Source: Apple.
Today, Apple announced the finalists for the 2025 App Store Awards. The App Store Awards are Apple’s annual celebration of exceptional apps and games across 12 categories spanning the company’s platforms. It’s an excellent collection that includes solo developers, small indie teams, big companies, and many MacStories favorites.
Here’s the complete list of finalists.
iPhone App of the Year Finalists:
iPhone Game of the Year Finalists:
Capybara Go!
Pokémon TCG Pocket
Thronefall
iPad App of the Year Finalists:
iPad Game of the Year Finalists:
DREDGE
Infinity Nikki
Prince of Persia: Lost Crown
Mac App of the Year Finalists:
Mac Game of the Year Finalists:
Assassin’s Creed Shadows
Cyberpunk 2077: Ultimate Edition
Neva
Apple Arcade Game of the Year Finalists:
Katamari Damacy Rolling LIVE
PGA TOUR Pro Golf
WHAT THE CLASH?
Apple Vision Pro App of the Year Finalists:
Camo Studio
D-Day: The Camera Soldier
Explore POV
Apple Vision Pro Game of the Year Finalists:
Fishing Haven
Gears & Goo
Porta Nubi
Apple Watch App of the Year Finalists:
GO Club
Pro Camera by Moment
Strava
Apple TV App of the Year Finalists:
HBO Max
PBS KIDS Video
Super Farming Boy 4K
Cultural Impact Finalists:
Art of Fauna
A Space for the Unbound
Be My Eyes
Chants of Sennaar
despelote
Focus Friend
Is This Seat Taken?
Retro
StoryGraph
Venba
Whoscall
Yuka
It’s great to see all of these developers’ hard work recognized, and I was especially pleased to see long-time MacStories favorites like Acorn by Gus Mueller of Flying Meat, The Art of Fauna by Klemens Strasser, Camo Studio by Reincubate, and Structured by the Unorderly team, plus games like Is This Seat Taken?, Gears & Goo, Cyberpunk 2077, Assassin’s Creed Shadows, DREDGE, and Prince of Persia: Lost Crown on the list.
As you can probably imagine, though, I’m partial to Detail’s inclusion as one of the iPad App of the Year finalists. My son Finn has worked on the app’s development team since graduating from college, and it’s fun to have an App Store Award finalist in the family.
Proud-dad bias aside, congratulations to all the finalists. It’s quite an honor to be recognized as one of the best among the millions of apps and games on the App Store.