The best apps and games of 2025, according to Apple

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Apple honored 17 apps and games that stood out for their innovation and cultural impact in 2025, as the iPhone giant unveiled the winners of its annual App Store Awards Thursday. 

2025 App Store Award winners: Apple names best apps and games

App Store editors selected App Store Award winners from 45 finalists across apps and games for iPhone, iPad, Mac, Apple Watch, Apple TV and Apple Vision Pro. This year’s selections highlight developers who created experiences that help users be more productive, express their creativity and explore immersive worlds, Apple said. 

Apps of the year

Tiimo won iPhone App of the Year for its visual planning interface and AI features that help users turn goals into actionable steps.

On iPad, Detail took the top prize with AI-powered video editing tools that make professional-quality production accessible to creators at any skill level.

Essayist earned Mac App of the Year recognition for simplifying the tedious work of formatting academic papers with AI assistance.

For Apple Vision Pro, Explore POV transports users to stunning global locations through Apple Immersive Video, while Strava claimed the Apple Watch award with real-time segment tracking and community features for athletes.

The top Apple Watch app was Strava for tracking and sharing activities.

HBO Max won Apple TV App of the Year for expanding accessibility with American Sign Language integration alongside its entertainment library.

Games of the year

Pokémon TCG Pocket captured the iPhone Game of the Year award with its card battle gameplay optimized for mobile devices.

DREDGE won on iPad, combining a charming fishing game with mysterious storytelling, while Cyberpunk 2077: Ultimate Edition impressed Mac gamers with its futuristic open world.

Porta Nubi earned Apple Vision Pro Game of the Year for its atmospheric puzzle design, and WHAT THE CLASH? won the Apple Arcade category with its comedic multiplayer competitions.

Cultural impact winners

Apple also recognized six games and apps for driving meaningful change:

• Art of Fauna sets new accessibility standards through wildlife illustration puzzles.
• Chants of Sennaar explores language through an adventurous narrative.
• despelote tells an intimate story about a nation united by soccer.
• Be My Eyes connects volunteers and AI to assist people who are blind or have low vision.
• Focus Friend by Hank Green gamifies productivity to combat digital distractions.
• StoryGraph builds an inclusive community space that elevates diverse authors.

David Snow

David Snow, an expert on Apple hardware and software, writes on a variety of technological and cultural topics for Cult of Mac. They include Apple news, technology buying guides, and features about computer setups and Apple TV shows and movies.

With 30 years of experience covering technology and other subjects, he has written and edited for numerous print and online publications, including CMP Media, TechTV.com, CNET, Wired News, Red Herring magazine, Law.com, The National Law Journal and Law Technology News magazine. Among other roles, he served as executive editor of the Law.com network of websites and editorial director, technology, for ALM Media.

Snow graduated with a B.A. from Syracuse University with majors in magazine journalism and psychology. While there, he worked as a reporter for The Daily Orange newspaper and associate editor of Equal Time magazine.

Founder of the blog At the Waterline, he can be reached on X (formerly Twitter) via @atthewaterline and on Mastodon via @dsnow.