These are the 9 best iPhone, iPad and Apple Watch apps of 2024, according to Apple
- Apple has announced the finalists for the 2024 App Store Awards
- It highlights the best new apps for the iPhone, iPad, Apple Watch and more
- For the first time, it also includes apps for the Apple Vision Pro
Yes, it’s that time of year again – no, we’re not talking about the Black Friday sale, but the end-of-year highlights lists coming in for everything from Spotify Wrapped to Google TV. Today it’s Apple’s turn – with the tech giant announcing the finalists for its annual App Store Awards.
If you’re looking for a new app for your iPhone, iPad or Apple Watch, the App Store Awards are a handy overview of the new apps you might have missed. We now have shortlists for the potential winners on every Apple platform, including, for the first time, the Apple Vision Pro.
In this overview, we focused on the non-gaming nominees across all Apple categories. We’ve also listed the apps included in Apple’s more vague ‘Cultural Impact’ award, which nevertheless highlights some interesting and more left-field apps.
iPhone apps of the year
1. Kino
The team behind the Halide camera app is a mainstay of the App Store Awards, having won iPhone App of the Year in 2019 with Specter – and has now been nominated again for video app Kino.
Kino released support for the iPhone 15 Pro’s Apple Log video format earlier this year, which gives you much more flexibility when color grading videos. But it’s not just for professionals either, with handy features that let you choose the best settings for cinematic motion blur and more.
Apple praised the app for “turning everyday moments into cinematic masterpieces,” which may be an exaggeration. But Kino certainly has a strong claim to being one of the best video editing apps for iPhone.
2. Runna
We’re happy to see Runna among Apple’s App Store Award finalists, as it’s a great new option for planning and executing your running goals. Our Runna review praises the detailed statistical breakdowns and also the audio cues to help you understand your pace.
The app first launched in 2021, but the motivation tool has emerged as a popular option for those who need a motivational coach for everything from 5Ks to a marathon. The layout is nice, but that’s something beginners will appreciate – especially when they hit ‘the wall’ after 200 meters.
3. Tripsy
Tripsy is another app that has been around for a while (first launched in 2019), but it ages like a fine wine – especially now that travel has been back on the agenda for a few years.
The app is designed to lower your stress levels while traveling by finalizing your itinerary (including hotels, must-see spots and more), giving you flight alerts and storing your documents in one place.
More recently, Tripsy added weather support and a customizable dashboard – so if 2025 is going to be a big travel year for you, it’s worth checking out.
iPad apps of the year
4. Bluey: Let’s play
Not content with creating our guide to the best Disney Plus shows, the Australian animated series Bluish is also among the finalists of Apple’s App Store Awards for its iPad app.
Bluish is about a family of Blue Heeler dogs exploring the realities of everyday life and is of course aimed at young children (even preschool or toddler age). With the app you can explore the parental home, make up stories and rebuild the house according to your own wishes.
Apple praised the app for “delivering lovable characters and family-friendly fun” and it certainly seems to be succeeding.
5. Moses
We expected to see a lot of AI-powered tools at this year’s App Store Awards – and this music app lives up to those expectations. The idea is quite simple: Moises lets you break down a song into its different elements (or ‘stems’) and remove those parts so you can practice along.
For example, you can split a song into vocals, drums, bass, guitar and more, as well as adjust its speed or pitch. Of course, you’ll have to pay for the more powerful features (subscriptions start at $5.99 / £4.99 / AU$9.99 per month), but there’s a free starter plan to give you a taste of the useful talents.
6. Create dreams
Procreate has long been one of our favorite drawing apps, so we were really excited to try out its animated-themed Dreams sibling earlier this year – and it impressed Apple enough to make the shortlist for iPad App of the Year to stand.
We’ve definitely fallen for some of its charms, especially the fact that it’s completely subscription-free and supports older iPads (running iPadOS 16.3 or later). We also found it very intuitive for novice animators, especially the performance mode that lets you animate your assets and effects in real time.
That said, there were a few glitches and missing features when we first tried Procreate Dreams, so we’re looking forward to giving it another spin after its App Store Awards nomination.
Apple Watch Apps of the Year
7. Search
Not to be confused with the Visual Look Up feature on iPhones, which is a bit like Google Lens, this handy Apple Watch app is instead designed to improve your English vocabulary.
It is based on the Oxford English Dictionary and includes ‘Word of the Day’ cards, complete with illustrations. You can also tap on cards to confirm pronunciations, etymology and synonyms – which sounds ideal whether you’re learning English or an improver.
8. Lumy
Lumy has been around for over a decade now, but it remains one of the best ways to track the location of the sun and moon on any date – making it ideal for planning a ‘golden hour’ photo shoot.
It’s not just for photographers, as its seven-day weather information makes it a useful ally for hikers and hikers. And Lumy’s sleek design and Apple Watch complications make it particularly good on a smartwatch. If Photopills is a bit too much for you, Lumy seems like a great alternative, especially for Apple Watch fans.
9. Watch 5K
This app has been a mainstay in our guide to the best Apple Watch apps, so we’re happy to see it get a nod in the 2024 App Store Awards – even though it’s far from new.
The appeal of Watch to 5K remains its simplicity: If you’re not quite ready to tackle an ultramarathon, it guides you through creating a training plan that will help you complete a 5K run in under 30 minutes.
You get all the usual stats, like pace, calories burned and heart rate, and it also integrates nicely with Apple Fitness.
App Store Awards – The Best of the Rest
An interesting inclusion in this year’s App Store Awards is a category for the Apple Vision Pro – and even though most of us won’t be trying out these apps, it’s fascinating to see what Apple thinks is the current gold standard for its expensive headset.
Apple has the N.B.A app for “redefining the future of how users watch the sports they love.” If that future is to become fully mainstream, everyone will have to wear a mixed-reality headset, which seems a bit far off – but the seats on the right side of the app are certainly a new experience.
Elsewhere on Vision Pro, Apple has highlighted the What if…? A compelling story “for inviting players to a new kind of Marvel experience”. We’ve described the part-movie, part-game app as “the most fun” we’ve ever had on the Vision Pro, so it certainly justifies its place – even if the competition is relatively thin.
The last non-gaming app that Apple has praised for the Vision Pro is JigSpacewhich is included to “enable users to easily view 3D and augmented reality models”. That’s a pretty niche problem, so we’ll take Apple’s word for it.
And what about the Cultural Impact finalists? It seems like sleep (or lack thereof) has been a big theme of 2024, with two apps mentioned in that category. The Bear was praised “for making bedtime a calming, interactive experience”, while Apple gave that Sleep betterthe nod to “helping users sleep better – and feel better”.
Outside of games, Apple has also added this Everyday artfor “inspiring curiosity about artistic masterpieces” and, somewhat strangely, Pinterest for “inspiring new ideas and endless possibilities”. This is also a suitable choice for this time of year Participationwhich Apple says has helped “simplify social gatherings to promote connection and community.”
Finally, Apple has added three apps that really go above and beyond the usual tasks of apps, including Do you really want to know 2for “addressing misconceptions about HIV through an endearing interactive story”, Okayfor “to make crossing streets safer and more accessible for everyone” and EF Hellofor “empowering language learners with AI-enhanced tools.”
Even though many of the apps on the list existed well before this year, we think it’s a pretty strong lineup for the App Store Awards. Here’s the full list of finalists, with Apple likely to choose the winner of each category very soon.
App Store Awards – the complete list of 45 apps and games
iPhone App of the Year
iPhone Game of the Year
iPad App of the Year
iPad Game of the Year
Apple Arcade Game of the Year
Mac App of the Year
Mac Game of the Year
Apple Watch App of the Year
Apple Vision Pro App of the Year
Apple Vision Pro Game of the Year
Apple TV App of the Year
Finalists for Cultural Impact
