These App Store hidden gems prove there’s still room for great software in the AI era
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- App Store and Google Play saw worldwide new app releases jump 60% year-over-year in Q1 2026, with Apple's iOS store up 80% on its own
- AI coding tools are credited with enabling the launch boom, though the article flags concerns that "vibe-coded" apps may be flooding stores with lower-quality content
- Albo (formerly Sortd) from London's The Feel Good Project auto-saves and categorizes social media bookmarks from TikTok, Instagram, YouTube, and others, even if the original post is later deleted
- Coop offers a Stripe-powered neighborhood marketplace for buying handmade and homegrown goods from nearby sellers, with pickup-based fulfillment
- ThingsBook from South Korean internet giant Naver's U.S. subsidiary pitches a doomscroll-free social alternative built around journaling, lists, and "a living record of who you are"
- Sofa Time is stepping into the gap left by the recently shuttered TV Time app, offering watchlist tracking with GIF/image reactions and built-in translation
- Pressed Petals by designer Cynthia Chen turns flower photos into vintage-botanical-journal specimens with automatic location, timestamp, and species ID, priced at a $4.99 one-time unlock after two free presses
Why it matters: An 80% year-over-year spike in iOS launches suggests AI coding tools have materially lowered the barrier to shipping software, complicating the narrative that AI agents will displace apps. For consumers the upside is variety; for Apple and Google, the open question is curation quality as indie and vibe-coded submissions flood review queues.
