Google Play’s Best of 2022 in India, an annual recognition awarded by the company to identify the best apps and games on Google Play and their developers, have just been announced. Apps from categories like e-learning, e-commerce, health and wellness, apps for societal and personal empowerment and social apps won big this year, while casual gaming apps like Angry Birds Journey and multi-player mobile games like Apex Legends Mobile continued to dominate, said the company in a press release.
E-learning remained in demand, such as the winner in the Best App for Personal Growth, online tutoring app Filo and others in the category like PrepLadder, Cuemath, and Yellow Class. This year’s winners also used advanced technologies to build custom solutions. Questt, which earned the overall Best App of 2022 award in India, offers personalized learning paths and insights to students, using artificial intelligence to make education more data-driven.
“We have grown to help over 2 million students with personalized learning paths. We remain focused on improving learning outcomes for millions of students in India and hope to bring a paradigm shift by making education more data-driven with the help of technology” said Akhil Singh, Co-Founder and CEO, Questt (Winner of Best App of 2022 - India).
Ecommerce continues to be a much-loved category by users across the country. This resulted in hypervalue ecommerce brand Shopsy being voted as the Users’ Choice app of the year, emerging as a popular choice for many people and small businesses. The app also led the Best Apps for Everyday Essentials category.
The Everyday Essentials category also saw the rise of a new trend, with ultra-fast delivery apps such as Blinkit and Zepto gaining prominence among people across the country for their timely grocery needs.
Health and wellness continued to be on people’s minds, with apps such as Bunkerfit, Neend, and Dance Workout for Weight Loss offering creative and localised solutions to help people stay fit physically and mentally.
Developers also built empowering solutions for diverse communities. The Best Apps for Good winner Khyaal is helping senior citizens interact with each other and supporting them with holistic care needs, while ZyadaShop enables entrepreneurs to create their stores from their mobile phones, and Kohbee enables educators and creators globally to teach courses and monetize their content easily.
“Our goal was to build a super app for senior citizens in India that will help them with all the helpful services they’re looking for – and most importantly, a community where they can interact and belong. Khyaal started with a single chat group in 2021, and today, we have over 100K+ users on our app,” said Hemanshu Jain, Founder & CEO, Khyaal (Winner of Best Apps for Good - India).
Social app Turnip, leading the Best Apps for Fun category, is helping people globally connect, share, and stream content with others with like-minded interests. Parenting and pet parenting apps too are finding users – Hidden Gems winner BabyG is helping parents with guidance on the development needs of their infants and toddlers, while Pet Perfect serves pet parents with information to take care of their furry family member.
Meanwhile, in gaming, developers enthralled players in new and imaginative worlds. Apex Legends Mobile set a new bar in the battle royale genre winning the Best Game of the year for its impeccable gameplay and cutting-edge visuals. On the other hand, Indian players showered love for Rovio’s classic feathery friends with Angry Birds Journey winning the Users’ Choice game award.
This year Google also introduced new categories to celebrate unique experiences games have to offer. The Best Ongoing games category features Indian games Ludo King and Real Cricket 20 for keeping players engaged with compelling new updates, fresh content, and advanced gameplay experiences. This year also saw globally appealing games being built from diverse pockets of the country, such as indie game Cooking Valley: Cooking Games by Rajkot-based gaming studio, The AppGuruz.
