Apps are again, or possibly they by no means left within the first place.
Whereas some individuals debate whether or not individuals will shift away from apps as AI agents make accessing on-line providers extra environment friendly, we’ve discovered the App Retailer to be alive and nicely, with a current explosion of enjoyable, inventive, and modern instruments, experiences, and different indie efforts.
A number of the more moderen launches could also be attributed to the rise of AI coding, which has enabled individuals to ship software program extra shortly, and allowed novices to participate within the app ecosystem. In accordance with one report, new app launches have soared in 2026, with worldwide new app releases up 60% year-over-year as of the primary quarter throughout each the Apple App Retailer and Google Play. On Apple’s iOS retailer alone, that determine was a good increased 80%.
Whereas there’s legitimate concern that vibe-coded apps specifically may very well be cluttering the App Retailer with lower-quality content material, there are many attention-grabbing apps price exploring, and those who resonate with shoppers will rise to the highest. Many additionally use AI underneath the hood to carry out their magic — they’re simply not promoted as being “AI-powered.”
Beneath is our newest assortment of App Store hidden gems, which we’ve added to our Residence Display screen. It’s also possible to go to TechCrunch’s prior app round-ups, like our seems at next-generation social apps, Apple Watch, and iPad productivity tools, and apps for digitally decluttering your life.
Albo
Albo (beforehand Sortd, however not that Sortd) is a wonderful device for anybody who repeatedly bookmarks content material from social media, then promptly forgets about it. With Albo, the concept is that you simply’ll as an alternative share the hyperlink to the TikTok, Instagram Reel, YouTube video, or different web site to the app. Albo will then routinely pull the main points from the publish and categorize and save the concept for you. That publish and its notes will stay accessible in Albo, even when the unique content material creator deletes their publish or video sooner or later sooner or later.
The app works with a wide range of social apps, together with Pinterest, X, LinkedIn, Threads, Reddit, and Fb, plus browsers like Chrome and Safari. It’s also possible to add screenshots to Albo.
This makes it straightforward to save lots of any kind of on-line inspiration for straightforward entry, whether or not that’s journey concepts, native spots to attempt, film or exhibits to look at, books to learn, recipes to cook dinner, or exercises to do. Your collections can be shared with pals.
Albo hails from the London-based app studio The Feel Good Project, which focuses on tech that makes customers really feel impressed and happy as an alternative of drained by doomscrolling.
The app is free to make use of with superior options accessible by way of subscription. We didn’t love how heavy-handed it was in pushing the trial subscription throughout onboarding, nevertheless.
Obtainable on iOS and Google Play.
Coop
The current parasite outbreak within the U.S. has individuals pondering extra rigorously about the place their meals comes from. Shopping for from native growers and bakers stands out as the safer choice — and higher for the neighborhood — however not everybody has time to make it to the farmer’s market over the weekend.
Coop‘s app affords another via its neighborhood market, the place you should purchase actual handmade and homegrown gadgets from the individuals close to you, even from the farmhouse down the highway that gives contemporary eggs, or a neighbor prepared to barter their gadgets for yours. The thought is to permit commerce to remain native, whereas serving to individuals flip their very own backyard, discipline, or craft into an extra earnings stream.
On Coop, you’ll be able to browse and uncover close by sellers, comply with your favorites, see how far they’re from you, and buy from them by way of the app’s Stripe integration. The vendor then receives the order and prepares it for pickup.
Obtainable on iOS and Google Play.
PI.FYI by Completely Imperfect
A colourful and considerably chaotic app, PI.FYI, guarantees to carry again the “previous web,” the place you discovered suggestions via a community of pals, not algorithms. Having emerged from a cult newsletter, the app has been round for a few years, however nonetheless feels contemporary and fashionable and really very similar to the choice to social media it goals grow to be.
In PI.FYI, you’ll be able to monitor what you’re into, share your style, and browse by class or “scenes,” like music, whimsy, retro, and literature, to seek out your neighborhood, learn attention-grabbing articles, make lists, collect native suggestions, and play video games with pals. The app exudes a retro vibe itself, as if it have been constructed when the web was rather less polished, too.
Obtainable on iOS and Google Play.
Lettre
OK, it won’t be as enjoyable as sharing a letter via pigeon post, however the app for pen friends, Lettre, additionally embraces the enjoyable of snail mail in a digital format. This letter-writing app permits you to begin new friendships with pen friends around the globe, found via the app, or with anybody whose e-mail deal with you already know. Sadly, letters are despatched digitally via the app or e-mail for now, however the firm’s FAQ suggests it’s contemplating a postal mail choice for the long run, which might be a lot enjoyable.
Obtainable on iOS solely.
Couch Time
Whereas not a brand-new app, Sofa Time is certainly one of a number of that’s selecting up the place the recently shuttered TV Time app left off. The app has an easy-to-use, uncluttered interface for monitoring the films and TV exhibits you’re watching, organizing your watchlist, discovering what to stream subsequent, and getting reminders about new releases.
Whereas Couch Time’s commenting part doesn’t but rival TV Time’s boards, the app’s social parts go away room for the neighborhood to develop, because it helps the power to react with a GIF or picture alongside your textual content, and contains built-in translation options to help a world viewers.
Obtainable on iOS and Google Play.
ThingsBook
ThingsBook, a brand new writing-focused app from South Korean web large Naver’s U.S. subsidiary, is hardly an indie effort, nevertheless it’s an attention-grabbing premise for what the way forward for social media may appear like. As a substitute of doomscrolling, ThingsBook affords a versatile area the place you’ll be able to seize what you care about, whether or not that’s via journaling, logging concepts, or gathering issues like books, travels, meals, hobbies, and objectives into structured lists you’ll be able to revisit and increase.
The corporate explains that the app’s objective is to not deal with “fleeting developments” however to grow to be a “residing report of who you might be and what you’re keen on.”
Obtainable on iOS and Google Play.
Pressed Petals
App or inventive undertaking? Pressed Petals is each. An indie effort from designer Cynthia Chen, the app turns the images of flowers you discover in your walks right into a pressed specimen, like one you’d discover in a “classic botanical journal.” The app routinely saves the placement the place you noticed the flower, and the date and time, turning your nature walks into interactive experiences. It additionally identifies the flower by identify, each its scientific identify and its frequent identify.
You may attempt the app to press two flowers free of charge, then pay a one-time payment of $4.99 to unlock the complete app. This may very well be a enjoyable app for luring your little ones exterior, because it offers them one thing else to do past the hike itself.
Obtainable on iOS solely.
Moods Sooner
We’re suckers for single-purpose apps which can be constructed nicely. Moods Faster by Nick Leith is an ideal instance, because it affords a method to log your moods for monitoring in Apple Well being in simply two faucets — one to pick the temper and a second to reserve it.
You may select between logging your present temper or your total temper for the day, and can even optionally add details about the context and feelings you’re experiencing on the time of logging. Within the settings, you’ll be able to choose between completely different colour schemes to your moods, although some are paywalled.
At $1.95 per 30 days, it’s a fairly priced subscription for anybody who repeatedly tracks their moods and feelings for psychological well being functions.
Obtainable on iOS solely.
Activate Health
Initially pitched as a method to encourage youngsters to train, Activate Fitness has not too long ago expanded its screen-time-earning app to incorporate the entire household, which, frankly, makes it higher. (The children will simply hate their mother and father for utilizing this in any other case. Plus, it may flip outside time or train right into a dreaded chore in youngsters’ minds, which defeats the aim.)
For adults, the app may help you accomplish your individual private objectives, like no doomscrolling till you get your steps in for the day.
Obtainable on iOS solely.
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