BeReal and AI art tool Dream by WOMBO top Google Play’s list of best apps in 2022

BeReal also won Apple’s “App of the Year” award, signaling a younger generation’s preference for new forms of social networking.

Meanwhile, Apex Legends Mobile was both Google’s choice for Best Game as well as the User’s Choice winner. The company noted the game had regularly trended throughout the year and often appeared in the top 10 downloaded lists.

Overall, Google selected winners across 20 categories in the U.S. Google Play Store, in addition to regional awards in non-U.S. markets.

This year, the company also introduced new categories, including “Best Game Story” and “Best Ongoing Game” in an effort to better highlight the unique types of games its developers brought to the ecosystem, it said. Plus, Google picked the best apps for fun, for personal growth and the best everyday essentials and hidden gems.

Google said its choices are meant to reflect what mattered most to people in 2022, which included ways to escape reality through gaming as well as ways to help us stay grounded and present.

Beyond category picks, Google also selected specific winners for platforms beyond the smartphone, highlighting its recent push to make Google Play a place to easily find a variety of different types of apps.

Recently, Google revamped the Play Store to better direct people to apps for their watches, tablets and TVs — a change that was partly reflected in its year-end winners’ list where Google dubbed Todoist its Best App for Android Wear, Pocket the best for tablets and BandLab the best for Chromebook users.

It also picked the best games for tablets with Tower of Fantasy and for Chromebook, with Roblox.

The full list of winners is below.

Best overall app and game

Best App: Dream by WOMBO
Best Game: Apex Legends Mobile

Users’ choice

App: BeReal
Game: Apex Legends Mobile

Best apps of 2022

Best for Fun: PetStar (Honorable mentions: DanceFitMe, NoteIt Widget)
Best for Personal Growth: Breathwrk (Honorable mentions: Duolingo ABC, Gym Log & Workouts, Ukulele by Yousician)
Best Everyday Essentials: Plant Parent (Honorable mentions: Book Morning Routine Waking Up, Daily Diary, Sleep Tracker)
Best Hidden Gems: Recover Athletics (Honorable mentions: Linktree, Little Lunches, Wamble)
Best Apps for Good: The Stigma App (Honorable mentions: Sleep Fruits, Zario)
Best for Wear: Todoist
Best for Tablets: Pocket
Best for Chromebooks (new category): BandLab

Best games of 2022

Best Multiplayer: Dislyte (Honorable mentions: Apex Legends Mobile, Catalyst Black, Diablo Immortal, Rocket League Sideswipe)
Best Pick Up & Play: Angry Birds Journey (Honorable mentions: Gun & Dungeons, Hook 2, Hyde and Seek, Quadline)
Best Indies: Dicey Dungeons (Honorable mentions: Dungeons of Dreadrock, Knotwords, One Hand Clapping, Phobies)
Best Story (new category): Papers, Please (Honorable mentions: Deemo II, Inua – A Story in Ice and Time, The Secret of Cat Island, Turnip Boy Commits Tax Evasion)
Best Ongoing (new category): Genshin Impact (Honorable mentions: Candy Crush Saga, Garena Free Fire, Pokémon GO, Roblox)
Best on Play Pass (new category): Very Little Nightmares (Honorable mentions: Bridge Constructor, Final Fantasy VII, Linelight, Path of Giants)
Best for Tablets: Tower of Fantasy (Honorable mentions: Angry Birds Journey, Catalyst Black, Diablo Immortal, Papers, Please)
Best Game for Chromebooks (new category): Roblox

Elsewhere on Google Play, the company highlighted the best-selling books and audiobooks.

Users can find their country’s winners for all the “best of” lists in the new Best of 2022 section of the Play Store.