WWDC23
Meet this year’s Apple Design Award winners
Each year, the Apple Design Awards celebrate the creative artistry and technical achievement of developers in the areas of design, innovation and technology.
We’re thrilled to announce the winners for 2023.
Delight and Fun
Winners in this category provide memorable, engaging and satisfying experiences enhanced by Apple technologies.
Duolingo
A comprehensive redesign this year made learning a new language with this hugely popular app easier and more enjoyable than ever. Quests, challenges and leaderboards gamify an already fantastic experience, and updates and language programmess keep you committed to your learning streak.
Meet the creator: Duolingo’s cast of animated characters, such as the lovable bear Falstaff and environmental science enthusiast Bea, is one of the app’s most endearing features – and most labour-intensive. “It’s such a gigantic task,” says vice president of design Ryan Sims. “There are quite a few people whose literal job is to help write these stories and make sure they don’t contradict each other.”
Afterplace
This expansive retro-style RPG unfolds in a peculiar open world: a dark forest full of mystery and adventure, quirky surprises, oddball characters and sarcastic vending machines. Its intuitive one-handed control system is perfect for adventuring on the go.
Meet the creator: Evan Kice – the game’s sole designer, artist and developer – is largely self-taught. “Honestly, I just watched a lot of tutorials,” he says. “YouTube is how I learned art, sound, music and basically everything that’s not strictly programming or game design.”
Inclusivity
Winners in this category provide a great experience for all by supporting people from a diversity of backgrounds, abilities and languages.
Universe
With its innovative block-centric design system, Universe empowers people to create their personal web presence, online storefront, artist portfolio, community group page and anything in between. Its accessibility features include implementation of Dynamic Type and VoiceOver.
Our goal is making this technology available to everybody.
– Joseph Cohen, Universe founder
Meet the creator: “Our goal is making this technology available to everybody,” says Universe founder Joseph Cohen. “I live in New York. It’s gritty and organic and very human. I think the internet can look like that, but you need great tools to enable it.”
Stitch
A puzzle game, a relaxation tool and an afternoon craft project in one, Stitch offers great puzzles, soothing music and a gentle vibe. And with support for multiple languages and custom accessibility options for those with colour blindness, low vision and/or motion sensitivities, it’s designed for as many people as possible.
Meet the creator: “We build games a little bit upside down,” says Jakob Lykkegaard, founder of Lykke Studios. “It usually starts with us falling in love with some material and building a game mechanic around it later.” For Stitch, that material came from social media. “We honestly just saw a post about embroidery and thought, ‘Wow, that looks really nice.’”
Innovation
Winners in this category provide a state-of-the-art experience through novel use of Apple technologies that set them apart in their genre.
SwingVision
By combining the power of artificial intelligence and the Apple Neural Engine, this tennis coach can help with every aspect of your game. Point your iPhone or iPad camera at the court, and SwingVision’s video-tracking capabilities evaluate your form, highlight your strengths and suggest areas of improvement.
Meet the creator: SwingVision was founded by two-time WWDC scholar Swupnil Sahai and his close friend and current SwingVision CTO Richard Hsu. “The initial idea was, ‘Maybe we can use the accelerometer and gyroscope on Apple Watch to figure out how fast I’m swinging, and maybe we can use the Apple Watch touchscreen to keep score,’” says Sahai. “That was really it.”
Marvel SNAP
With brisk gameplay, vibrant artwork and a simple but revolutionary “snap” mechanic, Marvel SNAP has redefined the collectible-card-game genre. It’s also a visual feast, awash in astonishing animations (you should see Hulk smash in 60 fps) and delightfully deployed haptics.
Meet the creator: When Ben Brode and Hamilton Chu were brainstorming ideas for SNAP, the pair played every board game they could get their hands on. “That’s the soup SNAP arose from,” says Brode.
Interaction
Winners in this category deliver intuitive interfaces and effortless controls that are perfectly tailored to their platform.
Flighty
Flighty is a beautifully designed flight tracker, travel planner, airport navigator and concierge. With support for Live Activities and the Dynamic Island, it’s a friendly companion for every leg of your journey, providing key information where you need it most.
We want Flighty to work so well that it feels almost boringly obvious.
– Ryan Jones, Flighty founder
Meet the creator: “I don’t know about you, but every time I walk on a plane, I look at my seat number, put my ticket down and immediately say, ‘Wait, what was my seat number?’” says founder Ryan Jones. “We want Flighty to work so well that it feels almost boringly obvious.”
Railbound
Railbound may feel designed for kids, but this puzzler – in which you arrange train cars in their proper order – is for conductors of all ages. The tap-and-drag mechanic for laying track is so simple you could almost discover it by accident; adding switches, changing direction and undoing your mistakes is incredibly easy too.
Meet the creator: “For Railbound, I wanted a system where you basically paint rail tiles with one finger,” says Luke Spierewka, founder of game development studio Afterburn. “I knew if we didn’t make that mechanic fun and malleable, people would be much less inclined to play around to find the solution. I think we got there – but I’m still thinking about how to make it more intuitive.”
Social Impact
Winners in this category improve lives in a meaningful way and shine a light on crucial issues.
Headspace
Few apps have made mindfulness as accessible as Headspace. More than a decade after its launch, the app continues to set the standard for meditation and mental-health apps. Despite its impressive breadth, Headspace’s library is remarkably easy to navigate – whether you’re looking for lengthy guided meditation sessions or a five-minute clarity break.
Mindfulness and mental health can seem really complex. How do we make it approachable and friendly?
– Jeff Birkeland, Headspace senior vice president
Meet the creator: “Demystification is a word we use a lot,” says Jeff Birkeland, senior vice president and general manager for member products. “Mindfulness and mental health can seem really complex, perhaps mystical or maybe even inaccessible. So our goal is: How do we make it approachable and friendly?”
Endling
In this gorgeous side-scroller, you’re a fox making its way through a land charred by environmental disaster. Endling creates an immediate sense of empathy and connection – one that only grows when you’re forced to defend your tiny offspring against all manner of dangers.
Meet the creator: According to game designer and producer Philipp Nägelsbach, casting a fox as lead was a considered choice. “Foxes are some of the most adaptable animals in the world,” he says. “They’re not the biggest or smallest; they’re in the middle of the food chain. But if they’re close to extinction, things are really bad.”
Visuals and Graphics
Winners in this category feature stunning imagery, skilfully drawn interfaces and high-quality animations that lend to a distinctive and cohesive theme.
Any Distance
This design-forward fitness tracker delivers workout stats in a variety of eye-popping and easily shareable formats: dynamic charts and graphs, rotating 3D maps complete with elevation reports and even augmented reality (AR). In addition to workouts such as running and cycling, it tracks wheelchair exercises, stroller runs and walks and recumbent bike rides.
We’re not athletically inclined. We’re kind of dorks! We’re not looking to go to the Olympics, but we do want to live healthy lives.
– Luke Beard, Any Distance co-founder
Meet the creator: “We’re building something for everyone, not just athletes,” says Luke Beard, who built the app with engineer and programmer Daniel Kuntz. “We’re not athletically inclined people. We’re kind of dorks! I want to go take photos in Iceland one day; Dan wants to retire and play music in the desert. We’re not looking to go to the Olympics, but we do want to live long, healthy lives.”
Resident Evil Village
This survival-horror powerhouse is an incredible example of what Mac games can be, taking full advantage of Apple silicon, ProMotion and MetalFX upscaling. From its creepy castle to its magnificently hideous villains, Resident Evil Village offers some of the most realistic graphics ever seen on Apple devices.
Meet the creator: “The game is very pretty, but it has this incredible sense of fear,” says Tsuyoshi Kanda, one of the game’s producers. “In some of the first scenes, you end up battling this horde of lycans. The sheer number of them is impressive. But each has its own intention and personality. We’re happy with how it turned out.”
Some apps are not available in all countries or regions, or on all devices.