Your phone is more than just a tool—it’s your moodboard, notebook, camera, portfolio, assistant, and sometimes even a pocket-sized design studio. But with so many apps, social networks, and endless feeds, it’s worth asking: which ones actually enhance your creative process? These five essential apps for designers don’t just help you capture ideas—they let you work smarter, smoother, and with real inspiration.

1. Morpholio Trace

Sketch like it’s paper—but with digital superpowers. Ideal for architects, interior designers, or visual creatives, it allows you to draw over blueprints, photos, or renders, add layers, and share ideas with clients. It’s the closest thing to having digital tracing paper.

2. Pantone Connect

Because color isn’t something you leave to chance. This app lets you capture a color with your phone’s camera and instantly convert it to the nearest Pantone code. You can also save palettes, explore combinations, and export them to programs like Adobe. Perfect for when you spot that exact shade

3. Behance

An endless source of creative projects from around the world. Great for discovering what’s happening in branding, interiors, motion graphics, and illustration. It also doubles as a space to share your own portfolio, free from algorithm pressure.

4. Sun Seeker

Track the sun’s path at any location, at any time of day. Ideal for understanding how natural light enters a spacethroughout the day or across seasons. In other words, it helps you make better-informed decisions about orientation, materials, and lighting.

5. Notion

More than just a notes app, Notion is a project organization platform where you can log ideas, make to-do lists, save links, texts, or images. Its clean, visual interface brings structure to creative chaos.

It’s not about having a million apps—it’s about choosing the right ones.

These five tools won’t replace your talent—but they can certainly help it flow. Because great design also depends on what you carry in your pocket.