The year 2020 saw most of us spending more time at home than ever before. Fortunately, there were plenty of new apps to help pass the days couped up inside. From exciting new tools for creatives to VR workouts and surreal AR fun that hit the mark during global lockdowns, the past 12 months left us with some fantastic new gems on our devices. But which were the apps that most impressed us?
We’ve selected seven apps that made a memorable impression over the past year be it for mobile, desktop, tablet or VR headsets. There are apps that helped us to work, apps that helped us play, and others that were simply well-made and stunning to look at.
01. Artleap
Artleap offered more creative power than most mobile photo editing apps for novices (Image credit: Lightricks)
The adventurous filter options include some with impressive 3D effects. The one that really made us go “wow” was the dispersion filter, which allows the creation of powerful creative effects with no knowledge of editing.
02. Illustrator on iPad
The long-awaited Illustrator for iPad arrived in October (Image credit: Adobe)
The app can sync with the main Illustrator software, so sending files between Illustrator on the iPad and your desktop is effortless. Best of all, the Apple Pencil integration works wonderfully and the app offers perhaps the best granular typography control for working on the move.
03. Universe in a Nutshell
Hold the entire observable universe in the palm of your hand (Image credit: Wait But Why & Kurzgesagt)
Opening the app, you meet a cartoonish animated giraffe, an elephant, a human and other animals. The app lists their size and you can tap on them to bring up a range of interesting facts. But pinch the screen to zoom in or out and it gets truly epic as you discover layers of larger or smaller objects, from microscopic particles to machines, countries, planets, stars and beyond. Zoom out as far as you go and you reach the entire known universe on the screen of your smartphone.
04. Super You
The ability to turn friends into surreal AR creatures offered socially distanced fun in 2020 (Image credit: Universal Everything)
Open the app, aim your phone’s camera at a friend, swipe to choose a costume of abstract shapes (blobs, spikes, flowers, leaves, etc.) then film your target move around as they’re transformed into a fantasy creature. The result is a fresh, slightly bonkers app that made socialising at a distance that little bit more fun. Who knows?
05. Adobe Fresco for iPhone
Rather than producing a watered-down app for the smaller screen, Adobe Fresco for iPhone threw in new features. (Image credit: Adobe/JinJin Sun)
On top of that, Fresco introduced new features such as Smudge brushes, which can be used to soften strokes, blend edges and blur linework, and Ribbon brushes, which allow the user to paint with textures and materials by turning photos into organic brushes. It’s also possible to change how the stylus responds under different degrees of pressure, making it feel even more like real drawing.
Having such a powerful app on the one device we're rarely without offered the potential to transform the creative process. Rather than draw in a sketchbook when inspiration strikes and then copy the idea into a digital form, ideas can now be begun directly in the iPhone app and then filled in on the iPad.
06. Google Look to Speak
Google’s Look to Speak is a leap forward in accessibility (Image credit: Google)
Using the phone’s front-facing camera to track eye movements, the app allows the user to communicate by selecting preset words and phrases from two lists by looking at them. The number of words and phrases is narrowed down after each selection and the final word is read out loud. That sounds like a long, laborious process, but it’s surprising how quickly the desired phrase can be reached. Similar technology already existed on specialist devices, but Look to Speak is a breakthrough in terms of cost and practicality, allowing communication in situations where more cumbersome devices would be difficult to use.
07. Supernatural
Supernatural allowed us to both travel and workout while in lockdown (Image credit: Within)
While exercising in the same room every day following Instagram tutorials can soon get boring, Supernatural uses virtual reality to turn home workouts into adventures visiting some of the world’s most stunning isolated places. You put on the headset, choose from a range of locations such as the Galapagos Islands, Machu Picchu or Ethiopia’s Erta Ale volcano, then swing at attacking objects and duck under others as the tempo of the music picks up.
We’ve selected seven apps that made a memorable impression over the past year be it for mobile, desktop, tablet or VR headsets. There are apps that helped us to work, apps that helped us play, and others that were simply well-made and stunning to look at.
01. Artleap
Artleap offered more creative power than most mobile photo editing apps for novices (Image credit: Lightricks)
- Price: Free. From $5.99 per month/$59.99 one-off purchase
- Platform: iPhone
The adventurous filter options include some with impressive 3D effects. The one that really made us go “wow” was the dispersion filter, which allows the creation of powerful creative effects with no knowledge of editing.
02. Illustrator on iPad
The long-awaited Illustrator for iPad arrived in October (Image credit: Adobe)
- Price: From £19.99 per month
- Platform: iPad
The app can sync with the main Illustrator software, so sending files between Illustrator on the iPad and your desktop is effortless. Best of all, the Apple Pencil integration works wonderfully and the app offers perhaps the best granular typography control for working on the move.
03. Universe in a Nutshell
Hold the entire observable universe in the palm of your hand (Image credit: Wait But Why & Kurzgesagt)
- Price: £2.99
- Platform: Android/iPhone
Opening the app, you meet a cartoonish animated giraffe, an elephant, a human and other animals. The app lists their size and you can tap on them to bring up a range of interesting facts. But pinch the screen to zoom in or out and it gets truly epic as you discover layers of larger or smaller objects, from microscopic particles to machines, countries, planets, stars and beyond. Zoom out as far as you go and you reach the entire known universe on the screen of your smartphone.
04. Super You
The ability to turn friends into surreal AR creatures offered socially distanced fun in 2020 (Image credit: Universal Everything)
- Price: Free
- Platform: iPhone
Open the app, aim your phone’s camera at a friend, swipe to choose a costume of abstract shapes (blobs, spikes, flowers, leaves, etc.) then film your target move around as they’re transformed into a fantasy creature. The result is a fresh, slightly bonkers app that made socialising at a distance that little bit more fun. Who knows?
05. Adobe Fresco for iPhone
Rather than producing a watered-down app for the smaller screen, Adobe Fresco for iPhone threw in new features. (Image credit: Adobe/JinJin Sun)
- Price: Free. Premium from $9.99 per month
- Platform: iPhone
On top of that, Fresco introduced new features such as Smudge brushes, which can be used to soften strokes, blend edges and blur linework, and Ribbon brushes, which allow the user to paint with textures and materials by turning photos into organic brushes. It’s also possible to change how the stylus responds under different degrees of pressure, making it feel even more like real drawing.
Having such a powerful app on the one device we're rarely without offered the potential to transform the creative process. Rather than draw in a sketchbook when inspiration strikes and then copy the idea into a digital form, ideas can now be begun directly in the iPhone app and then filled in on the iPad.
06. Google Look to Speak
Google’s Look to Speak is a leap forward in accessibility (Image credit: Google)
- Price: Free
- Platform: Android
Using the phone’s front-facing camera to track eye movements, the app allows the user to communicate by selecting preset words and phrases from two lists by looking at them. The number of words and phrases is narrowed down after each selection and the final word is read out loud. That sounds like a long, laborious process, but it’s surprising how quickly the desired phrase can be reached. Similar technology already existed on specialist devices, but Look to Speak is a breakthrough in terms of cost and practicality, allowing communication in situations where more cumbersome devices would be difficult to use.
07. Supernatural
Supernatural allowed us to both travel and workout while in lockdown (Image credit: Within)
- Price: $19 per month
- Platform: Oculus Quest, with Android and iPhone companion apps
While exercising in the same room every day following Instagram tutorials can soon get boring, Supernatural uses virtual reality to turn home workouts into adventures visiting some of the world’s most stunning isolated places. You put on the headset, choose from a range of locations such as the Galapagos Islands, Machu Picchu or Ethiopia’s Erta Ale volcano, then swing at attacking objects and duck under others as the tempo of the music picks up.
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