The Greatest App of All Time Final Round: Google Maps vs. Flashlight

March 31, 2024

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The Greatest App of All Time Final Round: Google Maps vs. Flashlight

Welcome to the final round of Gizmodo’s March Madness bracket challenge to name the greatest app of all time! After outliving billion-dollar apps with billions of users all month long, Calculator was finally eliminated by Flashlight in yesterday’s tournament. Today’s winner will officially wear the crown and it all comes down to two apps that help us navigate the unknown.

If you’re just tuning in, you can read all about our selection criteria for this historic contest right here. Check out the full bracket of contestants embedded below. And as always, if you think we missed your personal favorite app of all time, yell at us in the comments. Now, let’s get into today’s challengers.

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Here’s what we had to say about Google Maps in the first round:

Launched in 2005, Google Maps is one of the oldest candidates in the competition but has shown no signs of slowing down in its advanced age. If there is a mobile app that can be said to have made the world a better place, it’s hard to argue with this one. The days of printing out MapQuest directions officially ended when this bad boy hit the scene. And even Apple hasn’t been able to catch up.

And here’s what we wrote about Flashlight the last time:

For many, the flashlight app is no app at all. It’s a built-in utility on most smartphones these days. But that wasn’t always the case. In 2010, a full two years after the App Store launched, Apple finally allowed apps to use the camera flash on the iPhone 4 as a continuous flashlight. Many, many developers jumped in on the immediate gold rush.
By 2013, there were more than a thousand flashlight apps in the App Store, and then the good times came crashing down when Apple added its native flashlight function. Whoever was still making money in the crowded field was out of business and more than a few physical flashlight manufacturers probably felt the pain as well.
The flashlight app does one thing, and the thing it does is useful. That’s something that countless apps cannot claim.

So, reader, what’ll it be? Should Google Maps live in glory or is the humble Flashlight the Greatest App of All Time?