Apple has announced the 17 winners of its 2024 App Store Awards, a selection of apps and games chosen from 45 finalists that it considers are best in class, and that it says “improved users’ lives and impacted culture around the world.”
This year, the coveted iPhone App of the Year award went to Kino, a video camera app from that cracks open the iPhone camera’s potential and helps recognize it as a real option for serious video. It’s perhaps testament to Apple’s focus on iPhone videography this past couple of years, with the brand describing Kino as an app that “shows users how cinematic life can be through its film-inspired filters and advanced controls.”
The iPad App of the Year award went to Moises, an app that has made waves with musicians and music producers this year for its ease of use and advanced features that include an AI chords detector, pitch and speed changer, and the ability to separate the vocals and instruments in “ANY song” – a bold claim from the developer, but one that’s seemingly proved to be accurate if the user reviews are anything to go by.
Adobe Lightroom was crowned Mac App of the Year, which isn’t surprising given the year Adobe has had and all of the AI-assisted updates that it has brought to its creative apps.
Apple’s mixed reality headset, the Apple Vision Pro, launched at the start of this year – the latest new product in its line up. Still, it’s enough time for an Apple Vision Pro App of the Year winner to be crowned, with What If…? An Immersive Story from Marvel Studios and Disney+ receiving the award – the very first in the Apple Vision Pro story. The app has proven to be so popular and successful that it also won the Emmy “Outstanding Innovation in Emerging Media Programming”.
This year saw the launch of a the new Apple Watch Series 10 in September, as well as an updated colorway in the Apple Watch Ultra 2 (a matte black model that we included in our best of tech holiday gift guide). The winner of the Apple Watch App of the Year award continues the theme of apps that aid photo or video creation, with light-tracking app Lumy taking first place. Lumy is descrobed by its developer as “the perfect companion for anyone who wants to track sunlight and plan their outdoor activities” – this includes photographers and content creators, all of who can keep track of changing light conditions on their wrist.
And there can be no doubt that it’s been a big year for Formula 1 – one full of drama both on and off the track. Many of those watching at home probably did so with the F1 TV app, winner of the Apple TV App of the Year.
It’s also been a big year for gaming – not least for Apple, who began to openly discuss the gaming potential of, and its ambitions for, its Mac, iPad and iPhone family of products. The iPhone Game of the Year award went to fantasy RPG AFK Journey, a game based in the mythical world of Esperia. Squad Busters, described by its developer as a “marvelously manic multiplayer romp”, won the iPad Game of the Year award, while Thank Goodness You’re Here! took the prize for Mac Game of the Year. VR gaming wasn’t forgotten either, with the Apple Vision Pro Game of the Year award going to THRASHER: Arcade Odyssey, a trippy “mind-melting arcade action odyssey” that sees you control a space eel through various “breathtaking and unsettling landscapes.” And, perhaps unsurprisingly, popular card game Balatro+ won the Apple Arcade Game of the Year – though, it must be said, the library of games on Apple Arcade has gone from strength to strength and it will be interesting to see who next year’s contenders will be.
In addition to the above, Apple’s 2024 App Store Awards includes a list of six “Cultural Impact Winners” that Apple says it selected based on the “lasting impact” the apps have had on its users’ lives. The brand further explained that “this year’s winners empowered users to tap into their intellectual curiosity,” adding that the apps helped to “foster connections among family and friends, and championed a more accessible world.”
The six winners include Oko, a navigation app aimed at “users who are blind or have low vision navigate city streets with confidence.”Another winner is EF Hello, an English language learning app that also won a Red Dot and an iF Design Award. Art history app DailyArt was also recognized, as was NYT Games from The New York Times, 3D visual novel The Wreck, and Do You Really Want to Know 2 – a text adventure game that “explores the nuances of living with HIV” that offers users local resources and educational materials to navigate conversations with family and friends.
So, did your favorite app make the cut? Whether it did or didn’t, check out something new – you may be pleasantly surprise.
