Apple Design Awards - 2026 finalists - Apple Developer

Panic, Inc., United States

macOS

Aimed at a very specific demographic of channel-surfers, DIY-aesthetic aficionados, and anyone seeking an alternative to modern streamers, Blippo+ is a retro-futurist TV with multiple channels of bizarre, ad-free programs reminiscent of the highest numbers on the UHF dial. (Ask your elders.) The aggressively — and often purposely cringe — DIY content is the main draw, but Panic has paid incredible attention to its world-building details, reviving ancient graphics, fonts, and buttons down to the last enormous pixelated digit. And get this: The “broadcast” is synchronized, which means everyone watches the same irreverence together. (Ask your elders about that too.)

Apposite, United States

iOS, visionOS

This bubbly visionOS experience lets people create spatial blobs, bubbles, and shapes out of a variety of colors and materials, all of which can be pushed, poked, prodded, and pulled apart. Conjuring up gelatinous shapes on the spatial canvas is a joy, and the way they react to shifts in lighting is a marvel. As an added bonus, people can export USDZ files to use in other projects.

Ocho, Netherlands

iOS

This playful app delivers daily wisdom in Neolithic grunts, and looks good doing it. Reading daily grug affirmations like “only walking grug find breakthrough … sitting grug find nothing” is a primal joy. But it’s the scribbled design that really pops; it’s a little masterpiece of clever simplicity that never takes itself too seriously. (Check out the app’s hand-drawn status bar, and its release notes.) Appropriately for an app from the Stone Age, there’s no login, no cloud syncing, nothing extraneous — just a simple idea that smart developer do good.

FuturLab Limited, United Kingdom

Square Enix Collective, Apple Arcade

iOS, iPadOS, macOS, tvOS, visionOS

For a particular type of person, there can be no greater joy than blasting caked-on grime off an old van (so we’ve heard). True to its title, this hygienic game is inexplicably satisfying, thanks to thoughtful touches like specific haptic feedback for each hose nozzle. And just when you think you’re destined to clean up another filthy backyard, the game’s narrative takes a hard left turn into time travel, mysterious cat gatherings, and an ancient temple — a fitting backdrop for a game that provides plenty of zen.

Poti Poti Studio, Spain

iOS, iPadOS, macOS

A tricky puzzler dressed up as a Saturday morning cartoon, this delightful logic game hides its puzzles in a fun narrative about the perils of sitting near others in buses, restaurants, and other familiar places. Assign people to their preferred seats in accordance with their strange personality quirks (or, in the case of folks who don’t want to sit by the unshowered, totally logical quirks). Plenty of attention is lavished on surrounding elements: Tapping objects in each scene produces playful and unexpected responses, and the interface hides its own Easter eggs. With no timers but lots of smiles, Is This Seat Taken? is worth keeping close at hand.

Kenny Sun Studios, United States

Devolver Digital

iOS, iPadOS

Bursting with frantic, ricochet-fueled combat, the RPG roguelite Ball x Pit turns a simple idea — fling super-powered balls at descending hordes of foes — into a wildly satisfying spin on a vintage arcade experience. And its retro visuals and chaotic collision animations really pop on iPhone and iPad displays that support HDR.

Bijoy Thangaraj, India

iOS, iPadOS, macOS, watchOS

This all-in-one toolkit for guitarists — built with SwiftUI by solo developer Bijoy Thangaraj — offers an impressive array of inclusivity features. Robust VoiceOver integration provides spoken information and instructions on everything from pitch to chord guidance to where players should place their fingers on the frets. Guitar Wiz also supports Dynamic Type, Increased Contrast, and Differentiate Without Color to enable people of all abilities to play with autonomy.

Lilly Seay, United States

iOS, iPadOS, watchOS

Created by a solo developer with hearing loss, Hearing Buddy is shaped by experience. The thoughtful app uses the Foundation Models framework and on-device speech-to-text features to quickly generate real-time captions and summaries of spoken conversations. Reliable, supportive, and easy to work with, it’s everything you need in a good buddy.

unorderly GmbH, Germany

iOS, iPadOS, macOS, watchOS

Visually sharp and easy to scan, this SwiftUI-built daily planner prioritizes downtime as much as productivity. It excels not just at optimizing open slots on your calendar, but also at helping you find time to take breaks. Members of the neurodivergent community have praised Structured for its simple layout and the way it incorporates the Foundation Models framework to suggest and pre-fill tasks — a thoughtful touch that can make staying organized less challenging.

Sago Mini, Canada

Apple Arcade

iOS, iPadOS, macOS, tvOS

Sago Mini Jinja’s Garden is remarkable for what it doesn’t include. By relying on natural swipe-to-move controls and interactions that require no reading, this boundless playground for kids ages 3–6 integrates inclusivity features so organically that players and caregivers may not even notice them. Once again, Sago has shown great care in crafting an accessible world where kids can play soccer, chase a mouse for cheese, or try on a party hat. There’s no timer, no to-do lists — just an enchanting experience that’s open to all.

Hyper Luminal Games Limited, United Kingdom

Secret Mode

iOS, iPadOS

Good deeds are rewarded in the wholesome, hopeful world of Pine Hearts. In this surprisingly moving game, the main character, Tyke, returns to a nature preserve to revisit memories of his late father. The vibe is sweet and sensitive — players level up by lending a helping hand to other parkgoers — and the game clearly communicates its inclusivity options even before play begins, through settings that let players enhance text legibility, customize controls, and ease both motion and sensory feedback. A beautifully conceived experience that shows how grief can eventually give way to comfort and even confidence.

Firaxis Games, United States

2K, Apple Arcade

iOS, iPadOS, macOS

The latest installment in the legendary series prizes cultural representation. Though Civilization needs no introduction, this edition shows great care in portraying a diverse collection of leaders and civilizations from across history — including many rarely spotlighted in mainstream games. The result is a more expansive — and more respectful — look at human history. When a game of this size prioritizes those decisions, it means something.

Detail Technologies B.V., Netherlands

iOS, iPadOS, watchOS

Detail combines the simplicity of a camera app with the power of a professional AI video editor. Easy to learn for editors of all levels, the app helps people create professional-looking videos, podcasts, and direct-to-camera takes in minutes by identifying magic moments, removing silence, and auto-editing a single shot from multiple angles. Detail also leverages the Foundation Models framework to turn a draft or outline into a ready-to-record teleprompter script.

National Basketball Association, United States

visionOS

Watching five games at once in the NBA app — or pairing your marquee game with player and team stats the size of a wall — is a revolution for sports fans on Apple Vision Pro. And this year, a partnership with Spectrum brought select Los Angeles Lakers games in 180-degree Apple Immersive Video with Spatial Audio. Viewers can watch the action from behind each team’s basket, between the benches, or from high up in the arena. The halftime activities and pregame player introductions are experiences in themselves, and elements like the scoreboard and player rosters appear in 3D, floating right in front of the action.

TARGO, France

visionOS

An ingenious approach to history, and a testament to the power of visionOS storytelling. This immersive app tells the story of a D-Day combat camera operator through the eyes of his daughter, who knew little of her father’s war experiences until an unexpected message led her on a journey to recover and restore his unseen photos and footage. Through a breathtaking mix of immersive video, Spatial Audio, and interactive activities, D-Day offers not just a powerful window into history, but a moving narrative about the bonds of family.

inkle, UK

iOS, iPadOS

This gripping war-era alternate-history puzzler asks the question: What if the code-cracking computers built during World War II had been left running? Developed by inkle, the team behind Overboard! — a 2022 Apple Design Award winner — the ingenious TR-49 delivers not just a great hook, but also a distinctive nonlinear narrative and an array of vintage puzzles. And it’s built with inkle’s own narrative scripting language (ink, an open-source tool that’s now used by studios worldwide), which is a pretty good story in itself.

Dogubomb, United States

Raw Fury

macOS

This genre-defying adventure mixes exploration, puzzle-solving, and narrative elements into something wholly new. Your task: unlock a secret room inside a sprawling mansion. The challenge: you create the house from scratch, building each room as you go. The story unfolds everywhere, from pictures hanging on walls to hand-scribbled notes that hide their own secrets. (Why, there’s even a sly little reference hidden in the game’s title.) Blue Prince’s inviting playability belies its maze-like structure and incredible depth: complete the game once, for instance, and you’ll find an entire second game’s worth of story waiting just below the surface.

Resolution Games AB, Sweden

visionOS

Built in RealityKit, Pickle Pro is one of the most impressive native gaming experiences for visionOS — it also happens to be a very fun pickleball game. Every swing feels natural and precise, and the game’s finely tuned use of visionOS technologies like mixed-reality blending makes it a crisp example of platform-specific innovation. Plus, thanks to integration with SharePlay personas, players can challenge friends to an online match.

Gentler Stories, LLC, Slovenia

iOS, watchOS

From the developers of Gentler Streak comes this equally thoughtful fitness app, which strikes a smart balance between intensity and recovery. The Outsiders distinguishes itself with its Training Readiness Score, a beautiful data visualization that shows training load alongside metrics such as sleep quality and resting heart rate. The app also lets athletes set training goals across dozens of workout types, making it an especially versatile way to train with more intention.

Flipping Hues Srls, Italy

iOS, iPadOS, macOS, visionOS, watchOS

It’s been a big couple of months for the moon, and if this spring’s Artemis mission piqued your interest in all things lunar, this brilliantly conceived app can keep it going. Like its sister app (and 2024 Apple Design Award finalist) Sunlitt, this SwiftUI-built utility brings a simple elegance to minding everything from photography to celestial events. With broad platform support — check it out on Apple Vision Pro — best-in-class Liquid Glass integration, and easy onboarding, it’s an intuitive and beautiful way to keep your eyes on the skies.

Condor Digital, United States

iOS, iPadOS, macOS, tvOS, visionOS, watchOS

The top-tier tide tracker integrates the new design and Liquid Glass, adding extra polish to data presentation and custom animations — and tying nicely into the aquatic theme. Tide Guide’s rich full-screen charts present a boatload of weather data — hour-by-hour forecasts, water temperature, swell height — in a crisp, clear manner that’s easily understood by even the most landlocked, and its powerful widgets help swimmers and boat captains save a step right from the Home Screen. The app’s palette is even designed to match the color of the sky throughout the day, just another reason why enthusiasm for Tide Guide is high.

inkle, UK

iOS, iPadOS

A gripping war-era alternate-history puzzler that asks the question: What if the code-cracking computers built during World War II had been left running? Developed by inkle, the team behind Overboard! — a 2022 Apple Design Award winner — the ingenious TR-49 delivers not just a great hook, but also a distinctive nonlinear narrative and an array of vintage puzzles. And to help create its time-specific world, TR-49 prioritizes audio design: as players dig into mysterious files and fire up WWII-era machinery, a narrator’s voice reacts to every discovery.

Sago Mini, Canada

Apple Arcade

iOS, iPadOS, macOS, tvOS

Like its equally acclaimed predecessors, Sago Mini Jinja’s Garden is a masterclass in intuitive interaction — perfect for a game geared toward kids ages 3–6. With interactions that require no reading and effortless swipe-to-move controls, this joyful garden lets kids plant seeds, cook meals, and harvest vegetables with minimal guidance. Once again, Sago Mini has put enormous effort into perfecting something simple.

Toppluva AB, Sweden

iOS, iPadOS

A slick wintry game with a novel control scheme — its left, right, and jump inputs map naturally to skiing. Grand Mountain Adventure 2 is a great example of designing for touch controls; the gestures are smooth, quick to pick up, and immediately responsive. It looks beautiful too, whisking players into a hyper-detailed winter wonderland of ski resorts, forests, and backcountry routes.

Condor Digital, United States

iOS, iPadOS, macOS, tvOS, visionOS, watchOS

The top-tier tide tracker integrates the new design and Liquid Glass, adding extra polish to data presentation and custom animations — and tying nicely into the aquatic theme. Tide Guide’s rich full-screen charts present a boatload of weather data — hour-by-hour forecasts, water temperature, swell height — in a crisp, clear manner that’s easily understood by even the most landlocked, and its powerful widgets help swimmers and boat captains save a step right from the Home Screen. The app’s palette is even designed to match the color of the sky throughout the day, just another reason why enthusiasm for Tide Guide is high.

PSQV AB, Sweden

visionOS

An astonishingly immersive auto museum with levels of detail rarely seen in visionOS. This absolute showcase for the rendering and visualization powers of Apple Vision Pro has everything but the new-car smell: it lets people open doors, explore interiors, and hear engines roar to life in wondrous Spatial Audio. Most impressively, all these details — down to the reflection of ambient light on a car hood — are the work of solo developer Peder Sandqvist.

Not Boring Software LLC, United States

iOS, iPadOS

Once again, the (Not Boring) team has mastered the secret behind its big, bold designs: Ensure the products excel in all other areas too. As they did for previous apps like Weather, Calculator, and Habits, the team blew up a common idea and rebuilt it with big loud capital-V Vibes. (Not Boring) Camera is a tactile throwback to the cameras of the ’70s and ’80s, all giant buttons and haptic scroll wheels that make it fun to dial in focal points and precision settings. It’s super fun for beginners, but the app also integrates pro functionality like SuperRAW format and professional-grade filters for more serious photographers.

CD PROJEKT RED, Poland

CD PROJEKT S.A.

macOS

One of the most technically demanding and visually ambitious games on Mac. Cyberpunk 2077 delivers a breathtakingly detailed dystopian world — one whose intricate interiors, distinctive sci-fi vehicle designs, and wild character art make it feel glamorous, gritty, and genuinely lived-in. From a technical standpoint, Cyberpunk is a heavyweight champ: The game takes full advantage of Apple silicon, Metal shaders, MetalFX frame interpolation and denoising, and path tracing on higher-end chips — and the “For This Mac” setting automatically optimizes frame rate and visual fidelity for each device.

Hypergryph, China, Singapore

Gryph Frontier PTE. LTD.

iOS, iPadOS

It’s easy to understand why Arknights: Endfield became an instant hit: With incredible art direction, 3D combat, and massive environments, the inventive RPG pushes what’s possible on iPhone and iPad. The game’s mix of squad-based action and factory construction provides endless fun for both strategy fans and amateur architects, but it truly shines in its implementation of hardware-accelerated ray tracing and Spatial Audio. A wondrous pairing of large-scale exploration and cinematic fidelity.

Spiral Circus, United Kingdom

Snapbreak Games

iOS, iPadOS

With a haunting monochrome art style that makes stunning use of light and shadow, SILT practically leaps off the screen. This indie puzzler thrusts the player’s human diver into a strange and sinister underwater world full of sea creatures that the diver controls firsthand through a wildly original “possession” mechanic. These delightfully strange interactions make gameplay deeply atmospheric — as does a camera that zooms in as the diver swims through tight tunnels, then zooms out to show the scale of a colossal eel boss monster. Add in a stark environmental message, and you’ve got a meticulously designed puzzler that punches well above its weight.