Today, Apple unveiled the winners of its annual Apple Design Awards, honoring 14 best-in-class apps and games. This year’s winners include development teams from around the world who were selected for their stellar design, technical achievement, and innovation.
“It’s inspiring to see how developers are using our technology to create exceptional apps and games that enhance the lives of users,” said Susan Prescott, Apple’s vice president of Worldwide Developer Relations. “This year’s winners have demonstrated how apps can create powerful and moving experiences – and we’re excited to celebrate their hard work and ingenuity at WWDC this year.”
Seven different categories recognize one app and game each for delight and fun, inclusivity, innovation, interaction, social impact, visuals and graphics, and a new spatial computing category. Winners were chosen from 42 finalists.
Delight and Fun
Winners in this category provide memorable, engaging, and satisfying experiences that are enhanced by Apple technologies.
App:
Developer: Isuru Wanasinghe (Australia)
Bears Gratitude is a simple way to encourage and embrace honest self-reflection. The journaling app provides a welcoming way to establish daily gratitude practices. Thoughtfully crafted characters within the app help create a sense of warmth and routine to support users in building happiness, one day at a time.
Game:
Developer: The New York Times Company (United States)
Through a compelling mix of titles, NYT Games has redesigned its navigation and expanded its gaming catalog. New titles like Connections are calibrated for maximum replay value, with elegant design and ease of use that result in an experience that encourages everyone to join in on the fun.
Finalists for this category include by Silly Little Apps, LLC; by Sunblink Entertainment LLC; by Things, Inc.; and by Triband ApS.
Inclusivity
Winners in this category provide a great experience for all by supporting people from a diversity of backgrounds, abilities, and languages.
App:
Developer: AYES (Belgium)
By alerting pedestrians to the state of signal lights through haptic and audio feedback, oko is an immediately impactful app for people who are visually impaired. It is a powerful solution to a critical safety scenario that takes advantage of Apple technologies including VoiceOver and Dynamic Type.
Game:
Developer: Red Games Co. (United States)
A colorful adventure game that offers a wide range of creation options for all players, Crayola Adventures brings to life character choices that include different skin tones, abilities, body types, pronouns, and full game narration. All ages can enjoy this delightful game experience, offering a mix of activities that include making decorations, solving puzzles, and reading storybooks.
Finalists for this category include by Elsevier, by Kovalov, by tiimo ApS, and by Humble Bundle.
Innovation
Winners in this category provide a state-of-the-art experience through novel use of Apple technologies that sets them apart in their genre.
App:
Developer: Procreate (Australia)
Procreate Dreams is a stunning design tool that allows creatives of all kinds to create 2D animations using the extensive and familiar library of brushes, gestures, and PencilKit-enabled behaviors from the original Procreate. The controls are effortlessly intuitive, with support for both multitouch interactions and Apple Pencil. The app offers powerful animated effects, audio, and video to bring users’ creations and artwork to life.
Game:
Developer: Happy Juice Games (Israel)
Filled with endearing characters and fun minigames, Lost in Play offers players a charming adventure through childhood imagination with thoughtfully crafted puzzles. This point-and-tap journey features hand-drawn graphics, easy-to-learn interactions, and compelling gameplay that ignites a childlike sense of discovery throughout.
Finalists for this category include by Activision Publishing, Inc.; by Copilot Money, Inc.; by Mateus Abras; and by Palm Court LLC.
Interaction
Winners in this category deliver intuitive interfaces and effortless controls that are perfectly tailored to their platform.
App:
Developer: Devin Davies (New Zealand)
Crouton provides users with a clean interface for stashing away recipes, creating grocery lists, and presenting step-by-step instructions in the kitchen. With its effortless series of interactions, Crouton lets users keep their focus on the counter rather than the screen.
Game:
Developer: Floppy Club (Denmark)
Rytmos challenges players to solve puzzles by creating pathways using simple drag gestures, and every completed level adds a new element to an evolving song. The brightly conceived onboarding makes gameplay instantly clear, and the gestures are simple and fun, even when the game starts delivering more complexity.
Finalists for this category include by The Browser Company of New York Inc; by Seabaa, Inc.; by Playdigious; and by Savage Interactive Pty Ltd.
Social Impact
Winners in this category improve lives in a meaningful way and shine a light on crucial issues.
App:
Developer: Gentler Stories (Slovenia)
Gentler Streak aims to improve everyone’s lifestyles, no matter who or where they are. The app is powered by optimistic and encouraging reminders that factor in both physical fitness and mental wellbeing. Its health data is smartly organized and seamlessly integrated to help users thoughtfully track exercise, rest, and wellness. In a Monthly Summary view, users are shown how they are doing in relation to their history, emphasizing the focus on individual progression rather than comparison against others.
Game:
Developer: The Pixel Hunt (France)
In the visual novel The Wreck, players follow alongside the story of Junon, a writer who is abruptly called to a hospital to make a life-changing decision that will impact her family forever. The game is eloquently written through deep and intimate narratives that reflect stressful situations, and invites players to think about their choices throughout a nuanced and powerful gameplay experience.
Finalists for this category include by ahead Solutions GmbH; by MagicFuel Games; by The How We Feel Project, Inc.; and by Mucks Games.
Visuals and Graphics
Winners in this category feature stunning imagery, skillfully drawn interfaces, and high-quality animations that lend to a distinctive and cohesive theme.
App:
Developer: Things, Inc. (United States)
Rooms offers users a blank slate for building imaginative scenes, a platform for cozy gaming, and a social space that offers interactions with thousands of other people’s creations. The rooms within the app are filled with delightful detail, and the app’s interactions, sounds, and visuals strike the balance between quirky and compelling.
Game:
Developer: NEOWIZ (South Korea)
Lies of P is an imaginative adventure that reimagines a classic tale, allowing players to control a robotic puppet created by Geppetto, who must survive a battle march through a burned-out city to find his maker. The visuals showcase a world of beautiful textures, detailed lighting, and stunning effects, and visual customization options like MetalFX upscaling and volumetric fog effects on Mac let users style the game to their liking.
Finalists for this category include by 505 Games (U.S.), Inc.; by COGNOSPHERE PTE. LTD.; by RhythmicWorks; and by Nicolas Mariniello.
Spatial Computing
Winners in this category bring extraordinary craftsmanship to their exceptional spatial experiences.
App:
Developer: algoriddim GmbH (Germany)
djay is an entirely new way to interact with music in a spatial environment. With remarkable technical ingenuity and best-in-class immersion, djay brings users high-definition sound quality and endless creativity for music mixing. The app features high-quality turntables, a cool interactive effects panel, and an array of magnificently considered environments, from a nighttime desert scene to a space lounge populated by dancing robots.
Game:
Developer: Shapes and Stories (United States)
Blackbox on Apple Vision Pro challenges users to think about every corner of the spatial canvas. Players are greeted by engaging puzzles and clever easter eggs at every turn. The game is filled with wonderful details, and every solution feels like learning a new magic trick as puzzles gently unfold around the player and curiosity is rewarded.
Finalists for this category include by Loona Inc.; by NBA MEDIA VENTURES, LLC; by Fifth Star Labs LLC; and by Kluge Strategic Inc.
To learn more about the Apple Design Award winners and finalists, visit or the Apple Developer app.
