Best Free iPhone, Android Apps: Our Top 10

'Tis the season to be thankful, spread some holiday cheer, and search for the perfect gifts for everyone on your shopping list. It's also a time when we reflect on the year and think about the good and bad of 2015.

Today I'm going to focus on the good. Like most of you, I'm grateful for the mobile technology we use every day to communicate, stay organized, and get from place to place.

Has mobile technology been an entirely positive presence in our lives? Well, no. Smartphones, social media, and other mobile tech has caused the human attention span to plummet 25%, from 12 seconds in 2000 to 8 seconds in 2013, according to a report issued earlier this year from Microsoft Canada.

[ Wearables are popular gifts this season. Here are the top picks for 2015. ]

Fortunately, mobile app stores are booming with tools designed to make our lives easier. We may have shorter attention spans, but we also have more capable apps to organize everything from schedules to finances.

Here, we put together a collection of useful apps from 2015 that will be handy additions to your mobile devices through the end of this year into 2016. This roundup consists of a range of apps you want on your smartphone, including a contact organizer, smart keyboard, photo editor and how-to guide.

If you're still feeling the effects of this year's Black Friday and Cyber Monday shopping sprees, you're not alone. In the spirit of the holiday season, all of the apps in this roundup are free to download.

Which mobile app did you find most useful this year? Feel free to share your recommendations in the comments section below.

**New deadline of Dec. 18, 2015** Be a part of the prestigious InformationWeek Elite 100! Time is running out to submit your company's application by Dec. 18, 2015. Go to our 2016 registration page: InformationWeek's Elite 100 list for 2016.

If you find yourself jumping between social media sites and news outlets to learn the latest updates, download Feedly. It's an RSS feed reader that serves as a go-to hub for Web content.

You can customize your Feedly with your usual news sites, blogs, social media accounts, and YouTube channels. It's available for iOS and Android devices.

Forgot your phone? No worries. Feedly automatically syncs your choices with its web app, so you can access content from anywhere.

The SwiftKey keyboard is a smart keyboard compatible with iOS and Android. It learns your writing style to determine accurate autocorrect and next-word predictions. The more you use it, the the easier typing becomes.

SwiftKey also offers the option to type in multiple languages without changing any settings. With SwiftKey Flow, you can opt to skip the tap-tap of regular texting and slide your fingers over the keys to spell out a message.

Slice is a lifesaver (and, perhaps, money-saver) for anyone who shops online. It scans your email to pull tracking data on recently ordered products and sends push notifications when they are shipped. If you have your eye on an item or two, Slice will let you know when prices are lowered.

Because there is such a thing as too much online shopping, a "Slice & Dice" feature keeps you updated on your spending by category. Slice is available on iOS and Android.

If you're on the hunt for a reliable Internet source, check out Ookla Speedtest for access to the speeds of nearby WiFi connections. The app displays real-time graphs to show connection consistency, and lets you verify the promised speed. It's available on iOS and Android.

Personal finance app BillGuard, available for iOS and Android, aims to protect your credit card from unnecessary charges. The app ties in with your credit card accounts and keeps track of your credit score, alerts you to suspicious charges, and notes which businesses charge for services you didn't know you were paying for.

BillGuard is designed to learn your spending habits as you verify credit and debit charges over time. Its geo-protection feature visualizes where you spend money to help recognize fraud. The app claims to have saved $75 billion since its launch.

Your smartphone comes with a calculator, but that's no reason to neglect other calculator apps on the market. MyScript is a free handwriting calculator that lets you write out equations sans keyboard.

The app converts numbers and symbols to digital text and delivers real-time results. It's a more natural way to perform calculations ranging from basic addition and division to trigonometry, logarithms, and powers, roots, and exponents.

Available on iOS and Android.

Along with a calculator, your smartphone comes with a built-in Contacts app. Sure, it stores data nicely enough, but there's always room for improvement.

FullContact aims to improve on your bare-bones Contacts app. It serves as a go-to hub for your smartphone, Google, and social media contacts. You can view contact history, so you can see when you were last in touch with someone, and a social feed to catch up with your contacts' recent posts. Each contact's page gives the option to call, email, or send a message via social media.

The app eliminates duplicate contacts and syncs across devices, so you no longer need to worry about transferring contacts when you get a new device. FullContact also gives the option to add photos, or automatically sync contacts' social media photos.

Available on iOS and Android.

It's a good time of year to learn something new. First, it's winter, and for most of us, that means miserable weather. There are only so many hours you can spend doing outdoor activities before frostbite sets in. Second, the new year is right around the corner -- this could be the year you actually commit to your resolution to master a new skill.

Snapguide is a crowd-sourced app filled with how-to guides for projects, repairs, and recipes related to technology, arts and crafts, food, automotive, gardening, and more. You can browse and share other users' guides or submit your own. Snapguide users also comment on tutorials to discuss their experiences and offer advice.

Right now Snapguide is only available on iOS, but a similar app for tutorials and how-to lessons called Trusper is available on Android.

No matter how busy you are, you can spare seven minutes to do your body some good. All you need is a bit of time, a wall, a chair, and some floor space.

Whether you're a fitness newbie or seasoned gym-goer, there's a workout in this app to suit your needs. The fitness pros at Johnson & Johnson have compiled a series of workouts ranging over 20 levels of intensity. You choose your fitness level when you enter the app.

A Smart Workout feature acts as a personal trainer and creates exercises based on previous workouts. You can also create a custom routine and share progress if you choose.

J&J's 7-Minute Workout is available on iOS (including the Apple Watch), Android.

Darkroom deviates from other photo editor apps in that it lets you create your own filters for each photo. If you create a filter you particularly like, you can apply it to multiple photos without having to redesign it for each. The tool directly accesses your photo library so you can skip the import process.

It's free to download, but a Pro Kit (in-app purchase) provides access to more detailed filter tools and gives the option to share filters as well. Darkroom is limited to iOS, but a similar tool, Adobe Photoshop Lightroom, is available on Android.

Darkroom deviates from other photo editor apps in that it lets you create your own filters for each photo. If you create a filter you particularly like, you can apply it to multiple photos without having to redesign it for each. The tool directly accesses your photo library so you can skip the import process.

It's free to download, but a Pro Kit (in-app purchase) provides access to more detailed filter tools and gives the option to share filters as well. Darkroom is limited to iOS, but a similar tool, Adobe Photoshop Lightroom, is available on Android.