I switched to Consent-O-Matic, it works even better for many sites (there is even an option to minimize the popup so you can start using the site while it's doing it's thing).
Overcast for listening to podcasts. I also use it to listen to audiobooks so that I have the same features for speeding up and removing quiet portions, but this requires uploading mp3 files through a web portal and requires the subscription to have more space available.
Logseq (my everything app)
Ulysses (for all my writing)
Procreate (for drawing) Raindrop.io (for links)
Bend (stretching app, great for creating my own routines based on health status)
Antistress (app with all sorts of low stress games for when anxiety goes through the roof)
wefwef, vernissage and mona (fediverse)
I know this is sort of the opposite of the answer you’re looking for , but I think it’s interesting there’s all of these apps listed and my app usage is 99% Apple’s includes apps and YouTube with a tiny bit of Instagram tossed in.
I’ll say one of my all time favourite apps that I do use quite often is Konvert.
Poe has options for their own AI (Sage), as well as OpenAI’s ChatGPT and Anthropic’s Claude. If you use the premium versions of either of those (GPT4 and Claude+), you have to pay.
Sofa and Up Ahead are my two favourites. Neither of them fulfill an essential “function” and they both have subscriptions but they bring a ton of joy to my life.
it is said to be comparable, but Obsidian was too confusing and limited for me. Logseq is intuitive for me and that’s what I need for my addled brain 😊
Photosync - Handles transfers of photos and videos from the phone to any platform you can think of with ease, can automatically convert HEIC and HEVC files to jpg and mp4, can rename in multiple formats or make your own (I name mine as YYMMDD-HHMMSS). Probably my favorite app ever. A total media swiss army knife.
Goodreader - For reading any kind of document or consuming media files. Supports using extra AES file encryption on top of regular Apple encryption.
Layout - Good for making small photo layouts for posting to social media
Tailor - Stitches screenshots together into a single large photo
Censor (App store link is down, probably because they haven’t updated their privacy policy yet). Allows you to obscure faces or any other information you want to redact from photos.
Signal, because it’s an awesome and secure messaging app for people without iPhones.
Those are my most commonly used apps that aren't "big names".
It's the only thing I trust with getting photos of my kids from my phone to my server for storage and backup. It's very reliable and easy to configure for any backup target you can think of.