Apple Worldwide Developer Relations:

Every year, the Apple Design Awards recognize innovation, ingenuity, and technical achievement in app and game design. But they’ve also become something more: A moment to step back and celebrate the work of Apple developers across the community.

Six categories, each with an App and Game winner and several finalists.

Gone is the Spatial Computing category introduced last year—which is not to say there are no Apple Vision Pro apps. Seven of the 33 winners and finalists have a Vision Pro version; five are Vision Pro only; one—Taobao, basically China’s Amazon.com—won its category (Apps - Interaction).

On the flip side, while 12 apps have a Mac version, only four are Mac-only. One did take home the top prize for Social Impact - Games, though (Neva). Gotta showcase those Mac-only games, right?

I’m always pleased when apps I use land on the ADA list. This year, that’s Balatro, an addiction I only recently tamed, and iA Writer, which I use to write the words you’re now reading.

(Balatro also wins the unofficial platform ubiquity contest: it’s the only one supporting iPhone, iPad, Mac, Apple TV, and Apple Vision Pro—missing only an Apple Watch app.)

I’ve briefly used CellWalk and Mela, and have passing familiarity with Thank Goodness You’re Here!, Watch Duty (because of the LA fires), and Prince of Persia: The Lost Crown (I played a bit on my Playstation 5, but didn’t know there was a Mac version). The rest are all new to me. I’m especially excited to play Gears & Goo—I love a good tower defense game, and I need more reasons to use my Vision Pro.

As I read through the list, I flashed back to the in-person Apple Design Awards ceremonies of yesteryear, and realized how much I miss them. John Geleynse and Shaan Pruden from WWDR would host (often in formal attire, as befits an awards show), and each app (and its creators) would be spotlighted for a couple of minutes during a (usually live) demo. The energy in the room was always electric: Apple developers are a supportive community, and they cheered each winner as if it were their own app up on stage.

The pandemic took so much away from us.