These are Apple’s picks for the best App Store apps and games of 2022

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2021 App Store Awards
App Store award winners are going to get a physical plaque from Apple.
Photo: Apple

Apple crowned 16 apps and games as winners of its 2022 App Store Awards for “making a profound cultural impact.” The App Store’s editorial team honored apps and games on five platforms: iPhone, iPad, Mac, Apple Watch and Apple TV.

This time around, the company also selected five “Cultural Impact winners that have made a lasting impact on people’s lives and influenced culture,” Apple said in a press release Tuesday.

These are this year’s best apps and games on the App Store

BeReal won the iPhone App of the Year award. It allows you to post one unfiltered photo daily to let your friends and family know what you are doing.

The iPad App of the Year award went to GoodNotes 5, a note-taking app with Apple Pencil support. It also supports PDF markup and lets you handwrite notes and search through them.

Apple’s announcement says the winning apps and games “inspired users to engage more deeply with the world, expand their imaginations, and stay connected to friends and loved ones.”

The App Store editorial team selected the top apps across categories. You can find the full list of the apps and games that won across categories below:

Cultural Impact Award Winners of 2022

As for the Cultural Impact award, these apps won the award:

  • How We Feel: The app helps you to put your difficult emotions into words and provides ways to address these emotions.
  • Dot’s Home: A time-traveling tale that highlights the systemic housing injustices and their subsequent impact.
  • Locket Widget: Send photos right to the Home Screen of your friends and family using the app.
  • Waterllama: Ensure you keep your body hydrated through the app’s creative challenges, cuddly characters and reminders.
  • Inua: A mystical adventure game that will help you explore historical events with Intuit traditions, folklore, and tales weaved in.

All the winning developers will get an App Store plaque made of 100% recycled aluminum with their name engraved on it. You can check out this App Store story to discover more about the 2022 App Store Award winners.

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