Mobile apps, above all, are supposed to serve some sort of purpose, whether they help you with a task or entertain you. But clearly, some are more enjoyable simply because they're easier to use or are just plain prettier.

A few were even deemed pretty enough to earn them a spot in this Art of Apps exhibit on display at the SoHo Gallery of Digital Art.

"Because there was so much thought and so much skill and so much attention paid to these functional tools, we thought they needed to be recognized as the art that they are," said Ben Hindman, the creator of Splash. "We chose them based on how they looked and how they worked. How they worked is almost more important but truly each of these apps we have here is almost revolutionary. Some of them, it's almost as if the screen melts away."

Folks at the gallery said they hoped visitors left with a better understanding of what it takes to make the apps they rely on every day and make those apps pretty, fun and easy to use.

"The people involved with these apps come from a design background," said Susannah Perlman, a curator and event planner with the SoHo Gallery for Digital Art. "Then this technology came and it just sort of made sense for them to put it together with their knowhow. It really is a sign of our times there's always going to be the traditional painter but this is our future."

If you can't make it in person, you can see which apps made the cut and check out the exhibit virtually by heading over to artofapps.splashthat.com