Ah, 2015 is drawing to a close in a few short weeks, and it’s time for us to wax nostalgic… about our smartphone apps. Whether you have an iPhone or an Android or something else entirely, likely your smartphone is something that has seen you through every day of this year. Some are totally brand spankin’ new while others are apps that have gotten a serious facelift in 2015 — but all are revolutionary. There’s everything from a groundbreaking dating app to a long-awaited iOS browser. Without further ado, here are the 25 best apps of 2015 for your smartphone.
1. Companion: This app is what will give you and the people who care about you peace of mind after a night out. When you’re walking home at night, just set your route in the app and select your emergency contacts. The app will check in with you periodically on your walk home, and if you don’t respond, it’ll reach out to your emergency contacts to let them know something is wrong. There’s also an easy way to contact 911 just in case. Safety first.
2. Gett: It’s easy to see that 2015 is the year of the ride-sharing, car-ordering app. Gett was introduced just this year, and while it’s still not as big as its competitors, those who are in the know certainly feel like they have a financially savvy way of getting around. The best part is Gett doesn’t have surge pricing, and you also get $10 if you refer a friend.
3. DSCO: VSCO has long been the photo editing app of choice for the cool kids, so imagine how excited people got when they came out with their own nifty GIF-maker. DSCO (pronounced “disco.” Clever, eh?) not only allows you to create moving images, but it also comes pre-loaded with VSCO’s world famous filters.
DL It: Free on iOS
4. DreamLab: DreamLab is an app that allows you to do some good without really doing anything at all. During times when you’re idle (generally when you’re asleep, hence the name), you’re allowing research labs to utilize your smartphone’s processing power for treatment research on illnesses like breast cancer. You can even select which causes you’d like your phone to contribute to.
DL It: Free on Android
5. Tastemade: Tastemade is the app for millennial foodies in the know. This popular site’s mobile app is your go-to source for the best recipes, restaurant recs and other food-related content from all around the world.
6. Google Keep: Google Keep is the app that wants to help you organize, streamline and stay your most efficient. You can share, edit and collaborate on notes with people on multiple devices. Plus, you can get the app to save location-specific reminders that will pop up when you’re in a particular place. Awesome, huh?
7. Pool: Pool makes it a breeze to share, or “pool,” your photos with your pals after an event. Not only will it categorize photos by event, but you can pick and choose which pics from your pals you’d like to save to your phone, then discard the rest. You know this will come in handy during wedding season.
8. Input: Input is like a personal assistant right at your fingertips. You can issue commands like scheduling appointments, reminders, payments and more directly into the app and Input will carry out these tasks for you. So efficient.
DL It: Free on iOS
9. Focus: Focus not only wants to make sure you don’t get lost when you’re driving, but it also wants to get you to your destination in one piece. It provides you with turn-by-turn directions, down to the second, making sure you’re not looking at your phone as you drive. When you pick it up, the app will remind you to put it down and keep the phone out of your hand.
DL It: $9.99 on iOS
10. Walc: When you give directions, you hardly ever do it in yards or meters. Rather, you talk in terms of landmarks. Walc is the first walking navigation app that does the same thing, giving you turn-by-turn directions based on what you see rather than distance traveled.
11. Penny: Part of adulting is having a hold on your finances, right? Penny is the easiest way you can handle that. Just link the app to your bank account and it will track your spending, send your graphs of you finance trends, remind you about payments you have due and more. All in all, it’s like having your own personal finance coach.
12. Teleport: You can literally bring your friends to you with Teleport. All you have to do is send your friend a hangout request and, if you buddy accepts, Teleport will send an Uber to her address (so long as it’s within a 100-mile radius) and bring her to your location.
DL It: Free on iOS
13. Faceparty: Faceparty is one of the best GIF-making apps we’ve seen all year (and believe you me, we’ve seen plenty). You take four moving or still images and pop them into the four-squared Faceparty template, then upload to your socials. It’s an easy and awesome upgrade to your Instagram.
DL It: Free on iOS
14. Yahoo Mail: Yahoo Mail has been around for some time now (18 years!), but their brand new app landed in App Stores just this year and proved that Yahoo Mail is still on top of their game. Not only did the app do away with the password (they use push notification prompts to identify you), but the app also has a page solely for your attachments and images.
15. Receipt Donkey: Receipt Donkey is a must for anyone who needs to expense for work. Rather than hanging on to all your hard copies, you can snap a pic of your receipt and hang onto it for a later date. Efficient + life-changing.
DL It: Free on iOS
16. Plot Guru: We know your phone is in your hand 24/7, even when you’re watching Netflix anyway, so you might as well try out Plot Guru to make your screen(s) time even more fun. It’s a trivia game that allows you to guess what the next plot twist of popular TV shows is going to be. You can even play along with your friends.
DL It: Free on iOS
17. Free Time 2: Rather than telling you all the things you have to do in a day (which it does too), Free Time 2 keeps track of all the time you have open. Now, rather than looking at your schedule and feeling overwhelmed, you can take a sigh of relief. Ahhhh.
DL It: $1.99 on iOS
18. Photoshop Fix: Here’s the app that is literally Photoshop on your phone. You’ll have capabilities like liquify, spot healing and several other Photoshop features right at your fingertips. Now your photos can look super polished straight from your iPhone. Plus, the app links up to your Photoshop on your computer, so you can seamlessly go from editing a photo on your phone to your laptop.
DL It: Free on iOS
19. SoundCloud Pulse: SoundCloud has been a many a music-lover’s fave site to discover artists on the rise, share their own work and more for some time now. Imagine how thrilled we were when they finally released SoundCloud Pulse for Android. The app gives you access to new music and your fave tunes, and also lets you manage your account.
DL It: Free on Android
20. Firefox: Ahh, how long people have waited for the Firefox iOS app (lucky Android users have had it for awhile now). The Firefox mobile browser can allow you to surf privately, provide intelligent suggestions for search and even directly sync bookmarks from your desktop version.
21. Shooty Skies: This is possibly one of the most addictive games of 2015. You fly your various avatars, doing exactly what the name suggests: Shoot at stuff flying at you in the sky. You’ll be surprised how much time you can waste on this game for reals.
DL It: Free on iOS
22. Compra: Being budget conscious is always a good look. This Android app helps you keep track of all the things you need (or want) to buy. Plus, you can input max and minimum prices you expect to spend on each item, so you can stay on track financially. Compra will keep your bank account right where you want it to be.
DL It: Free on Android
23. YouTube Music: YouTube Music gives you access to not only the hottest music videos ATM, but also the video streaming site’s massive music video catalogue, so you can find your next fave artist. The app also allows you to cast music videos onto a TV screen, so your house parties never have to be dull again.
24. Swiftkey Neural Alpha: Swiftykey Neural Alpha is one of the best intelligent predictive keyboards out there — and sadly it’s only for Android at the moment. They actually use artificial intelligence to suggest the next thing you plan on typing, which certainly is helpful.
DL It: Free on Android
25. Blue Apron: Blue Apron is truly a revelation. This app is used in tandem with the grocery ordering service. Blue Apron will send you a box with all the ingredients you need to cook up a particular recipe. The accompanying app will walk you through the steps for cooking + allow you to manage your account.
DL It: Free on iOS
What apps could you not live without this year? Tweet them to us @BritandCo!
Kimberly Wang writes about all things pop culture, tech, style, and beauty. She's a Bay Area transplant and has an MFA in Creative Writing from Columbia University. On a sunny New York day, you can find her hanging out with her mini schnauzer Isabelle Jellybean on a blanket in Central Park.
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