If you have an Apple gadget, you will want to know the apps and games that were best in 2019.
Apple has revealed the iPhone app of the year is the Lux Optics Spectre Camera, which allows the smartphone’s camera to take stunning long-exposure shots that turn moving water into creamy foam and car tail lights into red streaks.
“Developers around the world inspire us all with innovative apps that have the power to influence culture and change our lives, and this year that is as true as ever. The 2019 App Store Best Apps and Games winners reflect our global desire for connection, creativity and fun,” said Phil Schiller, Apple’s senior vice president of Worldwide Marketing.
“We are excited to announce such a diverse group of 2019 App Store winners, showing that great design and creativity comes from developers large and small, and from every corner of the world. We congratulate all the winners and thank them for making 2019 the best year yet for the App Store.”
Exploration and storytelling
Other top apps were Flow by Moleskine for sketching and drawing and Affinity Publisher by Serif Labs, a gateway to professional print design.
Top Apple TV app was The Explorers, designed to support the world’s community of explorers and scientists by providing somewhere to catalogue and record a photo and video inventory of the natural world.
The app trend for the year, according to Apple, is storytelling.
Several apps offer different creative paths that help people express themselves through podcasts, novels or photography.
Best game of 2019 was Sky: Children of the Light by thatgamecompany.
Apple’s most downloaded apps and games of 2019
iPad game of the year is Hyper Light Drifter, a reimagining of adventure games from back in the day.
The game trend of the year was to bring superstar games from other platforms to iOS, including Mario Kart Tour, Minecraft Earth, Pokemon Masters, Assassin’s Creed Rebellion and Call of Duty: Mobile.
The most downloaded apps were YouTube, Instagram and Snapchat, with Mario Kart Tour the most downloaded game, followed by Color Bump 3D and aquapark.io.
The company says the App Store has raised more than $120 billion for software developers around the world.