2025 Apple Design Awards: Markers of Innovation Before WWDC

Apple’s announcement of the 2025 Apple Design Awards, made public less than a week before the Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC), offers keen insight into the company’s directional priorities for its ecosystem and developer community. The annual awards not only highlight technical excellence and design innovation but also illuminate emerging trends that may shape Apple's imminent software and hardware updates.

Distinctive App and Game Excellence Across Six Categories

According to Apple’s official press release the awards for 2025 were distributed across six core categories:

• Delight and Fun: CapWords (app), Balatro (game)
• Innovation: Play (app), PBJ – The Musical (game)
• Interaction: Taobao (app), Dredge (game)
• Inclusivity: Speechify (app), Art of Fauna (game)
• Social Impact: Watch Duty (app), Neva (game)
• Visuals and Graphics: Feather: Draw in 3D (app), Infinity Nikki (game)

In total, Apple selected twelve winners—one app and one game