On Monday, Apple’s listing of finalists for its coveted “iPhone App of the Year” award as soon as once more reveals how the iPhone maker is downplaying the affect of AI expertise on the cellular app ecosystem. As it did final yr, Apple’s 2024 listing of high iPhone finalists favors extra conventional iOS apps, together with those who assist iPhone customers carry out particular duties like recording skilled video (Kino), tailoring their working plans (Runna), or organizing their travels (Tripsy). Other AI apps like ChatGPT, Anthropic’s Claude, Microsoft Copilot, and those who create AI images or movies weren’t nominated for iPhone App of the Year.
Given the recognition of ChatGPT, additionally now an Apple associate for its Siri enhancements, it’s stunning to seek out the app has not earned any official year-end accolades from Apple’s App Store editorial workforce, regardless of its adoption of intelligent new options in 2024, like an Advanced Voice Mode for chatting with the AI digital assistant and an online search function that challenges Google.
While ChatGPT is repeatedly featured throughout the App Store and Google Play’s editorial solutions, each Apple and Google final yr prevented nominating ChatGPT as an general winner, regardless of the app changing into the fastest-growing shopper utility in historical past in early 2023 when it reached 100 million customers shortly after its launch. This yr, Google dubbed party-planning app Partiful its app of the yr.
Despite ChatGPT’s snub, a small variety of AI-powered apps made appearances on Apple’s different 2024 finalist lists, like these for the iPad and Mac App of the Year.
But amongst Apple’s listing of 45 finalists throughout numerous classes in apps and video games, AI-powered apps had been talked about only some instances. Moises, an app that gives AI instruments for working towards music, was nominated alongside children app Bluey: Let’s Play and animation app Procreate Dreams for iPad App of the Year. Adobe Lightroom, which now contains AI-powered options, was nominated together with productiveness app OmniFocus 4 and 3D design app Shapr3D for Mac App of the Year.
And, amongst a dozen Cultural Impact finalists, just one — language-learning app EF Hello — was described by Apple as an app enhanced by AI expertise. (While different apps could use AI below the hood, because the finalist Pinterest does, their App Store advertising doesn’t promote them as “AI” apps to customers.)
If something, Apple’s curated listing of finalists means that apps empowering human creativity, not these helping with AI automation, are the apps which can be worthy of highlighting. Most of the finalists’ apps assist customers do one thing extra with their iPhone or different system, with out counting on an AI assistant or options, whether or not that’s designing, organizing, filming, creating, or taking part in.
Kino, the professional video app from the makers of the professional digital camera app Halide, as an illustration, goals to make everybody a greater videographer, whereas others assist Apple’s units work as productiveness instruments for these in artistic fields.
This yr, Apple additionally added the brand new Apple Vision Pro class, the place it’ll choose each an app and sport winner.
