Along with the top ranking for the most downloaded applications and games across both free and paid categories, Apple also revealed its list of App Store award winners for this year. All of the company’s platforms, including the iPhone, iPad, Apple Watch, Mac, and Apple TV, are represented in these awards for apps. The greatest iPhone app of 2022 was the social network BeReal, while the top iPad app of the year was the note-taking software GoodNotes 5.
The best Apple TV app of the year went to TelevisaUnivision Interactive’s Vix streaming service for elevating Spanish-language stories, and the best Apple Watch app of the year went to Gentler Stories’ Gentler Streak, an exercise and fitness tracker. Synium Software GmbH’s MacFamilyTree 10, a visual family tree exploration app, was named the top Mac of the year.
The top iPhone and iPad games were Montage from X.D. Network Inc. and Apex Legends Mobile from Electronic Arts. Other winners in the gaming category include “Wylde Flowers” from Studio Drydock for Apple Arcade, “Inscription” from Devolver for Mac, and “El Hijo” from HandyGames for Apple TV. The League of Legends Esports Manager from Shenzhen Tencent Tianyou Technology took home the China app of the year award.
BeReal was a surprising sensation on social media this year, inspiring imitators like TikTok and Instagram. The app was first released by the French firm in 2020. However, its format of receiving a notification at odd hours of the day and prompting users to upload a front-and-back camera combined photo within two minutes became well-liked this year. It’s a stark departure that a social app won the best crown app this year as compared to the last two years’ top apps “Toca Life World” (a kids app) and “WakeOut!” (a workout app). In its blog post for awards, Apple described BeReal as an app to provide “an authentic look into the lives of their family and friends.”
Apple’s “Apps that brought us together” bonus category from the previous year was available. To recognize such apps that “lasting impact on people’s lives and influenced culture,” it has included a “Cultural Impact” section this year. A few of the apps on the list are How We Feel Project’s How We Feel app for recording daily emotion-based check-ins, Rise-Home Stories Project’s Home Stories Project to highlight stories of systemic housing injustices and their impact on people of color, Locket Labs’ Locket Widget to enable live photo sharing between friends and family through a home screen widget, Vitalii Mogylevets’ hydration tracking app Waterllama, and ARTE Experience’s.
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