Communications Major

The one category among these that feels like a genuine trend—one not bolstered by Apple’s own apps or APIs—is mental health and mindfulness. As its Editor’s Pick in this category—and, on top of that, its App of the Year—Apple selected Calm. The app, which debuted in 2012, includes guided meditations ranging in time from three to 25 minutes, “Sleep Stories” to wind you down at the end of the day, breathing exercises, and music selections to help you relax, focus, or sleep.

Apple is reportedly planning to introduce a number of new and redesigned emojis as part of a new operating system for iPads and iPhones. Gone will be the revolver emoji, replaced with a squirt gun.

For many of us, they are the last thing we look at before sleep each night, and the first thing we reach for upon waking.

Smartphones have altered the texture of everyday life, digesting many longstanding spaces and rituals, and transforming others beyond recognition.