ChatGPT may currently be the No. 1 app on the iPhone App Store in the U.S., but it’s not Apple’s iPhone app of the year. That honor goes to a newer app for videographers, called Kino. Launched this spring from Lux, the company behind the professional photography app Halide, Kino advances mobile video recording with in-app lessons and features that help iPhone owners get more out of their cameras.
The app was one of three finalists for the top App Store award, alongside Runna, an app for tailoring your running plans, and Tripsy, an app for organizing your travels. AI-powered apps didn’t make the cut for this list of iPhone app finalists, as Apple continued to downplay the technology that’s had the biggest impact on the lives of mobile consumers since the invention of the iPhone or App Store itself.
However, AI couldn’t be entirely avoided, as it turns out. Apps integrating with AI technology did win in other categories, including Mac App of the Year Adobe Lightroom, which has several AI features, and iPad App of the Year Moises, which offers AI tools for musicians.
Still, these apps focus more on artistic endeavors that are arguably more human-centric than those powered fully by AI, the way that AI chatbots are. That’s more in line with Apple’s goal of showcasing how its devices are used by creative professionals.
Other winning apps included Apple Watch App of the Year Lumy; Apple TV App of the Year F1 TV; and Apple Vision Pro App of the Year Disney’s What If…? An Immersive Story. Winning games were AFK Journey as iPhone Game of the Year; Supercell’s Squad Busters as iPad Game of the Year; Panic’s Thank Goodness You’re Here! as Mac Game of the Year; and Puddle’s THRASHER: Arcade Odyssey as Apple Vision Pro Game of the Year. The Apple Arcade Game of the Year was Balatro+ from Playstack Ltd.
App Store editors also picked six cultural impact winners, which represent other standout apps Apple wanted to honor. These include Oko, which helps blind and low-vision users navigate; language learning app EF Hello; art exploration app DailyArt; the ever-popular NYT Games; cinematic and narrative game The Wreck; and an educational app for people living with HIV called Do You Really Want to Know? 2.
