The 50 Best Apps of the Year

We're increasingly reliant on the smartphones in our pockets to keep in touch with friends, watch movies and TV shows, and get work done. But the phones themselves would be meaningless without the software that, almost like magic, imbues them with new powers even their creators never thought possible.

In that spirit, these are TIME's 50 best iPhone and Android apps of the year. These are apps that were either released, had a notable redesign, or took off in popularity this year.