In addition to oliebollen, Christmas dinners and fireworks, the end of the year also means a healthy dose of end-of-year lists. Today Lars presents his favorite app, game and Apple product of the year.
App of the Year: Spark
My favorite app of 2019 is one that I was forced to use. Because Google pulled the plug on Inbox By Gmail at the beginning of this year, I had to look for a new mail app. Spark quickly turned out to be the best alternative. This smart mailbox mainly takes a lot of work off your hands by doing things independently.
Spark groups e-mails based on their content, for example, so that all newsletters and advertisements are clearly grouped together. In addition, you can only have the app send notifications for emails that are important enough. This way you are not continuously distracted and every report Spark sends is worth it.
If you need it, you also have the freedom to completely customize Spark. For example, set what happens when you swipe an email to the left or right, so that you can quickly pin an important message or directly refer to your trash can.
The app also works on your iPhone, iPad, Mac and Apple Watch and is regularly expanded with new functions. It didn’t take long for the app to support iOS 13’s dark mode. That makes Spark an absolute must, especially if you, like me, are not completely over the loss of Inbox by Gmail.
Game of the Year: Grindstone
Apple Arcade brought more than a hundred games to your iPhone and iPad for a fixed monthly fee this year. With Zelda-esque games like Oceanhorn 2, there were huge digital worlds at your disposal, but the simple game Grindstone is by far the one I’ve played the most this year.
In Grindstone, you take on the role of a muscular cartoonish Viking who uses his sword to fight his way through countless monsters. That sounds bloodier than it actually is: Grindstone is a simple puzzle game that goes surprisingly deep. By swiping your finger across the screen you draw a trail of destruction through a grid of monsters. It is up to you to match the same colored creatures, so that you make several victims in one smooth movement.
That makes Grindstone a violent version of Candy Crush, with the necessary RPG elements that unlock upgrades. For example, you can buy a shield to repel attacks and a bow and arrow to deal damage from a distance. Grindstone gradually introduces new game elements and gets surprisingly tricky after a level at 20. If you have Apple Arcade, then this is definitely one to give a shot.
Apple Product of the Year: AirPods Pro
As an avid AirPods user, my favorite Apple product of the year comes as no surprise: the AirPods Pro do everything I hoped for and more. The AirPods’ first real upgrade adds noise cancellation, turning a noisy train compartment into an oasis of calm.
At the same time, the AirPods Pro are the first noise canceling earphones where I don’t get an annoying feeling of pressure on my ears. That’s because of a smart feature that Apple uses to equalize the air pressure in your ear with that of the outside world. As a result, you can listen for hours without feeling uncomfortable.
I used the original AirPods every day and that has only become more with the AirPods Pro. If you already have AirPods, then it depends on your usage and budget whether you have to run to the store to upgrade to this Pro variant, but at least I don’t regret it.