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

by

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.

appstoretoplist2017
- 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.

Tag: App Store

Popular Stories

airtag purple

AirTag 2 Rumored to Launch Next Year With These New Features

Sunday November 17, 2024 5:18 am PST by
Apple released the AirTag in April 2021, so it is now three over and a half years old. While the AirTag has not received any hardware updates since then, a new version of the item tracking accessory is rumored to be in development. Below, we recap rumors about a second-generation AirTag. Timing Apple is aiming to release a new AirTag in mid-2025, according to Bloomberg's Mark Gurman....
Read Full Article • 90 comments
Magic Mouse Next to Keyboard

No, Apple CEO Tim Cook Didn't Say He Prefers Logitech's MX Master 3 Over the Magic Mouse

Sunday November 17, 2024 3:03 pm PST by
While the Logitech MX Master 3 is a terrific mouse for the Mac, reports claiming that Apple CEO Tim Cook prefers that mouse over the Magic Mouse are false. The Wall Street Journal last month published an interview with Cook, in which he said he uses every Apple product every day. Soon after, The Verge's Wes Davis attempted to replicate using every Apple product in a single day. During that...
Read Full Article • 317 comments
New Things Your iPhone Can Do in iOS 18

18 New Things Your iPhone Can Do in iOS 18.2

Wednesday November 13, 2024 2:09 am PST by
Apple is set to release iOS 18.2 next month, bringing the second round of Apple Intelligence features to iPhone 15 Pro and iPhone 16 models. This update brings several major advancements to Apple's AI integration, including completely new image generation tools and a range of Visual Intelligence-based enhancements. There are a handful of new non-AI related feature controls incoming as well....
Read Full Article • 26 comments
iPhone 17 Slim Feature Single Camera 1 Redux

'iPhone 17 Air' Rumored to Surpass iPhone 6 as Thinnest iPhone Ever

Monday November 18, 2024 1:07 pm PST by
In a research note with Hong Kong-based investment bank Haitong today, obtained by MacRumors, Apple analyst Jeff Pu said he agrees with a recent rumor claiming that the so-called "iPhone 17 Air" will be around 6mm thick. "We agreed with the recent chatter of an 6mm thickness ultra-slim design of the iPhone 17 Slim model," he wrote. If that measurement proves to be accurate, there would be ...
Read Full Article • 147 comments
iPhone 7 Lightning to Headphone Jack Adapter

Apple Seemingly Discontinuing Lightning to Headphone Jack Adapter Introduced Alongside iPhone 7

Sunday November 17, 2024 12:33 pm PST by
It appears that Apple is discontinuing the Lightning to 3.5mm headphone jack adapter that it released alongside the iPhone 7 and iPhone 7 Plus in 2016. The adapter was recently listed as "sold out" on Apple's online store in the U.S. and most other countries, according to MacRumors contributor Aaron Perris. The adapter remains available from Apple in only a handful of countries, such as...
Read Full Article • 167 comments
Apple TV 4K hero 221018 feature

It's 2009 Again: Apple is Apparently Reconsidering Making a TV

Sunday November 17, 2024 5:27 am PST by
Between around 2009 and 2011, it was repeatedly rumored that Apple would be releasing a TV, but that obviously never happened. Now, a decade-and-a-half later, Bloomberg's Mark Gurman says the idea is back on the table. In his Power On newsletter today, Gurman briefly mentioned that Apple has been "evaluating" the "idea of making an Apple-branded TV set." He did not provide any further...
Read Full Article • 379 comments

Top Rated Comments

mixel Avatar
mixel
91 months ago
Affinity Photo deserves it too. It's ridiculously well thought out and finally made me rethink my Adobe subscription.
Score: 11 Votes (Like | Disagree)
ILikeAllOS Avatar
ILikeAllOS
91 months ago
An app that plays "soothing nature sounds" is considered the best iPhone app of 2017? :eek:
Score: 9 Votes (Like | Disagree)
ersan191 Avatar
ersan191
91 months ago
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.
Score: 6 Votes (Like | Disagree)
smartbot Avatar
smartbot
91 months ago
I'm surprised they didn't pick Notch Remover ;)
Score: 4 Votes (Like | Disagree)
trusso Avatar
trusso
91 months ago
I've developed my own "Calm" app. This is how it works:

First, I shut off my computer and my phone.

Then I go for a walk, or read a book.

Or sometimes, I relax and enjoy an old record, without any distractions.

And I simply repeat as desired.

Neat, huh? :)
Score: 3 Votes (Like | Disagree)
naturalstar Avatar
naturalstar
91 months ago
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.
Score: 2 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Read All Comments