Apps

These Apple apps are award-winning

Will be recognized at WWDC 2024

Published

June 7, 2024

GadgetMatch

Looking for new apps to tinker with on your iPhone or iPad? Perhaps you can give these ones handpicked by Apple a fair shake. Apple just unveiled the winners of the 2024 Apple Design Awards. A total of 14 apps and games were named. All of them will be recognized on the upcoming WWDC 2024.

Apple says these were chosen because of their delight and fun, inclusivity, innovation, interaction, social impact, visuals and graphics, and a new spatial computing category. Check them out below.

Delight and Fun

Winners in this category provide memorable, engaging, and satisfying experiences that are enhanced by Apple technologies.

App: Bears Gratitude
Developer: Isuru Wanasinghe (Australia)

Bears Gratitude is a simple way to encourage and embrace honest self-reflection. The journaling app provides a welcoming way to establish daily gratitude practices. Thoughtfully crafted characters within the app help create a sense of warmth and routine to support users in building happiness, one day at a time.

Game: NYT Games
Developer: The New York Times Company (United States)

Through a compelling mix of titles, New York Times Games has redesigned its navigation and expanded its gaming catalogue. New titles like Connections are calibrated for maximum replay value. They come with elegant design and ease of use that result in an experience that encourages everyone to join in on the fun.

Finalists for this category include Dudel Draw by Silly Little Apps, LLC; Hello Kitty Island Adventure by Sunblink Entertainment LLC; Rooms by Things, Inc.; and WHAT THE CAR? by Triband ApS.

Inclusivity

Winners in this category provide a great experience for all by supporting people from a diversity of backgrounds, abilities, and languages.

App: oko

Developer: AYES (Belgium)

By alerting pedestrians to the state of signal lights through haptic and audio feedback, oko is an immediately impactful app for people who are visually impaired. It is a powerful solution to a critical safety scenario that takes advantage of Apple technologies including VoiceOver and Dynamic Type.

Game: Crayola Adventures
Developer: Red Games Co. (United States)

A colourful adventure game that offers a wide range of creation options for all players, Crayola Adventures brings to life character choices that include different skin tones, abilities, body types, pronouns, and full game narration. All ages can enjoy this delightful game experience, offering a mix of activities that include making decorations, solving puzzles, and reading storybooks.

Finalists for this category include Complete Anatomy 2024 by Elsevier, quadline by Kovalov, Tiimo by tiimo ApS, and Unpacking by Humble Bundle.

Innovation

Winners in this category provide a state-of-the-art experience through novel use of Apple technologies that sets them apart in their genre.

App: Procreate Dreams
Developer: Procreate (Australia)

Procreate Dreams is a stunning design tool that allows creatives of all kinds to create 2D animations using the extensive and familiar library of brushes, gestures, and PencilKit-enabled behaviours from the original Procreate. The controls are effortlessly intuitive, with support for both multitouch interactions and Apple Pencil. The app offers powerful animated effects, audio, and video to bring users’ creations and artwork to life.

Game: Lost in Play
Developer: Happy Juice Games (Israel)

Filled with endearing characters and fun minigames, Lost in Play offers players a charming adventure through childhood imagination with thoughtfully crafted puzzles. This point-and-tap journey features hand-drawn graphics, easy-to-learn interactions, and compelling gameplay that ignites a childlike sense of discovery throughout.

Finalists for this category include Call of Duty: Warzone Mobile by Activision Publishing, Inc.; Copilot Money by Copilot Money, Inc.; SmartGym by Mateus Abras; and Wavelength by Palm Court LLC.

Interaction

Winners in this category deliver intuitive interfaces and effortless controls that are perfectly tailored to their platform.

App: Crouton
Developer: Devin Davies (New Zealand)

Crouton provides users with a clean interface for stashing away recipes, creating grocery lists, and presenting step-by-step instructions in the kitchen. With its effortless series of interactions, Crouton lets users keep their focus on the counter rather than the screen.

Game: Rytmos
Developer: Floppy Club (Denmark)

Rytmos challenges players to solve puzzles. They do this by creating pathways using simple drag gestures. Every completed level adds a new element to an evolving song. The brightly conceived onboarding makes gameplay instantly clear. And the gestures are simple and fun, even when the game starts delivering more complexity.

Finalists for this category include Arc Search by The Browser Company of New York Inc; finity. by Seabaa, Inc.; Little Nightmares by Playdigious; and Procreate Dreams by Savage Interactive Pty Ltd.

Social Impact

Winners in this category improve lives in a meaningful way and shine a light on crucial issues.

App: Gentler Streak Fitness Tracker
Developer: Gentler Stories (Slovenia)

Gentler Streak aims to improve everyone’s lifestyles, no matter who or where they are. The app is powered by optimistic and encouraging reminders that factor in both physical fitness and mental wellbeing. Its health data is smartly organised and seamlessly integrated to help users thoughtfully track exercise, rest, and wellness. In a Monthly Summary view, users are shown how they are doing in relation to their history. This emphasizes the focus on individual progression rather than comparison against others.

Game: The Wreck
Developer: The Pixel Hunt (France)

In the visual novel The Wreck, players follow alongside the story of Junon. Junon is a writer who is abruptly called to a hospital to make a life-changing decision that will impact her family forever. The game is eloquently written through deep and intimate narratives. These reflect stressful situations, and invites players to think about their choices throughout a nuanced and powerful gameplay experience.

Finalists for this category include Ahead: Emotions Coach by ahead Solutions GmbH; Cityscapes: Sim Builder by MagicFuel Games; How We Feel by The How We Feel Project, Inc.; and The Bear by Mucks Games.

Visuals and Graphics

Winners in this category feature stunning imagery, skilfully drawn interfaces, and high-quality animations that lend to a distinctive and cohesive theme.

App: Rooms
Developer: Things, Inc. (United States)

Rooms offers users a blank slate for building imaginative scenes, a platform for cosy gaming, and a social space that offers interactions with thousands of other people’s creations. The rooms within the app are filled with delightful detail, and the app’s interactions, sounds, and visuals strike the balance between quirky and compelling.

Game: Lies of P
Developer: NEOWIZ (South Korea)

Lies of P is an imaginative adventure that reimagines a classic tale, allowing players to control a robotic puppet created by Geppetto, who must survive a battle march through a burned-out city to find his maker. The visuals showcase a world of beautiful textures, detailed lighting, and stunning effects, and visual customisation options like MetalFX upscaling and volumetric fog effects on Mac let users style the game to their liking.

Finalists for this category include DEATH STRANDING DIRECTOR’S CUT by 505 Games (U.S.), Inc.; Honkai: Star Rail by COGNOSPHERE PTE. LTD.; Meditate by RhythmicWorks; and Sunlitt: Sun Position and Path by Nicolas Mariniello.

Spatial Computing

Winners in this category bring extraordinary craftsmanship to their exceptional spatial experiences.

App: djay pro – DJ App & AI Mixer
Developer: algoriddim GmbH (Germany)

djay is an entirely new way to interact with music in a spatial environment. With remarkable technical ingenuity and best-in-class immersion, djay brings users high-definition sound quality and endless creativity for music mixing. The app features high-quality turntables, a cool interactive effects panel, and an array of magnificently considered environments, from a nighttime desert scene to a space lounge populated by dancing robots.

Game: Blackbox
Developer: Shapes and Stories (United States)

Blackbox on Apple Vision Pro challenges users to think about every corner of the spatial canvas. Players are greeted by engaging puzzles and clever easter eggs at every turn. The game is filled with wonderful details. Every solution feels like learning a new magic trick as puzzles gently unfold around the player and curiosity is rewarded.

Finalists for this category include Loóna: Cozy Puzzle Games by Loona Inc.; NBA by NBA MEDIA VENTURES, LLC; Sky Guide by Fifth Star Labs LLC; and Synth Riders by Kluge Strategic Inc.

Apps

Apple Creator Studio: Creative apps bundled into single subscription

All the tools you need, one payment

Published

January 14, 2026

GadgetMatch

Apple has officially streamlined its popular creative apps into one single subscription suite with the introduction of Apple Creator Studio.

The collection includes some of the most useful apps for today’s creators: Final Cut Pro, Logic Pro, Pixelmator Pro, Motion, Compressor, and MainStage.

New AI features and premium content in Keynote, Pages, and Numbers also make the Apple Creator Studio an exciting subscription suite. Freeform will eventually be added to the lineup.

The groundbreaking collection is designed to put studio-grade power into the hands of everyone. It builds on the essential role Apple devices play in the lives of millions of creators worldwide.

The apps included cover video editing, music making, creative imaging, and visual productivity to give modern creators the features and capabilities they need.

Final Cut Pro introduces exceptional new video editing tools and intelligent features for Mac and iPad.

For the first time, Pixelmator Pro is also coming to iPad with a uniquely crafted experience optimized for touch and Apple Pencil.

Logic Pro, meanwhile, for Mac and iPad introduces more intelligent features like Synth Player and Chord ID.

Apple Creator Studio will be available on the App Store beginning January 29. In the Philippines, the rates are PhP 399 a month or PhP 3,990 annually.

There is also a free one-month trial which includes access to:

Final Cut Pro, Logic Pro, and Pixelmator Pro on Mac and iPad
Motion, Compressor, and MainStage on Mac
Intelligent features and premium content for Keynote, Pages, Numbers, and later Freeform for iPhone, iPad, and Mac

College students and educators can subscribe for a discounted price of PhP 149 per month or PhP 1,490 per year.

Apps

Apple gives up on making AI, inks a deal with Gemini to power Siri

Gemini gets another feather in its cap.

Published

January 14, 2026

Luigi Leonardo

In the not-too-long-ago past, the biggest names of the tech industry competed to build their own AI software. Now, though some brands are still on the hunt, it’s easier to name certain software that have more successfully drowned users in a flood of AI-powered features. Today, Google gets another win by adding Apple’s Siri to its Gemini cap.

In the past, Apple peddled Apple Intelligence, an upcoming AI-powered system to compete against the giants of the industry. However, much like other features from other brands, Apple Intelligence came out half baked with features still lacking months after the initial launch.

Now, Apple has signed a deal with Google to use Gemini for a revamped Siri. The former plans to launch a new version of Siri later this year. Because of the deal, the voice assistant will start using Gemini as a foundation for its own services. Currently, Samsung’s Galaxy AI already uses Gemini.

Formerly a battleground between so many competing brands, it’s now looking like a battle between two major companies: Google and OpenAI. Google now has a huge grip, though. Both Samsung and Apple are no slouches when it comes to owning market share in the world’s smartphones.

Now, as consumers, Apple’s deal probably doesn’t mean much besides the continued influx of features that add little to no value to a smartphone.

Apps

Microsoft continues to shove Copilot where it’s not wanted

This time, it’s reportedly coming to File Explorer.

Published

January 14, 2026

Luigi Leonardo

If you look at a modern keyboard, you’ll find that the Copilot button is the cleanest one on the entire panel because no one ever willingly presses it. And yet, Microsoft still believes in the feature’s value. To show their odd commitment, the company is reportedly adding Copilot to File Explorer.

According to @phantomofearth from X (via Windows Central), a new Windows 11 preview build will add a button beside File Explorer’s navigation menu. Currently, the button is invisible and doesn’t do anything. However, the report says that the feature is tied to something called “Chat with Copilot.” It’s becoming clear that the system aims to add the AI software right inside the file organization app.

Besides revealing the potential addition of the egregious feature inside File Explorer, @phantomofearth also added mock-ups of a desktop with Copilot right on the taskbar, hinting at a potential nightmare of the feature lording itself over where it’s not wanted.

Thankfully, the preview build doesn’t always represent a final version of the system. There’s still a chance that Microsoft will not add the AI to the File Explorer.

As of late, Microsoft has received a lot of flak for persistently pushing Copilot onto users, regardless of how they feel about the feature. The company is also facing criticisms in the background for being a major proponent of AI data centers in the United States, which, in turn, have caused the prices of tech to skyrocket this year.