Both companies announced their best apps and games of the year today, and Apple's iPhone App of the Year in 2023 was taken by the hiking and biking companion AllTrails, while Google Play's best app is Imprint: Learn Visually. As for the Game of the Year, it seems that both Apple and Google have agreed on it, choosing Honkai: Star Rail as their winner.

These year-end "best of" lists aren't only a tool to generate interest in new applications and games; they are as well a status-taker of the app marketplaces on how the platforms wanted to celebrate and what drew consumers' attention in the year.

Surprisingly, though, Apple this year bucked the trend of highlighting apps that were new to the store or that had taken advantage of a recently released technology in an innovative way. Instead, its finalists for iPhone App of the Year included apps that have long deserved accolades as well-built and well-designed mobile companions, including the language learning app Duolingo and travel app Flighty, in addition to winner AllTrails.

Still, that's a distinct type of selection than in previous years, when App Store winners included the breakout social hit BeReal in 2022, as well as the well-received children's app Toca Life World the year prior.

What's more, neither Apple nor Google anointed an AI application with its award for app of the year, despite the stunning success of the mobile app of chatbot ChatGPT, and others. Perhaps that is particularly unusual because ChatGPT quickly became the fastest-growing consumer application in history earlier this year when it hit 100 million users just weeks after launch. That record was then quickly surpassed by Instagram Threads, which attained 100 million users within five days, and as of October had stayed active at just under 100 million users. (However, note that those 100 million users Threads initially counted were sign-ups, not monthly active users. Meanwhile, ChatGPT's run to 100 million users included its web app, so it's not an apples-to-apples comparison.)

Either would be a user app success story, but neither app store platform has top winners this year that they derived from other sources. Further, outside of ChatGPT, many other AI apps are raking in millions in revenue as well, so the move to avoid the AI category seems to be an intentional act from Apple's end.

Other App Store winners comprise iPad App of the Year Prêt-à-Makeup, Mac App of the Year Photomator, Apple TV App of the Year MUBI, Apple Watch App of the Year SmartGym, iPhone Game of the Year Honkai: Star Rail, iPad Game of the Year Lost in Play, Mac Game of the Year Lies of P and Apple Arcade Game of the Year Hello Kitty Island Adventure.

It's inspiring to see how developers continue to build amazing apps and games that are redefining the world around us," said Apple CEO Tim Cook, as he reflected on the 2023 winners. "This year's winners represent the limitless potential of developers to bring their visions to life, creating apps and games with remarkable ingenuity, exceptional quality, and purpose-driven missions," he added.

Apple also failed to name an AI app among its Cultural Impact winners, even as AI is very evidently shaping culture in both the virtual and physical spaces. In 2023, AI has seeped into everyday tech and has produced art and music while disrupting jobs while at the same time creating new ones. Instead, the cultural winners at Apple included children's gaming app Pok Pok, accessibility app Proloquo, food waste minimizer Too Good To Go, puzzle app Unpacking and the hidden-object game Finding Hannah.

Still, the company couldn't wholly elide the AI topic, so it tipped its hat to the technology by naming generative AI the "Trend of the Year," and culminated a roster of generative AI apps that exemplified this trend. It did not name those in its press release, though, rather pointing only to their App Store grouping.

Apart from the "overall winners," Google handled its "best of" apps differently this year. It focused on "multi-device" apps that reflected the efforts on the Play Store meant to make it easier to find non-smartphone apps. It named Spotify as its best multi-device app — an interesting choice given that it was just revealed through the antitrust case with Epic Games that Spotify has a sweetheart deal with Google, which allows it to bypass Play Store fees. The best multi-device game was the turned-based strategy game OUTERPLANE – Strategy Anime.

Google also enables users to vote for their most favourite apps and no surprise here, ChatGPT won the race here as User's Choice App of the Year. The User's Choice Game of the Year was MONOPOLY GO!

The company also rounded up other apps it wanted to highlight by giving them individual accolades, including the Best App for Fun Bumble for Friends: Meet IRL, Best for Personal Growth Voidpet Garden: Mental Health, Best Everyday Essential Artifact: Feed Your Curiosity, Best Hidden Gem Aware: Mindfulness & Wellbeing, Best with AI Character AI: AI-Powered Chat, Best for Families Paw Patrol Academy, Best App for Good AWorld in support of ActNow, Best for Watches WhatsApp Messenger, Best for Tablets Concepts: Sketch, Note, Draw, Best for Chromebooks FlipaClip: Create 2D Animation, Best for Google TV Max: Stream HBO, TV, & Movies and Best for Cars Amazon Prime Video.

Unlike Apple, which has been at odds with Meta since its App Tracking Transparency changes affected Meta's ads business, souring the relationship between the two tech heavyweights, Google did not mind giving a shout-out to Meta's WhatsApp in its winners' list. In a nod to the bright future of clever AI-powered apps, Google also applauded the Artifact app built by the co-founders of Instagram. And while it also didn't crown an AI app as its overall winner, ChatGPT took the User's Choice race and it created an AI category, which Character AI — an app developed by former Google researchers — won.

It also honored Honorable Mentions for everyone that didn't emerge as a winner in their app category, among them Reelsy Reel Maker Video Editor, Imprint: Learn Visually (which won the grand prize but it was honored in Personal Growth) ReciMe: Easy & Tasty Recipes Stippl: Explore, Plan & Share ChatGPT (which won User's Choice but was honored in Best with AI) LEGO DUPLO DISNEY AllTrails: Hike, Bike & Run which also won Apple's iPhone App of the Year Audible: Audio Entertainment Canva: Design, Photo & Video Everand: Ebooks and audiobooks Evernote – Note Organizer Wideo, Amazon Prime Video, Crunchyroll, Disney+, Tubi: Movies & Live TV, Beach Buggy Racing and Spotify- which won Best multi-device app but honored in Best for Cars.

Best games included Best Multiplayer Game Farlight 84, Best Pick Up & Play: MONOPOLY GO!, Best Indie Vampire Survivors, Best Story Honkai: Star Rail, Best Ongoing Stumble Guys, Best Games for Good: Pokémon Sleep, Best on Play Pass Magic Rampage, Best for Tablets Honkai: Star Rail, Best for Chromebooks Minecraft and Best for Google Play Games on PC Arknights. Honorable mention for games went out, too, and the books of the year (seen here on Google's blog).