These apps and games just won Apple Design Awards 2025
This year's cohort, culled from 36 global finalists, showcases developers who are not just coding, but crafting experiences.
Vision Pro Gets Its Design Award Moment with Taobao
One of the most eyebrow-raising wins came in the Interaction category. Chinese e-commerce behemoth Taobao snagged the app award for its Apple Vision Pro experience. Apple praised its 'convenient and engaging shopping experience' with 'incredible 3D models comparable to their real-life counterparts.' This is a significant nod, signaling that Apple is keen to see developers embrace its spatial computing platform with practical, polished applications. The ability to 'compare items side by side from an extensive selection of products' in an immersive way could be a genuine game-changer for online retail, and Taobao is clearly an early frontrunner.
China Also Nabs 'Delight and Fun' with CapWords
Sticking with international talent, CapWords by HappyPlan Tech won the app award for Delight and Fun. This isn't your snooze-fest language learning app. CapWords 'transforms images of everyday objects into interactive stickers,' offering an 'intuitive and visual way' to pick up new vocabulary across nine languages. It's the kind of smart, simple, yet profoundly useful design that often flies under the radar but makes a daily difference.
Indie Game Charm and AAA Polish Shine
On the gaming front, the awards celebrated Balatro. This 'satisfying fusion of poker, solitaire, and deck-building with rogue-like elements' was lauded for its 'clever details' and 'gripping gameplay.'Innovation in gaming went to PBJ — The Musical by Philipp Stollenmayer. Described as 'snack-based Shakespeare', it mixes rhythm gameplay with a condiment-themed Romeo and Juliet narrative. With haptics and 'clever camera work,' it's joyfully bonkers.
DREDGE, developed by New Zealand-based Black Salt Games, scooped up the Interaction award for its 'seamless interactions' in a game that blends slow-burn horror with fishing and exploration across iPhone, iPad, and Mac.
Singapore's Infold Games brought home the Visuals and Graphics award for Infinity Nikki, an 'enchanted realm of colour, detail, and rendering' in a cozy open-world adventure.
Utility, Accessibility, and Impact Honored
It wasn't all fun and games, though. Speechify won for Inclusivity, transforming text into audio in over 50 languages. Watch Duty, another app developed in the US, nabbed the Social Impact award for its critical, life-saving wildfire updates. And for pure Innovation in an app, Play by Rabbit 3 Times was recognized for making sophisticated SwiftUI prototyping accessible.
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