Six iPad and iPhone Apps and Games to Keep You Entertained at Home

If you're stuck at home and are looking for things to do, our latest YouTube video has some suggestions for various apps and games that we've found fun during our quarantine period. We're highlighting podcast apps, a few games, and a couple other options that will hopefully help keep you or your family members entertained this week. Some of these are iPhone and iPad, while some are ‌iPad‌ only.

  • Quibi ($4.99/Month)- Quibi, which stands for "quick bites," is a new streaming video app that just came out this week. It's a service that promises to offer high quality content that's 10 minutes or less, with new episodes and new shows coming out on a daily basis. Quibi is ‌iPhone‌ only, and you can try it out free for 90 days before being charged $4.99 per month with ads, or $7.99 per month without ads.
  • Google Podcasts (Free) - Google just recently brought its Podcasts app to the ‌iPhone‌, and if you're not a fan of Apple's Podcasts app, this might be a useful alternative. It has a great layout and Google's design aesthetics, making it easy to browse through content and find something to listen to. Episodes are sent to your device every day with auto-download and notification options.
  • Listen App (Free) - If you're not a fan of Google Podcasts, you can also check out Listen App, which has some unique features such as an option to leave text and audio comments on podcast episodes, creating more of a community around podcasts. This is a new feature so there aren't a ton of comments, yet, but it has the potential to be a neat addition.
  • Roundguard - Roundguard is an Apple Arcade game, and ‌Apple Arcade‌ is a pretty great solution if you're looking for games to play. It's $4.99 per month and gives you access to more than 100 games. Roundguard is a lot like Peggle, and the gameplay consists of hurling your warrior (or mage) down into pegs made up of monsters, potion bottles, and more, with the hopes that luck is in your favor and you come out victorious.
  • Too Many Cooks (Free) - This is a fast-paced non-Apple Arcade game where the idea is to prepare sushi, pizzas, burgers, and more, delivering food to customers within an allotted time. This is a pretty well-known game type, but it's always fun. Gameplay gets progressively harder as more and more ingredients are introduced, and you can play by yourself or with a friend. This is a free game, but gameplay can be limited and there are in-app purchases for gems.
  • Pigment (Subscription) - If you have an ‌iPad‌ and an Apple Pencil, coloring apps like Pigment can be a fun way to de-stress and do something mindless but calming while watching television. Pigment is one of the best apps on the market with lots of brushes, tools, and colors to work with, but it's going to cost $9.99 per month so you need to REALLY like coloring to subscribe. You can also pay $4.99 per week or $60 per year, which drops the price down a bit for those who are big fans of coloring and find it soothing.
  • Chroma (Free, in-app purchases) - Chroma is another coloring app that also has in-app purchases, but it has more free options to use before you need to shell out money. The coloring experience isn't quite as refined as Pigment, but it's one of the better options. You can import pages from online and use Chroma's selection of brushes and tools, and it's a fun activity to do with kids.

Have other great games and entertaining apps you're using while at home? Let us know in the comments, and we may do a followup video with reader suggestions.

Popular Stories

iPhone 17 Pro in Hand Feature Lowgo

iPhone 17 Pro to Reverse iPhone X Design Decision

Monday July 7, 2025 9:46 am PDT by
Since the iPhone X in 2017, all of Apple's highest-end iPhone models have featured either stainless steel or titanium frames, but it has now been rumored that this design decision will be coming to an end with the iPhone 17 Pro models later this year. In a post on Chinese social media platform Weibo today, the account Instant Digital said that the iPhone 17 Pro models will have an aluminum...
iOS 26 Feature

Everything New in iOS 26 Beta 3

Monday July 7, 2025 1:20 pm PDT by
Apple is continuing to refine and update iOS 26, and beta three features smaller changes than we saw in beta 2, plus further tweaks to the Liquid Glass design. Apple is gearing up for the next phase of beta testing, and the company has promised that a public beta is set to come out in July. Transparency In some apps like Apple Music, Podcasts, and the App Store, Apple has toned down the...
apple wallet drivers license feature iPhone 15 pro

Apple Says iPhone Driver's Licenses Will Expand to These 8 U.S. States

Tuesday July 8, 2025 11:26 am PDT by
In select U.S. states, residents can add their driver's license or state ID to the Wallet app on the iPhone and Apple Watch, providing a convenient and contactless way to display proof of identity or age at select airports and businesses, and in select apps. Unfortunately, this feature continues to roll out very slowly since it was announced in 2021, with only nine U.S. states, Puerto Rico,...
iphone 16 pro ghost hand

5 Reasons to Skip This Year's iPhone 17 Pro

Thursday July 10, 2025 4:54 am PDT by
Apple will launch its new iPhone 17 series in two months, and the iPhone 17 Pro models are expected to get a new design for the rear casing and the camera area. But more significant changes to the lineup are not expected until next year, when the iPhone 18 models arrive. If you're thinking of trading in your iPhone for this year's latest, consider the following features rumored to be coming...
apple account card feature

Apple Account Card Expanding to More Countries

Tuesday July 8, 2025 7:34 pm PDT by
Apple is expanding the ability to add an Apple Account Card to the Wallet app to more countries, according to backend Apple Pay changes. With iOS 15.5, Apple updated the Wallet app to allow users to add an Apple Account Card, which displays the Apple credit balance associated with an Apple ID. If you receive an Apple gift card, for example, it is added to an Apple Account that is also...
iPhone 17 Pro in Hand Feature Lowgo

Leaker Reveals Amount of RAM in iPhone 17 Through iPhone 17 Pro Max

Wednesday July 9, 2025 8:08 am PDT by
Three out of four iPhone 17 models will feature more RAM than the equivalent iPhone 16 models, according to a new leak that aligns with previous rumors. The all-new iPhone 17 Air, the iPhone 17 Pro, and the iPhone 17 Pro Max will each be equipped with 12GB of RAM, according to Fixed Focus Digital, an account with more than two million followers on Chinese social media platform Weibo. The...
iphone 16 pro models 1

Here's How the iPhone 17 Pro Max Will Compare to the iPhone 17 Pro

Saturday July 5, 2025 1:00 pm PDT by
Apple should unveil the iPhone 17 series in September, and there might be one bigger difference between the Pro and Pro Max models this year. As always, the Pro Max model will be larger than the Pro model:iPhone 17 Pro: 6.3-inch display iPhone 17 Pro Max: 6.9-inch displayGiven the Pro Max is physically larger than the Pro, it has more internal space, allowing for a larger battery and...
imac video apple feature

Apple Launching These 15+ Products Later This Year

Sunday July 6, 2025 8:05 am PDT by
The calendar has turned to July, meaning that 2025 is now more than half over. And while the summer months are often quiet for Apple, the company still has more than a dozen products coming later this year, according to rumors. Below, we have outlined at least 15 new Apple products that are expected to launch later this year, along with key rumored features for each. iPhone 17 Series iPho...

Top Rated Comments

windywalks Avatar
69 months ago
Oh, just stop with Quibi already. Who wants to watch their phone at home?
Does the time we spend in the toilet need to bo that much more entertaining?
The money spent on developing and sustaining that incipient failure of an app would be so much better spent on... name a noun.
Score: 15 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Joniz Avatar
69 months ago
Thanks, but Apple’s software bugs are entertaining me enough.
Score: 3 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Expos of 1969 Avatar
69 months ago

How long will it take until I stop having 'Quibi' vigorously jammed down my throat?
...and that shady Zoom
Score: 3 Votes (Like | Disagree)
zepfhyr Avatar
69 months ago

Oh, just stop with Quibi already. Who wants to watch their phone at home?
Does the time we spend in the toilet need to bo that much more entertaining?
The money spent on developing and sustaining that incipient failure of an app would be so much better spent on... name a noun.
I felt the same way about my kids watching other people play video games. But they love it. Quibi does cater to a younger demographic that consumes media differently than we do.

Anyone else hear that "Too Many Cooks" theme song from that creepy Adult Swim short from several years back? No? Just me? Okay…
Score: 2 Votes (Like | Disagree)
CarlJ Avatar
69 months ago
If you’re locked down with family members who want to play, check out Spaceteam ('https://spaceteam.ca/'), which is a cooperative shouting game - you’re all working together to fly a spaceship, which has various things going wrong with it, and you have a control panel full of buttons to fix them. Unfortunately, the app keeps telling the other players which of your buttons need to be pushed (and vice versa), so everybody ends up yelling instructions to each other. The times I’ve played it have generally ended when everyone was laughing so hard they couldn’t see the screen any more. (Unfortunately, I can’t seem to get my cat to play it with me.)

If you are looking for games to play against remote friends, there’s some nice recommendations of multiplayer strategy games (“Euro board game” apps) here ('https://statelyplay.com/2020/04/03/quarantine-cycle-games-to-play-when-your-family-wont-and-friends-are-socially-distanced/') (actually, they wrote that article after I suggested it). Most (all?) of these games are one-time purchases, not micro-transaction hell (a few of them have IAPs for additional campaigns, but those are all optional). Some of the games are cross platform, so they’ll work even if you’re friends with Android users.
Score: 2 Votes (Like | Disagree)
SDJim Avatar
69 months ago

Oh, just stop with Quibi already. Who wants to watch their phone at home?
Does the time we spend in the toilet need to bo that much more entertaining?
The money spent on developing and sustaining that incipient failure of an app would be so much better spent on... name a noun.
I'm sure there is some subset of people out there who consume a LOT of mobile media. Maybe those in major urban areas who use a lot of mass transit? I am not in that group, but they are certainly who will determine whether this platform holds any value.

That being said, I completely agree that when everyone is sitting at home with their TV is not prime time for this type of release.
Score: 1 Votes (Like | Disagree)