Apple's Top 25 Best iPhone Apps Of 2015

Apple's 25 Best Apps

Apple's iPhones, iPads and Macs are popular for their sleek designs and easy-to-use iOS software. But apps are arguably one of the most important features on the Cupertino, Calif.-based company's products. Apple's App Store has been successful -- App Annie found that the App Store's revenue was 80 percent higher than that of Google Play in the third quarter.

From lifestyle apps like Instagram to social media apps like Twitter's Periscope, Apple employees sifted through the company's App Store to find the best apps and games released on iOS over the past 12 months.

These apps are assorted ones from the iPhone, iPad and Mac, as well as Apple's picks for its newer watchOS and tvOS platforms. Following are Apple's top 25 app picks in 2015.

25. Blue Apron

Blue Apron is a New York-based startup that delivers weekly recipes and ingredients for home-cooked meals. The company's free app features simple, seasonal recipes that contain integrated how-to videos, cooking tips, information on specialty ingredients, and even stories from the company's farmers and suppliers.

Users who are not Blue Apron customers can browse the app's recipe collection, and use the app's camera to take and share photos of dishes they've prepared. Blue Apron customers can additionally customize their menus each week and manage their Blue Apron deliveries right from the app.

24. Zova

Zova is a workout app that allows users to choose from a variety of workouts ranging from three to 30 minutes. These workouts are tailored so that they can be completed anywhere, any time, whether you're at a gym or in a hotel room. The app also include styles like cardio, strength and circuit.

Users can set their workout goals and review their activity throughout the week, as well as pinpoint favorite workouts. Zova is free and can be used on the Apple Watch in addition to the iPhone.

23. Reuters TV

Reuters TV is a video news service app powered by more than 2,500 journalists in 200 locations. This app offers on-demand news programming and live, unfiltered feeds of the world's events.

Users can watch up-to-date, on-demand news that is specifically relevant to them. The app can be downloaded for free, but to upgrade to a version without ads, users must pay $1.99 a month.

22. PRY

PRY is an app by Tender Claws that delivers an iPad-based reading experience. Through PRY, users follow the story of a demolition expert returning from the Gulf War, and experience the character's thoughts as his vision fails. The free app, which is designed for the iPhone and iPad, offers the story in two parts. The first part, which has six chapters, is available now.

21. Giphy Cam

Giphy Cam is a free app that enables users to record their lives in a series of GIFs. This fun tool allows users to record a GIF either through a recording or in burst mode, and then add filters and edits. They can then text the GIF images to their friends or share them on social media, including Instagram, Facebook or Twitter.

20. Paper

FiftyThree describes its Paper app as "the best way to capture and connect your notes, photos and sketches."

Through Paper, users can create checklists and notes and bring text, photos and sketches together to keep their ideas more organized. The free app allows users to share their ideas in any format, including PDFs, Keynotes and Powerpoint presentations.

19. Wildcard

Wildcard, an app by Coopkanics, is an editorially curated news and entertainment platform that helps users sort through articles to find interesting and unique news articles to read, watch or listen to.

Wildcard is free and can be personalized so that it generates news that is interesting to its unique users, with platforms including The New York Times all the way down to ESPN Tweets.

18. RefMe

RefMe is a tool for automating citations, reference lists and bibliographies -- which might be just the thing for English majors and professors. This free app allows users to easily generate citations by scanning a book or journal barcode with a phone camera. Users can then easily send their work straight to Microsoft Word, EndNote or other platforms.

17. Spark

Spark, an app by Readdle, is a smart email app for work that makes it easier to work through your inbox. This smart inbox automatically detects if an email is personal, a notification or a newsletter, and categorizes the message for you.

The free app has features like Unified Inbox, which lets users see important emails at a glance; smart search; various signatures; and seamless integration with tools like Google drive, Dropbox, Box and Onedrive.

16. Fit Men Cook

Nibble Apps' Fit Men Cook app offers free, healthy and quick recipes, all for $2.99.

On this app, people can search for recipes based on how many people will be eating the meal, how tough the recipe is to cook, which ingredients are available, and caloric intake. Users can add their recipes to a shopping list that also works on the Apple Watch, making grocery shopping painless and quick.

15. Vee For Video

Vee For Video, an app by Medious, allows users to create, edit and share beautiful videos. Through Vee, users can easily reorder, combine, adjust the speed of, and add filters to high-quality clips.

Vee costs $3.99, and has a variety of other interesting tools, enabling users to add a soundtrack to a video, among other features.

14. Timeline

Timeline, a free app with content from an award-winning editorial team, puts the news in context through connecting the past and present news in an intuitive and immersive experience.

According to Timeline's website, "Timeline is advancing the way we consume news, providing essential historical context that deepens our knowledge of the forces that shape the present." Users can explore stories based on their unique experiences and share timelines on social media.

13. Jet

Jet is a smart shopping app that finds opportunities that save users money. Users can look for "smart items" on the site to save money, and can easily check out items using Apple Pay. Once they have ordered products, users are promised a shipment in two to five days for orders of more than $35 and free returns within 30 days.

12. Tandem

Tandem is a language exchange app by Tripod Technology that helps users find real native speakers for one-on-one language learning.

Through the free app, users can talk in a new language and learn what they need to know in real-life situations. People can also meet other learners who share their interest through Tandem, through unlimited text, audio and video chat features.

11. Pacemaker

Pacemaker, a DJ app for iTunes and Spotify, won Apple's 2015 design award and made the 2015 Best of Apps list. This app gives users millions of tracks and endless possibilities to mix the music they love.

The free app has tools like an equalizer, cross faders and scratch to enable users to sync beats, ride wave forms and customize the palette of effects.

10. The Everything Machine

The Everything Machine, by TinyBop, is a "maker" app designed to teach children basic programming by building things using the visual hardware and sensors on their phones.

For $2.99, Everything Machine lets children ages 6 and older build machines and connect sensors such as the camera or microphone on their iPhones. Kids can also play with friends by connecting devices to play a prank or talk in secret code.

9. Lark Personal Weight Loss Coach & 24/7 Nutritionist

Lark is a free personal weight-loss coach that helps users track their food, exercise and sleep.

This app, which works on the iPhone and Apple Watch, provides one-on-one diet and exercise coaching, as well as coaching designed by Stanford & Harvard behavior change experts and nutritionists. The app's best feature is that it provides personalized reminders to help users achieve their goals and can be used as a complement for popular programs like Weight Watchers.

8. Darkroom

Bergen Co.'s Darkroom, a photo editor that makes it easier to capture the perfect looks for photos, may be just right for photo enthusiasts.

This photo editing platform enhances photos shared on social media through allowing users to create photo shapes, new photo colors and new filters. Through editing tools like Curves, for example, which gives access to different RGB color channels, users can experiment with their images.

7. Hopper

When travelers have to deal with baggage frees and the TSA, sifting through airfare deals is the last thing they want to do. Luckily Hopper's free app helps iPhone users save up to 40 percent on their flights by telling them the best and cheapest tickets to buy.

Hopper analyzes billions of flight prices to predict how they will change and find great deals, advising users when to buy and giving insider tips like the cheapest travel dates and cheapest airports.

6. HBO Now

HBO's standalone streaming service, HBO Now, is available for a limited time introductory free trial at the App Store. HBO Now includes more than 2,000 titles, including particularly popular shows like "Game of Thrones" and "True Detective." The streaming service also includes movies and HBO Sports documentaries, series and other events.

HBO Now, accessible in the U.S., requires a minimum of 3-G connection on mobile devices. Users can sign up for a 30-day free trial, and then the app subscription costs $14.99 a month.

5. Instagram

Instagram, the social media platform for photo editing and sharing, ranked fifth best in the App Store, but Apple also called Instagram the best app for the iPhone 6s.

This free app allows users to edit photos and videos with free, custom-designed filters, and use tools to change the brightness, contrast and saturation of the photos. Users can follow others and create their own social community to share their photos with.

Finally, users can use Apple's Handoff features to switch between their Apple Watch and iPhone on the app.

4. Workflow

Workflow is a personal automation tool that enables users to drag and drop any combination of actions to create workflows for their iPhones, iPads and Apple Watches.

These actions work for a variety of other apps, including Contacts, Calendar, Maps, Camera and Facebook. For instance, a Workflow user can use the tool to tweet the song that they are listening to, or get directions to the nearest coffee shop with one tap.

Apple also named Workflow the "most innovative" app of 2015. The app's maker, DeskConnect, is offering the app for 40 percent off at $2.99.

3. Robinhood

Robinhood Markets' app provides free stock trading that allows users to buy and sell stocks, view market data in real time, build a personalized watch list, set up notifications to track their portfolios, and place trades with only a few taps. Robinhood is also available on the Apple Watch.

The free app has free authentication via Touch ID or a custom PIN code, and personal information is fully encrypted using SSL. Robinhood Financial is a member of the Securities Investor Protection Corp., which protects securities customers of its members up to $500,000.

2. Enlight

Lightricks' Enlight is a photo app that aims to "conquer Instagram," according to its website.

This app, which costs $3.99, contains vintage filters, text add-on decals to give images an edge, and cropping tools that allows users to pin their photos on a blurred or patterned background. In addition, users can adjust the contrast and exposure of their photos, flip and straighten photos and even reshape objects in the photo. Finally, users can share their results directly to social media.

1. Periscope

Twitter's app Periscope was Apple's top pick for the best app in 2015. This social networking app lets users broadcast live video to the world, so followers can view and comment on the video.

This free app allows users to "explore the world through someone else's eyes."

People can use Periscope to broadcast daily activities, such as a walk in the park, or live stream a live event or presentation. When the broadcast is over, users can make it available for viewers to replay or can post it to Twitter so followers on that platform can watch as well.