Apple Crowns 2022’s Most Impactful Apps & Games On App Store
Is your iPhone just filled with utility tools? Each year, Apple gives users a nudge to change things up with the App Store Awards, where it names its favorite apps and games of the year. With these outstanding software add-ons, you could make your screen time more purposeful.
Speaking of purpose, Apple has introduced a new ‘Cultural Impact’ category to the awards for the first time. These titles have been recognized for leaving a “lasting impact on people’s lives” and for influencing culture, says the tech giant.
Winners will be presented with an App Store Awards trophy that is shaped like the App Store icon and crafted from 100% recycled aluminum.
“This year’s App Store Award winners reimagined our experiences with apps that delivered fresh, thoughtful, and genuine perspectives,” explains CEO Tim Cook.
“From self-taught solo creators to international teams spanning the globe, these entrepreneurs are making a meaningful impact and represent the ways in which apps and games influence our communities and lives.”
Take a look at the App Store’s most compelling apps and games from the past year below.
Top Apps of 2022
iPhone App of the Year: BeReal
Often billed as the “anti-Instagram,” BeReal is the wildly popular social media app that is filter- and pretense-free, enabling users to show their most authentic selves. Each day, the app sends out an alert at a randomized time and gives users a short two-minute window to snap a photo from their front and back cameras. There are no options for edits, and pictures are only enhanced by their owners’ smiles.
iPad App of the Year: GoodNotes 5
GoodNotes 5 endeavors to keep your desk clutter-free and, better yet, help you run a paperless life with handwritten scribblings on digital notebooks.
Mac App of the Year: MacFamilyTree 10
MacFamilyTree 10 lets you navigate your heritage in a dynamic way, bringing you snapshots of your family tree in immersive 3D views and meaningful diagrams.
Apple TV App of the Year: ViX: Cine y TV en Espanol
With streaming being a part of our daily lives, Apple has moved the spotlight to ViX, a Hispanic streaming platform that brings Spanish-language stories to the frontier of entertainment.
Apple Watch App of the Year: Gentler Streak
If you can’t find the motivation to work out, perhaps Gentler Streak will help. It looks at your readiness to exercise that day and recommends a workout routine to help you stay consistently active.
Cultural Impact gamechangers
How We Feel was created by scientists, designers, engineers, and therapists with Yale University’s Center for Emotional Intelligence to help users better understand their emotions at exact moments. The idea is that, by finding the right word to describe their experiences, users will be able to identify patterns in their sleep, exercise, and other daily routines.
Dot’s Home is a narrative game where you follow a young Black woman as she travels through time to pick up memories of her family’s history in her grandmother’s home in Detroit.
When it comes to social networking, Locket could be the most minimalist one on the market. Created by software developer Matt Moss, who missed his girlfriend, the popular widget turns your Home Screen into a private mini social media tool with only one objective: send and receive pictures. You’ll send photos directly to the home screens of up to five friends—with no captions.
The importance of hydration can’t be emphasized enough, but if getting into the habit of drinking water is difficult, Waterllama might make the experience fun for you. The Ukraine-based app encourages users to drink up with adorable animal friends, as well as introduces a motivating factor with challenges.
Inua - A Story in Ice and Time
In this point-and-click adventure, you’ll step into the shoes of three protagonists from different decades but with intertwined fates.
Top Games of 2022
iPhone Game of the Year: Apex Legends Mobile
The famous battle royale game, built for mobile, challenges up to 60 players to survive on a weapon-filled land.
iPad Game of the Year: Moncage
Moncage is an adventure puzzle that encapsulates an entire world in one cube.
Mac Game of the Year: Inscryption
This spooky game is an inky-black mix of escape-room games and psychological horror.
Apple TV Game of the Year: El Hijo
El Hijo is a “spaghetti-western stealth game” where you guide a six-year-old boy on his search for his mother.
Apple Arcade Game of the Year: Wylde Flowers
You play a city-dweller who has moved to the countryside to help her grandmother tend to her farm in this narrative farming game.
[via AppleInsider, GSMArena.com, Apple, images via Apple]
