Apple reveals apps and games of the year, highlighting tools that allowed people to get through 2020
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Your support makes all the difference.Apple has revealed its apps and games of the year, highlighting the most popular and best software available on its platforms.
It said that the choices this year had been dominated by the theme of "helpfulness", and that many of the apps chosen had allowed their users to get through the difficulties of 2020.
They included more obvious choices such as Zoom, which Apple noted had gone from being a somewhat niche business app to the way that families and friends came together. But it also highlighted less well-known apps, such as mindfulness platform Shine, that addressed the difficulties of the year more directly.
Other apps selected as part of the annual awards had to make substantial changes to work anything like normal in 2020. They included Pokémon GO – chosen as one of the app trends of the year – which had to alter its model away from real-life meetups to a more virtual and socially-distanced focus.
Apple gives awards to its best and most popular apps each year, usually picking a theme that unites those it feels have offered most value on its App Store. It said that it recognised that 2020’s list was different for a variety of reasons, and developers will for the first time receive a physical awards made out of the same kind of aluminium used in the company’s devices.
“This year, more than ever before, some of our most creative and connected moments happened in apps. This was thanks to the amazing work of developers who introduced fresh, helpful app experiences throughout the year,” said Phil Schiller, who used to run the company’s marketing and is now an Apple Fellow.
“Around the world, we saw remarkable efforts from so many developers, and these Best of 2020 winners are 15 outstanding examples of that innovation. From helping us stay fit and mindful, to keeping our children’s education on track, to helping fight hunger, their impact was meaningful to so many of us.”
Not all of the apps chosen by Apple necessarily embodied the kinds of struggles that 2020 has brought. Its Apple TV app of the year was Disney+ for instance.
But many of the winners had reacted to the pandemic, political struggle and increased awareness of racial injustice in their own ways. Some of them – such as Mac app winner Fantastical – did so in smaller ways, such as making it easier for people to follow virtual meetings, while others took on the challenges of the year more directly.
Each of the winners of the trend awards did so in different ways.
They included the UN’s World Food Programme app, ShareTheMeal, which said that it had seen a vast increase in the number of people donating through its app through lockdown. Meditation and wellness app Shine launched a section specifically aimed at addressing the wellbeing and mental health of black people amid the protests over racial injustice.
Many of the apps chosen this year have been around for some time, but found their purpose significantly changed through the pandemic. Education app Explain Everything became vastly more popular as teachers used its whiteboard features from home, for instance, and Pokémon GO made its physical events virtual and added new ways for people to interact with its location-based games in ways that were consistent with social distancing guidelines.
The winners and full list of the most popular apps is below:
Best Apps of 2020
iPhone App of the Year: Wakeout!, developed by Andres Canella.
iPad App of the Year: Zoom.
Mac App of the Year: Fantastical, developed by Flexibits.
Apple TV App of the Year: Disney+.
Apple Watch App of the Year: Endel.
Best Games of 2020
iPhone Game of the Year: “Genshin Impact,” from miHoYo.
iPad Game of the Year: “Legends of Runeterra,” from Riot Games.
Mac Game of the Year: “Disco Elysium,” from ZA/UM.
Apple TV Game of the Year: “Dandara Trials of Fear,” from Raw Fury.
Apple Arcade Game of the Year: “Sneaky Sasquatch,” from RAC7.
App Trend of 2020
Shine, for helping users practice self care.
Caribu, for connecting families to loved ones.
“Pokémon GO,” for reinventing the way we play, from Niantic.
ShareTheMeal, for helping users make a difference.
Top Free iPhone Apps:
1. ZOOM Cloud Meetings
2. NHS COVID-19
3. TikTok
4. WhatsApp Messenger
5. Houseparty
6. Instagram
7. Microsoft Teams
8. YouTube: Watch, Listen, Stream
9. Snapchat
10. Facebook
11. Messenger
12. Disney+
13. Spotify: Music and podcasts
14. Widgetsmith
15. Amazon
16. Netflix
17. Google Maps - Transit & Food
18. Uber Eats: Food Delivery
19. Gmail - Email by Google
20. Microsoft Outlook
— —
Top Paid iPhone Apps:
1. Driving Theory Test 4 in 1 Kit
2. Official DVSA Theory Test Kit
3. Procreate Pocket
4. The Wonder Weeks
5. Forest - Stay focused
6. TouchRetouch
7. Facetune
8. CITB Op/Spec HS&E test 2019
9. Dark Sky Weather
10. AutoSleep Track Sleep on Watch
11. Squeezy NHS Pelvic Floor App
12. Freya • Surge Timer
13. Teach Your Monster to Read
14. Mirror for Samsung TV
15. Sky Guide
16. WatchChat 2: for WhatsApp
17. SkyView®
18. Ski Tracks
19. Hit the Button Maths
20. Spelling Shed
— —
Top Free iPhone Games:
1. Among Us!
2. Brain Test: Tricky Puzzles
3. Subway Surfers
4. Roblox
5. Woodturning 3D
6. Call of Duty®: Mobile
7. Ink Inc. - Tattoo Drawing
8. Magic Tiles 3: Piano Game
9. 8 Ball Pool™
10. Cube Surfer!
11. Trivia.io
12. Brain Out
13. Draw Climber
14. Johnny Trigger
15. Mario Kart Tour
16. Tangle Master 3D
17. Sort It 3D
18. Fortnite
19. Fishdom
20. Park Master
— —
Top Paid iPhone Games:
1. Football Manager 2020 Mobile
2. Minecraft
3. Monopoly
4. Plague Inc.
5. Heads Up! - Trivia on the go
6. Bloons TD 6
7. The Chase: Ultimate Edition
8. Tenable
9. Geometry Dash
10. Tipping Point
11. Cluedo: The Official Edition
12. Earn to Die 2
13. Pocket Build
14. Countdown - The Official TV Show App
15. Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas
16. Rebel Inc.
17. The Game of Life
18. True Skate
19. Bloons TD 5
20. RFS - Real Flight Simulator
— —
Top Free iPad Apps:
1. ZOOM Cloud Meetings
2. Disney+
3. Netflix
4. Amazon Prime Video
5. Microsoft Teams
6. YouTube: Watch, Listen, Stream
7. Messaging for WhatsApp on iPad
8. TikTok
9. BBC iPlayer
10. Google Chrome
11. Houseparty
12. Messenger
13. Microsoft Word
14. Facebook
15. Skype for iPad
16. Amazon
17. All 4
18. Spotify: Music and podcasts
19. Sky Go
20. ITV Hub: TV Player & Catchup
— —
Top Paid iPad Apps:
1. Procreate
2. GoodNotes 5
3. Notability
4. Teach Your Monster to Read
5. Hit the Button Maths
6. Duet Display
7. Driving Theory Test 4 in 1 Kit
8. Spelling Shed
9. Affinity Photo
10. Affinity Designer
11. Numberblocks: Card Fun!
12. Toca Life: Hospital
13. Alphablocks: Letter Fun
14. LumaFusion
15. Numberblocks: Hide and Seek
16. Toca Kitchen 2
17. Official DVSA Theory Test Kit
18. Toca Life: Neighborhood
19. Mirror for Samsung TV
20. Toca Life: Vacation
— —
Top Free iPad Games:
1. Among Us!
2. Roblox
3. Ink Inc. - Tattoo Drawing
4. Magic Tiles 3: Piano Game
5. Brain Test: Tricky Puzzles
6. Tiles Hop - EDM Rush
7. Subway Surfers
8. Fishdom
9. Mario Kart Tour
10. Dancing Road: Color Ball Run!
11. Fortnite
12. Word Collect: Word Games
13. Call of Duty®: Mobile
14. Save The Girl!
15. Perfect Cream
16. Bubble Tea!
17. aquapark.io
18. Tie Dye
19. Homescapes
20. Paper.io 2
— —
Top Paid iPad Games:
1. Minecraft
2. Monopoly
3. Football Manager 2020 Touch
4. Football Manager 2020 Mobile
5. Plague Inc.
6. Bloons TD 6
7. The House of Da Vinci 2
8. The Chase: Ultimate Edition
9. Geometry Dash
10. Tipping Point
11. RFS - Real Flight Simulator
12. Cluedo: The Official Edition
13. The Game of Life
14. Teeny Titans: Collect & Battle
15. Tenable
16. Human: Fall Flat
17. LEGO® Jurassic World™
18. Five Nights at Freddy’s
19. The Room: Old Sins
20. Goat Simulator
— —
Top Apple Arcade Games:
1. Sneaky Sasquatch
2. Sonic Racing
3. Skate City
4. Hot Lava
5. PAC-MAN Party Royale
6. Oceanhorn 2
7. SpongeBob: Patty Pursuit
8. LEGO® Brawls
9. Outlanders
10. WHAT THE GOLF?
11. Frogger in Toy Town
12. Crossy Road Castle
13. Rayman Mini
14. Spyder
15. Mini Motorways
16. LEGO® Builder's Journey
17. Butter Royale
18. Ballistic Baseball
19. tint.
20. Speed Demons
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