2023 Apple Design Award Winners Revealed

Apple has announced the winners of its annual Apple Design Awards, celebrating the achievements of twelve globally-sourced apps and games renowned for their creativity, design, and technical excellence. The selected winners, who were handpicked from a pool of thirty-six finalists, have displayed exceptional performance across six categories it says.

Susan Prescott, Apple’s Vice President of Worldwide Developer Relations, conveyed the company’s commitment to “recognize outstanding developers whose apps reflect incredible creativity and design excellence.”

Here are the winners of the 2023 Apple Design Awards:

Inclusivity

• Universe — Website Builder by Universe Exploration Company (USA): An app that makes website building accessible for everyone by reducing complexity and removing barriers to entry.
• stitch. by Lykke Studios (Thailand): An Apple Arcade title that brings the calming, meditative art of embroidery to its users, with consideration for multiple languages and custom accessibility options.

Delight and Fun

• Duolingo by Duolingo, Inc. (USA): A well-loved app that continues to enhance language learning through its redesigned experience and introduction of new courses.
• Afterplace by Evan Kice (USA): An indie role-playing game with a blend of nostalgia, dry humour, and exploration, designed exclusively for mobile with a modern twist.

Interaction

• Flighty by Flighty LLC (USA): This app offers users detailed flight maps, airport navigation, and delay forecasting through a beautifully designed app experience.
• Railbound by Afterburn (Poland): A visually pleasing puzzler game, which is easy to play but challenging to put down.

Social Impact

• Headspace by Headspace (USA): This mindfulness app has a minimalist user interface, charming video content, and signature illustrations, all contributing to overall user mindfulness and well-being.
• Endling by HandyGames (Germany): A side-scroller game that builds empathy and connection as players navigate a fox through a land impacted by environmental disaster and human activity.

Visuals and Graphics

• Any Distance by Any Distance Inc. (USA): This design-forward workout tracker offers dynamic graphics, collectable medals, and a motivating social community for its users.
• Resident Evil Village by CAPCOM Co., Ltd. (Japan): This horror adventure game provides immersive graphics and atmosphere, powered by Apple silicon, ProMotion, Metal 3, and extended dynamic range.

Innovation

• SwingVision: A.I. Tennis App by SwingVision Inc. (USA): This app serves as a personal tennis coach, leveraging artificial intelligence and Neural Engine for advanced video-tracking capabilities and form evaluation.
• MARVEL SNAP by Second Dinner (China): This collectible card game introduces brisk gameplay and an innovative “snap” mechanic that redefines the genre.

Apple’s annual Design Awards continue to be a testament to the company’s commitment to recognizing and celebrating exceptional app design and functionality it says. You can learn more about the Apple Design Award winners here, as Apple has shared a “behind the design” story on each developer. The winners were announced as part of day one of WWDC.

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