Picking your favorite app of the year is always a bit tricky, if only because there are some apps that you use more simply because of how central they’ve become to your life. For instance, I use the YouTube app every day, but that's because the alternatives are not great.
The best app, to me, should be something that is constantly improving through updates and changes. Not only that, it should be something that I find beneficial and entertaining. I want to pick an app that I want to use, not one that I need to. So I started looking to see which apps I had most used that also fit my wants, and then I saw the answer in front of me.
The two apps (from the same company) that I currently enjoy the most both help me to play one of my favorite hobbies. They are the "Warhammer Age of Sigmar" and "Warhammer 40,000: The App" army builders. But what is it about these apps that set them as my favorite, and most used, apps of 2024?
My best app of 2024: what are Games Workshop's apps?
Now, I know it might be odd to have two best apps, but they both function in very similar ways. Both apps are designed to work with Games Workshop's Warhammer 40K or Age of Sigmar. To put it briefly, both tabletop games require building an army, with each unit costing a set points value, stats and rules. Once you have a legal list you need to build it and bring it to the table. It can be a lot to remember, and while there are third-party apps that are designed to help, the quality varies.
Games Workshop's official apps are designed to make the whole process streamlined with up-to-date info, with a splash of style. With the apps, it is possible to build army lists, while also finding all the necessary rules in one easy place. However, you will need a subscription, something that turned me away from Apple Arcade, to Warhammer+ to make more than one list. Also, when an army book is released, you have to buy it to see details about that army's units.
The subscription to Warhammer+ does have some benefits, which makes it a less bitter pill to swallow. You can make as many army lists as you like in the app, you can access the Games Workshop streaming service and you get a free model every year. It’s not the biggest set of services, but I would say that it’s pretty good value for $6.99 and month (or £5.99 per month in the UK.) Needing to buy the army books is more annoying, as those can be pretty expensive.
My best app of 2024: what makes them great?
So why do I like what are, essentially, list builders? The truth is that no one thing makes the apps appealing. The biggest is that, as a fan of Warhammer, there's something to be said for being able to just randomly make a list with ease. Both apps are comprised of a series of easy-to-understand drop-down menus that include pictures of each unit and a small bit of lore. The app will also help to make sure the army you're building is legal, alongside all the equipment options.
Here's the thing, when you take up Warhammer 40,000 or Age of Sigmar, you often start making lists in your head. I've spent more time building random lists than I have talking to people this year alone. Those people that I have spoken to, often also play the game, so being able to quickly build and share lists is a godsend. It's also just fun to do, it's entertaining and it helps to pass the time.
However, I've seen the biggest benefit when I play the tabletop games, especially with the new Command Bunker for the 40K app and Realmgate for the AOS app. Both were included in updates and made the app much easier to navigate in a hurry.
Both are available on the army building screen at the tap of a button and contain all the profiles, rules, stratagems and spells in one place. This fixed one of the biggest issues that made the apps clunky when looking for different information located in different places. Using them with my Galaxy Z Fold 5 while playing has been a game-changer… literally in this case.
My best app of 2024: Conclusion
In summary, I use both of these apps daily, and they have seen updates that improve the experience, most of which have benefitted me. If I take all of this into consideration, even with the negatives, both of the Games Workshops apps are my personal best apps of 2024.
However, that doesn’t mean Games Workshop should take it easy, and they’re walking a tightrope at the moment in regards to quality. While I understand locking some details behind needing to buy the relevant books, they need to keep the option to build armies in those lists. Also, the biggest mistake they could make would be adding ads into the app, something YouTube is still struggling with.
