2019 is here already if you can believe it. After some time off (we hope!), it’s time to get back to our projects with a fresh pair of eyes. Here at Proto.io, we can’t help but admire mobile app designs—even in our downtime. We’ve put together our annual list of the best mobile app designs. While this list is by no means exhaustive, it is a compilation of some of the apps that stole our attention last year.
Let’s jump right in.
1. Hidrate Spark Smart Bottle by Hidrate Inc.
Hidrate Spark is part water bottle, part app to help users drink more water. The app portion stuck out to us because of the dark turquoise color palette throughout the app and the many graphs that help break down your progress toward true hydration.
Source: iTunes
2. Patreon by Patreon
Patreon helps artists get paid for their work, and the company’s app helps artists show patrons what progress they’ve made on projects. The mobile app design’s “stories” feature echoes the social media apps we know and love, as it minimizes button real estate to make room for the social content itself.
Source: The Verge
3. Oh She Glows by Oh She Glows
Oh She Glows is an app that offers plant-based recipes, and the mobile app design looks as good as users will feel after a healthy meal. It is based on a crisp white design, complete with pops to gold to accent. As a bonus, as users complete steps in recipes, the app crosses them out, which we find particularly satisfying.
Source: Oh She Glows
4. Cool Cousin by Cool Cousin
Good travel recommendations can really make a trip better. Cool Cousin is not only helpful for travelers, but it also comes in a delightfully designed package. It features bright icons on city maps, recommendations by category (restaurant, cafe, etc.), and high quality, photos of attractions to help you decide on which ones to see.
5. Weird Type by Zach Lieberman
Weird Type blends AR with a slick design, allowing users to create words in space that can zoom around the room, create word clouds, and more. This mobile app design pushes boundaries, while still maintaining simple icons along the bottom bar to help users select the kind of effect they want.
Source: iTunes
6. Spark by Readdle Inc.
Spark helps with email organization. One of the design features that stuck out to us was the switch that changes your general inbox into presorted categories, making it easy to delete junk email quickly. Lastly, the colorful date picker is a design element that is both pleasant to look at and useful for sending emails in the future.
Source: Spark
7. Giftagram by Giftagram Inc.
Giftagram allows users to find gifts to be delivered to anyone on their list. The app design is crisp, with a tranquil color scheme, and is reminiscent of shopping for a gift in a boutique.
Source: iTunes
8. Ritual by Ritual Technologies Inc.
This app makes ordering food for a group easy. The mobile app design is a minimal white with turquoise accents. The app features delicious looking food and drinks images arranged as cards to swipe through, color-coded with the number of points the user will get for ordering that item.
Source: Digital Trends
9. A Color Story by A Color Story LLC
A Color Story is a candy-coated photo editing app that we couldn’t stop talking about last summer. The delightful icons and a sheer number of editing tools made this mobile app design one of our favorites.
Source: A Color Story
10. Couch to 5K® by Active Network, LLC
Whether you need a personal trainer, motivator, or workout log—this app has you covered. This colorful mobile app design is animated and gamifies workouts, complete with in-depth personal metrics, and more to get users from being couch potatoes to being able to run a 5K race in no time.
Source: iTunes
11. Karma by Karmalicious AB
Karma aims to decrease food waste by connecting businesses with food for sale near its expiration date to consumers who are on the lookout for great deals on food. The mobile app design has a comfortable feel, with rounded buttons and cards to swipe through.
12. Portal by Mass Lab, Inc.
Artists and creators deserve to be paid for their work and Portal is an app that enables them to set a price for consumers to pay. The design feature that we couldn’t get enough of was the icons for the different payment tiers. These bright and increasingly complex shapes serve as the amount a viewer can give to a creator to thank them for sharing the content.
Source: iTunes
13. Drops: Learn 31 New Languages by PLANB LABS OU
Drops teaches a number of languages on the go with a stunning design and teaching style. This language app stands out from the crowd because of its color palette, featuring several gradients that are quite pleasant for users.
Source: iTunes
14. Over Edit & Add Text to Photos by Over, Inc.
Over is a creative tool that helps users edit photos by adding borders, text, filters, and more. The design of the app involves pastel buttons, minimalist icons, and beautiful images to swipe through.
Source: iTunes
15. Zyl – Memories by Comet SAS
Zyl brings an element surprise to photo albums by suggesting an old picture each day. The main button in the app is a rounded green “hit me” button with an image of a present.
16. Fabric · Effortless Journal by echo.works
With data breaches and eerily accurate ads, some are choosing to delete Facebook. But the underlying interest in sharing what we’re up to with those that we care about is ever present. This is a nice alternative to Facebook that makes the sharing experience even more visual and especially enjoyable for those who appreciate minimal design.
Source: TechCrunch
That concludes our list of the best mobile app designs of 2018, but if you’d like to explore some of our other favorite mobile app designs, check out our October installment.
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