Every year, Apple reviews thousands of apps and games across its devices, then picks a select group to honor for “technical ingenuity and lasting cultural impact.” On December 4, 2025, Apple announced the 17 winners of the 2025 App Store Awards. Editors selected the winners from a shortlist of 45 finalists based on excellence in innovation, design, user experience, and cultural relevance.
At the top of the list, Tiimo was named iPhone App of the Year a productivity and planning app that uses a visual timeline interface (and reportedly AI-based scheduling aids) to help users manage tasks and routines more intuitively. Other major winners across platforms include Detail (iPad App of the Year), Essayist (Mac App of the Year), Explore POV (Apple Vision Pro App of the Year), Strava (Apple Watch App of the Year), and HBO Max (Apple TV App of the Year).
On the gaming front, the big winners include Pokémon TCG Pocket, honored as iPhone Game of the Year and DREDGE, which won iPad Game of the Year. On Mac, Cyberpunk 2077: Ultimate Edition took the Mac Game of the Year crown. For Apple Vision Pro users, Porta Nubi was named Vision Pro Game of the Year, and on Apple Arcade, WHAT THE CLASH? won Game of the Year.
Beyond “just entertainment,” Apple also highlighted apps and games that made a positive social or cultural impact. Among the “Cultural Impact” winners are Be My Eyes — an accessibility app helping visually impaired users as well as apps like Art of Fauna, Chants of Sennaar, Despelote, Focus Friend, and StoryGraph each recognized for promoting creativity, inclusion or community building.
This year’s winners show how the App Store continues to spotlight diversity not only in platform (iPhone, iPad, Mac, Apple Watch, Vision Pro, Apple TV) but also in app type: productivity tools, creative & editing software, accessibility solutions, immersive games, and community-focused apps. The selection underlines that success can come from serving productivity needs (like Tiimo or Essayist), entertainment (Pokémon TCG Pocket, DREDGE), or social value (Be My Eyes, StoryGraph). As usual with the App Store Awards, these picks give users a curated short-list of standout apps to try from productivity and creativity to fun and social impact.
