Both Apple and Google announced the best apps and games of the year. AllTrails won the ‘iPhone App of the Year’ award, while Imprint: Learn Visually was named the best app on Google Play.
Apple and Google have reached a consensus on the game of the year, with both naming Honkai: Star Rail as the winner for 2023.
These year-end ‘best of’ lists are recognized as a way not only to generate interest in new apps and games, but also to show the state of the app market, what platforms want to highlight and user trends over the year.
Surprisingly, however, this year Apple broke with its tradition of highlighting apps that make innovative use of recently released technology. Instead, this year’s finalists include long-acclaimed apps like language learning app Duolingo and travel app Flighty.
It’s also worth noting that neither Apple nor Google has ever chosen an AI app as the ‘best of the year’. This is all the more remarkable considering that earlier this year, ChatGPT became the fastest growing app in history, reaching 100 million users shortly after its launch. (This record was later broken by Instagram Threads, which reached 100 million users in just five days.)
This year, artificial intelligence has become a part of our daily lives; it has been used in art and music production; it has created new jobs while negatively affecting some sectors. One way or another, it left its mark on 2023. Today, not only ChatGPT but many artificial intelligence applications generate millions of dollars in revenue.
It’s also worth noting that neither Apple nor Google has ever chosen an AI app as the ‘best of the year’. This is all the more remarkable considering that earlier this year, ChatGPT became the fastest growing app in history, reaching 100 million users shortly after its launch. (This record was later broken by Instagram Threads, which reached 100 million users in just five days.)
This year, artificial intelligence has become a part of our daily lives; it has been used in art and music production; it has created new jobs while negatively affecting some sectors. One way or another, it left its mark on 2023. Today, not only ChatGPT but many artificial intelligence applications generate millions of dollars in revenue.
“It’s inspiring to see developers continue to build incredible apps and games that are redefining the world around us,” Apple CEO Tim Cook said in a statement about the 2023 winners. “This year’s winners show the limitless potential for developers to bring their dreams to reality. This results in apps and games that are completely unique, of exceptional quality and purpose-built,” he added.
But despite AI’s obvious impact on both online and offline culture, Apple refrained from naming an AI app among its Cultural Impact winners. Instead, the winners in Apple’s Cultural Impact Category were Pok Pok, a children’s game app; Proloquo, an accessibility app; Too Good To Go, which minimizes food waste; Unpacking, a puzzle app; and Finding Hannah.
Still, the company couldn’t avoid mentioning the technology altogether and gave a distant nod to generative AI, calling it ‘the trend of the year’. It did mention the collection of App Store editors that it had put together in line with this year’s trend, but did not mention ChatGPT by name, contenting itself with a link.
Other App Store winners are as follows:
- 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
- Honkai iPhone Game of the Year: 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
In addition to its overall winners this year, Google also selected the ‘best multi-device’ apps and Spotify was the winner in this category. This is an interesting choice considering the recent Google & Epic Games antitrust lawsuit and the ‘favorable’ Play Store pricing deal for Spotify. Best multi-device game was Outerplane: Strategy Anime.
Google allows users to vote for their favorite apps and not surprisingly, ChatGPT won the race as the app of the year in the user choice category. The game of the year, also based on user voting, was MONOPOLY GO.
Unlike Apple, Google had no problem including Meta’s WhatsApp in its list of winners (in the smartwatch category). It also gave a nod to Artifact, the smart AI-powered app developed by Instagram’s co-founders.
Other winning apps and games of 2023 are as follows:
- Best Bumble for Friends for Fun: Meet IRL
- Best Voidpet Garden for Personal Development: Mental Health
- Hidden Gem Aware: Mindfulness & Wellbeing
- Best Paw Patrol Academy for Families
- Best AI-Powered Chat Powered by Artificial Intelligence
- Best Game on PC Arknights
- Best Minecraft for Chromebooks
- Best Multiplayer Game Farlight 84
Compiled from TechCrunch, Apple and Google Blog.
