This year we’ve seen a ton of great apps from developers who’ve really started to step up their game. From social networking to streaming music, photo editing to live video, news to recipes, 2011 has graced our smartphones with a number of quality apps to help enhance our daily lives. Here are the 5 apps that really made my life better this past year.

#5 - Path

Path is the smart journal that helps you share life with the ones you love — your thoughts, the music you’re listening to, where you are, who you’re with, when you wake and when you sleep, and beautiful high quality photos and videos. And for those of you who like to share on public networks like Twitter, Foursquare, Tumblr, and Facebook, you can easily check-in, upload photos and videos, blog, and tweet directly from Path. Download from iTunes

#4 - Snapseed

Snapseed is the only photo app you’ll want to use every day. It makes any photograph extraordinary with a fun, high-quality photo experience right at your fingertips. Anyone can enhance, transform, and share their photos with ease using incredibly advanced features from the leader in digital photography software. Download from iTunes

#3 - Rdio

Rdio is a new social music service for iPad, iPhone and iPod touch, and the best way to listen to unlimited, on-demand music everywhere with your friends, and no ads. Follow your friends and other people with great taste in music, and find new and old favorites. Play any of our more than 10 million songs as much as you like, make your own playlists, and collaborate with friends on theirs. Search and find any song, album or artist, and start listening immediately. Download from iTunes

#2 - Instagram

15 million users love Instagram! It’s a free, fun, and simple way to make and share gorgeous photos on your iPhone. Pick from one of several gorgeous filtered effects or tilt-shift blur to breathe a new life into your mobile photos. Transform everyday moments into works of art you’ll want to share with friends and family. Share your photos in a simple photo stream with friends to see - and follow your friends’ photos with the click of a single button. Every day you open up Instagram, you’ll see new photos from your closest friends, and creative people from around the world. Download from iTunes

#1 - Flipboard

Named Apple’s iPad App of the year and one of TIME’s Top 50 Innovations, Flipboard creates a personalized magazine out of everything being shared with you, from Instagram photos and Facebook updates to Tumblr posts and articles from your favorite publications. Fill Flipboard with the things you like to read, from the smallest blogs to publications like Rolling Stone or Vanity Fair, and use Instapaper or Read It Later to save articles to read later. Connect Flipboard to all your social networks, and you’ll have a single place to enjoy, browse, comment on and share all the news, photos and updates that matter to you. Download from iTunes