In brief
TIME’s 25 best apps of 2017 so far span games, productivity, social networking, tools, and more. Highlights include Instagram’s Stories features, Focalmark’s automatic hashtags, Microsoft To-Do’s task suggestions, and the creative tools Meitu and Musical.ly.
Many app power users are constantly looking for convenient, practical, and on-trend applications, but the Apple store and Google play offer more than two million apps, making the choice overwhelming. A new tool may look tempting, but users worry that it will be disappointing and require another step to uninstall it. Before 2017 had even reached its halfway point,
TIME magazine got a head start a few days ago by selecting the 25 best apps of 2017 so far. The selection spans tools, imaging, social networking, games, and other categories, and should help users find useful tools more quickly in app stores that continually introduce new offerings.
Instagram, the highest-ranked app in the social category, saw its user numbers surge from 600 million to 700 million over the past four months. It has added many new features, with updates to Stories a particular highlight: face filters, reverse video playback, and hashtags bring together features from Snapchat and face-filter apps such as Snow and B612. A feature allowing links in Stories has also recently entered testing. Users can swipe up to open the linked webpage, although only verified users can currently use this feature. Once it officially launches, it is expected to become an important source of website traffic for many official business accounts, while also addressing marketers’ difficulty in adding links to official Instagram accounts to assess their performance.
The selection also includes Focalmark, a tool related to Instagram. It automatically generates relevant hashtags based on a post’s content and location. The generated text can be sent directly to Instagram or copied for use in other apps.
Meanwhile, the highest-ranked productivity tool is Microsoft To-Do. This new cloud-based to-do list tool was launched by Microsoft following its acquisition of the to-do list app Wunderlist this year. In addition to offering cross-platform access through a website, mobile apps and desktop software, it incorporates some of Wunderlist’s features and adds a feature called “Intelligent Suggestions.” Microsoft places considerable emphasis on this feature in its introduction. When users have many tasks to complete, Microsoft To-Do uses upcoming due dates, reminder dates, and other information to suggest, in a simpler way, which actions to prioritize in “My Day.”
The selection also includes two apps developed by Asian teams. One is Meitu, a highly useful photo-editing app that many readers will already know. Updated versions offer an increasing range of filters and effects. The other is the video-editing app Musical.ly, which uses built-in music to help users quickly edit music videos of around 15 seconds. Users who choose a popular song can record themselves lip-syncing and moving along to it.
TIME magazine’s rankings are as follows: Ranks 1 to 5 Super Mario (Games) Microsoft To-Do(Productivity) A Normal Lost Phone(Games) he Great Courses Plus(Learning) Instagram(Social) Ranks 6 to 10 Wemogee(Social) Musical.ly(Social) ArtPassport(Tools) Google Earth(Tools) Funnel(News) From rank 11 to rank 15 inclusive Empower(Fitness) ReachNow(Transport) Focalmark(Tools) FaceApp(Social) Clips(Imaging) From rank 16 to rank 20 inclusive Marvel: Color Your Own(Tools) Meitu (Tools) The Elder Scrolls: Legends (Games) Filtru(Tools) Sprinkles(Imaging) From rank 21 to rank 25 inclusive Pokémon: Magikarp Jump (Games) Runtasty(Lifestyle) Nintendo Switch Parental Controls(Tools) Missive(Productivity) Mobile Passport(Tools) https://www.inside.com.tw/2017/06/08/best-apps-2017