Apple CEO Tim Cook speaks during an Apple event announcing the iPhone 6 and the iPhone 6 Plus at the Flint Center in Cupertino, California, September 9, 2014.
Apple CEO Tim Cook speaks during an Apple event announcing the iPhone 6 and the iPhone 6 Plus at the Flint Center in Cupertino, California, September 9, 2014. REUTERS/Stephen Lam Reuters

The new operating system introduced by Apple, the iOS 8 allows the use of third party apps and their built-in extensions. These extensions can be used within other apps, like the Notification Centre, Photos and Safari. Apps have been released to integrate iOS with these extensions. Three very useful must have app extentions to enhance performance of the iOS 8.

OmniFocus

This app is developed by the Omni Group and is priced at $19.99. The main functions of Omnifocus are to manage time, keep track of tasks and organise them into groups based on their context. It basically is a task management system. When this app is installed on the iOS 8 it gets better by enabling a Today widget. The widget will provide easy access to important to-do list of tasks without opening the application.

To enable this extension it has to be enabled in the Notification Centre. Open the Notification Centre by swiping down the screen. Scroll down to the bottom of the Notification Centre list and tap on Edit. Tap the plus sign next to OmniFocus to add it to Today view. Once the widget is enabled it can be used in the Notification Centre without getting into the application.

The OmniFocus application is very useful because will track the to-do list and it can function from the Notification Centre and the Lock screen without having to launch the application or wake the device.

PCalc

This application is developed by TLA Systems Ltd. The lite version of this app is free while the pro version would cost $9.99. The PCalc was available for 22 years on the Mac. The PCalc takes basic functions of the iOS calculator and combines it with its own features and makes it a powerful calculator. It does basic calculations and unit conversions.

This application can be accessed in the Notification Centre by enabling this extension in the same manner as the OmniFocus. The PCalc does basic mathematics.

It is very handy to have this app as a quick access to basic maths.

1Password

The Developers of this app AgileBits Inc., offers free as well as the paid version which would cost $9.99. This is a password utility app that has a Safari extension that will allow users to access their passwords. After selecting the password in the Safari extension 1Password will auto-fill user credentials stored on the 1Password.

To enable this application open 1Password and synchronize it to the 1Password database add accounts to the application that will be used to auto-fill usernames and passwords online. When the application is launched, add the extension by going to Safari - Share button. Then enable the 1Password extension in Safari and tap the switch to on it. Once this is activated the user can use this extension to sign into any website.

Many extensions like these can be found in the App Store.