Here are 30 awesome iOS apps Apple thinks you need to have

Here are 30 awesome iOS apps Apple thinks you need to have

It’s time for everyone to make their year-end lists and Apple has just come out with its awards for the best iOS apps and games of 2014. Below, we’ve listed 30 the apps that made the cut along with brief descriptions of each one.

App of the Year: Elevate — Brain Training

Elevate is a brain training program designed to improve focus, speaking skills, processing speed, memory, math skills, and more. Each person is provided with his or her own personalized training program that adjusts over time to maximize results.

The more you train with Elevate, the more you’ll improve critical cognitive skills that are proven to boost productivity, earning power, and self-confidence. Users who train at least 4 times per week have reported dramatic gains and increased confidence.

Elevate — Brain Training is free to download in the iTunes App Store.

Game of the Year: Threes!

Threes is a tiny puzzle that grows on you. Explore our little game’s deep challenge and grow your mind beyond imagination. Optimized for iOS8 and human brains. Universal app for iPhone and iPads.

Threes! costs $2.99 at the iTunes App Store.

Other notable apps

• Hyperlapse, the time-lapse video app produced by Instagram (FREE)
• Yahoo News Digest, to get the best of Yahoo News (FREE)
• Storehouse, an awesome app that lets you create storyboards using your photos and videos (FREE)
• SwiftKey, one of the world’s best third-party smartphone keyboards (FREE)
• 1Password, a must-have password manager (FREE)
• Camera+, one of the best and most popular apps to help you take gorgeous pictures ($2.99)
• Toca Lab, an education app for aspiring chemists to help you learn all the elements of the periodic table ($2.99)
• NYT Now, The New York Times’ official iOS app (FREE)
• 120 Sports, the sports news and analysis app for people who don’t want to subscribe to ESPN (FREE)
• Camu, a photo-filter app that also lets you make huge collages of your pictures (FREE)
• Spring — Go Shopping, a shopping app that offers discounts on your favorite brands and now offers integration with with Apple Pay (FREE)
• Buzzfeed, for cat GIF lovers everywhere (FREE)
• Peak — Brain Training, yet another brain testing app that’s designed to “train your memory, focus, problem solving, mental agility and language skills with fun, challenging games” (FREE)
• Nighty Night Circus, an interactive bedtime story app for kids ($2.99)
• Yummly Recipes and Grocery Shopping List, a terrific app for amateur cooks everywhere (FREE)
• Waterlogue, a beautiful app that will make your pictures look like gorgeous watercolors (FREE)
• Human — Activity and Calorie Tracker, a fitness app that tracks all of your physical activity throughout the day and then estimates the calories you’re burning (FREE)
• Stellar, another app that lets you create stories with your photos and videos (FREE)
• TeleStory, a fun app for kids that lets them produce their own amateur TV shows with their phones or tablets ($4.99)
• Network TV, “the personal TV network that recommends the best internet video and learns what you love” (FREE)
• Litely, a photo filter app whose gorgeous filter options put Instagram to shame (FREE)
• Uber, one of the most popular transportation apps on the planet (FREE)
• Star Walk 2 — Guide to the Sky Night and Day, an app that every aspiring astronomer should own ($2.99)
• Cinamatic, an app to help you create beautiful short films (FREE)
• Health Mate — Steps Tracker and Life Coach, an app that tracks your fitness activity using your iPhone’s heart-rate monitor (FREE)
• Paper, Facebook’s story-making app that includes “immersive designs and fullscreen, distraction-free layouts” (FREE)
• Leo’s Fortune, a platform adventure game that features stunning hand-craft levels ($4.99)
• Monument Valley, one of the year’s surprising hit games that is most notable for its eye-catching M.C. Escher-style visual designs ($3.99)