Apple announced the winners and finalists of the 2025 Apple Design Awards at WWDC25. A total of twelve apps and games were honored across six categories. The awards focus on design, innovation, technical achievement, and social relevance. With these awards, Apple recognizes development teams that deliver exceptionally creative and functional user experiences on Apple platforms.
The Apple Design Awards are considered one of the most important accolades for app and game developers in the Apple ecosystem. Each year, Apple recognizes projects that stand out for their exceptional design, outstanding user experience, or technical implementation. In 2025, one app and one game were honored in each of the categories of enjoyment and fun, innovation, interaction, inclusivity, social impact, and graphics and visuals. The winners were selected from a total of 36 international finalists.
Joy and fun
This category focuses on entertainment and user experience. Projects that deliver playful and satisfying experiences are honored.
- App: CapWords – HappyPlan Tech (China): CapWords is a language learning tool that transforms images of everyday objects into interactive stickers. It supports nine languages and helps learners discover new words intuitively and visually.
- Game: Balatro – LocalThunk (Canada): Balatro combines poker, solitaire, and roguelike elements. You create your own decks, use wild cards with special abilities, and try to maximize your score against various blinds.
- Finalists: Lumy by Raja V, Denim by Feel Good Tech, Thank Goodness You're Here! by Panic, Prince of Persia: The Lost Crown by Ubisoft Montpellier
Innovation
This category recognizes apps and games that use Apple technologies in a particularly creative way and thus break new ground.
- App: Play – Rabbit 3 Times (USA): Play is a prototyping tool for SwiftUI-based apps. It allows designers to create and synchronize interactive prototypes in real time across Mac and iPhone.
- Game: PBJ – The Musical – Philipp Stollenmayer (Germany): The game tells the story of Romeo and Juliet through music. It combines rhythmic gameplay, narrative elements, camerawork, and haptics to create an entertaining and creative gaming experience.
- Finalists: Moises from Music.AI, Capybara from Digital Workroom Ltd, Pawz from Bootloader Studio Holdings Private Limited, Gears & Goo from Resolution Games AB
Interaction
This category highlights projects that are particularly well-adapted to the control capabilities of Apple devices.
- App: Taobao – Zhejiang Taobao Network (China): Taobao offers an immersive shopping experience on Apple Vision Pro. Users can view realistic 3D models, compare items, and interact with the environment.
- Game: DREDGE – Black Salt Games (New Zealand): In DREDGE, you pilot a fishing boat, explore mysterious islands, encounter strange creatures, and solve a dark mystery. The controls work seamlessly on iPhone, iPad, and Mac.
- Finalists: iA Writer by Information Architects AG, Mela – Recipe Manager by Silvio Rizzi, Gears & Goo by Resolution Games AB, Skate City: New York by Snowman
inclusivity
This is about apps and games that are barrier-free and accessible to as many people as possible – regardless of language, abilities or origin.
- App: Speechify – Speechify (USA): Speechify converts text to speech and supports over 50 languages and hundreds of voices. The app offers features like Dynamic Type and VoiceOver and is aimed at users with ADHD, dyslexia, or low vision.
- Game: Art of Fauna – Klemens Strasser (Austria): Art of Fauna is a puzzle game with vintage animal motifs that has been designed to be accessible. It supports voiceover, haptic feedback, and various access methods for solving the puzzles.
- Finalists: Evolve by GTA Solutions, Train Fitness by Train Fitness, puffies by Lykke Studios, Land of Livia by Split Atom Labs
Social impact
Apps and games in this category have a positive impact on users’ lives or raise awareness of important social issues.
- App: Watch Duty – Sherwood Forestry Service (USA): Watch Duty provides real-time information on wildfires in California. The app provides reliable data on fire locations, wind direction, evacuation orders, and more – especially indispensable in times of crisis.
- Game: Neva – Developer Digital (USA): Neva tells the story of a girl and her wolf companion in a changing world. Themes such as the loss of nature, caring, and emotional connection are central. The atmosphere is impressively realized visually and narratively.
- Finalists: Ground News by Snapwise, Opal by Opal OS, Ahoy! From Picardy by Daniel Jones, Art of Fauna by Klemens Strasser
Graphics and optics
Projects with particularly strong visual design, high-quality animation and harmonious aesthetics will be honored.
- App: Feather: Draw in 3D – Sketchsoft (South Korea): Feather lets you convert 2D sketches into 3D models on the iPad. The app uses Apple Pencil and touch inputs to combine creativity with user guidance.
- Game: Infinity Nikki – Infold Games (Singapore): Infinity Nikki is a visually rich open-world game with magical outfits, fantastical creatures, and a collectible gameplay. It impresses with richly detailed worlds and imaginative design.
- Finalists: Vocabulary by Monkey Taps, CellWalk by Timothy Davison, Control Ultimate Edition by Remedy Entertainment PLC, Neva by Developer Digital
What the Apple Design Awards 2025 make clear
With the 2025 Apple Design Awards, Apple demonstrates how diverse and impactful apps and games can be today. Whether through new forms of learning, creative expression, or socially relevant content, the award-winning projects reflect the broad potential of Apple's platforms. To learn more about the finalists and winners, you can find all the information in the Apple Developer app or on the official website . (Image: Apple)
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