18 alone could impact apps that brought in nearly $400 million last year. But as we’ll see, just because Apple introduces these features doesn’t mean these apps are automatically obsolete.
Magnet
Don’t you know it, but the operating system known as “Windows” traditionally offers better window management than macOS. For years now, it’s been easy to insert Windows windows wherever you want: if you want one window on the left half of the screen and another on the right, it’s easy with a drag and drop. the mouse or a keyboard shortcut. Apple added a few window management options on macOS, including in and out of full-screen mode, but it still lags far behind the keyboard shortcut simplicity offered by Windows.
That’s where third-party apps like Magnet come in: these utilities essentially add Microsoft’s window management to macOS: Windows can snap into place with keyboard shortcuts or by dragging windows to specific corners of the screen. For all PC users switching to Mac for the first time, apps like Magnet were a must.
Until WWDC, where Apple casually revealed its new window management system for Macs. It’s a simple system: drag windows from the sides and corners of your screen into place, or use keyboard shortcuts to do the same. But this simple system takes care of the majority of functions that people turn to macOS window management utilities for. That’s bad enough for free programs, but given that apps like Magnet cost $4.99, it could definitely hurt the developer.
1Password
Apple has actually had a decent password management system for a while now: in recent years, iCloud Keychain has done enough for me to not consider third-party alternatives, like 1Password or Dashlane. That said, iCloud Keychain’s biggest weakness was its lack of centrality: it works very well in the background, automatically creating and saving new passwords, and automatically filling in those passwords when you need them. But when it comes to manually extracting your credentials, having a full-fledged app definitely improves the experience.
Of course, that’s what Apple is doing this year: iCloud Keychain is now an app, called Passwords, that syncs across your Apple devices. Now you have clear separation for things like passwords, 2FA codes, passkeys and wifi passwords, and you can also access shared password collections. However, beyond these essential changes, the experience remains quite simple. I don’t think dedicated password managers are there hazard Because of this new experience, existing users will likely stick with their platform of choice for the additional features they offer. But third-party apps will likely have to convince new users why the Passwords app on their iPhone and Mac isn’t enough for them (especially if that’s probably the case).
Tape call
Recording of phone calls has sucked on iOS. There was never a built-in way to do this, so you had to use a half-baked workaround in the free Google Voice app (which only worked for incoming calls) or pay an expensive subscription for an app like TapeACall.
Soon, though, call recording won’t just be part of iOS: you’ll basically be invited to try it. Apple advertises this feature as another menu option when you’re currently on a call: just press the record button and iOS will record everything you and the other caller say. This probably made TapeACall shudder, whose $10 per month subscription now seems a bit expensive compared to a free update to iOS 18.
That said, Apple East advertising the feature as part of Apple Intelligence, the brand name for the company’s big AI features. If this is true, only the iPhone 15 Pro and 15 Pro Max (as well as future iPhones) will be able to perform this phone recording feature. This leaves a significant market for apps like TapeACall. (Fingers crossed for a price drop, though.)
Grammar
Speaking of Apple Intelligence, the company’s upcoming AI assistant will happily help you proofread your writing and rewrite any sentence or paragraph on the fly, whether you’re writing on your iPhone, iPad, or Mac.
That shouldn’t be good news for companies like Grammarly, which offer solutions on the same set of devices to check spelling, grammar, and sentence structure as you type. Grammarly even deployed AI writing tools in the age of artificial intelligence: at the time, this might have seemed like a competitive move compared to options like ChatGPT or Gemini. (Why copy and paste your text into a chatbot when a Grammarly extension can do it for you right in the text field?) But now that Apple Also If an AI writing robot is on the horizon, the question becomes: why download the extension?
Of course, just like the TapeACall conversation, there will initially be a limited audience for Apple’s AI features. Apple Intelligence is only available on iPhone 15 Pro and M-series Macs, meaning any editors using an Intel Mac will still want to stick with their proofreader of choice.
Newji
Apple Intelligence is generative AI, which means has have an AI art component. Among these new features is the ability to generate new emojis to share in chats. As far as AI art goes, it seems harmless, and even fun, in case the existing emoji options don’t quite match the vibe you’re going for.
This is a bit disappointing for apps like Newji, however. It basically works exactly like Apple’s new feature: you ask the AI what you want your emoji to be (Newji’s flagship example is “a big rat dragging a slice of pizza”), and it generates options you can choose from. Fortunately for Newji, Apple Intelligence is moving slowly and will not be available on most iPhones, at least for now. So the company has some time before more people start buying Apple Intelligence-enabled iPhones.
All trails
New to the Maps app across the Apple ecosystem is a set of hiking features: updates bring downloadable topographic maps to the app, as well as thousands of hikes to save offline. Even when you don’t have service, these offline maps and hikes offer turn-by-turn navigation with voice, just like pulling from a live directions feed. You can even create your own routes, if you wish.
Hmm. Sounds suspiciously like AllTrails, doesn’t it? Luckily for them, AllTrails already has a huge user base, allowing it to offer more experiences than Apple Maps, at least initially. But since the iPhone is massively popular in the United States, the more hikers turn to Apple Maps for hiking, the larger this community could grow. And unlike some other options on this list, all Apple devices compatible with this year’s updates benefit from these features, as they are not tied to Apple Intelligence. This will be something to watch out for.
Otter.ai
Transcriptions are another non-Apple Intelligence feature coming to Apple devices this year. (Always powered by AI.) When you record audio in Voice Memos (or Notes), iOS or macOS will transcribe it for you. This is a big advantage: you can quickly review a conversation you recorded, or perhaps a presentation or lecture, and search for a specific topic that was mentioned.
Of course, this is also a big advantage of services like Otter.ai. You would think that Apple’s AI transcripts threaten Otter.ai and its ilk, but I see that this one is largely unaffected for now. Otter.ai in particular is so feature-rich and integrated into various working suites in a way that will likely isolate it from Apple’s new features here. I see Otter losing the most business to new transcribers, who just want a quick way to review a voice memo. Why look for a solution when the transcription now appears directly with your recording on your iPhone or Mac?
Facet
Of all the apps on this list, Bezel may be struggling the most. With macOS 15, Apple adds iPhone screen mirroring. This means you can wirelessly view and control your iPhone screen from your Mac, while keeping your iPhone locked and put away.
Bezel is undoubtedly the most popular third-party option for mirroring your iPhone screen to your Mac, but it may not be able to compete with macOS Sequoia. For one, Bezel requires a cable, while macOS supports wireless iPhone mirroring. But the bigger problem is that Bezel costs $29 for use on one Mac and $69 for up to three Macs. Meanwhile, Apple’s screen mirroring feature is free with an update to macOS 15 on any supported Mac. This is definitely a tough situation for Bezel.
But again, just because Apple adds a new feature to iOS and macOS doesn’t mean third-party options offering the same functionality are toast. The App Store is full of apps that sell on features that Apple has built into its platforms for years, and they succeed by offering a different (or perhaps improved) experience from Apple. I think most of these apps have the same opportunity, but in reality it will depend on what the users want.