15 best new apps of 2015 from games to photos and streaming music

SAVING all your photos for free, streaming music and video, or getting hourly weather predictions for the next week. Here are the 15 best apps you can’t ignore.

smartphone teenager PERSONAL OZ

THIS year was a big one for new apps and services, from the launch of three streaming video on demand services to Apple launching its streaming music solution.

After careful consideration and tapping, below are our best new apps of 2015. Many are free and are worth downloading to your smartphone.

ABC KIDS iview

A well-designed app with all the ABC Kids shows in hot demand inside any home with a preschooler. It’s not just great content that makes this app great but parental controls including a timer to control viewing sessions.

Apple iOS / Google Android / free

On board ... Taylor Swift went from an early critic of Apple Music to launching her "1989 World Tour" exclusively on the service. (Photo by Matt Sayles/Invision/AP, File)

Alto’s Adventure

It’s a never ending runner game in which you have to take a snowboader on a endless journey, but it’s been created with a wonderful artistic elegance. Fun and beautiful.

Apple iOS / 99c

Apple Music

The app could be improved but the package of Beats 1 radio station, curated content and an exclusive deal with Taylor Swift make Apple’s streaming music service a winner.

Apple iOS / Google Android / free

Boomerang

For those who find six-second Vine videos too long, this app lets you shot a burst of 10 photos and combines them into a mini video loop for sharing on Facebook and Instagram.

Apple iOS / Google Android / free

Darkroom

This photo-editing app combines powerful features in a simple slide-and-tap interface. An easy solution for those who want to do more editing than just choosing a filter.

Apple iOS / free

Enlight

This photo-editing app made it to number one in Apple’s top apps of the year for good reason. Along with filters and basic setting adjustments, it has arty settings for the truly creative.

Apple iOS / free

Fallout Shelter

One of the hit games of the year, you are tasked with keeping dwellers alive and productive in their post-apocalyptic vault.

Apple iOS / Google Android / free

Digital album ... Google Photos lets you store your entire photo album for free in the cloud.

Google Photos

You can save space on your phone and backup your family album by storing all of your photos for free as high-quality resolution images in the cloud with this app. It has a powerful search feature and it will combine similar images into suggested animations.

Apple iOS / Google Android / free

HotelTonight

This San Francisco start-up extended its reach to Australia this year offers a curated list of hotels with last-minute deals.

Apple iOS / Google Android / free

Layout

There are plenty of collage apps but Instagram’s own version stands out from the crowd. It takes the hassle out of combing photos into a collage for sharing.

Apple iOS / Google Android / free

Periscope

Periscope was not the first livestreaming app to be launched this year but, with the backing of Twitter, became the most significant. It started as something fun but has evolved into a serious media tool.

Apple iOS / Google Android / free

Pocket Weather Australia

What has long been the best weather app has been redesigned to become even better. Not only is there a flashy new design but the details are great, including hourly temperature predictions for a week ahead.

Apple iOS / Google Android / $2.99 / $1.99

Oral history ... Gabriella Rinehart interviews great-grandmother Mae Ridge as part of StoryCorps' Great thanksgiving Listen oral history project. (AP Photo/David Dishneau)

StoryCorps

The app extension of a long-running oral history project, this lets people interview loved ones so their personal stories can be recorded for posterity. A great one to download to use at a family gathering.

Apple iOS / Google Android / free

Tweetbot 4

A major redesign introduced new landscape views, statistics, and split view multi-tasking on the iPad. Not cheap but far better than the official Twitter app.

Apple iOS / $7.99

Fresh talent ... Gold Coast sisters Charli and Ashlee Kelly from the hit YouTube series Charlie's Crafty Kitchen appears on YouTube's Kids app.

YouTube Kids

Designed for kids aged two to eight, it has child-friendly videos from drawing tutorials to cooking shows. Parents can control search parameters, set a built-in timer, and report inappropriate content.

Apple iOS / Google Android / free