Apple Picks the 2021 App Store Award Winners, Highlighting the Best Apps of the Year - MacRumorsOpen MenuShow RoundupsShow Forums menuVisit ForumsOpen Sidebar
Skip to Content

Apple Picks the 2021 App Store Award Winners, Highlighting the Best Apps of the Year

by

Apple today shared its 2021 App Store Award winners, highlighting the 15 best apps and games selected by Apple's global App Store editorial team. The top apps were chosen for their quality, innovative technology, creative design, and positive cultural impact.

app store awards 2021

"The developers who won App Store Awards in 2021 harnessed their own drive and vision to deliver the best apps and games of the year -- sparking the creativity and passion of millions of users around the world," said Tim Cook, Apple's CEO. "From self-taught indie coders to inspiring leaders building global businesses, these standout developers innovated with Apple technology, with many helping to foster the profound sense of togetherness we needed this year."

Toca Life World, from Toca Boca, was named Apple's iPhone App of the Year. Designed for children, the app allows players to create their own worlds and bring their stories to life.

Apple's iPad App of the Year is LumaFusion, a popular mobile video editing app. It is recognized as one of the best ways to edit video on an iPhone or an iPad, with a wide range of editing tools and effects.

Multiplayer online battle arena game League of Legends: Wild Rift won the title of iPhone Game of the Year for its online play, and MARVEL Future Revolution was Apple's pick for iPad Game of the Year.

Apple picked a Mac app and game of the year, an Apple TV app of the year, and an Apple Arcade game of the year, with details below.

  • Mac App of the Year: Craft Docs and Notes Editor, from Luki Labs Limited.
  • Mac Game of the Year: Myst, from Cyan.
  • Apple TV App of the Year: DAZN Sports Streaming, from DAZN Group.

  • Apple TV Game of the Year: Space Marshals 3, from Pixelbite.
  • Apple Watch App of the Year: Carrot Weather, from Grailr.
  • Apple Arcade Game of the Year: Fantasian, from Mistwalker.

Apple also highlighted "Connection" as the trend of the year, recognizing a selection of apps and games that brought people together in meaningful ways. Apps acknowledged in this category include Among Us!, Bumble, Canva, EatOkra, and Peanut.

Each App or Game of the Year winner will receive a physical App Store award that's modeled after the design of the App Store logo. Each award is created from 100 percent recycled aluminum and it has the name of the winner engraved on the side.

Tag: App Store

Popular Stories

intel macs no more updates

Mac App Store Apps Can Now Drop Support for Intel Macs

Tuesday September 1, 2026 4:50 pm PDT by
Apple today informed developers that universal Mac App Store apps that require macOS 13 or later can remove support for Intel-based Mac computers. We're reaching out to let you know that universal macOS apps on the Mac App Store that require macOS 13 or later can now remove support for Intel-based Mac computers. By removing support for Intel-based Mac computers, you can simplify your...
Read Full Article • 188 comments
MapQuest Logo 2026

MapQuest Tops App Store Charts After Refusing 'Lake America' Change

Monday August 31, 2026 7:49 am PDT by
MapQuest is in the spotlight this week after refusing to change "Lake Ontario" to "Lake America" on its map following an executive order issued by U.S. President Donald Trump last week. As of Monday morning, the MapQuest app is the top free iPhone app on Apple's App Store charts in Canada and fourth on the equivalent U.S. chart. For our younger readers, MapQuest was once a popular service...
Read Full Article • 184 comments
Liquid Glass App Store Feature

Apple Plans to Squeeze More Revenue From the App Store, Report Says

Monday September 7, 2026 3:19 am PDT by
Apple is looking at further ways to monetize the App Store and increase the company's recurring revenue from the platform, according to a new report. Writing in his latest Power On newsletter, Bloomberg's Mark Gurman said that newly appointed Apple CEO John Ternus and services chief Eddy Cue are behind the effort to raise margins from the App Store, which already generates Apple an estimated ...
Read Full Article • 176 comments

Top Rated Comments

E
ethanwa79
63 months ago
Myst, an update of a 30 year old Mac game that I remember playing when I was 14 when it was NEW, is the 2021 Mac Game of the Year?

That just goes to show the sad sad state of affairs of gaming on the Mac still to this day. 😔
Score: 22 Votes (Like | Disagree)
TheYayAreaLiving 🎗️ Avatar
TheYayAreaLiving 🎗️
63 months ago

The results are based on the opinions of Apple's global App Store editorial team. I bet if the results were based on app users opinions the results would be totally different.
It's probably all chosen by how much $ they generated for Apple.

Money talks.
Score: 11 Votes (Like | Disagree)
laptech Avatar
laptech
63 months ago
The results are based on the opinions of Apple's global App Store editorial team. I bet if the results were based on app users opinions the results would be totally different.
Score: 7 Votes (Like | Disagree)
I
incoherent_1
63 months ago

Myst, an update of a 30 year old Mac game that I remember playing when I was 14 when it was NEW, is the 2021 Mac Game of the Year?

That just goes to show the sad sad state of affairs of gaming on the Mac still to this day. 😔
Don’t worry. Next year we may be lucky enough to get a port of the original Wolfenstein :D
Score: 4 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Y
yabeweb
63 months ago

Myst, an update of a 30 year old Mac game that I remember playing when I was 14 when it was NEW, is the 2021 Mac Game of the Year?

That just goes to show the sad sad state of affairs of gaming on the Mac still to this day. 😔
Lots of people did not get to play Myst when it was released, many people were not even born when it was released.

I remember playing it in a very OLD Mac, the graphic was amazing for the times (well sure they were almost pictures...)

The point is, the fact that it is still a great game (new visuals of course) means KUDOS to the developer, they

Not a sad state, but a timeless game.
Score: 3 Votes (Like | Disagree)
R
radamo
63 months ago

Myst, an update of a 30 year old Mac game that I remember playing when I was 14 when it was NEW, is the 2021 Mac Game of the Year?

That just goes to show the sad sad state of affairs of gaming on the Mac still to this day. 😔
The fact that it still gets them $30 (after so many years) in revenue per sale makes it GOTY!
Score: 3 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Read All Comments