You’ll agree that editor’s acknowledgment of a trusted brand has a special meaning, whether it’s a device or excellent apps.
The Microsoft Store team selected the best apps in four categories: creativity, entertainment, social and productivity. The editor chose these apps based on user experience, design excellence, app quality and customer value.
If you’re looking for the best entertainment and social experiences on Windows, here we’ve listed the chosen entertainment and social apps from the Microsoft Store editor, as well as the one that received special recognition. Read on and discover.
What are the Microsoft Store App Awards?
To help draw attention to what the Microsoft Store has to offer, the tech giant hosted an app contest in May 2022. People could nominate their favorite apps and Microsoft would pick the cream of the crop.
These apps are the winners of that awards ceremony in the entertainment and social categories, with one winner receiving special recognition from the editor.
The winner of the special recognition from the Microsoft Editor: Talk for Me
Talk for Me is a powerful app designed to give people a voice, a voice – and it has done it by letting users who can’t talk talk to their family and loved ones.
It has customizable sections like Food, People, Places, Entertainment, Phrases and more. These sections and certain words are designed as tiles to help you or a loved one string together sentences.
In addition, the special keyboard function allows you to type a message and let the computer speak on your behalf.
According to the developer, several users with PSP, CBD, ALS, stroke or autism have benefited from Talk for Me. The app offers you all the features of other expensive apps and is free.
to download: Talk to me (free)
The Microsoft Store Editor’s Choice Entertainment Apps
You’ll agree that the edge-of-the-seat excitement of a blockbuster movie or gripping web series is an unparalleled experience. And enjoying your favorite music and podcasts is uplifting.
While many entertainment apps offer great video and audio content, the Microsoft Store editor focused on these winners and deserving finalists.
Disney+: the video winner
This Editor’s Choice winner for video entertainment needs no introduction. Disney+ is the streaming home of your favorite stories.
It offers you unlimited entertainment and exclusive new originals from Disney, Pixar, Marvel, Star Wars and National Geographic. As a subscriber, you may already be enjoying the latest releases, movies, classic movies and TV shows. Or download originals like Loki and fan favorites like Frozen and The Simpsons.
And while there’s something for everyone, if you don’t want your kids to see things they shouldn’t, you’ll need to set the Disney+ parental controls.
to download: Disney+ ($7.99/month, in-app purchases available)
Hulu for Windows: Video Finalist
Hulu for Windows lets you stream everything you love. Available only in the US, Hulu is your gateway to thousands of shows and movies featuring current and classic TV, smile your face TV, cry your eyes out TV and more.
There’s cool content you’ll only find on Hulu like Dopesick, Solar Opposites, and Murders in the Building Originals. And if you’re an FX fan, you can enjoy over 50 critically acclaimed FX shows like A Teacher, American Horror Story, and Archer.
You can enjoy an ad-free experience with the Hulu Premium plan or get the Hulu + Live TV plan to get over 75 channels of live sports, news, and must-watch events. Although Hulu’s plans will cost more from October 2022.
to download: Hulu for Windows (30-day free trial, $12.99/month)
Tubi: video finalist
Imagine watching thousands of popular movies, TV series and anime for free. You can with Tubi, a free and 100% legal unlimited streaming service.
Enjoy your favorite shows whenever you want with fewer ads than on regular TV. Tubi brings you award-winning movies and highly regarded TV series, comedies, children’s shows, classics and niche favorites such as Korean dramas, anime and British series.
Tubi adds free HD shows and movies every week, so you’ll never run out of entertainment to stream on the go and at home.
to download: Tubi (free)
Spotify: the audio winner
You probably know Spotify and use it to listen to your favorite music and podcasts.
With Spotify, one of the most popular music apps, you can browse the charts or start ready-made and custom playlists in any genre and mood. Or you can choose from thousands of original and popular video and audio podcasts.
If you want to learn how to get the most out of this app, check out our guide on how to make Spotify sound better by tweaking its settings.
to download: Spotify (free, in-app purchases available)
FluentCast: Audio Finalist
If you can’t pass a day without listening to new and favorite podcasts, you should check out FluentCast.
Designed for Windows 11, with the Fluent UI, FluentCast is a beautiful, fast, responsive, free and ad-free podcast app.
You can search and browse the most popular iTunes podcasts and import and export your podcasts as OPML files. And with playback history, you can always start where you left off.
FluentCast also allows you to download any episode of a podcast to enjoy offline. Plus, you can also watch video podcasts in the app, in full screen, or in Picture-in-Picture.
to download: FluentCast (free)
Grover Pro: Audio Finalist
Grover Pro has been around for a while, but it’s still the best app to manage podcasts on Windows.
Grover Pro is fast at finding podcasts and gives you the full list of episodes with ease. You’ll find the UI cool and also that you can use OneDrive to sync the app data across your devices.
This universal app for Windows supports HD video and casting. You can search and subscribe to podcasts using the search box, auto-delete the podcasts you’ve listened to, and also automatically download new podcasts.
to download: Grover Pro ($2.99)
Microsoft Store Editor’s Choice Social Apps
You probably couldn’t imagine life without fun chats with loved ones, video calls, and team meetings. These are the winners and finalists of the Editor’s Choice social apps, some of which you would already use on a daily basis.
Discord: the social winner
If you are a gamer, you are familiar with Discord. But today, Discord is where you can make a home for your communities and friends.
Connect with classmates, start a community or server of your common interest with colleagues, or just spend time chatting via video, text and voice with friends.
You can search for and join the best servers that match your interests. Moreover, you can also join your favorite band’s server and learn about their life and music – as well as meet other fans.
Discord has 150 million monthly active users, and there are four billion minutes of conversation on Discord every day.
to download: Discord (free, in-app purchases available)
Telegram Desktop: Social Finalist
You should get Telegram Desktop if you want pure instant messaging, which is simple, fast, secure and synced across all your devices. Yes, you can start typing on your Windows PC and finish the message from your phone.
With Telegram Desktop, your group chats can have up to 200,000 members where you can share large videos and documents of any type up to 2 GB each. You can even set up bots for specific tasks.
It’s also a lot of fun and you can edit photos and videos, use animated stickers and emojis, and completely customize the look of your app.
Telegram has over 700 million monthly active users and is one of the 10 most downloaded apps in the world.
to download: Telegram desktop (free)
WhatsApp Desktop: Social Finalist
According to Statista’s statistics and facts as of 2022, WhatsApp is the most popular global mobile messenger app in the world with about two billion monthly active users.
WhatsApp Desktop brings this popular chat experience to your Windows PC. You can seamlessly sync all your chats to your computer, so you can chat on whatever device is most convenient for you.
You can also chat and send and receive text, audio and video files even when your phone is offline.
to download: WhatsApp desktop (free)
Stay entertained and connected on Windows with the best apps
The best and proven apps offer quality, design excellence, and great value – just what you need to take your Windows experience to the next level. So try these Microsoft Store Editor’s Choice apps to fill your world with unparalleled entertainment and social adventures.
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