Apple posted its roundup of the best iOS and iPadOS apps and games for 2019, which gives us a look into the trends that drove the year’s best apps. It’s a good read if you have the time, as it reveals some surprising figures—Mario Kart Tour was the most-downloaded game on the App Store, for example, and users were drawn to multimedia creation and self-publishing apps more than any other categories in 2019.
Since Apple neglected to include any download links to the apps it showcased in its announcement, here’s how you can grab all of Apple’s “best of the year” apps and games:
iPhone: Spectre Camera – A powerful and flexible third-part camera app for taking long-exposure photos.
iPad: Flow by Moleskine – A simple note-taking and sketchbook app with various brushes.
Mac: Affinity Publisher – A design app for creating digital publications.
Apple TV: The Explorers – A collaborative “visual inventory” of photos and other media featuring wildlife and landscapes.
iPhone: Sky: Children of the Light – A flight-based, lightly-cooperative adventure game featuring atmospheric and whimsical art direction in a similar vein to developer thatgamecompany’s previous critically acclaimed title, “Journey.”
iPad: Hyper Light Drifter – This super-stylized pixel art action-adventure game has become a modern classic beloved for its challenging gameplay and thoughtfully designed world rife for exploration.
Mac: GRIS – Developer Nomada Studio’s artful meditation on mental health, grief, and hope presented as a side-scrolling platformer.
Apple TV: Wonder Boy: The Dragon’s Trap – A reboot of the classic “Wonder Boy” franchise of side-scrolling action platformers featuring cartoony characters and highly detailed, painterly graphics.
Apple Arcade: Sayonara Wildhearts – A wild, colorful rhythm-based puzzle game set in a world where cyberpunk motorcycle races meet astrological magic.
If you need more apps to download, Apple also published its top charts for 2019, detailing the most popular apps and games across the free and paid categories. Give them a look!
Brendan is a freelance writer and content creator from Portland, OR. He covers tech and gaming for Lifehacker, and has also written for Digital Trends, EGM, Business Insider, IGN, and more.
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