Image credits: apple
Apple and Google both announced the best apps and games of the year today, with hiking and biking companion AllTrails winning Apple’s 2023 iPhone App of the Year and education app Imprint:Learn Visually winning Google Play. Awarded as the best app. Meanwhile, Apple and Google agreed on Game of the Year, with both companies choosing his Honkai: Star Rail as the winner.
These year-end “best of” lists not only drive interest in new apps and games, but also assess the status of the app marketplace, what the platform itself wanted to celebrate, and what attracted consumers. It also functions as a means to ‘Attention this year.
But surprisingly, this year Apple bucked the trend of highlighting apps that are new to the store or that leverage recently released technology in innovative ways. Instead, this year’s iPhone app finalists include winner AllTrails, plus apps that have long been praised as well-built and well-designed mobile companions, including language learning app Duolingo and travel app Flighty. was included.
Still, this is a different type of selection than previous years, with 2022 social hit BeReal and last year’s well-received children’s app Toca Life World among the App Store winners. is noteworthy.
It’s also notable that neither Apple nor Google named an AI app as their app of the year, despite the phenomenal success of mobile apps like ChatGPT. This is especially strange given that ChatGPT reached 100 million users earlier this year shortly after its launch, making it the fastest growing consumer application in history. This record was later broken by Instagram Threads, which reached his 100 million user mark in just five days, and still maintained his user base of just under 100 million active users as of October.
While any of these picks would be a mobile app success story, both app store platforms looked to others as this year’s top winners. Moreover, apart from ChatGPT, many other AI apps are generating millions of dollars in revenue as well, so the decision to avoid the AI category appears to be a deliberate choice on Apple’s part.
Other App Store winners include iPad App of the Year Prêt-à-Makeup, Mac App of the Year Photomator, Apple TV App of the Year MUBI, Apple Watch App of the Year SmartGym, and iPhone Game of the Year Honkai: Includes Star Rail, iPad. Game of the Year Lost in Play, Mac Game of the Year Lies of P, Apple Arcade Game of the Year Hello Kitty Island Adventure.
Apple CEO Tim Cook said in a statement about the 2023 winners: “We are proud of the developers who continue to create amazing apps and games that redefine the world around us. It’s exciting to see.” “This year’s winners represent the limitless potential of developers who bring their visions to life, creating apps and games with amazing ingenuity, exceptional quality, and purpose-driven missions.” he added.
Apple also avoided naming AI apps as winners of the Cultural Impact Award, even though AI is having a very real impact on culture both online and offline. In 2023, AI will pervade everyday technology, be used to create art and music, and create new jobs as well as destroy them. Instead, Apple’s cultural winners include children’s game app Pok Pok, accessibility app Proloquo, food waste minimization app Too Good To Go, puzzle app Unpacking, and hidden object game These included Finding Hannah.
Still, the company couldn’t avoid the topic of AI completely, so it paid homage to the technology by naming it “Trend of the Year,” and put together a collection of generative AI apps that showcase the trend. However, the press release does not reveal these names, instead only showing the App Store groups.
In addition to the overall winner, Google is taking a different approach to its “Best” apps this year, with “Multi-Device” apps reflecting its efforts in the Play Store designed to make apps more discoverable than smartphones. focused on. The company named his Spotify the best multi-device app. An interesting choice considering that it was just revealed that Spotify had a sweet deal with Google that allowed it to avoid Play Store fees through its antitrust lawsuit with Epic Games. The best multi-device game was the turn-based strategy game OUTERPLANE – Strategy Anime.
Google also allows users to vote for their favorite apps. Unsurprisingly, ChatGPT wins the race here as users’ choice app of the year. The user-selected game of the year was Monopoly Go!
The company has also rounded up other apps it wants to highlight by giving them individual awards. Some of them include: “Best Fun Bumble Apps for Friends: Meet IRL”, “Best Apps for Personal Growth”, “Void Pet Garden”: Mental Health, “Best Daily Essentials”, “Feed Your Curiosity” ”, “best”, etc. Recognize Hidden Gem: Mindfulness and Wellbeing, Best in AI Character AI: AI-Powered Chat, Best for Families Paw Patrol Academy, Supports ActNow Best Apps for Good AWorld, Best for Watch WhatsApp Messenger , perfect for tablets Concept: Sketch, take notes, draw, perfect for Chromebook FlipaClip: Create 2D animations, perfect for Google TV Max: HBO, TV, movie streaming, perfect for cars Amazon Prime Video
Unlike Apple, which has been feuding with Meta ever since changes around app tracking transparency affected Meta’s advertising business and led to a souring of relations between the two tech giants, Google has given Meta’s WhatsApp a list of winners. Didn’t bother to emphasize. It’s also a nod to the clever AI-powered Artifact app built by Instagram’s co-founder. And while no AI app was chosen as the overall winner, ChatGPT won the User’s Choice race, and Character AI, an app that created the AI category and was developed by a former Google researcher, won.
Also, honorable mentions that didn’t win in the app category, including Reelsy Reel Maker Video Editor, Imprint: Learn Visually (which won overall but was an honorable mention for personal growth), ReciMe: Easy & Tasty Recipes, and Stippl. are also summarized. : Explore, Plan & Share, ChatGPT (won User’s Choice, but won Best AI), LEGO DUPLO DISNEY, AllTrails: Hike, Bike & Run (also named Apple’s iPhone App of the Year) ), Audible: Audio Entertainment, Canva: Design, Photo & Video, Everand: Ebooks & Audiobooks, Evernote – Note Organizer, Wideo, Amazon Prime Video, Crunchyroll, Disney+, Tubi: Movies & Live TV, Beach Buggy Racing, Spotify (Winner of Best Multi-Device App) However, it won an honorable mention in Best for Cars. )
Best Games Included Best Multiplayer Game Farlight 84, Best Pick Up & Play: MONOPOLY GO!, Best Indie Vampire Survivors, Best Story Honkai: Star Rails, Best Ongoing Stumble Guys, Best Game for Good: Pokémon Sleep, Best on Play Pass Magic Rampage, perfect for tablets Honkai: Star Rail, perfect for Chromebook Minecraft, perfect for PC Arknights Google Play Games. Also included are honorable mentions of games (featured alongside books of the year on Google’s blog).