So were highlighting the apps that help you stay productive, connected, informed, and entertained.

TheLifehacker Packis a yearly snapshot of our favorite, must-have applications for each of our favorite platforms.

For an always up-to-date guide to the best apps on the iPhone, check out theiPhone App Directory.

The catch, really, is that OneNotes free, while Evernotesbest features are locked behind a paywall.

These everything buckets arent for everyone though.

If plain text is more your thing, Simplenote is the app for you.

Theres no long list of features here, Simplenote just does text, and it does it very well.

If youre looking for something in-between,Google Keep is well worth a look.

Its powerful, but still pretty simple.

It fits somewhere in-between the everything buckets of Evernote and OneNote and Google Keep.

Plus, itssuper easyto get a bunch of free space.

Workflow

Workflow is an app that allows you tocreate macros and small appsfor iOS.

Essentially, its Automator for your iPhone.

If Chrome isnt your thing, youhave a few other solid optionsas well.

With it, you might make video calls instantly, and it doesnt cost you a dime.

Both work great for video chats, so pick whichever suits you best.

Of course, if youre not a fan of the app, themobile site works even better.

IM+

When it comes to finding agood IM client, you dont really need much.

IM+ does all that and makes it easy to chat with your friends regardless of what service theyre using.

Its free, has a fantastic location search, and offers a wide variety of routing options.

If youre the jot down to leave your phone sitting around, Find My iPhone is a must have.

Dark Sky

For whatever reason, there are a ton of different weather apps on the iPhone.

However,our pick for the bestis Dark Sky.

Its not perfect, of course, but its admirably accurate all things considered.

Its also free, which makes it automatically appealing.

Spotify also excels on iOS.

Plus, you could do all sorts ofcool things with it that you might not realize.

Camera+

Camera+ turns your boring old iPhone camera into a feature-rich point-and-shoot camera.

Its fast and it takes great photos.

Its well worth the $2 if you take a lot of pictures on your phone.

IMDb takes the guessing out of that and gets you the answer to your strange movie trivia questions quickly.

after you grab them loaded up on your iPhone, youll finally be able toplow through that backlog.

So, if youre using iBooks on another equipment, then thats the logical choice.

The same goes for the Kindle app, with the addedbenefit of it being excellent for students.

Pick the ebook app that works best for you.

InstapaperorPocket

Bookmarking services are great on the desktop, but they really excel on mobile devices.

Each service hasits own set of benefits and downsides, but theyre all terrific in their own right.

So, pick one and run with it.

Reeder

Google Reader might be dead, butReeder for iPhone is still our favorite RSS reader.

With a recent update, Reeder added support for a few third-party RSS readers, includingFeedly.

Sleepcycle

Waking up is hard to do, butSleepcycle makes it a little bit better.

Its not a miracle worker, but it does make waking up a little better.

Image by Nick Criscuolo.