PointMaza Awards 2012: App of the year

It isn't what your smartphone can do, it's what you can do with your smartphone. And for the most part, what you can do with your smartphone depends on what app you have installed on it. Speaking of apps, we got to try a lot of them over the past 12 months – some useful and easy to use, others not so much. A handful of these apps, however, stood above the rest, so we decided to dedicate an entire post to them.

Ladies and gents, today's category in the PointMazaAwards of 2012 is for the app of the year! And actually, we won't be honoring a single application. Instead, we've decided to share with you our 5 favorite apps of 2012, just because the nominees for the top spot were so many. 

Now go check them out below and tell us what you think about the apps we've picked. Would you agree with our selection, or you'd rather recommend some other app as the best one introduced this year? Sound it off in the comments!

PointMaza Awards 2012: App of the year

1. Google Now

Imagine a world, in which information is readily available at your fingertips, exactly at the time when you need it. Sounds like tech of the future? Well, not really because that's exactly what Google Now is all about. By analyzing a user's behavior, it is able to provide relevant information at just the right moment: it displays weather information right when you're about to leave for work, for example, or it can recommend alternate driving routes in case it detects you might be late for that important meeting.

2. Chrome

Chances are that if you have a smartphone or a tablet, you often use it to surf the internet. And if you do a lot of web surfing from your mobile device, you better have a decent mobile browser. Google Chrome is probably the best alternative web browser you can get for either iOS or Android - it is reliable, functional, and most importantly, pretty darn fast. What's more is that once you log in, the bookmarks and browsing history stored in Chrome on your desktop computer will magically synchronize with the mobile app, and vice versa.

3. Pocket

And speaking of browsing the web, Pocket is a browser extension you should definitely have installed. Simply put, it is one of those "read it later" apps. With its help, you can pin articles, videos and other stuff so that you can check them out whenever you have time. Once you're ready to enjoy an article you've saved, the app optimizes the page's layout and removes all unnecessary content for a more pleasant experience. Pocket works on both desktop computers and mobile devices.

4. Clear

Sometimes less is more, don't you agree? A minimalist, easy to use app is often more practical to have than something unneededly complicated. So if you need an application that can act as your digital task organizer, check out Clear. It is a simple piece of software used for managing to-do lists and taking quick notes. That's pretty much it! The app is liked for its elegant, uncluttered interface and for its ability to sync with iCloud.

5. SwiftKey 3

Swiftkey is most likely the last Android on-screen keyboard you're ever going to use. It is comfortable, accurate, and pretty smart too. Not only that it does a great job at predicting your each word by adapting to the vocabulary you use, but with version 3, which got released earlier this year, a new feature 
got introduced that could insert missing spaces between words, thus speeding up your typing even further.