Apps

BeReal, Apex Legends Mobile win in Apple’s App Store Awards

With notable Cultural Impact Winners

Published

November 30, 2022

GadgetMatch

If you’ve been looking for new apps to download on your Apple device, then look no further. Apple has just announced winners of the 2022 App Store Awards. It’s a list filled with everything from productivity to gaming and everything else in between.

The winners were selected by Apple’s global App Store editorial team. They were chosen based on the app’s ability to deliver exceptional experiences as well as make a profound cultural impact.

2022 App Store Award Winners

Apps

BeReal — iPhone app of the Year

BeReal gives users an authentic look into the lives of their family and friends. The user is given a prompt and has a day to post a BeReal in order to see posts from friends. The posts are always only real-time and thus, can’t be curated unlike ones in existing social media apps.

GoodNotes 5 — iPad app of the Year

It’s a free form digital paper that lets users annotate PDFs, share notes with colleagues and more. The CEO and Founder had the idea after he realized he was wasting so much paper solving math equations — which is easier to do in handwriting — during his college years. It was around this time that the first iPad was released and he saw the potential for a truly digital writing solution with it.

Mac Family Tree 10 — Mac App of the Year

MacFamilyTree 10 sparks the exploration of genealogy through stunning visual family trees and collaboration with loved ones around the world.

Gentler Streak — Apple Watch app of the Year

Gentler Streak helps users balance fitness and rest to maintain a healthy lifestyle.

Games

Apex Legends Mobile — iPhone Game of the Year
Moncage — iPad Game of the Year
Inscryption — Mac Game of the Year
El Hijo — Apple TV Game of the Year

Cultural Impact Winners

Apple also selected five Cultural Impact winners that have. These apps made a lasting impact on people’s lives and influenced culture.

How We Feel

We track steps, our weight, sleep, and what not. But what about tracking our feelings? That’s what the app How We Feel from the How We Feel Project, Inc. does. It starts with a four-color mood meter. Select which color best represents how you’re feeling and it’ll expand to more granular emotions. You’ll then be asked to write what caused you to feel that way.

The team behind the app are working off three core principles; Free and accessible, Accepting of all feelings, and Research backed strategies.

Other than tracking, they also provide instructional videos as well as strategies to help improve your mood in case you find yourself in a feelings pattern that isn’t healthy for both you and the people around you.

Dot’s Home

Dot’s Home from the Rise-Home Stories Project spotlights systemic housing injustices and the subsequent impact within communities of colour through a compelling and thoughtful time-traveling tale.

Locket Widget

Locket Widget from from Locket Labs, Inc. allows users to send live photos right to family and friends’ Home Screen, Locket Widget drives intimate connection between loved ones, free from traditional social media pressures.

Waterllama

Waterllama from Vitalii Mogylevets is probably the cutest way to monitor your liquid intake. Yes, not just water. Initially, the developers’ goal was just to track water intake. But the app has grown to taking note of hydration levels, taking into account every type of drink we take in.

There are even challenges in case you want to start drinking soda or coffee less. And they’re all presented in cute, bright packages featuring animals that are dressed to impress.

Inua – A Story in Ice and Time

Inua – A Story in Ice and Time from ARTE Experience provides an engaging, mystical adventure for users to explore historical events that weave in elements of Inuit traditions, folklore, and breathtaking tales.

Apps

Netflix expands its cheaper ad-supported tier to Southeast Asia

This also includes more countries in Europe and South America.

Published

May 15, 2026

Luigi Leonardo

If you don’t care about seeing a deluge of ads on your platforms, you’re an incredibly rare breed these days. That same skill will come in handy for those nicely priced subscription tiers that comes with ads. Netflix, for one, has one of those tiers, and it’s now coming out in more countries.

As is prevalent in other platforms today, an ad-supported subscription tier lowers the price you have to pay every month. The catch, however, is that there will be an occasional sprinkling of ads here and there.

Netflix offers this service, which allows subscribers to get the service for cheap at the expense of their time. Currently, it is limited to only a few major markets in the world. However, the platform is expanding the tier’s reach to more countries in Europe, South America, and Southeast Asia.

Starting in 2027, Netflix’s ad-supported tier will expand to 15 countries: Austria, Belgium, Colombia, Denmark, Indonesia, Ireland, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Peru, the Philippines, Poland, Sweden, Switzerland, and Thailand.

Netflix says that the ad-supported tier is a popular option for subscribers. Currently, the tier has around 250 million subscribers worldwide. Since some of the new countries have a more budget-conscious attitude when it comes to purchasing services, this number will likely go up after the expansion in 2027.

Apps

Google might limit free storage to only 5GB

The change will affect new users.

Published

May 15, 2026

Luigi Leonardo

Google One is a monthly subscription that gives you at least 200GB of cloud storage for your files and photos. For most people, a Google One subscription starts when Google inevitably tells them that their free storage space is running out and will soon stop backing up files. Starting today, new users might get that warning sooner rather than later as Google tests a lower limit to free storage.

Historically, Google offers users 15GB of free storage as a start. However, especially these days, 15GB can run out rapidly, prompting a Google One upgrade. Still, despite how “little” it is, Google’s free storage is generous compared to its contemporaries.

Now, Google is reportedly going to be more at par with the rest. As spotted on Reddit (via 9to5Google), new users will receive only 5GB of free storage. Based on Wayback Machine, the company changed its policy sometime between February to March.

Notably, 15GB is still available as an option, but users have to link their phone numbers to their accounts first.

According to Google, the policy change is meant to encourage users to upgrade their security. However, critics will point out that it just enables the company to collect more data about their users. Of note, the platform is already pushy about linking phone numbers before the change, but this adds another layer to entice people.

Also, Google confirms that the new policy is only a regional test for now. They have not announced when (or if) the change comes out for real.

Apps

Instagram takes on Snapchat yet again with new Instants feature

Posts disappear after they’re viewed once.

Published

May 14, 2026

Luigi Leonardo

The popularity of Snapchat’s competitors is as fleeting as their disappearing messages. However, despite how volatile the market is, Instagram wants to try again with a new feature (and app) called Instants.

Pardon me if you’ve heard this premise before. Instants is a feature that lets users share disappearing photos. However, unlike the 24 hours allotted for Stories, Instants will disappear right after a friend views them, but they can still react and reply to them.

The idea of Instants is to trim the excess fat from what Instagram is these days. Instagram’s Adam Mosseri admits as much when he said users want as easier way to shoot content.

As such, users won’t have access to Instagram’s editing tools. They also can’t upload pre-shot content from their camera roll. Like its contemporaries like BeReal, the new Instants feature is about living in the moment and sharing exactly what users see.

Despite disappearing after a single view, Instants will be automatically archived, so they can be reuploaded as normal Stories later on.

It isn’t the Wild West, though. Even if it pares down all the extra features, Instants will still use the safety features available to all of Instagram. Users, especially young ones, can mute and block others’ Instants. Likewise, parents will have control over when and how their young children interact with the feature.