What’s on the smartphone agenda for July?

Elevate

Brain hacking sounds intense, but it’s not as hard as it seems. Elevate helps train your mind to feel effortless, with quick, engaging games that actually sharpen your focus, memory, maths skills and even your communication. The app builds a personalised programme just for you, adapting as you go, so your brain gets a challenge without feeling overwhelmed. It’s backed by neuroscience, with more than 40 exercises designed to boost your cognitive skills in just a few minutes a day.

Whether you’re hoping to read faster, write more clearly, speak more confidently or stop fumbling through simple calculations, this award-winning app helps you get there with actual results you can track over time. It’s used by over 60 million people and has even won the best app of the year at the Apple Store. Think of it as a workout for your brain, minus the sweat.

Gem

Managing your money shouldn’t feel like a full-time job and with Gem, it doesn’t. This clean, clever app helps you keep track of spending, set budgets and stick to your savings goals, all in one wonderfully organised space. You can log your expenses daily, weekly or monthly and, if you’re sharing finances with a partner, there’s a feature for that too. It categorises everything automatically (yes, even if you just type ‘rent’), and with features like receipts, reminders, savings trackers and even currency conversion, it’s got all the tools without the fluff. There are custom icons, themes and widgets, so you can personalise it in your own way. Plus, with iOS 17, you can record expenses instantly with the tap-to-pay feature. It’s slick, minimal and, once it’s set up, it quietly works in the background to help you stay in cheque (pun intended).