In a world where technology has taken over our lives, it is not surprising that web apps have become an essential part of our day to day survival. From productivity tools to social networks, web apps have made our lives easier and more connected. At Lifehack, we like to review the web apps launched over the course of the year and see how they went. Which apps stood the test of time and remained popular after the hype of their launch had subsided? In this article, we’ll look at ten apps that did particularly well and provide users with valuable services.

When evaluating which apps to include in the list, the author crafted a rational list based on how well the apps perform now. The launch of an app can go wrong, and beta versions often lack the features to make an app worthwhile until several months down the track. Therefore, the author looked at the apps launched earlier in the year that are still going strong and making life easier.

One of the web apps reviewed is Blist, a productivity tool that allows you to create lists on steroids. With up to 16 columns, this app makes managing your tasks more manageable, and the ability to share your blist with others and publish it on a website makes it a perfect tool for team collaboration.

Get Satisfaction is an interesting web app that provides a neutral, intermediate space for customers and companies to communicate. It’s a new way of doing customer service, and a cheaper one too. Customers can check for previously answered questions before submitting their own, which cuts down on the number of duplicate questions the company spends its time on. This new approach to customer service is more transparent and trustworthy than many solutions hosted by companies themselves, making life easier for both parties.

If you are looking for an easy way to publish words, pictures, audio, and video, Posterous might be the web app for you. It takes the simplicity of services such as Tumblr to the extreme. To establish your blog, you simply send an email with some starter content. To update your blog, you send another email. This is the ultimate no-maintenance publishing solution, perfect for those who want to create and control a more developed website.

Dopplr is another web app that deserves a spotlight on any top 10 web apps list. The apps’ concept is to alert you when friends, family, and colleagues you’re sharing data with are traveling to the same location as you. This app is perfect for those who travel often and want to catch up with someone they haven’t seen in a long time.

MobileMe had one of the worst web app launches, but it has since matured into a stable product. Apple did their best to compensate their users for the shaky launch, and now MobileMe is an excellent syncing app. It keeps data between all your Macs, your iPhone, and the web all up-to-date, all the time. The web-based applications work well and look great, making it a perfect tool for people who want to stay organized.

IntenseDebate is the commenting system that takes the discussion features from your average blogging platform and turns them into something much more powerful. It allows users to respond to and even moderate comments via email, import or export comment databases for backup or migration, feed integration that is better than most platform’s built-ins, commenter profiles and blacklisting, and much more.

Hulu was launched in 2007, but it became more popular in 2008. The site is a video service that offers TV shows, clips, and movies, which are restricted to IP addresses in the US. Here’s hoping that in the near future, the complexities of regional licensing will be taken care of as far as online viewing goes, so we can all enjoy what Hulu has to offer.

If you’re a music lover, Last.fm is the web app for you. This year has been a milestone year for the site in terms of its user base and advancements, making the app more enjoyable to use. The Last.fm app is perfect for tracking your music and getting a good overview of the sort of music you’ve been listening to the most and what sort of music you haven’t heard.

In conclusion, the world of web apps is constantly evolving, and new apps are released regularly. However, the apps that stand the test of time are the ones that provide value to its users. The ten apps reviewed in this article have proven to be popular and provide services that make our lives easier. Whether it’s productivity tools, customer service, publishing solutions, travel alerts, syncing apps, commenting systems, video services, or music apps, we use web apps daily, and it’s vital to identify the ones that are worth our time and effort.