The 2023 App Store Awards recognize 14 apps and games that empowered users’ creativity, introduced a world of new adventures, and more.
  • juxtaposition0617@alien.topBEnglish
    1·
    11 months ago

    I’m kinda pleasantly surprised AllTrails won. I love the app so much for hikes and runs so glad it gets its laurels :)

  • real_kerim@alien.topBEnglish
    1·
    11 months ago

    The App Store is filled with garbage. I’m looking forward to the day we can sideload an alternative Open Source app store like F-Droid.

  • aurumae@alien.topBEnglish
    1·
    11 months ago

    It’s a real shame they didn’t give iPhone app of the year to Flighty in the end. Alltrails looks cool but Flighty is incredibly useful, to the point that I really can’t imagine travelling without it anymore

    • mainstreetmark@alien.topBEnglish
      1·
      11 months ago

      Maybe I need to give it a second look. I’ve been using kayak for many years. I didn’t see what flighty offered that kayak wasn’t already doing.

    • taylrbrwr@alien.topBEnglish
      1·
      11 months ago

      Flighty actually took full advantage of Dynamic Island, widgets, and Live Activities early on in some innovative ways. Even their design & interface followed Apple’s guidelines to the T. I get AllTrails is a little more original and fosters more community, but Flighty is the perfect example of an app done right. 10/10 implementation.

    • KingKingsons@alien.topBEnglish
      1·
      11 months ago

      I was surprised by that as well. Alltrail just seems like another exercise app that doesn’t seem to have anything over other similar apps.

      I think Flighty looks amazing, but I wonder in what way you use it that makes it hard to imagine to travel without it.

    • CaptainMemeO@alien.topBEnglish
      1·
      11 months ago

      Flighty is amazing. I was at ATL when they changed the plane and gate on us due to mechanical issues. You saw the dozen people with Flighty because we all got notifications at the same time and headed to the new gate before Delta had told anyone.

  • MoskiNX@alien.topBEnglish
    1·
    11 months ago

    Shoutout to Honkai Star Rail. Never thought I could get into mobile gaming, but HSR proved me wrong. It’s quickly become my most played game the past few months. Play it more than my Xbox series x, steam deck, switch, and steam library

  • snowe99@alien.topBEnglish
    1·
    11 months ago

    Ehhhh most of the “free top 100” still had ads

    What I feel like doesn’t exist anymore is the ability to pay like $0.99 for an app like “Jelly Car” and have it hold or collective attention for months. Phone games evolved and we didn’t know how good we had it.

  • scaryjam823@alien.topBEnglish
    1·
    11 months ago

    Anyone else remember the days of browsing the App Store, especially the free top 100? Checking to see what new apps were hitting the charts. Having pages and pages of mostly useless apps but some real memorable glorified flash games were thrown into the mix. Never having to worry about anything except how much fun will this game be compared to the other.

    Good times…good times… I haven’t browsed the App Store like that in probably a decade. I miss those days.

        • slinkymello@alien.topBEnglish
          1·
          11 months ago

          It’s economics my friend; I would go back to the Econ sub, but it’s trash here. You make apps, right, then you try to find ways to monetize them, cut costs, maximize profits and you end up with poor quality. I suggest you go back to r/Idontknowshitabouteconomics. Capitalism stifles creativity due to profit maximization and market dynamics.

          • cavahoos@alien.topBEnglish
            1·
            11 months ago

            Yes, because socialism and communism have always promoted creativity, amirite?

            There’s a reason why most technological innovation and the most successful companies come from the United States, not Europe or China

    • snowe99@alien.topBEnglish
      1·
      11 months ago

      Ehhhh most of the “free top 100” still had ads

      What I feel like doesn’t exist anymore is the ability to pay like $0.99 for an app like “Jelly Car” and have it hold or collective attention for months. Phone games evolved and we didn’t know how good we had it.

      • Finite_Looper@alien.topBEnglish
        1·
        11 months ago

        True, but I feel like back then an app with ads just had a banner at the bottom or something. Now “ads” means a full screen unskippable video every few minutes. No thanks.

    • RetroGamer9@alien.topBEnglish
      1·
      11 months ago

      I remember finding all sorts of cool, creative games since none of the big publishers were interested in the nascent App Store.

      Then some smaller publishers started porting older, well known games.

      Then big publishers started porting their older games.

      Then some really good more recent games like Grand Theft Auto and BioShock started to appear. There were still cool indie games, but little by little I noticed games were free and wanted me to buy chests and boxes of loot to keep playing.

      Then the games I liked and paid for once disappeared when iOS went 64bit and games weren’t updated. There were more games than ever, but they were either free to play or I paid for them but they were hardly updated and then an iOS update broken them.

      Then I started seeing cool games again, but I need Netflix or some other subscription service to play them.

      So now I just play games on my Switch.

    • mrnathanrd@alien.topBEnglish
      1·
      11 months ago

      I do. Fond memories of downloading new apps and toys every day. Sadly those days are long long gone.

    • Izenthyr@alien.topBEnglish
      1·
      11 months ago

      iSoda, gun apps, sound buttons

      The novelty apps were the bomb back in 2010.

  • DrFloyd5@alien.topBEnglish
    1·
    11 months ago

    What is your opinion should AllTrails earn for organizing all the data into an app with a great presentation? And providing a way to add to the data, if the user is inclined?

  • Due_Kaleidoscope7066@alien.topBEnglish
    1·
    11 months ago

    I recently deleted AllTrails when I tried to filter the results by distance and it wanted me to pay a monthly subscription for that privilege. Sorry, if you’re gating basic functionality behind a paywall I’m not interested. A paid membership should offer tailored services.

  • DJGloegg@alien.topBEnglish
    1·
    11 months ago

    Best based on what?

    Income for apple?

    User reviews?

    Genuine quality?

    New tech?