What you need to know
- Google Play has revealed the winners of the "Best Of" awards for 2023 with Imprint: Learn Visually taking the "Best Overall App" award.
- Hoyoverse's sci-fi RPG Honkai: Star Rail wins the "Best Overall Game" and "Best Story" awards in 2023.
- For "Best Multi-device App," Spotify wins while OUTERPLANE - Strategy Anime takes home "Best Multi-device Game."
As 2023 starts to close, Google is recognizing some of its most popular apps throughout the year. In a press release, Google stated its "big year" is the catalyst behind new award categories such as "Best Multi-device App," "Best Multi-device Game," and "Best for Google Play Games on PC." Moreover, the company is interested in acknowledging apps that have gained traction in the AI space.
To start, Imprint: Learn Visually has received the honor of "Best Overall App" for Google Play in 2023 by its editorial team. This app gained quite a bit of traction throughout the year due to its short, "bite-sized" lessons. Such topics include psychology, history, health, technology, and more. Imprint's discovery page lets users browse and find topics they're interested in learning quickly, while its review feature tests your memory and understanding of topics.
The editorial team is bestowing the "Best Overall Game" award to Hoyoverse's latest space fantasy RPG, Honkai: Star Rail. The sci-fi game won the award due to its "excellent depth of content and stunning visuals" since its launch back in late April. The game, much like Hoyoverse's Genshin Impact, is an attractive role-playing game with lore layered throughout worlds like Jarilo-VI, Xianzhou Luofu, and the Herta Space Station.
The game's latest update, version 1.5: The Crepuscule Zone, is out now, bringing limited 5-star characters like Huohuo and Argenti.
Regarding this year's new "Best Multi-device App" award, that prize goes to the music streaming service Spotify. Google states the app works smoothly for users looking to cook up a meal in their kitchens or for those out on a walk or jog in the park. Moreover, Spotify has continued to bring new features like its AI DJ and its new "Jam" feature, letting anyone become the DJ for the night.
The award for "Best Multi-device Game" goes to OUTERPLANE - Strategy Anime. As the name suggests, OUTERPLANE weaves an appealing anime aesthetic and character design into its "captivating story." It delivers a turn-based experience that works seamlessly across PCs and foldable devices.
Next, the long-standing gacha game Arknights wins "Best on Google Play Games on PC.".
In the eyes of Google Play users, ChatGPT is the best app for 2023. Developed by OpenAI, the company launched its Android app in July in the U.S., India, Bangladesh, and Brazil. The app is free, and it synchronizes chat history with the AI bot across devices. Additionally, users gained many powerful features like creative inspiration, professional input, and instant answers right on their Android devices.
The app also includes OpenAI's latest GPT-4 language model.
The following user choice for games sees MONOPOLY GO! take the award home. Enjoying a (not-so) quiet night at home playing Monopoly is probably a pastime for many families. With the app bringing some of that magic on the go (no pun intended) it makes sense why over 10 million devices have it installed and ready to play.
If you're curious to see if your favorite app or game won an award, you can check out the full Google Play 2023 "Best of" list.
Google highlights some of the changes it's made this year to the Play Store, like bringing in more enticing rewards for users to spend their Play Points on. Rewards involved DoorDash, Instacart, and a few new Google merch items. On the other side, the company has revealed its new "Play Report," a new pilot short-form video series that a limited selection of U.S. users have gotten to test.
The videos function like YouTube Shorts, and Google sees this piece of content as a way of boosting app and game discoverability on the Play Store moving forward.
King of the Androids
Google's Pixel 8 Pro continues to appeal with its recognizable and sophisticated design. The Pixel 8 Pro offers a 6.7-inch display with a 120Hz refresh rate, capable of delivering a fluid scrolling and watching experience. Google also packed loads of AI software into the phone to help remove blemishes from pictures and videos.
