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Apple announces their choices for best apps and games of 2019, charts for most-downloaded apps/games, and the winners for 2019's Design Awards
App Store Best of 2019 news post
Best of 2019 list (different presentation from above)
Flow is a great iPad app - they really have almost nailed the feel of actually drawing. It's great that it's gotten recognition, and if anyone is wondering if they should pick it up, if you have an iPad and an apple pencil, the answer is probably yes.
I am really unfamiliar with just about everything else in the best of list; I guess I'm not really the core demographic as I only use Apple stuff for work.
I've had an iPad Pro and an Apple Pencil (current generation) for a few years now, and--for me--we're at the point where what's stopping me from adopting iPad + Pencil for all my writing is the tactile feel. Inking has gotten to be faithful enough that it's possible for my writing to look legible (though not nearly as nice) on an iPad as it does on actual paper. But writing on glass with a rubber-like Apple Pencil tip doesn't have the same experience (in a tactile sense or an auditory sense) of gliding a gold nib fountain pen across imported French paper.
What this means is that it's not going to replace the experience for the enthusiast, but everyone else absolutely should at least try this new method of writing and see if it works for them. Digital notes have a number of advantages over paper notes, so if you don't need any of the features of paper, do give digital a shot.
The "best of" lists consist of more or less what I'd expect in the apps category. Some good productivity tools and some new tools for connecting with others. The only one that's new for me there is The Explorers, and I'm going to take a look at that one soon.
The games category is more interesting; almost all of the winners are ports from console / PC, or iOS-first games from publishers with a lot of success on consoles (thatgamecompany, the folks behind Sky, developed the utterly delightful Journey, one of my favorite games ever). They don't have any of the microtransaction nonsense that plague gaming, and I'm happy to see Apple highlighting games that are just games and not predatory monetization tools.