Key Takeaways
Apple has announced the winners of its 2024 App Store Awards.
The tech giant is highlighting a number of third-party applications and mobile games.
A selection of curated Cultural Impact Winners has also been unveiled.
With the 2024 calendar year winding to a close, Apple is taking the opportunity to showcase some exemplary apps available on its digital marketplace. As part of the company's annual App Store Awards , a number of third-party software applications are being highlighted across a range of categories.
"This year’s winning developers have created apps and games that improved users’ lives and impacted culture around the world. From solo entrepreneurs to multinational teams, these App Store Award winners were chosen from 45 finalists by App Store Editors for demonstrating the highest levels of user experience, design, and innovation." says Apple in a press release.
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A distinct App of the Year has been selected for each one of Apple's device platforms. In other words, there's a top app specified for the iPhone , the iPad, the Mac, the Vision Pro , the Apple Watch, and the Apple TV. Likewise, there's a Game of the Year listed for the iPhone, the iPad, the Mac, and the Vision Pro.
A separate award has also been carved out for the best Apple Arcade game of the year, which has been given to Balatro+. This game is a sort of hybrid between Solitaire and Poker, and it offers a gorgeous pixel art graphical style that I personally can't get enough of.
Some of the apps highlighted by Apple are already well-known entities, such as Adobe 's Lightroom and The New York Times' NYT Games. Many others, meanwhile, are the works of independent and smaller-scale development teams.
Apple has also carved out a separate list of Cultural Impact Winners, which it says is aimed at "recognizing the lasting impact these apps and games have made in users’ lives and communities."
Within this category, Oko and DailyArt caught my eye in particular. The former is an app that aims to make urban living safer for the visually impaired. By pointing your in-app camera at a real world intersection, Oko is able to detect and notify you of when it's safe to cross the road as a pedestrian. The latter, on the other hand, is a lovingly crafted app that curates famous works of art, while simultaneously providing historical art insights.
A full list of the App Store Award Winners for 2024 can be found on Apple's official developer website. Here, you'll find granular details, app download links, and more.
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Controversies aside, the App Store remains a bastion of both talent and innovation
Apple helped popularize the now-ubiquitous 'app' model for distributing computer programs
Apple App Store Awards 2024 hero
Apple's App Store remains a formidable force within the tech industry, rivaled in the mobile space perhaps only by Google's Play Store. Even still, reports indicate that Apple handily bests Google in terms of revenue generation and in-app purchase metrics.
Anecdotally, I find cross-platform apps to generally look and feel more polished over in the Apple camp. Economic factors are most certainly at play, and Apple is also known to provide some of the best developer APIs in the business.
Anecdotally, I find cross-platform apps to generally look and feel more polished over in the Apple camp.
Nevertheless, chinks in Apple's App Store armor have started to form. The company's 70- 30% revenue split, strict adherence guidelines, and more have resulted in an onslaught of high-profile lawsuits. It's also helped ignite broader conversations surrounding big tech antitrust and monopolistic practices.
The dust has yet to settle, but we've already seen the App Store evolve in some unexpected ways. Emulators are now topping the charts and alternative in-app payment systems are a reality, among several other developments.
...the proof is in the pudding: the 2024 App Store Awards list is teeming with high quality software.
Controversies aside, Apple has without a doubt played an influential role in bringing the word 'app' into everyday vernacular. The App Store remains a melting pot of both creative ideas and experimental software, and the proof is in the pudding: the 2024 App Store Awards list is teeming with high quality offerings.
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