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

Apple Creator Studio: Creative apps bundled into single subscription

All the tools you need, one payment

Published

January 14, 2026

GadgetMatch

Apple has officially streamlined its popular creative apps into one single subscription suite with the introduction of Apple Creator Studio.

The collection includes some of the most useful apps for today’s creators: Final Cut Pro, Logic Pro, Pixelmator Pro, Motion, Compressor, and MainStage.

New AI features and premium content in Keynote, Pages, and Numbers also make the Apple Creator Studio an exciting subscription suite. Freeform will eventually be added to the lineup.

The groundbreaking collection is designed to put studio-grade power into the hands of everyone. It builds on the essential role Apple devices play in the lives of millions of creators worldwide.

The apps included cover video editing, music making, creative imaging, and visual productivity to give modern creators the features and capabilities they need.

Final Cut Pro introduces exceptional new video editing tools and intelligent features for Mac and iPad.

For the first time, Pixelmator Pro is also coming to iPad with a uniquely crafted experience optimized for touch and Apple Pencil.

Logic Pro, meanwhile, for Mac and iPad introduces more intelligent features like Synth Player and Chord ID.

Apple Creator Studio will be available on the App Store beginning January 29. In the Philippines, the rates are PhP 399 a month or PhP 3,990 annually.

There is also a free one-month trial which includes access to:

Final Cut Pro, Logic Pro, and Pixelmator Pro on Mac and iPad
Motion, Compressor, and MainStage on Mac
Intelligent features and premium content for Keynote, Pages, Numbers, and later Freeform for iPhone, iPad, and Mac

College students and educators can subscribe for a discounted price of PhP 149 per month or PhP 1,490 per year.

Apps

Apple gives up on making AI, inks a deal with Gemini to power Siri

Gemini gets another feather in its cap.

Published

January 14, 2026

Luigi Leonardo

In the not-too-long-ago past, the biggest names of the tech industry competed to build their own AI software. Now, though some brands are still on the hunt, it’s easier to name certain software that have more successfully drowned users in a flood of AI-powered features. Today, Google gets another win by adding Apple’s Siri to its Gemini cap.

In the past, Apple peddled Apple Intelligence, an upcoming AI-powered system to compete against the giants of the industry. However, much like other features from other brands, Apple Intelligence came out half baked with features still lacking months after the initial launch.

Now, Apple has signed a deal with Google to use Gemini for a revamped Siri. The former plans to launch a new version of Siri later this year. Because of the deal, the voice assistant will start using Gemini as a foundation for its own services. Currently, Samsung’s Galaxy AI already uses Gemini.

Formerly a battleground between so many competing brands, it’s now looking like a battle between two major companies: Google and OpenAI. Google now has a huge grip, though. Both Samsung and Apple are no slouches when it comes to owning market share in the world’s smartphones.

Now, as consumers, Apple’s deal probably doesn’t mean much besides the continued influx of features that add little to no value to a smartphone.

Apps

Microsoft continues to shove Copilot where it’s not wanted

This time, it’s reportedly coming to File Explorer.

Published

January 14, 2026

Luigi Leonardo

If you look at a modern keyboard, you’ll find that the Copilot button is the cleanest one on the entire panel because no one ever willingly presses it. And yet, Microsoft still believes in the feature’s value. To show their odd commitment, the company is reportedly adding Copilot to File Explorer.

According to @phantomofearth from X (via Windows Central), a new Windows 11 preview build will add a button beside File Explorer’s navigation menu. Currently, the button is invisible and doesn’t do anything. However, the report says that the feature is tied to something called “Chat with Copilot.” It’s becoming clear that the system aims to add the AI software right inside the file organization app.

Besides revealing the potential addition of the egregious feature inside File Explorer, @phantomofearth also added mock-ups of a desktop with Copilot right on the taskbar, hinting at a potential nightmare of the feature lording itself over where it’s not wanted.

Thankfully, the preview build doesn’t always represent a final version of the system. There’s still a chance that Microsoft will not add the AI to the File Explorer.

As of late, Microsoft has received a lot of flak for persistently pushing Copilot onto users, regardless of how they feel about the feature. The company is also facing criticisms in the background for being a major proponent of AI data centers in the United States, which, in turn, have caused the prices of tech to skyrocket this year.