Out of the 1.96 million apps available on their store, Apple recently handed out a shiny blue award to 15 apps and games that made life easier, healthier and more connected this year.
The App Store Best of 2020 winners were selected for high quality, creative design, usability and innovative technology, as well as for positive cultural impact, usefulness and importance.
Inspired by the signature blue App Store icon, each award reveals the App Store logo set into 100 percent recycled aluminum, with the name of the winner engraved on the rear.
The independent developer of Wakeout! brought gentle exercise to home offices and classrooms with light-hearted, inclusive movements designed for all.
Boundless fantasy worlds in games like Genshin Impact, Legends of Runeterra, Disco Elysium, Dandara Trials of Fear, and Apple Arcade’s Sneaky Sasquatch delivered a great escape, while Disney+ offered a sense of unlimited possibility that many sought while at home.
Whether 2020 meant distance learning through Zoom, daily routines with Fantastical or restful sleep with Endel, the App Store Best of 2020 winners helped us live our best lives during a pandemic year.
[Fantastical]
For teachers and students needing to reinvent the classroom experience, Explain Everything Whiteboard offered a cloud-based collaboration tool so that groups of students could continue to work on projects together, even remotely.
For families seeking to connect with loved ones, Caribu added dozens of interactive games and over 100 books to its real-time video-calling platform. In addition, Pokémon GO reinvented their popular outdoor gameplay with at-home experiences.
The United Nations World Food Programme’s ShareTheMeal app made it easy for users to make a difference in the lives of others, with more than 87 million meals shared to date. Around the world, app developers channeled their creative energy into helping users stay healthy, educated, connected, and entertained.
Here’s a list of the 15 winners, broken down by category. What were some of your favourite apps this year?
Best Apps of 2020
iPhone App of the Year: Wakeout!, by Andres Canella
iPad App of the Year: Zoom
Mac App of the Year: Fantastical, developed by Flexibits
Apple TV App of the Year: Disney+
Apple Watch App of the Year: Endel
Best Games of 2020
iPhone Game of the Year: Genshin Impact, from miHoYo
iPad Game of the Year: Legends of Runeterra, from Riot Games
Mac Game of the Year: Disco Elysium, from ZA/UM
Apple TV Game of the Year: Dandara Trials of Fear, from Raw Fury
Apple Arcade Game of the Year: Sneaky Sasquatch, from Vancouver’s own RAC7
App Trends of 2020
App Trend of the Year: Shine, for helping users practice self care.
App Trend of the Year: Caribu, for connecting families to loved ones.
App Trend of the Year: Pokémon GO, for reinventing the way we play.
App Trend of the Year: ShareTheMeal, for helping users make a difference.
App Trend of the Year: Explain Everything Whiteboard, bringing remote classrooms to life.
