Why Your iPhone Is an Essential Kitchen Tool 

The kitchen can be your place of passion or your worst nightmare. For the foodie blogger perfecting culinary skills with meal masterpieces, the kitchen is a space of creative ambition. For others, the kitchen is a means for merely trying to get dinner on the table. Whether you’re cooking for fun or survival, your smartphone has its place in the kitchen. Here’s why the iPhone 6s can enhance your passion pursuits or help you not become a slave to the kitchen.

iSight Camera

The 12-megapixel iSight camera takes the iPhone camera to new heights with 50 percent more pixels, enhanced autofocus and a new image signal processor. For the cooking connoisseur and beloved food blogger, detailed images of turkey Bolognese with zucchini pasta, chorizo tacos or truffle mac and cheese not only look professional, but mouthwatering and delectable to all your fans and followers. Be sure to capture your latest kitchen creation with your iPhone 6s, and the hashtags #foodporn, #nomnomnom, #foodie and #nofilter are necessary.

AnyList

Move aside sticky notes and illegible hand-written lists, the iPhone is the essential tool for efficient meal planning and organized grocery shopping. Download the app “AnyList” to create grocery lists, tell Siri to add items and to easily cross off items. “AnyList” also automatically categorizes items and uses auto-complete to suggest common items as you type. Easily share lists with family and friends, so they can make additions and ensure you’re not missing anything. And if you’re always stuck on what to have for dinner, use AnyList to collect recipes and quickly search by name or ingredient.

4K Video Recording

Apple introduced the capability to shoot 4K videos with the launch of the new iPhone 6s and 6s Plus. A simple tap on “Record Video” and your smartphone becomes a movie-making device for documenting your next YouTube cooking series. Capture the essence of high-definition by selecting 4K at 30 fps; the phone’s default is set at 1080p at 60 fps, which reserves more storage compared to 4K. Equipped with your smartphone, you can become the master chef of your kitchen and share recipes through video blogging.

Blue Apron

Meal prep, grocery shopping, cooking and cleanup is a time-consuming process for the time-deprived. The Blue Apron phenomenon has helped simplify the tasks of dinner by delivering fresh ingredients and delicious recipes right to your doorstep on a weekly basis. The “Blue Apron” app takes the service to the next level by providing seasonal recipes, how-to videos, cooking tips, a camera with specialized food filters and a search function for browsing the entire recipe collection. It also lets you learn about specialty ingredients, save favorites to your recipe box and manage your weekly deliveries right from your phone.

“Hey Siri,” the Sous-Chef

Invite Siri into your kitchen and rely on your smartphone with the hands-free, voice-activation “Hey Siri” feature. As long as your phone is connected to a power source, Siri is always on, and without holding down the home button or speaking into the phone. Copy and paste a recipe into the “Notes” app, and tell Siri to “read the note about pasta.” Siri can also remind you to pick up an ingredient at the grocery store, set a timer, make conversions and read a text message as your hands are full chopping veggies.

Fooducate

If the kitchen is your heart, soul and kryptonite, strike a balance with “Fooducate.” This app is nutrition-focused to inform you of the food you’re buying (and eating). The app scans the bar code of a product and provides a nutritional grade. The grading system scores foods from A to D based on the nutritional facts panel and ingredients list. If the cons outweigh the pros, you can choose a healthier alternative. Use with the app to also track weight-loss progress, connect with a like-minded community and receive daily tips to stay empowered and motivated.