1. Uber

One of the most used and most loved by consumers, Uber is top on the list for best apps and that did not change this year. Keep an eye out for the innovation and conversation coming from Uber in the near future. Can anyone say self-driving ubers?

2. Venmo

Finally, an easy way to back pay friends, split restaurant checks, or lend money: “Just Venmo me”.

3. Snapchat

Snapchat has found itself a niche in this selfie-absorbed society and they’re BANKING. 2016 brought a lot of updates for this billion-dollar app. From messaging, to geo-filters, to face recognition, we’re all just waiting to see how Snapchat continues to take the social media world by storm as we enter 2017.

4. Pokémon Go

This worldwide phenomenon that began in the 90’s resurged as an interactive app in 2016. The goal of the game is exploring the real world in search of Pokémon creatures, collecting items, and claiming gyms to finally ‘catch em all’.

5. Waze

Neither Google maps nor Apple maps have been able to allow users to be the kind of traffic wizard that Waze has. Thanks Waze for saving us from being late, wasting gas, and lurking cops.

6. Bitmoji

Loved by Kardashians and Jenners alike, Bitmoji is the best way to make personalized emoji characters to send to friends or upload. Because we all know talking through emojis is worth 1000 words.

7. Google Translate

2016 was a good year for Google Translate. Works on or offline making it great for traveling. As well as improvements made to the accuracy of the translation, this app will be doing big things in the near future and continue to connect people from all over the globe.

8. WhatsApp

As over 55% of the population most favored messaging app, WhatsApp can send messages and make calls using only wifi connection. It works all over the globe and that kind of upper hand makes WhatsApp a top contender for best app of 2016.

9. Gboard

Google’s Gboard phone application allows iPhone or Android users to take advantage of the Google apps they know and love by adding those capabilities right to your messaging keyboard. A google search bar is added to your keyboard so you can pull up google searches, send locations via Google Maps, and more!

10. Boomerang

Wouldn’t have a high-quality Instagram without this awesome app which allows users to take and upload a burst of photos and create their own video with their looping pictures.

11. Google Trips

Free to iPhone and Android users, Google’s new travel app that uses your Gmail inbox to compile your flight information, hotel details, and itinerates into one easy to use app.

12. Vevo

Before launching their app, Vevo was mostly used on YouTube to stream your favorite artists and musicians. Now they have a redesigned app that allows you to customize you listening experience and also learns your music preferences over time to customize a feed of songs you might like.

13. AmpMe

Ever forgot your speaker at home when you really needed it? Well, I have and that when I learned about AmpMe. AmpMe allows you and your friends to sync your phone speakers together to one person’s playlist and ‘create a party’ just like that!

14. Reddit

The app existed before 2016, but this year the new interface and easy to use browser have made it easier than ever to see the web’s trendiest content.

With all these useful apps, our phones have almost become like an extension of our hand. Our phone and these apps make life easier and smarter. These being so good it is hard to imagine life without them.