Apple's Best of the App Store in 2017: Calm, Splitter Critters, Affinity Photo and The Witness

[MacRumors]

Apple today published its annual Best of 2017 charts for the App Store, iTunes Store, and iBooks Store, highlighting the top media content and trends across 2017.

Apple's App Store editors chose two standout games and two standout apps for the iPhone and the iPad as their best of 2017 picks. On the iPhone, meditation app Calm and popular game Splitter Critters won top honors, while photo editing app Affinity Photo and puzzle game The Witness took the top spots on iPad.

- iPhone App of the Year: Calm
- iPhone Game of the Year: Splitter Critters
- iPad App of the Year: Affinity Photo
- iPad Game of the Year: The Witness

Apple shared apps that are part of the top Trends of the Year, which included augmented reality apps like IKEA Place and Very Hungry Caterpillar, meditation-style apps like Calm and Joyable, multiplayer games like Art of War: Red Tides and The Elder Scrolls: Legends, and modern storytelling apps like Hooked and Serial Box Publishing.

Apple has also published the top apps for 2017 across multiple App Store charts. Top free iPhone apps included Bitmoji, Snapchat, YouTube, Facebook Messenger, and Instagram, while top paid iPhone apps included Facetune, HotSchedules, Tabs & Chords, Enlight, and the 7 Minute Workout Challenge.

On iPhone, the top games included Super Mario Run, 8 Ball Pool, Ballz, Snake vs. Block, and Word Cookies. Top paid iPhone games included Heads Up!, Minecraft, Plague Inc., Bloons TD 5, and Monopoly.

YouTube, Netflix, Facebook, Facebook Messenger, and Chrome were the top free iPad apps, while Procreate, Notability, Toca Life: Hospital, Toca Life: Salon 3, and GoodNotes 4 were the top paid iPad apps.

Super Mario Run, ROBLOX, Rolling Sky, Word Cookies, and Bowmasters were the top free iPad games, and Minecraft, Geometry Dash, Five Nights at Freddy's: Sister Location, Bloons TD 5 HD, and the Escapists were the top paid iPad games.

The full list of top iPad and iPhone apps and games, along with additional details on the top App Store content in 2017, is available through the App Store on an iOS device.

Article Link: Apple's Best of the App Store in 2017: Calm, Splitter Critters, Affinity Photo and The Witness

 

[ILikeAllOS]

An app that plays "soothing nature sounds" is considered the best iPhone app of 2017?

 

[sequential]

hmm in my App Store the app of the year is "Enlight Videoleap". "Calm" can't even be found in "Trends of the year"... Maybe this **** is regional.

 

[ersan191]

Super weird aoty goes to something that isn't on any of the charts, is based on pseudoscience, and pretty much just plays recordings of some lady reading from a script. And I've never even heard of it until today.

Edit: Wow it even costs $12.99 per month - and the domain calm.com couldn't have been cheap. Do developers just buy these awards or something?

Maybe they do deserve an award for convincing people to pay more for a meditation app than an Apple Music subscription.

 

[mixel]

Affinity Photo deserves it too. It's ridiculously well thought out and finally made me rethink my Adobe subscription.

 

[naturalstar]

Interesting. I’ve had Calm for a few weeks. I find it to be a useful meditation app, especially being able to control how much guided meditation you need. No complaints so far. I obviously can’t compare against thousands of apps in the App Store, but I do like that something focused on a person’s well-being was chosen. I’ve only recently heard about The Witness, will have to check it out. So many apps, so little time.

Just looked at Affinity Photo. Added to list. It’s half off right now as well.

 

[berrymetal]

Affinity photo is such a great app, but for someone Using photoshop for
More than 13 years, I couldn’t get used to it. People like me have no rooms for new workflows

 

[Sevendaymelee]

Still waiting for the Free App of The Week to return.

 

[yanbellium]

Calm is one of the most used applications on my iPhone! I've been using this app for almost two years now.

 

[2ilent8cho]

I keep meaning to buy 'The Witness' but i cannot decide which platform to buy it on. iOS, MacOS or PS4.......

 

[smartbot]

I'm surprised they didn't pick Notch Remover

 

[jayducharme]

Affinity Photo deserves it too. It's ridiculously well thought out and finally made me rethink my Adobe subscription.

Agreed. It took me a while to get used to the interface, since it's a complete re-thinking of the desktop version. But once I got the hang of it, I found it really powerful.

 

[dfstock]

I wish I would of known about Calm a lot earlier.

 

[5105973]

Super weird aoty goes to something that isn't on any of the charts, is based on pseudoscience, and pretty much just plays recordings of some lady reading from a script. And I've never even heard of it until today.

Edit: Wow it even costs $12.99 per month - and the domain calm.com couldn't have been cheap. Do developers just buy these awards or something?

Maybe they do deserve an award for convincing people to pay more for a meditation app than an Apple Music subscription.

That was my reaction, too. It’s all I can do to do the “breathe” function that nags me from my Apple Watch, and at most I can stand to do that only once or twice a month.

I’m laid back in how I treat people but otherwise I’m just too hyper and attempting to calm myself feels weird and stressful. I’m just not the right person for this app.

However, I do have friends and family who swear by the benefits of meditation or breathing exercises, so I would imagine for the right personality, this app is a great convenience and a bargain if they have a hard time accommodating classes or groups that focus on this sort of thing.

I think it would be pretty cool to be able to meditate or actually enjoy mindful breathing but I just can’t. I’ve tried.

 

[Phil in ocala]

Apple today published its annual Best of 2017 charts for the App Store, iTunes Store, and iBooks Store, highlighting the top media content and trends across 2017.

Apple's App Store editors chose two standout games and two standout apps for the iPhone and the iPad as their best of 2017 picks. On the iPhone, meditation app Calm and popular game Splitter Critters won top honors, while photo editing app Affinity Photo and puzzle game The Witness took the top spots on iPad.

- iPhone App of the Year: Calm
- iPhone Game of the Year: Splitter Critters
- iPad App of the Year: Affinity Photo
- iPad Game of the Year: The Witness

Apple shared apps that are part of the top Trends of the Year, which included augmented reality apps like IKEA Place and Very Hungry Caterpillar, meditation-style apps like Calm and Joyable, multiplayer games like Art of War: Red Tides and The Elder Scrolls: Legends, and modern storytelling apps like Hooked and Serial Box Publishing.

Apple has also published the top apps for 2017 across multiple App Store charts. Top free iPhone apps included Bitmoji, Snapchat, YouTube, Facebook Messenger, and Instagram, while top paid iPhone apps included Facetune, HotSchedules, Tabs & Chords, Enlight, and the 7 Minute Workout Challenge.

On iPhone, the top games included Super Mario Run, 8 Ball Pool, Ballz, Snake vs. Block, and Word Cookies. Top paid iPhone games included Heads Up!, Minecraft, Plague Inc., Bloons TD 5, and Monopoly.

YouTube, Netflix, Facebook, Facebook Messenger, and Chrome were the top free iPad apps, while Procreate, Notability, Toca Life: Hospital, Toca Life: Salon 3, and GoodNotes 4 were the top paid iPad apps.

Super Mario Run, ROBLOX, Rolling Sky, Word Cookies, and Bowmasters were the top free iPad games, and Minecraft, Geometry Dash, Five Nights at Freddy's: Sister Location, Bloons TD 5 HD, and the Escapists were the top paid iPad games.

The full list of top iPad and iPhone apps and games, along with additional details on the top App Store content in 2017, is available through the App Store on an iOS device.

Article Link: Apple's Best of the App Store in 2017: Calm, Splitter Critters, Affinity Photo and The Witness

???????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????
You learn the first week of the first month of Journalism 101....that your writing MUST include clearly: Who, What, When Where and Why........................all missing from this....no mention of what they do...if there is a price etc.

 

[5105973]

I'm surprised they didn't pick Notch Remover

Lol! I do honestly forget it’s there now. I wasn’t expecting that to happen.

 

[Mike MA]

Still waiting for the Free App of The Week to return.

Did you ever use one of them more than once? I just try to recap myself....

 

[jonnysods]

Really liking Affinity photo/designer. Adobe recently revoked my CS6 license and I can't go to creative cloud because i can't pay every month for the rest of my life. Its a great alternative, just waiting for Affinity Designer to come out then I can totally jump ship.

 

[Nabby]

Honestly, I'd like my money back for The Witness. I've played it for quite a bit and keep expecting for the next puzzle to be different, but it is just ever increasing difficulty variations of the same premise.

I suppose I should have done more diligence in researching before I plopped down the full price.

Nabby

 

[scrapesleon]

I never downloaded not one of these apps

 

[69Mustang]

???????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????
You learn the first week of the first month of Journalism 101....that your writing MUST include clearly: Who, What, When Where and Why........................all missing from this....no mention of what they do...if there is a price etc.

Pretty sure this is just an overview, not a comprehensive detailing. Everything you're asking for is in the included links.

 

[muddygun]

The Witness deserves this accolade and more! Woot!

 

[puckhead193]

Calm is one of the most used applications on my iPhone! I've been using this app for almost two years now.

I only use the free version. I like the stories even though I don’t know how it ends
[doublepost=1512659579][/doublepost]

Really liking Affinity photo/designer. Adobe recently revoked my CS6 license and I can't go to creative cloud because i can't pay every month for the rest of my life. Its a great alternative, just waiting for Affinity Designer to come out then I can totally jump ship.

Why did they revoke your license? I too hate these monthly subscriptions.

 

[scottcampbell]

Wow it even costs $12.99 per month - and the domain calm.com couldn't have been cheap. Do developers just buy these awards or something?

Maybe they do deserve an award for convincing people to pay more for a meditation app than an Apple Music subscription.

Apple loves their cut of that subscription, too.

 

[Wash08]

Affinity photo is such a great app, but for someone Using photoshop for
More than 13 years, I couldn’t get used to it. People like me have no rooms for new workflows

Give it a chance, I was a Photoshop/illustrator for more than 20 years, I can't stand the subscription extortion from Adobe, I switch about 4 months a go never going back to them, also I was an FreeHand user before Adobe