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Apple Design Awards 2026 Winners Announced: Guitar Wiz, NBA, Cyberpunk 2077: Ultimate Edition Bag Top Spots

Apple Design Awards 2026 Winners Announced: Guitar Wiz, NBA, Cyberpunk 2077: Ultimate Edition Bag Top Spots

Apple Design Awards 2026 celebrate the work of Apple developers across the community.

Written by Shaurya Tomer, Edited by Ketan Pratap | Updated: 3 June 2026 09:41 IST

Apple Design Awards 2026 Winners Announced: Guitar Wiz, NBA, Cyberpunk 2077: Ultimate Edition Bag Top Spots

Photo Credit: Apple

Apple has announced a total of 12 winners across different categories

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Highlights

Guitar Wiz was awarded the Inclusivity award by Apple
Primary won Social Impact for delivering immersive news content
List of game winners include Cyberpunk, Pine Hearts, Blue Prince and more

Apple announced the list of winners and finalists of the 2026 Apple Design Awards across several app and game categories.on Tuesday. The Cupertino-based tech giant recognised 12 apps and games and commemorated their developers for bringing innovation and technical advancements to their apps across Apple devices like iPhone, iPad, and Mac. Presented each year since 1996, the 2026 edition saw grug win in the Delight and Fun category, while Cyberpunk 2077: Ultimate Edition was recognised in the Best Visual and Graphics category.

Category	App Winner	Game Winner
Delight and Fun	grug	Is This Seat Taken?
Inclusivity	Guitar Wiz	Pine Hearts
Innovation	NBA: Live Games & Scores	Blue Prince
Interaction	Moonlitt: Moon Phase Tracker	Sago Mini Jinja's Garden
Social Impact	Primary: News in Depth	Consume Me
Visuals and Graphics	Tide Guide: Charts & Tables	Cyberpunk 2077: Ultimate Edition

Announcing the winners, Susan Prescott, Vice President of Worldwide Developer Relations at Apple, said, "Whether delivering intuitive features or exciting gameplay, these apps and games represent the very best of what our platform makes possible”.

Delight and Fun Winners

In the Delight and Fun category, Apple recognised grug, developed by Ocho from the Netherlands, as the winning app. It is an affirmation app that delivers daily wisdom through playful Neolithic-style prompts designed to encourage reflection and mindfulness.

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The winning game in this category was Is This Seat Taken? from Spain-based Poti Poti Studio. The puzzle game challenges players to solve logic-based seating arrangements in public transit-inspired scenarios.

Inclusivity

The Inclusivity category recognised apps and games that provide accessible experiences for users with diverse abilities and backgrounds. The winning app was Guitar Wiz, developed by India's Bijoy Thangaraj. It is claimed to be an all-in-one toolkit for guitar players and incorporates accessibility features such as Dynamic Type, Increased Contrast, and Differentiate Without Colour.

The winning game was Pine Hearts from Hyper Luminal Games Limited in the UK. The title includes enhanced text legibility, customisable controls, and accessibility-focused motion and sensory settings.

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Innovation

Apple recognised NBA: Live Games & Scores by NBA Media Ventures as the Innovation category winner. It is designed for the Apple Vision Pro and allows users to watch multiple live games simultaneously, view floating statistics, and explore real-time gameplay through a 3D court interface.

In the games category, Blue Prince by US-based game developer Dogubomb was awarded for its unique blend of exploration, environmental storytelling, and puzzle-solving mechanics.

Interaction

Italian developer Flipping Hues Srls won the award with Moonlitt: Moon Phase Tracker in the Interaction category. Apple said that the app features an elegant interface for tracking lunar events, photography planning, and celestial observations.

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The game winner was Sago Mini Jinja's Garden by Canada's Sago Mini. Available on Apple Arcade, the title uses simple swipe-based controls that allow children to focus on exploration rather than learning complex mechanics.

The Innovation category, notably, honours apps and games with intuitive controls and interfaces.

The Social Impact award for apps was given to Primary: News in Depth, developed by Wood Metal Rocks LLC. It is another app built for Apple Vision Pro and utilises spatial computing to present news content in an immersive and organised format.

On the games front, Consume Me, created by Jenny Jiao Hsia and AP Thomson, was recognised. Apple described it as a deeply personal and emotionally resonant experience that addresses sensitive themes through thoughtful gameplay.

Visuals and Graphics

In the Visuals and Graphics category, Tide Guide: Charts & Tables by Condor Digital won the app award. Available on the iPhone, iPad, Apple Watch, and Mac, this app delivers tide and marine weather conditions from data providers worldwide. Apple highlighted its detailed weather visualisations, custom animations, and aquatic-inspired design language.

CD Projekt Red's famous first-person action role-playing game Cyberpunk 2077: Ultimate Edition was also awarded in this category. In the blog post, Apple praised the Keanu Reeves-starring title for taking full advantage of Apple silicon and advanced Metal technologies, ultimately delivering richly detailed environments, character models, and visual effects on Mac.

Apple also recognised 24 additional finalists across the six categories, with winners selected from a total pool of 36 shortlisted apps and games from developers around the world.

Cyberpunk 2077

REVIEW
KEY SPECS
NEWS

Good
Good voice acting
Lots to do in Night City
Multiple ways to play
Three lifepaths, multiple endings

Bad
Terrible graphics
Low frame rate that impacts gameplay
Filled with bugs, frequent crashes
Too many loading screens
Enemies are bullet sponges
No cover system
Repetitive NPCs
Too much loot

Read detailed CD Projekt Cyberpunk 2077 review

Genre Action-Adventure

Platform PlayStation 4 (PS4), PlayStation 5 (PS5), Stadia, Xbox One, Xbox Series S/X, PC: Windows

Modes Single-player

PEGI Rating 18+

More CD Projekt Games

Blue Prince

KEY SPECS
NEWS

Genre Strategy

Platform PlayStation 5 (PS5), Xbox Series S/X, PC: Windows

Modes Single-player

More Raw Fury Games

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Further reading: Apple Design Awards, Apple, App Store, iPhone apps, iPad, Mac, Apple Vision Pro, WWDC 2026

Shaurya Tomer

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Shaurya Tomer is a Sub Editor at Gadgets 360 with 2 years of experience across a diverse spectrum of topics. With a particular focus on smartphones, gadgets and the ever-evolving landscape of artificial intelligence (AI), he often likes to explore the industry's intricacies and innovations – whether dissecting the latest smartphone release or exploring the ethical implications of AI advancements. In his free time, he often embarks on impromptu road trips to unwind, recharge, and ...More