Holiday Gift Guide: 10 Paid Apps We Want This Year

It's that time of the year again. After saving up your cash and downloading free apps for the past 11 months, it's time to splurge a bit and get some paid ones. Despite most companies releasing their apps for free, many of them end up coming with annoying ads or in-app purchases that are required to get the full experience of the app. A majority of paid apps, on the other hand, don't come with all the annoying extras, and are usually worth their weight in price—but not all of them. We've weaved through the sea of apps and pulled out the Best Paid Apps for you this holiday season. We hope you saved your lunch money.

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Platform: iOS; $2.99

You'll find many Twitter apps in the App Store (go ahead, give it a try), but Tweetbot 2 stands out largely because of its ability to create multiple timelines and gesture controls for the app. Also, it does something Twitter should have done a long time ago: they've made it easy to block messages from users without having to click the unfollow button—you already know you have a handful of people you mutually follow that this feature will be useful for. The app practically turns Twitter into a full blown monster of its former self, and is worthy of your attention and dollars, especially if you tweet more than you eat.

Platform: iOS; $2.99

So many things are handled digitally with a few clicks on a screen that no one would blame you for not having a scanner of your own. But for those printed documents that you absolutely need an electronic version of, Turboscan is the way to go. Whether it's for school, work, or other official business, Turboscan can get you out of a rut quickly, and save you a trip down to FedEx Kinko's or an emergency visit to a neighbor who has a scanner. The app uses algorithms to detect the edges of documents, straighten them out, and get rid of shadows, all to make it look like it was actually scanned by one of those bulky machines and not something in your pocket.

Platform: iOS; $2.99

Public radio might not be high on your priorities of things to listen to, but This American Life should be. This American Life is a podcast on NPR that's hosted by radio legend, Ira Glass. For $2.99, you'll get access to the program's hundreds of shows, which they say will take 17 days and nights of listening to catch up. Each show has a theme that Glass and the contributors explore, and many them will have interviews with interesting people from all walks of life. This is the perfect thing to put on while you're driving or getting ready to settle down at night. It's great storytelling that's portable, and it's a great break from your day.

Check out this episode with the theme "The Right to Remain Silent."

Platform: iOS, Android; $2.99

If you need some help shedding those pounds, the more information you know is better. Moves tracks your many movements throughout the day: it records your walking, the paths you took, and literally counts your steps. Once it collects the data, the app will show you a timeline of your movements that's easy to read, and you'll be able to make changes to your daily schedule to become healthier.

Platform:iOS; $2.99

If you have an iPhone, one of the main things keeping the device from feeling like a computer (other than size) is its ability to download things. With iDownloader Pro, you can download almost any video from the web, and then view the files offline or save them onto a computer. Thanks to a recent iOS update, the app looks even better than before, and downloads (up to 50 at a time) can be yours in a matter of minutes.

Platform: Android; $3.99

Typing is such a chore, no? Well, Swiftkey makes it a whole lot easier. By replacing the phone's default keyboard, Swiftkey provides a super accurate auto-correct and provides next-word prediction in 60 languages. The more you type, the more Swiftkey will learn, and adapt to your typing habits. It's a cool app that flexes the power of Android devices, and is something iOS users have yet to be able to play with.

Platform: iOS; $4.99 (free with any new iOS device, and $4.99 for users with existing iOS devices)

The world of mobile video doesn't have to be limited to six second of 15 second clips. iMovie is now for the iPhone what it was for the desktop: a powerful video editing engine that lets you have more control over your videos than you could have had without it. Trim videos, take out audio, plug in narration, or input slow motion, picture-in-picture, and split-screen effects, then upload it straight to YouTube, Facebook, Vimeo, and CNN iReport. This is a perfect app for the blogger or journalist on the go, or for the traveler wanting the perfect way to send footage back home to friends and family.

Platform: iOS; $.99

Yes, filters are here to stay. We get it. So why not break out of the shell and use more than the few that Instagram gives you? Afterlight comes packed with 56 filters and other editing tools for your pictures. Users can also put in textures, which are special effects that add some more style to a photo (like lights, or stains that make the photo look like it was shot on film.) Oh, and frames. Plenty of frames. It's a slick app that has only gotten better with time, and the buck you pay for it will keep giving back, now and into the future.

Platform: iOS; $2.99

Selfies are the name of the game, but what if your face on a weekday afternoon isn't the most flattering thing on the planet? Facetune will help brighten things up a bit by smoothing out skin, putting more emphasis on your smile, or changing your eye color: the app is a mini Photoshop tailored for your face. There are a ton of options here that will help you achieve that perfect selfie on the go.

Platform: iOS, $2.99

Life can get busy between school, work, and everything else. If you find yourself carrying your tablet or smartphone around more than you do a tablet of paper, then Notability could be the answer to disorganization. Open up the app and you'll be able to take notes on the fly, and place them into different folders categorized however you'd like, such as Work, School, etc. You not only can type, but you can draw and place pictures in your notes, and make them as detailed as you want. You can sync your notes with Google Drive, Dropbox, and more, to access them when you're not around your device.