Periscope Named Apple's App of the Year in Best of 2015 Charts

[MacRumors]

Apple has published its annual Best of 2015 charts for the App Store, iTunes and iBooks Store, naming live video platform Periscope its App of the Year and Tomb Raider puzzler spinoff Lara Croft GO its Game of the Year.

Enlight and Robinhood were selected as runner-ups for App of the Year, while strategy game Fallout Shelter and one-touch platformer Mr Jump finished second and third place respectively in the Game of the Year standings.

Popular automation app Workflow was deemed the "most innovative" app in 2015, while Dark Echo was awarded the same title in the gaming category. Instagram earned "Best App on iPhone 6s" and Warhammer 40,000: Freeblade won "Best Game on iPhone 6s."

Apple's Top 25 Apps of 2015

1. Periscope
2. Enlight
3. Robinhood
4. Workflow
5. Instagram
6. HBO NOW
7. Hopper
8. Darkroom
9. Lark
10. The Everything Machine
11. Pacemaker
12. Tandem
13. Jet
14. Timeline
15. Vee for Video
16. Fit Men Cook
17. Spark
18. RefME
19. Wildcard
20. Paper by FiftyThree
21. GIPHY CAM
22. PRY
23. Reuters TV
24. Zova
25. Blue Apron

Apple's Top 25 Games of 2015

1. Lara Croft GO
2. Fallout Shelter
3. Mr Jump
4. Dark Echo
5. Warhammer 40,000: Freeblade
6. Hearthstone: Heroes of Warcraft
7. Vainglory
8. Dungeon Boss
9. Puzzle Craft 2
10. PAC-MAN 256
11. You Must Build A Boat
12. AG Drive
13. MARVEL Contest of Champions
14. Horizon Chase - World Tour
15. Shadowmatic
16. Wonky Ship
17. Super Sharp
18. Last Voyage
19. Ski Safari 2
20. Downwell
21. Rayman Adventures
22. Afterpulse
23. Psych! Outwit Your Friends
24. HoPiKo
25. Blades of Brim
The top five paid iOS apps in 2015 were Heads Up! Games, Minecraft: Pocket Edition, Trivia Crack (Ad Free), Five Nights at Freddy's 2 and Facetune, while the top five free titles were Trivia Crack, Facebook Messenger, Dubsmash, Instagram and Snapchat.

Clash of Clans was the top grossing app in 2015, followed by Game of War - Fire Age, Candy Crush Saga, Pandora and Candy Crush Soda Saga. The full top charts are available on the App Store on iOS and iTunes on Mac.

Apple also named Max Max: Fury Road, Amy, Inside Out and Dope among its Best of 2015 movies, while Mr. Robot, Fargo, UnREAL and Inside Amy Schumer won Best of 2015 awards for TV shows. A Little Life by Hanya Yanagihara was Apple's favorite fiction book on the year.

All selections were made by Apple's editorial curation team.

Article Link: Periscope Named Apple's App of the Year in Best of 2015 Charts

 

[gaximus]

Lara Croft Go was awesome, then I upgraded my phone and lost all progress in that game. Little upset it didn't backup to iCloud. or even regular backup.

 

[macintologist]

Periscope is pretty neat. I like tuning in to a local TV news Periscope behind the scenes.

 

[TheCoolGuy]

Instagram 2015?

 

[John Mcgregor]

It's cool, but there are better apps.

 

[dvuu86]

Lara Croft Go was awesome, then I upgraded my phone and lost all progress in that game. Little upset it didn't backup to iCloud. or even regular backup.

I was disappointed as well when I downloaded the game on my iPad and couldn't use my iPhone's saved file. It's strange since other Square Enix games (i.e. Final Fantasy titles) have the feature to backup to iCloud.

 

[avanpelt]

I really enjoyed Periscope when it was first released but I feel like usage peaked way too early.

When it was launched, there were a ton of people jumping on to try it out; but the problem was that you couldn't see specifically who was broadcasting from a particular part of the world. It was just a long list of broadcasts with no way to sort it.

In subsequent app updates, they've made it possible to find broadcasts based on geographic area; but it simply showcases the fact that usage has gone way down -- particularly in North America. Hopefully, people left the app installed on their phones and will think to use it again in the future.

 

[CptnJustc]

Crawl out through the fallout, baby...

 

[cableguy84]

Was on the fence whether to buy Lara croft, might have to have a look now

 

[OldSchoolMacGuy]

"Why isn't [insert app] on the list?!" --People in this thread.

 

[2457282]

I have become old or something. I literally have none of the apps on the lists shown, and have watch none of the movies or TV shows reflected. Haven't downloaded an ibook in years. The only mention that i was even remotely aware of was cash of clans.

 

[CarlJ]

Happy to see Enlight near the top, I've been quite happy with it. Comprehensive photo editor with the ability to set a mask to control where an effect or filter is applied, so you can, say, lighten up a dark corner of a photo without overexposing the rest. I've got dozens of photo apps on my phone, but it really comes down to: the built in Photo app's editor for basic fixes/enhancements, Enlight for most everything else, Pixelmator for its awesome retouch brush, and Layout, from Juicy Bits, for doing multi-pane/collage pictures.

 

[Reason077]

Fallout Shelter is an interesting game, and I certainly got a few hours of entertainment out of it.

However, it causes extreme battery drain in my iPhone 6 - much worse than typical games of its genre!

I'm not sure Apple should be encouraging developers who write such blatantly power inefficient code!!

 

[utyankee]

However, it causes extreme battery drain in my iPhone 6 - much worse than typical games of its genre!

My 6S Plus had draining issues the first couple times i played. But seems much better the past couple of days.

 

[H2SO4]

I wonder if it says anything about me that I don’t have a single app from any of those lists…...

 

[baller1308]

Was on the fence whether to buy Lara croft, might have to have a look now

It was on sale a few days back. Not sure if it will go on sale again in the near future.

 

[PorscheSpyder]

Lara Croft Go was awesome, then I upgraded my phone and lost all progress in that game. Little upset it didn't backup to iCloud. or even regular backup.

I was disappointed as well when I downloaded the game on my iPad and couldn't use my iPhone's saved file. It's strange since other Square Enix games (i.e. Final Fantasy titles) have the feature to backup to iCloud.

It does have iCloud backup, I believe, but it's not turned on by default. You have to go into the game Settings and enable it.

I have to say, a little surprised the Fallout Shelter was number two. I figured it'd be in the top 5, but not that high. It was decent, but lost interest after a couple weeks. Very repetitive after you unlock all the rooms.

 

[DotCom2]

I really enjoyed Periscope when it was first released but I feel like usage peaked way too early.

When it was launched, there were a ton of people jumping on to try it out; but the problem was that you couldn't see specifically who was broadcasting from a particular part of the world. It was just a long list of broadcasts with no way to sort it.

In subsequent app updates, they've made it possible to find broadcasts based on geographic area; but it simply showcases the fact that usage has gone way down -- particularly in North America. Hopefully, people left the app installed on their phones and will think to use it again in the future.

That's because a lot of the "junky" broadcasters have gotten out of the way leaving the more interesting.
I LOVE the Periscope App!

 

[archvile]

It seems the iPad list of best apps/games is different from the iPhone list...has anybody noticed this?

 

[CPx]

Well I never. That is huge for Periscope. Well done.

 

[ILikeAllOS]

Periscope is interesting but I'm not sure I'd call it the best app of 2015, though I wouldn't be surprised if it was the most popular/most downloaded on the App Store so that might have influenced Apple's choice.

I however wouldn't pick it as the best app of 2015 based simply on one factor - it's SO annoying!
I'm always getting notifications from everyone I follow and I have to "mute for 3 hours" constantly since I usually don't feel like watching a Periscope stream at the moment!

 

[MH01]

"Why isn't [insert app] on the list?!" --People in this thread.

I'm more shocked there is not app called "insert" ....

 

[MikBe]

Periscope shouldn't have won anything except a slap upside the head for the idiotic portrait filming.
TURN! YOUR! CAMERA! SIDEWAYS!

 

[Tech198]

few familiar apps in that list

 

[TouchMint.com]

Damn they missed Adventure To Fate again! next year...