The App Store is Still Alive and Well

Apps are back, or maybe they never left in the first place. While some people debate whether people will shift away from apps as AI agents make accessing online services more efficient, we've found the App Store to be alive and well, with a recent explosion of fun, creative, and innovative tools, experiences, and indie efforts.

Our Latest Collection of App Store Hidden Gems

Below is our latest collection of App Store hidden gems, which we've added to our Home Screen. You can also visit TechCrunch's prior app round-ups, like our looks at next-generation social apps, Apple Watch, and iPad productivity tools, and apps for digitally decluttering your life.

Albo: A Tool for Saving Online Inspiration

Albo is an excellent tool for anyone who regularly bookmarks content from social media, then promptly forgets about it. With Albo, the idea is that you'll instead share the link to the TikTok, Instagram Reel, YouTube video, or other website to the app. Albo will then automatically pull the details from the post and categorize and save the idea for you. That post and its notes will remain available in Albo, even if the original content creator deletes their post or video at some point in the future.

Coop: A Neighborhood Marketplace

The recent parasite outbreak in the U.S. has people thinking more carefully about where their food comes from. Buying from local growers and bakers may be the safer option — and better for the community — but not everyone has time to make it to the farmer's market over the weekend. Coop's app offers an alternative through its neighborhood marketplace, where you can buy real handmade and homegrown items from the people near you, even from the farmhouse down the road that offers fresh eggs, or a neighbor willing to barter their items for yours.

PI.FYI: A Community-Driven App

PI.FYI promises to bring back the "old internet," where you found recommendations through a network of friends, not algorithms. Having emerged from a cult newsletter, the app has been around for a couple of years, but still feels fresh and modern and very much like the alternative to social media it aims become.

Lettre: A Letter-Writing App

Lettre is an app for pen pals that lets you start new friendships with people around the world, discovered through the app, or with anyone whose email address you already know. Unfortunately, letters are sent digitally through the app or email for now, but the company's FAQ suggests it is considering a postal mail option for the future, which would be so much fun.

Sofa Time: A Movie and TV Show Tracker

Sofa Time is an app that has an easy-to-use, uncluttered interface for tracking the movies and TV shows you're watching, organizing your watchlist, discovering what to stream next, and getting reminders about new releases.

ThingsBook: A Writing-Focused App

ThingsBook is a new writing-focused app from South Korean internet giant Naver's U.S. subsidiary. Instead of doomscrolling, ThingsBook offers a flexible space where you can capture what you care about, whether that's through journaling, logging ideas, or collecting things like books, travels, meals, hobbies, and goals into structured lists you can revisit and expand.

Pressed Petals: An Artistic App

Pressed Petals is an app that turns the photos of flowers you find on your walks into a pressed specimen, like one you'd find in a "vintage botanical journal." The app automatically saves the location where you spotted the flower, and the date and time, turning your nature walks into interactive experiences. It also identifies the flower by name, both its scientific name and its common name.

Moods Faster: A Mood-Tracking App

Moods Faster is a single-purpose app that offers a way to log your moods for tracking in Apple Health in just two taps. You can choose between logging your current mood or your overall mood for the day, and can also optionally add information about the context and emotions you're experiencing at the time of logging.

Activate Fitness: A Screen-Time-Earning App

Activate Fitness is a screen-time-earning app that has recently expanded to include the whole family. For adults, the app could allow you to accomplish your own personal goals, like no doomscrolling until you get your steps in for the day.