8 apps that made us go 'wow' in 2020

The year 2020 saw most of us spending more time at home than ever before. Fortunately, there were plenty of new apps to help pass the days couped up inside. From exciting new tools for creatives to VR workouts and surreal AR fun that hit the mark during global lockdowns, the past 12 months left us with some fantastic new gems on our devices. But which were the apps that most impressed us?

We’ve selected eight apps that made a memorable impression over the past year be it for mobile, desktop, tablet or VR headsets. There are apps that helped us to work, apps that helped us play, and others that were simply well-made and stunning to look at.

Another app that made us say wow is one that kept us waiting. Designers’ favourite vectors tool finally arrived for the iPad in October 2020 and it didn’t disappoint. Illustrator for the iPad reimagines the original software's core design capabilities for the iPad and the Apple Pencil. While there are some omissions in the range of tools available at the moment, the app is clean, powerful and intuitive.

Opening the app, you meet a cartoonish animated giraffe, an elephant, a human and other animals. The app lists their size and you can tap on them to bring up a range of interesting facts. But pinch the screen to zoom in or out and it gets truly epic as you discover layers of larger or smaller objects, from microscopic particles to machines, countries, planets, stars and beyond. Zoom out as far as you go and you reach the entire known universe on the screen of your smartphone. The colourful cartoon style makes this look like an app for children, but with the level of detail, adults can also lose themselves for hours in the app.

Virtual reality and augmented reality-based apps multiplied in 2020. Many have aimed to push the envelope with increasingly convincing realism, but it was refreshing to find a proposition that aims for the surreal instead. Super You, described by its developer Universal Everything as a "costume arts experiment", employs Apple ARKit 3 body tracking technology to let you film your mates in a range of bizarre costumes.

Open the app, aim your phone’s camera at a friend, swipe to choose a costume of abstract shapes (blobs, spikes, flowers, leaves, etc.) then film your target move around as they’re transformed into a fantasy creature. The result is a fresh, slightly bonkers app that made socialising at a distance that little bit more fun. Who knows? Maybe some of the costumes will influence fashion trends for 2021.

Look to Speak is an app that shows how technological advances can be truly life-changing for people with disabilities. For people who have both speech and motor impairments, the ability to communicate is severely limited without special hardware or software, but Google’s experimental app released in December allows communication using only an Android smartphone and a phone stand or arm to hold it in place.

Using the phone’s front-facing camera to track eye movements, the app allows the user to communicate by selecting preset words and phrases from two lists by looking at them. The number of words and phrases is narrowed down after each selection and the final word is read out loud. That sounds like a long, laborious process, but it’s surprising how quickly the desired phrase can be reached. Similar technology already existed on specialist devices, but Look to Speak is a breakthrough in terms of cost and practicality, allowing communication in situations where more cumbersome devices would be difficult to use.

While exercising in the same room every day following Instagram tutorials can soon get boring, Supernatural uses virtual reality to turn home workouts into adventures visiting some of the world’s most stunning isolated places. You put on the headset, choose from a range of locations such as the Galapagos Islands, Machu Picchu or Ethiopia’s Erta Ale volcano, then swing at attacking objects and duck under others as the tempo of the music picks up. Released in April, Supernatural seemed to be an app designed specifically for 2020. Just make sure you’re not too near any furniture.

Another app that tapped into the mood of 2020, Loóna aimed to take care of our mental wellbeing. It was initially billed as a sleep aid, of which there are plenty out there, but Loóna does things a bit differently. Instead of offering guided meditation to listen to, eyes closed, as we try to sleep, it provides nightly “sleepscapes” that are designed to be watched and interacted with to help us wind down.

Thank you for reading 5 articles this month* Join now for unlimited access

Enjoy your first month for just £1 / $1 / €1

*Read 5 free articles per month without a subscription

Join now for unlimited access

Try first month for just £1 / $1 / €1

Joe is a regular freelance journalist and editor at Creative Bloq. He writes news, features and buying guides and keeps track of the best equipment and software for creatives, from video editing programs to monitors and accessories. A veteran news writer and photographer, he now works as a project manager at the London and Buenos Aires-based design, production and branding agency Hermana Creatives. There he manages a team of designers, photographers and video editors who specialise in producing visual content and design assets for the hospitality sector. He also dances Argentine tango.

8 apps that made us go 'wow' in 2020

01. Artleap

02. Illustrator on iPad

03. Universe in a Nutshell

04. Super You

05. Adobe Fresco for iPhone

06. Google Look to Speak

07. Supernatural

08. Loóna

Related articles