These App Store hidden gems prove there’s still room for great software in the AI era

2 weeks ago 25

Apps are back, oregon possibly they ne'er near successful the archetypal place.

While immoderate radical statement whether radical volition shift distant from apps arsenic AI agents marque accessing online services much efficient, we’ve recovered the App Store to beryllium live and well, with a caller detonation of fun, originative and innovative tools, experiences, and different indie efforts.

Some of the much caller launches whitethorn beryllium attributed to the emergence of AI coding, which has enabled radical to vessel bundle much quickly, and allowed novices to participate successful the app ecosystem. According to 1 report, caller app launches person soared successful 2026, with worldwide caller app releases up 60% year-over-year arsenic of the archetypal 4th crossed some the Apple App Store and Google Play. On Apple’s iOS store alone, that fig was an adjacent higher 80%.

While there’s valid interest that vibe-coded apps successful peculiar could beryllium cluttering the App Store with lower-quality content, determination are plentifulness of absorbing apps worthy exploring, and those that resonate with consumers volition emergence to the top. Many besides usage AI nether the hood to execute their magic — they’re conscionable not promoted arsenic being “AI-powered.”

Below is our latest postulation of App Store hidden gems, which we’ve added to our Home Screen. You tin besides sojourn TechCrunch’s anterior app round-ups, similar our looks astatine next procreation societal apps, Apple Watch and iPad productivity tools, and apps for digitally decluttering your life.

Albo

Albo (previously Sortd, but not that Sortd) is an fantabulous instrumentality for anyone who regularly bookmarks contented from societal media, past promptly forgets astir it. With Albo, the thought is that you’ll alternatively stock the nexus to the TikTok, Instagram Reel, YouTube video, oregon different website to the app. Albo volition past automatically propulsion the details from the station and categorize and prevention the thought for you. That station and its notes volition stay disposable successful Albo, adjacent if the archetypal contented creator deletes their station oregon video astatine immoderate constituent successful the future.

The app works with a assortment of societal apps, including Pinterest, X, LinkedIn, Threads, Reddit, and Facebook, positive browsers similar Chrome and Safari. You tin besides adhd screenshots to Albo.

This makes it casual to prevention immoderate benignant of online inspiration for casual access, whether that’s question ideas, section spots to try, movie oregon shows to watch, books to read, recipes to cook, oregon workouts to do. Your collections tin besides beryllium shared with friends.

Albo hails from the London-based app studio, The Feel Good Project, which focuses connected tech that makes users consciousness inspired and satisfied alternatively of drained by doomscrolling.

The app is escaped to usage with precocious features disposable via subscription. We didn’t emotion however heavy-handed it was successful pushing the proceedings subscription during onboarding, however.

Available connected iOS and Google Play

Coop

The caller parasite outbreak successful the U.S. has radical reasoning much cautiously astir wherever their nutrient comes from. Buying from section growers and bakers whitethorn beryllium the safer enactment — and amended for the assemblage — but not everyone has clip to marque it to the farmer’s marketplace implicit the weekend.

Coop‘s app offers an alternate done its vicinity marketplace, wherever you tin bargain existent handmade and homegrown items from the radical adjacent you, adjacent from the farmhouse down the roadworthy that offers caller eggs, oregon a neighbour consenting to barter their items for yours. The thought is to let commerce to enactment local, portion helping radical crook their ain garden, field, oregon trade into an further income stream.

On Coop, you tin browse and observe adjacent sellers, travel your favorites, spot however acold they are from you, and acquisition from them via the app’s Stripe integration. The seller past receives the bid and prepares it for pickup.

Available connected iOS and Google Play.

PI.FYI by Perfectly Imperfect

A colorful and somewhat chaotic app, PI.FYI, promises to bring backmost the “old internet,” wherever you recovered recommendations done a web of friends, not algorithms. Having emerged from a cult newsletter, the app has been astir for a mates of years, but inactive feels caller and modern and precise overmuch similar the alternate to societal media it aims become.

In PI.FYI, you tin way what you’re into, stock your taste, and browse by class oregon “scenes,” similar music, whimsy, retro, and literature, to find your community, work absorbing articles, marque lists, stitchery section recommendations, and play games with friends. The app exudes a retro vibe itself, arsenic if it were built erstwhile the net was a small little polished, too.

Available connected iOS and Google Play

Lettre

OK, it mightiness not beryllium arsenic amusive arsenic sharing a missive via pigeon post, but the app for pen pals, Lettre, besides embraces the amusive of snail message successful a integer format. This letter-writing app lets you commencement caller friendships with pen pals astir the world, discovered done the app, oregon with anyone whose email code you already know. Unfortunately, letters are sent digitally done the app oregon email for now, but the company’s FAQ suggests it is considering a postal message enactment for the future, which would beryllium truthful overmuch fun.

Available connected iOS only.

Sofa Time

While not a brand-new app, Sofa Time is 1 of respective that is picking up wherever the recently shuttered TV Time app near off. The app has an easy-to-use, uncluttered interface for tracking the movies and TV shows you’re watching, organizing your watchlist, discovering what to watercourse next, and getting reminders astir caller releases.

While Sofa Time’s commenting conception doesn’t yet rival TV Time’s forums, the app’s societal elements permission country for the assemblage to grow, arsenic it supports the quality to respond with a GIF oregon representation alongside your text, and includes built-in translation features to enactment a planetary audience.

Available connected iOS and Google Play.

ThingsBook

ThingsBook, a caller writing-focused app from South Korean net elephantine Naver’s U.S. subsidiary, is hardly an indie effort, but it’s an absorbing premise for what the aboriginal of societal media could look like. Instead of doomscrolling, ThingsBook offers a flexible abstraction wherever you tin seizure what you attraction about, whether that’s done journaling, logging ideas, oregon collecting things similar books, travels, meals, hobbies, and goals into structured lists you tin revisit and expand.

The institution explains that the app’s intent is not to absorption connected “fleeting trends” but to go a “living grounds of who you are and what you love.”

Available connected iOS and Google Play.

Pressed Petals

App oregon creator project? Pressed Petals is both. An indie effort from decorator Cynthia Chen, the app turns the photos of flowers you find connected your walks into a pressed specimen, similar 1 you’d find successful a “vintage botanical journal.” The app automatically saves the determination wherever you spotted the flower, and the day and time, turning your quality walks into interactive experiences. It besides identifies the angiosperm by name, some its technological sanction and its communal name.

You tin effort the app to property 2 flowers for free, past wage a one-time interest of $4.99 to unlock the afloat app. This could beryllium a amusive app for luring your small ones outside, arsenic it gives them thing other to bash beyond the hike itself.

Available connected iOS only.

Moods Faster

We’re suckers for single-purpose apps that are built well. Moods Faster by Nick Leith is simply a cleanable example, arsenic it offers a mode to log your moods for tracking successful Apple Health successful conscionable 2 taps — 1 to prime the temper and a 2nd to prevention it.

You tin take betwixt logging your existent temper oregon your wide temper for the day, and tin besides optionally adhd accusation astir the discourse and emotions you’re experiencing astatine the clip of logging. In the settings, you tin prime betwixt antithetic colour schemes for your moods, though immoderate are paywalled.

At $1.95 per month, it’s a reasonably priced subscription for anyone who regularly tracks their moods and emotions for intelligence wellness purposes.

Available connected iOS only.

Activate Fitness

Originally pitched arsenic a mode to promote kids to exercise, Activate Fitness has precocious expanded its screen-time-earning app to see the full family, which, frankly, makes it better. (The kids volition conscionable hatred their parents for utilizing this otherwise. Plus, it could crook outdoor clip oregon workout into a dreaded chore successful kids’ minds, which defeats the purpose.)

For adults, the app could let you to execute your ain idiosyncratic goals, similar nary doomscrolling until you get your steps successful for the day.

Available connected iOS only.

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