App Store 5th Anniversary: ​​A Review of the Best Apps of the Year

In July 2008, Apple officially launched the App Store as a new application distribution channel. So far, the App Store is about to turn 5 years old. In the past 5 years, the number of applications in the App Store has grown from nothing to over 850,000 today. Every year, a large number of classic applications are launched. The following is a list of the best applications and games of each year since 2008 compiled by foreign media.

2008 : Shazam (developer Shazam Entertainment )

When the iPhone was first launched, it redefined the concept of communication devices and was the first fully touch-screen smartphone, attracting a large number of consumers. Applications like Shazam, which can identify the name of music by pointing the phone to the speaker, became a catalyst for consumers to accept and rely on mobile smart handheld devices. Especially compared with applications such as virtual lighting and photo editors, applications like Shazam really let users feel what intelligence is and what the concept of mobile Internet is. At the time, the app was used for a variety of purposes, especially by music lovers who loved discovering new music.

Although 2008 was only the first year of the App Store, there were many excellent and high-quality applications that were popular with users, such as eWallet, Fieldunners, Facebook , Rolando, etc. However, in the end, these applications were still slightly inferior to Shazam, because the function of voice recognition and song identification was indeed too convenient for users.

2009 : Pocket God (developer Bolt Creative )

It is not arbitrary that Pocket God was selected as the best app of 2009. This app from Bolt Creative was listed prominently in the 2009 best-selling app list officially released by Apple. At the same time, Pocket God is the only app so far that makes users feel that something is missing and are willing to wait for updates. So far, this entertainment app has released a total of 47 updates, which may be one of the apps with the strongest developer support and the most frequent updates in the App Store. After dozens of updates and revisions, the game Pocket God has almost occupied the top spot in all categories in the App Store.

In 2009, there were many excellent applications, such as 2Do, Twitter, Real Racing, and Flight Control, but Pocket God stood out from the crowd. The reason may be due to the dazzling chapters, or it may be as simple as players like to abuse the virtual islanders in the game. In short, this game did capture the hearts of many users in 2009.

2010 : Angry Birds (developer Rovio Entertainment Ltd )

Angry Birds can not only be explained as a cultural phenomenon, but also as a smart and interesting game. As a physics puzzle game under the Finnish developer Rovio, Angry Birds once swept the App Store like a storm and continued to launch new versions. These new versions all use related elements but never repeat themselves. In a sense, Angry Birds is a symbol of mobile gaming. What’s even more amazing is that Angry Birds even got the Star Wars license, and so far, there are not many games like Angry Birds that can get the license but are not affiliated with LucasArts.

In 2010, there were many games following Angry Birds. Infinity Blade, Real Racing 2, and Solipskier were all excellent games and impressive. It was hard to imagine that a game like Pocket Lengends would be left behind by Angry Birds. This phenomenon can only be explained by "don't underestimate simple but addictive games."

2011 : Jetpack Joyride (developer Halfbrick Studios )

Jetpack Joyride wasn’t groundbreaking, as similar games had already been available on the App Store, but Halfbrick was able to stand out with Jetpack Joyride because of its sheer mechanics, graphics, sound, and character features. It’s also one of the few iOS games that people can keep coming back for more.

2011 can be regarded as the luckiest year for iOS gamers. This year's classic masterpieces include Infinity Blade II, World of Goo, Tiny Tower, Where's My Water and many other games. The fact that Jetpack Joyride won the annual title also stems from people's curiosity about whether an excellent mobile game product can be completed and what it will be like after completing it.

2012 : Walking Dead: The Game (developer Telltable Games )

It may be a coincidence that Telltale's adventure game The Walking Dead won the title of Game of the Year. However, even though this type of game does not have a good experience on small mobile devices, relying on the excellent quality of Apple's iOS devices, The Walking Dead still attracted the love of many hardcore fans.

Like 2011, 2012 was another year of rapid growth for mobile games and apps, with games like Punch Quest and Outwitters, and apps like Clear and Action Movie FX following in the footsteps of Walking Dead: The Game. This reflects the increasing quality and diversity of apps and games on the App Store, and also reflects that The Walking Dead is as good a game as it is fun to play as it is to stand out among the many big games.