14 DAY TRIAL // As 2014 draws to a close, Apple is offering up a list of high-profile apps, music, and video on the iTunes Store in the annual Best Of campaign that features la crème de la crème in every category.
2014 has seen some spectacular apps and games emerge on iOS, as well as some killer movies. The same can’t be said about the music, if you ask this author. In the books department, there are a few titles worth looking at but again, nothing too spectacular. The apps section, however, is an area worth visiting if you happen to own an iDevice.
For iPad
Best Apps of 2014 is divided not only by apps and games, but also by iPhone and iPad. On the tablet front, Apple named Pixelmator as the App of the Year, and for good reason too. It’s like Photoshop on wheels.
The runner-up is Storehouse, a photo / video app that lets you tell stories with photos and videos, and then comes the Best Apps list, which mentions titles #3 to #25.
So that’s 30 amazing apps in total, just for iPad. If we were to highlight some of these, we’d go for Microsoft Word, Yahoo News Digest, Vito Technology’s amazing augmented reality stargazing app Star Walk, 1Password from AgileBits, Flickr, Launch Center Pro for iPad, and Stephen Hawking’s Snapshots of the Universe.
As far as the games are concerned, Apple unsurprisingly names Monument Valley Game of the Year, noting its “enchanting blend of Escher-inspired perspective puzzles and beautiful minimalist style.” The Cupertino giant calls it a “genre-defining effort” that left its editors / reviewers “in a perpetual state of awe.”
The runner-up in the games department is Hearthstone: Heroes of Warcraft, followed by #3 best-app World Of Tanks Blitz, by Wargaming.net. Other noteworthy titles include Leo’s Fortune with its amazing visuals, Hitman GO, Vainglory, XCOM: Enemy Within, DeNA Corp’s highly-anticipated Godus, Farmville 2: Country Escape, The Wolf Among Us, and Fifa 15 Ultimate Team by EA Sports.
For iPhone
On smaller screens, Apple highlights Elevate: Brain Training as the app of the year. In our own testing, we found this to be one of the most amazing apps ever made for iDevices.
Other titles listed by the company include many of the aforementioned iPad favorites, but also apps like Hyperlapse from Instragram, Storehouse, Swiftkey Keyboard, Camera+ (one of the best photo editors we’ve ever had the pleasure of testing), Camu, Litely, and many others.
The Game of the Year on iPhone is apparently Threes!, which reportedly inspired the ultra-popular 2048. Leo’s Fortune takes second place in the list, followed by other record-smashing downloads like Smash Hit, Crazy Taxi City Rush, and others. If you’re wondering why the headline says “get,” it’s a riff on Apple’s recent change of heart regarding how to promote downloadable free apps on the App Store.
