APPLE DESIGN AWARDS

Announcing this year’s winners

The Apple Design Awards celebrate the creative artistry and technical achievement of developers who reflect the best in design, innovation and technology on Apple platforms.

This year’s winners hail from countries across the globe, including Belgium, India, Canada, China, the United Kingdom, Denmark, the United States and Belarus – and their apps and games spring from a deep understanding of and empathy for the people they’re intended to serve.

Inclusivity

Voice Dream Reader by Voice Dream LLC

Voice Dream Reader can read it all – and in a voice, speed and accent tailored just for you.

Voice Dream Reader by Voice Dream ‣ This popular accessibility app reads aloud text from just about any digital source – web pages, PDFs, word processing documents, ebooks – in more than two dozen languages. But what its many fans who are blind, have low vision or have reading challenges appreciate most is how it adapts to them. Choose a voice with the exact tone, timbre and accent you like, then set a comfortable reading speed.

HoloVista by Aconite

HoloVista’s augmented reality scenery is flooded with mesmerising art and cultural iconography.

HoloVista by Aconite ‣ Set in a lavish, hauntingly furnished mansion, this mind-bending sci-fi puzzler and its diverse cast of characters welcome everyone into its fever-dream world. Using an array of accessibility settings to adjust text size, contrast, motion control, colour and the intensity of sound and visual effects, you can experience HoloVista in your own way – and help an eccentric cash-strapped architect get to the heart of the game’s underlying question: why does it feel like she’ll never leave this place?

Delight and Fun

Little Orpheus by The Chinese Room

You never know what wild worlds you’ll visit in Little Orpheus – or what critters you’ll find there.

Little Orpheus by The Chinese Room ‣ From your first steps in a prehistoric jungle (yes, that’s a pterodactyl swooping overhead) to your eventual trek through crumbling temples, arctic wastelands and the belly of a whale, Little Orpheus never ceases to surprise. And there’s a clever metastory at play: a hilarious conversation between you (a hapless Russian cosmonaut) and a skeptical army general dots your adventures – and leaves you questioning everything you’re experiencing in the game.

Pok Pok Playroom by Pok Pok

Kids aged 2 to 6 will love exploring the wildly imaginative toys, games and activities in Pok Pok Playroom. (Bonus: Parents won’t have to pick up afterwards.)

Pok Pok Playroom by Pok Pok ‣ There’s a loving attention to detail in every block, car and other hand-drawn toy in Pok Pok Playroom. Thanks to subtle haptics and spot-on sound effects, you can almost feel the beads of the abacus shift as you slide them; the knob that plays delightful bleeps and bloops has a satisfying resistance as you turn it. And what kid could resist the goo-like sensation of stretching and mushing together blobs of ink?

Interaction

Bird Alone by George Batchelor

Tackle heady existential topics – or just make a little music together.

Bird Alone by George Batchelor ‣ This poignant virtual-pet game adds an element you don’t often find in the genre: introspection. That’s because the charming parrot star here wants more than a cracker – it wants a friend. By checking in with each other for a quick text chat or creative exercise (drawing a picture of what you love most, putting the finishing touches on a poem) over the course of several weeks, you’ll become just that.

Carrot Weather by Brian Mueller, Grailr LLC

You’ve definitely never heard a weather forecast like this.

Carrot Weather by Brian Mueller, Grailr LLC ‣ When you first launch Carrot Weather, it asks you to do something few weather apps do: determine its personality. Professional? Snarky? You decide how acerbic (and R-rated) you want the hilarious commentary on its hyperlocal forecasts to be. (“Who does the sun think he is, trying to hide behind these clouds?” the app’s deadpan, robotic voice might say.) Version 5.0, new this year, refines the interface with customisable cards that bubble up exactly the in-depth weather data you need, when you need it.

Social Impact

Alba: A Wildlife Adventure by Ustwo Games

Exploring Alba’s island is just as fun as restoring its natural landmarks.

Alba: A Wildlife Adventure by Ustwo Games ‣ As you roam Alba’s sunny Mediterranean isle as a plucky 11-year-old, your mission is simple: to photograph the local wildlife while cleaning up the environment along the way. What’s most magical about that experience is how Ustwo Games made snapping pictures of wild foxes and picking up fast-food wrappers – that is, letting your benevolence shine – so incredibly fun.

Be My Eyes by Be My Eyes

The simple design of Be My Eyes connects people with sighted volunteers as quickly as possible.

Be My Eyes by Be My Eyes ‣ This free app uses video chat to connect those who are blind or have low vision with sighted volunteers who can help with tasks big and small – checking the expiration date on a milk carton, setting the oven temperature, reading the signs on a hiking trail or (true story) giving your wedding dress a last-minute look before you walk down the aisle. To date, more than 4.6 million volunteers have signed up to assist 300,000 users in 150 countries.

Visuals and Graphics

Loóna by Loona Inc

Drift off by exploring Loóna’s Dragon Shrine sleepscape, a somnolent mix of gorgeous graphics, immersive sound and thoughtful storytelling.

Loóna by Loona ‣ For an app designed to help you get more shut-eye, Loóna is incredibly beautiful to behold. Part bedtime story, part mindfulness tool, it helps you unwind before bed with a mix of dreamy visuals, soothing sounds and slumber-inducing activities – what it calls “sleepscapes”. Explore a dragon shrine, setting paper lanterns alight and bringing paper cranes to life. And no worries if you doze off before you complete your journey. That’s the whole point.

Genshin Impact by miHoYo Limited

Genshin Impact’s battle system is a visual spectacle at any scale.

Genshin Impact by MiHoYo ‣ Genshin Impact’s immersive combat scenes and sweeping landscapes push the frontier for mobile gaming. As you explore this role-playing game’s vast open world, you’ll obliterate slime monsters, summon earthquakes and guide the wind itself to supercharge flames and blizzards. Thanks to a buttery-smooth frame rate and vibrant visual effects, the verdant land of Teyvat positively pops off the screen.

Innovation

League of Legends: Wild Rift by Riot Games

Massive melee fighter? Agile archer? Helpful healer? There’s a role on the Rift for every type of player.

League of Legends: Wild Rift by Riot Games ‣ With slick touchscreen controls and all the tactical depth that made League of Legends for PC a worldwide sensation, Wild Rift transforms the original into a made-for-mobile experience. Choose from dozens of champions, then hit the battlefield for a delicately balanced dance of attacks, feints and throwdowns. Auto-targeting helps newcomers find their footing, while mobile-exclusive features (such as a picture-in-picture view that tracks projectiles across the map) bring the Rift to life like never before.

NaadSadhana by Sandeep Ranade

NaadSadhana creates real-time instrumental accompaniment as you sing Indian classical music, Bollywood–style songs and more.

NaadSadhana by Sandeep Ranade ‣ For Indian classical music singers, NaadSadhana is nothing short of miraculous. With the help of artificial intelligence, this all-in-one music app listens as you improvise a vocal line and generates a backing track to match, all in real time. No repeating loops here: the virtual tanpura, tabla, harmonium and other instruments are just as spontaneous – and inspired – as you.

Some apps are not available in all countries or regions.