It’s that time of the year again. App developers have been working late nights, drank coffee after coffee, battling screens flickering with bugs and errors. Because of these dedicated developers who devote all of their subsistence into their work, you can have the luxury of Apps that assist in your professional life, simplify your personal life, connect you to loved ones, bring forth the creativity bubbling inside of you and supply you with hours of entertainment. Let’s give 10 seconds of silence to think about and give thanks to these hard-working professionals.
10… 9… 8… 7… 6… 5… 4… 3… 2… 1… Yeah, I meant it! But now that’s over, let’s get to the awards.
The Apps were divided into Best Apps of 2019, Best Games of 2019, Best Apple Arcade Game of 2019 and App Trends of 2019. The two trends that were given the most attention this year are “Blockbusters Reborn” and “The Storyteller Within”. It was also categorised by different devices.
First up, iPhone App of the Year. The winner is Spectre Camera from Lux Optics.
Spectre Camera is an App that allows you to take full control of the iPhone’s camera. One of its main features is the ability to take dazzling long-exposure photos. Spectre Camera is available on the Apple App Store from this link and costs R49.99* on the South African store and $2.99* on the US store. Read more on their website.
Next up, the iPad App of the Year. This award goes to the App Flow by Moleskine (Moleskine).
This App will speak to the creative person. You can use it to sketch and draw neat illustrations with an array of tools including Pens, Round Markers and even a Lasso Knife. The App is available from the Apple App Store for iPhone and iPad from this link for free, but have a monthly subscription or R32.99* in the South African store and $1.99* on the US store, or a 12-month subscription of R194.99 (R16.25 p/m)* and $11.99 ($0.99 p/m)* on the South African and US stores respectively. Read more on the creator’s website.
Moving to the desktop, the Mac App of the Year is Affinity Publisher by Serif Labs.
Pro-level design has never been easier with Affinity Publisher. It can be used for designing magazine articles, menus, business cards and the list goes on. Text styles, Drop caps, Artistic Text and Flow are but a few of the features available. Find all the features and uses on their website. It is available on the Apple App Store from this link and costs R549.99* on the South African store and $34.99* on the US store.
Let’s move to Apple TV. The Explorers is an App designed by The Explorers Network.
The App was designed to help scientists, explorers and artists to achieve one main goal: The creation of a “visual inventory” of our natural world through video and photo. It showcases stunning footage of landscapes and the animal kingdom. Learn more on their website here. The App is available on iPhone, iPad and Apple TV here and is free to download and has an additional subscription called The Explorers+ which offer videos in up to 8K HDR. A percentage of the subscription fee is donated to The Explorers Foundation. The Explorers+ costs R47.99 p/m* on the South African store and $2.99 p/m* on the US store.
Up next, we have the App Trend of 2019, Storytelling Simplified. According to Apple, a number of Apps helped people to
fill the proverbial blank page with our memories, dreams, images, and voices
Apple, 2 December 2019
and it was done with the help of Apps like Canva: Stories & Video Maker by Canva, Over (Over, Inc), Anchor (Anchor FM), Steller (Expedition Travel Advisor), Wattpad (Wattpad Corp), Spark Camera (Dayworks) and Unfold (Unfold Creative).
Well, there you have it. The best Apps of 2019 revealed. Not all the Apps was discussed in this article but you can see the full list here and here. Keep watching this blog for the Best games of 2019.
* – Prices as of 6 December 2019.
