Quantifying the best mobile apps can be a bit difficult considering the wide array of uses in our everyday lives they can have, and it gets even more splintered as specificity grows. Not everyone may need apps directed toward certain trade work, but everyone has at least one social media app and YouTube on their home screen. Popularity metrics and download counts factor in as well, but in a year like 2023 where the app ecosystem was heavily impacted by the diversification of social media and the constant rise of generative AI, importance might be the most apt measuring stick.
The impact of such apps among others isn’t fully known as the year comes to a close, but what we do know is that letting advancement outrun awareness makes for a bitter pie. So, with that in mind, let’s run through Paste’s best apps of 2023.
TikTok
Despite continued attempts to pass sweeping bans against the platform, TikTok remains the emergent player in social media. The short-form video app remains one of the most downloaded apps globally while its use keeps evolving as other online platforms do their best to make their clones of the app catch on with audiences. Google cited TikTok as its biggest challenger in search this year, which is surprisingly accurate (though another entry on this list may be rising in that arena) and the app usurped platforms such as X, formerly known as Twitter, as the center for online activism amid global crises in Gaza and Ukraine. TikTok Shop doesn’t appear to be more than a worse WhatNot and the spread of misinformation and disinformation remains a key issue, but there is no denying TikTok is doing more to have staying power than its competitors.
ChatGPT
Generative artificial intelligence is a lightning rod and it isn’t going to shake that status anytime soon despite the now weekly AI evangelist self-own that gives the internet a cautious laugh. OpenAI’s ChatGPT is at the heart of the issue as the most popular and well-funded large language model going today. Putting aside the recent controversy that undoubtedly will shape the path OpenAI takes in the coming years, ChatGPT offers plenty of good in the right hands. It’s extremely alarming that it and other apps like it continue to be weaponized to threaten careers and undermine copyright, two issues that are likely to get more contentious as OpenAI plans to roll out a storefront for custom GPTs in the near future, but seeing how educators and programmers utilize it provides examples of practical uses that actually aid users. Plus, ChatGPT is emerging as an alternative to search, pitting it against Google and its array of AI tools.
Beeper Mini
Look, I’m not one to subscribe to the strangely classist battle over the color of a text bubble, but iMessage elitism is taking a hit thanks to Beeper Mini. The latest app from Beeper gives Android users the ability to send and receive iMessage communications without the burden of tethering devices to Mac servers which makes the process cumbersome and expensive. The app is already drawing the attention of Apple, which put the kibosh on its access to iMessage quickly after launch this week, but the Beeper team remains committed to bringing it back online. Get ready for 2024’s first big tech fight.
Threads
While Elon “Telling advertisers to go fuck themselves is so edgy” Musk keeps bringing X, formerly known as Twitter, to new lows, Meta threw its hat into the micro-blogging social media game in a big way this year with Threads. While the app’s rate of user signups has certainly cooled off from its massive launch earlier this year, Meta continues to build out a serviceable Twitter replacement that doesn’t require an invite code. The addition of a web app to complement its mobile app and untying Threads account deletion from Instagram account deletion makes it more attractive to former Twitter users as well.
Artifact
Sticking with social media, Artifact is a news-reading app that launched earlier this year with its creators, Instagram co-founders Kevin Systrom and Mike Krieger, envisioning the app as “TikTok for text.” The app uses AI tools to generate personalized news feeds for users, and the Links featured added in September lets users share any content they wish, pushing it further into personalized curation and sharing bits of the internet similar to the Twitter of hold. It is an interesting idea for the social media space that still needs time to prove it’s in for the long haul, but the app is off to a good start.
HeyGen
HeyGen may be the most fascinating app to come out of the AI explosion this year, and the one with the most functional use for several communities. The app lets users upload video files and translate the audio into different languages while its AI model reproduces the audio in your voice and syncs your lips to the new language. It’s wild to see in action for the first time. Like any other AI program, there is always concern over how it could be utilized for misinformation and disinformation, but the power it holds to bridge the language barrier with relative ease is potentially immense, especially for online creators.
Too Good To Go
Too Good To Go Logo
There are plenty of food takeout apps out there, but Too Good To Go sets itself apart in both its model and mission. The app lets users reserve a surprise package of excess items from local eateries, providing an avenue for restaurants to reduce food waste while giving users affordably priced mystery bags ready for pickup. It additionally connects users with local charities to support directly in the app.
Voidpet Garden
Mental health remains a major focus for a lot of us, and there are a plethora of apps out there addressing those worries. But Voidpet Garden puts a fun twist on acknowledging your emotions and cultivating better ways to communicate and interact with those gnarly things that pop into your brain: what if mental health management was Pokémon? This mixture proves uniquely engaging, with users befriending new emotions, setting goals for their emotional interactions and nurturing relationships with their feelings monsters to help them evolve into a place of better understanding.
JustWatch
It may seem odd to include an app like JustWatch on a “best of” list, but I cannot tell you how many times this little tool has bailed me out of navigating the wasteland of copious streaming services to fuel my taste for endearing B-grade cinema. The ease of having one go-to spot for sorting through the availability of media across the streaming landscape is one of those treasures you don’t think about regularly yet always notice when needed.
Access To Abortion
Finding information on proper abortion services remains vital more than a year on from the regressive decision to overturn Roe v. Wade. Thankfully, there are a number of apps that maintain access to information and services for those seeking such care. Safe Abortion (SA) offers information on abortion care, connects users with organizations that offer aid and access to services and includes a pregnancy tracker that doesn’t collect private data. Planned Parenthood has its own app, PPDirect, that lets users schedule appointments at local facilities and order birth control, abortion pills and emergency contraception through the mail in certain states.