Appics will be a Smart Media Token launching on the Steem Blockchain. 
These are the main differences between APPICS and Steemit : 
- APPICS will be a mobile application, while steemit is browser based. The app will be focused on simplicity and user experience. 
- APPICS is focused on visual content like photos and videos, while steemit is focused on text (blogposts)
- APPICS will have a system with 15 different content categories, ranging from fashion to sports to technology, while content on steemit is only organized in tags 
- For every category, there will be a team of judges. Those judges are social media influencers and experts in their field. These judges will have a large voting weight and will be able to reward excellent content in their category. 
On steemit, the ones with the large vorting weight are the whales - these are investors / private users who just vote at random. 
- APPICS will have an integrated shop system where merchants can offer services and users can buy products with their XAP tokens 
In conclusion, Appics is an independent project, uses the benefits of the Steem blockchain, but at the same time provides a new ecosystems and user experience.