AI in Apple's Top Apps of 2023

Apple Announces 2025 App Store Award Recipients

On Thursday, Apple revealed its annual selection of App Store Award winners, upholding its custom of recognizing the most outstanding applications and games released in the preceding year.

Tiimo was designated as the premier iPhone application for 2025, while Pokémon TCG Pocket earned the distinction of iPhone game of the year.

AI Integration Highlighted Among Winners

Despite not explicitly selecting an application centered around AI or a dedicated AI chatbot as its app of the year, Apple prominently featured AI capabilities within this year’s winning selections.

The company’s chosen app of the year, Tiimo, is characterized as a visual AI planner that transforms tasks into visually structured plans. This application leverages AI to deconstruct tasks into manageable schedules.

ai finds its way into apple’s top apps of the year

Detail, recognized as the iPad app of the year, streamlines video editing processes with its “Auto Edit” AI feature. This feature automates tasks such as silence removal, zoom transitions, and the addition of titles and captions.

Apps Leveraging AI for Enhanced Functionality

StoryGraph, a recipient of the Cultural Impact award, employs machine learning AI to provide personalized book recommendations based on individual reading habits.

Be My Eyes, another Cultural Impact winner, offers an AI assistant capable of delivering visual descriptions of real-world scenes to individuals with visual impairments.

Strava, selected as the Apple Watch app of the year, incorporates an AI assistant to convert workout data into actionable insights.

Award recipients were also chosen for iPad, Mac, Vision Pro, Apple Watch, Apple TV, and within the Apple Arcade game subscription service.

Furthermore, Apple presented a “Cultural Impact” award to several applications that demonstrated significant societal benefit.

Initially, 45 apps and games were nominated as finalists in November, and this list has been refined to a final selection of 17 winners.

List of 2025 App Store Award Winners

iPhone App of the Year: Tiimo
iPhone Game of the Year: Pokémon TCG Pocket
iPad App of the Year: Detail
iPad Game of the Year: DREDGE
Mac App of the Year: Essayist
Mac Game of the Year: Cyberpunk 2077: Ultimate Edition
Apple Arcade Game of the Year: WHAT THE CLASH?
Apple Vision Pro App of the Year: Explore POV
Apple Vision Pro Game of the Year: Porta Nubi
Apple Watch App of the Year: Strava
Apple TV App of the Year: HBO Max
Cultural Impact Winners: narrative-driven puzzle game Chants of Sennaar; Be My Eyes, a tool for the visually impaired; Focus Friend, a distraction blocker; Art of Fauna, a relaxing puzzles app; despelote, a “slice of life” soccer game; and StoryGraph, a reading tracker and book recommendation application.