Apple‘s WWDC (Worldwide Developers Conference) for 2024 is set to take place on Monday, June 10th 2024 but the iPhone company has already unveiled the winners of this year’s annual Apple Design Awards.
The Apple Design Awards annually honors innovation and technical excellence in app and game design, while also celebrating the diverse Apple developer community. And, for this year’s edition, Apple has introduced a new Spatial Computing category to better showcase apps that utilize their Apple Vision Pro.
And here’s this year’s full list of winners from each category ahead of WWDC.
Delight and Fun
Winners in this category deliver memorable, engaging, and satisfying experiences through the use of Apple technologies. Australia-based Isuru Wanasinghe came first for their Journaling app Bears Gratitude alongside The New York Times’ NYT Games Wordle app.
Inclusivity
This category involves apps that ensure a great experience for all by supporting diverse backgrounds, abilities, and languages. Belgium-based company AYES took home the win for its oko app which alerts pedestrians to the state of lighted signals through haptic and audio feedback.
Since this year’s awards involve two winners for each category, US-based RED GAMES CO also won first place for its Crayola Adventures game which offers inclusivity options across the board, including full narration for non-readers or those with reading challenges.
Innovation
Providing a state-of-the-art experience through novel use of Apple technologies isn’t always easy, but Australia’s Savage Interactive Pty Ltd have emerged winners with their Procreate Dreams app alongside Israel-based Happy Juice Games for their Lost in Play game for mobile with Vision Pro support.
Interaction
When it comes to delivering intuitive interfaces and controls that are perfectly tailored to a specific platform, New Zealand-based Devin Davies is one of the winners for its Crouton app that acts as a decent kitchen companion.
For games, Denmark-based studio Floppy Club ApS is also a winner in the category for its Rytmos game that challenges players to solve puzzles by creating pathways using simple drag gestures, and every completed level adds a new element to an evolving song.
Social Impact
Many companies can create games but not all can improve lives in a meaningful way and shine a light on crucial issues. However, Slovenia-based company Gentler Stories d.o.o. clinched the win for their Gentler Streak Fitness Tracker app to improve a user’s lifestyle, no matter who or where they are.
Then we have France-based developer The Pixel Hunt take home the win for The Wreck, a game that tells the story of Junon, a writer who’s abruptly called to a hospital to make a life-changing decision.
Visuals and Graphics
Sometimes a game’s stunning visuals, interface or even high-quality animations is enough to make one play a game or use an app. And while not every company prioritizes this, US-based Things Inc clearly does as they took home the win for Rooms, a creativity app.
As for games, South Korea’s NEOWIZ Corporation grabbed the win for its popular adventure title Lies of P in which players control a robotic puppet created by Geppetto who must survive a battle march through a burned-out city to find his maker.
Spatial Computing
This new category includes games and apps that brought extraordinary craftsmanship to their exceptional spatial experiences. Germany’s Algoriddim GmbH is a winner for its djay app that allows users to interact with music in new ways.
For games, US-based Shapes and Stories grabbed the win for Blackbox, a game that challenges players to think outside their iOS devices and think about every (metaphorical) corner of the spatial canvas on their Vision Pro device.
