Apple has announced this year’s winners of theApple Design Awards. Eight developers have won the award for app design, including four games.
Apple has awarded over 250 awards in the past 20 years. The tech-giant intends for the awards to both celebrate achievement and inspire new developers to set new standards “in areas such as storytelling, interface design, and use of Apple tools and technologies.”
The parameters of the Apple Design Awards are simple. They look for those who have demonstrated “outstanding app design, innovation, ingenuity, and technical achievement.”
The awards round off a week of announcements surrounding the WWDC 2020 event. Amongst the many reveals and awards, we’ve learned that gaming keyboard and gaming mouse compatibility will be coming to the Apple iPad, and that spatial audio will be coming to the AirPod range.
Here are this year’s winners of the Apple Design Awards 2020:
Darkroom by Bergen Co.
“Darkroom is a shining example of a high-end mobile editing tool”
Why did it win the award? “Darkroom… is a powerful photo and video editor whose interface is as beautiful as it is easy to use. It delivers great performance with super-intuitive controls and a layout that both casual and pro photographers can truly appreciate.”
Apple also applauded Darkroom’s integration into the Apple UI, including quick actions, contextual menus, and haptic feedback.
RELATED: The best smartphones 2020
Looom by iorama.studio
“Looom uses Apple technologies to their fullest”
Why did it win the award? Looom “is an animation playground that takes inspiration from music creation tools. Looping hand-drawn stop-motion animation in this playfully creative interface is designed for pros and consumers alike.”
Shapr3D by Shapr3D Zartkoruen Mukodo Reszvenytarsasag
“Shapr3D…has the potential to drastically transform the architectural and technical drawing workflow”
Why did it win the award? “Using only an iPad and Apple Pencil, technical designers have access to a robust modeling toolset to easily create complex 3D models.”
Apple was also impressed by the app's utilisation of the iPad’s ARKit, and that in the coming year the app the LiDAR scanner will be able to automatically generate 3D room models and allow real-world previewing via AR.
StaffPad by StaffPad Ltd.
“StaffPad brilliantly converts handwritten musical notations into digital sheet music.”
Why did it win the award? “Designed for composers who want an easy solution for writing and composing music digitally, the app uses Apple technologies such as Apple Pencil, drag and drop, and Core ML to transform each bar into beautifully typeset music notation that can be edited using intuitive touch or Apple Pencil tools.”
Sayonara Wild Hearts by Simogo and Annapurna Interactive
“Sayonara Wild Hearts has been lauded for outstanding design since its launch”
Why did it win the award? The game is “hopeful, gorgeous, and unique”, getting “players’ adrenaline pumping and makes their spirit soar. The game delivers vibrant and surreal landscapes, mesmerizing visuals and motion, and thrilling and kinetic gameplay.”
Sayonara Wild Hearts was also praised for putting Apple’s Metal, Game Center, spatial audio, and game controller, to good use.
RELATED: Best mini tablets
Sky: Children Of The Light by thatgamecompany
“A ground-breaking social quest”
Why did it win the award? “Sky: Children of the Light… has players flying across sweeping landscapes in a magical kingdom to help celestial beings find their way back to the heavens.” Thatgamecompany also used “Apple technologies including a custom Metal engine, haptics, Game Center, and spatial audio.”
Song Of Bloom by Philipp Stollenmayer
“A unique game with a nonlinear tale packed with clever puzzles”
Why did it win the award? “Players explore a story told in rapidly changing art styles as they progress through the game. Song of Bloom delivers an innovative, handcrafted gameplay experience with great design.”
Where Cards Fall by The Game Band
“A slice-of-life adventure game”
Why did it win the award? Where Cards Fall has “players build houses of cards to bring formative memories to life. The game takes advantage of Apple technologies, including Metal, haptics, Game Center, and iCloud, to bring to life its dreamlike spatial puzzles, immersive audio, and unique miniature-art style.”