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Google Play announced ‘2024 Award-winning works that shone this year’ on the 19th!
The best app of the year is ‘Speak‘This is the best game of the year’Cookie Run: Tower of Adventure‘ has been selected.
At the end of every year, Google Play selects the apps and games that were most loved and stood out in each country during the year and announces them in various categories. In 2024, Korean developers were selected in a total of 20 categories among the ‘Awards of the Year’ from around the world, winning the most awards among all countries. In particular, in the game category, Korean developers won more than one-fifth of all awards.
The winning apps that shined this year are also used as an indicator to look at the app life trends of that year. This year, self-development apps that incorporate more advanced AI technology, entertainment apps that enrich niche time, and transaction apps that help the environment and economical consumption received particular attention.
AI permeated with self-development
As more advanced AI technology is incorporated into apps, self-development apps with more personalized content and voice recognition interactive features have received great attention from users. Selected as the best app of the year Speakis a language learning app that actively helps users improve their foreign language skills by enabling not only grammar and listening, but also free talking using AI technology.
‘Selected as the ‘multi-device app that shined this year’ by consistently providing services and content optimized for various devices such as watches and large screens.millie’s study‘ was evaluated as providing a new reading experience with a service that reads books using a natural AI voice. Named among the ‘Self-Development Apps That Shine This Year’Willa‘ is a self-development app that allows you to build knowledge through audio content, and its strength is that it delivers content quickly and accurately by applying AI speed technology.
The joy of connecting the gaps in time
Apps that help you make the most of your spare time were also greatly loved. Streaming app specialized in animation Raftelwas selected as the ‘entertainment app that shined this year’ by filling users’ daily leisure time with rich content. ‘Bigloo‘ is a short-form drama platform that allows users to immerse themselves in a short period of time and was selected as the ‘hidden gem app that shone this year.’ ‘Easily enjoy music on wearable devices’Flo‘ is in the ‘Watch app that shined this year’, and ‘ helps creative drawing work even on a large screen.Infinite Painter‘ was selected as the ‘large screen app that shone this year’.
Sustainable consumption for the environment
Apps that help people lead sustainable consumption lifestyles and connect people have also become very popular. ‘carrot‘ was selected as the ‘daily life app that shined this year’ by strengthening community connections through transactions between neighbors. Contributing to environmental protection through trading used IT devicesMinthit‘ was named one of the ‘good influence apps that shone this year’ and attracted attention as an example of social networks realizing social value.
In the gaming field, games with features such as immersive stories, flexibility of multi-platforms, and casual games that can be enjoyed in a short period of time have attracted the attention of a variety of users.
What trends do you foresee emerging in mobile app development as a result of the growing popularity of AI-based and entertainment-focused applications?
Thank you for joining us today for this special interview on Google Play’s ’2024 Award-winning Works That Shone This Year’. We have with us two guests, Ms. Lee and Mr. Park, who are working at leading mobile app development companies in South Korea. Ms. Lee is the CEO of an AI-based language learning app that was recently featured in the ‘Best App of the Year’ category, while Mr. Park is the head of marketing at a casual game development company that won the ‘Best Game of the Year’ award.
Interviewer: Let’s start by discussing the significance of Google Play Awards and how these awards can impact mobile app developers globally. Ms. Lee, can you please share your thoughts on how being recognized by Google Play has affected your app’s visibility and user base?
Ms. Lee: The Google Play Awards are indeed a great honor and recognition for any mobile app developer. For Speak, being named the ‘Best App of the Year’ has not only boosted user confidence in our product but also given us global visibility. This has led to an increase in downloads and user engagement. The award has also helped us attract new investors and partnerships, which will further enhance our app’s capabilities and reach. Winning this award has motivated our team to continue innovating and pushing boundaries in the field of AI-based language learning.
Mr. Park: From the gaming industry’s perspective, Cookie Run: Tower of Adventure has seen a surge in popularity since winning the ‘Best Game of the Year’ award. Our team has been working tirelessly to provide an engaging and immersive gaming experience for our users, and this recognition by Google Play validates our efforts. The award has also helped attract new gamers who may not have heard of our game before and has given us the opportunity to expand our audience globally. Winning such a prestigious award has indeed been a game-changer for us.
Interviewer: Moving on to the trends highlighted by Google Play this year, we see that AI-based self-development apps and entertainment apps dominated the ’Apps That Shone This Year’ category. Can both of you share your insights on these trends and how they are shaping the mobile app landscape?
Ms. Lee:
