Apps Apple may have killed off with iOS 18

Key Takeaways

Several core iOS 18 features may replace core functions of third-party apps like TapeACall, Grammarly, and Proton Pass.
Voice transcription, calendar integration, and premium calculator apps are just a few categories that could face competition from Apple’s new features.
While iOS 18 may not completely kill off these apps, some users may find Apple’s free alternatives worth abandoning paid subscriptions.

If you’re following any iOS 18 coverage, you’ve probably heard the term “Sherlocked.” Sherlocking has a surprisingly long history within the Apple community. All the way back in 1998, Apple released a search utility called Sherlock with Mac OS 8.5. While Sherlock was eventually replaced by Spotlight — in 2002, Apple shipped Sherlock 3, which allegedly copied many features offered by an app called Watson.

Since then, “Sherlocked” has lived in infamy as a term meaning Apple copying another app’s features and essentially replacing it. It’s not too much of a stretch to say that the definition of “Sherlocked” becomes looser and looser every year. Even so, several apps may begin to see their demise with the rollout of iOS 18, with the operating system adopting their core features.

Here’s a list of apps whose fate is less known once iOS 18 becomes publicly available this fall.

How to install Apple’s iOS 18 developer beta on your iPhone

Apple’s adding more than just “Apple Intelligence” to its operating systems. Here’s how to try it all early.

1 TapeACall

Call recorders

Have you ever called a customer service number, heard “this call may be recorded for quality assurance and training purposes,” and thought “I’d like to record this call for my own records?” Or maybe you’re a busy business person who’d find recording phone calls helpful for business records and reference. Well, TapeACall is the self-proclaimed leading call recorder app for iOS and Android. During WWDC24, Apple unveiled call recording as a built-in feature of the Phone app, along with call transcription with iOS 18.

Using call recording as part of iOS avoids storing your calls on a third-party’s servers, improving your privacy and costing nothing. A pro and a con of this new feature is that the other party is notified that the call is being recorded for increased transparency. On the other hand, subscribing to a third-party service like TapeACall allows easy integration with third-party services and won’t notify the other party. Apple’s included call recording feature is likely perfect for most iOS users who may find occasional use.

5 ways iOS 18 is making the iPhone look more like Android

iOS 18 brings with it tons of new features and interface niceties — many of which draw their lineage directly from Android.

2 Proton Pass

Basic password managers

Proton Pass

In-app subscription

Let me be clear, big-name password managers like 1Password, Dashlane, and Bitwarden are almost certainly not replaceable by this iteration of Apple’s Passwords app. All Apple has really done is extracted iCloud Keychain from Settings into its own app. Still, newer and less fully featured Password apps could be at risk.

Proton Pass is an excellent example of a new entrant building out features. Users who only require a basic password manager may find the convenience of Apple’s dedicated Passwords app to be all they need. Meanwhile, power users who enjoy having more features will continue using their manager of choice.

Why Apple finally decided to bring RCS messaging to the iPhone

We now know more details about Apple’s RCS implementation in iOS 18 Messages

It looks like China’s rules are forcing Apple to stay reasonably current.

3 Transcriber

Voice transcription

There is no shortage of voice transcription apps on the App Store, and they are all at risk of being replaced by Apple’s introduction of voice transcription in Notes and Voice Memos. Transcriber is the top search result in the App Store when searching ‘voice transcription.’

However, with the integration of voice transcription in these popular Apple apps, it’s difficult to see why anyone would search for and use a third-party for most use cases.

5 cool iOS 18 features you might have missed

Apple Intelligence and a new Control Center may have stolen the show, but there’s plenty of smaller iOS 18 tweaks just now being uncovered.

4 Newji

Custom emojis

“If you update someone’s phone, they’ll have new emojis for a night; if you give them Newji, they’ll have new emojis for the rest of their life.” This adorable quote is from the app Newji, which generates custom emoji iMessage stickers based on a user’s text prompt.

Sadly for Newji, Apple Intelligence’s image generation feature, Genmoji, does the same thing as Newji. Now, will Newji do a better job than Genmoji? Maybe. But only time will tell. Even so, is Newji worth it for users to download and pay for it?

A hand holds an iPhone with the new Photos app.

Apple Photos is becoming more like Google Photos, and that’s a good thing

In iOS 18, Apple is making it easier to rediscover photos you care about.

5 AllTrails

Hiking trail maps

AllTrails

In-app subscription

Another app segment going against Apple with iOS 18 is hiking trail maps. Apple Maps users in the United States can see thousands of hiking trails across the country’s 63 national parks with this iOS update. Data provided includes length, elevation, and route type. For the casual hiker, this is a welcomed update.

For more serious hikers and those outside of the U.S., they’ll still find use from third-party apps like AllTrails. Still, Apple Maps’ hiking trail maps will likely expand to other countries over time, further eroding these apps’ market share.

The evolution of phone case shopping: From mall kiosks to Amazon’s endless aisle

Gone are the days of wandering the mall to find just the right phone case.

6 ChatGPT

The app, not the service

ChatGPT prompt within iOS 18 from a Siri request.

Apple

ChatGPT

In-app subscription

One of the headlining features of iOS 18 is the integration of LLMs like ChatGPT. Eventually, Apple hopes to include other models like Google’s Gemini, but until then, ChatGPT is the only available service to deliver ‘world knowledge’ Apple Intelligence can’t provide.

Ironically, by providing that direct integration on iOS, ChatGPT’s app becomes mute as users will probably use the direct integration. To be clear, ChatGPT the service is safe, ChatGPT’s iOS app less so.

A dynamic island timer on the iPhone 15 Plus

iOS 17: All the best iPhone features you should know

Need to catch up on what’s new in iOS 17? We gotchu. Here’s everything you need to know about your iPhone’s latest software update.

7 Grammarly

Grammar checkers

Grammarly

In-app subscription

Ah, Grammarly. Once the golden service of writers and students, only to lose stability for the sake of integrating text generation powered by AI. Let’s hope iOS doesn’t fall down the same rabbit hole. One of the headlining features of Apple Intelligence is its ability to summarize, rewrite, and adjust the grammar of written text.

So far, Apple is avoiding text generation altogether. Still, it eliminates the need to jump to another service for basic proofreading. Grammar check services like Grammarly are likely to take a hit from this as users won’t be as inclined to open another app for effectively the same service. That said, if you prefer reviewing the changes as recommendations and implementing them manually, then Grammarly may still have a chance.

An LG TV displays IHG's check-in interface

How to use AirPlay during your next hotel stay

iOS 17 supports an even simpler version of AirPlay for select hotels, here’s how to use it.

8 PCalc

Premium calculators

Apple

PCalc has long been one of the most well-loved and frequently appreciated apps on Apple’s platforms. PCalc developer James Thomson has maintained the app for around 30 years and shows his appreciation for Apple’s platforms by having not only iOS, iPadOS, and macOS apps but also apps for watchOS, tvOS, and visionOS.

While PCalc continues to live on, Apple has finally released the long-desired Calculator app for iPad alongside some impressive functionality improvements for iOS and a new ‘Math Notes’ feature allowing iPadOS to solve handwritten math equations. These improvements with Apple’s Calculator app could be the final spike in the coffin for premium calculators like PCalc.

tired face new emoji with red rimmed eyes and sparkles next to it on a smart phone

These are the new emoji coming to iPhone, Android, and other devices later this year

They could hypothetically launch alongside iOS 18 and Android 15.

9 Fantastical

Calendars with built-in reminders

Apple

Fantastical Calendar

In-app purchases

Along with many other improvements, Apple’s Calendar app now integrates directly with Reminders, allowing scheduled tasks to appear on a user’s calendar along with the ability to add a reminder within the app.

Premium calendar apps like Fantastical have long had this feature. While it’s unlikely this small addition will ruin any calendar app’s business, if you were paying for a subscription-primarily for this functionality, you may be enticed to switch.

an open padlock superimposed over a phone showing the Whatsapp app

The EU is voting on Chat Control law that could scan your WhatsApp chats

The Chat Control law could see chat app providers required to scan every message you send.

10 Google Assistant

Perplexity too

Apple

You probably weren’t expecting to see another voice assistant on this list, but Google Assistant does have an iOS app. The app even has Shortcuts support to create a prompt to ask Google questions, with Siri acting as the intermediary.

However, introducing Apple Intelligence with direct integration with ChatGPT changes many users’ frustration around Siri’s inability to answer general knowledge questions. Even Perplexity, a popular AI-powered Google search alternative, may find its demise on iOS from the convenience of asking Siri—and if needed, throwing that request over to ChatGPT for what Apple calls ‘world knowledge.’

How to know how much storage you need when buying a new iPhone

Internal storage or iCloud? We breakdown everything you need to consider regarding storage when buying a new iPhone

11 Will iOS 18 really kill these apps?

Probably not

Apple

Let’s be honest: Most subscribers who use these apps do so for far more than just a single feature. Apps like 1Password and Fantastic are more than just a password manager and a calendar; they’re incredibly feature-rich. Comparatively, Apple traditionally seeks to create a basic feature that meets the needs of the causal or lite consumer, not a power user.

Still, it cannot help but be said that, over time, at least some existing or potential customers will find whatever Apple provides for free worth abandoning their paid subscriptions. Especially considering many of these services, looking at you, 1Password, Fantastic, and Grammarly sometimes charge shockingly high price points for too many bugs.