Every year, the Behind the Design series takes a special look at the remarkable teams behind the Apple Design Award-winning apps and games. Read on to meet 12 incredible teams from around the world and learn how they brought their winning ideas to life. Winners in the category provide a great experience for all by supporting people from a diversity of backgrounds, abilites, and languages. App Universe Launched in 2017, the powerful, versatile, and almost unbelievably simple Universe makes creating a website as easy as building with blocks. The app operates on a grid system. To create a site ..read more

As a kid, Universe founder Joseph Cohen loved nearly everything about the internet: how it brought people together, created avenues for his twin passions of creativity and commerce, and democratized the flow of information. “I grew up in New York,” Cohen says, “but I like to say that I really grew up on the internet.” Today, Cohen’s passion is still the internet — but he’s no longer just living in it. He’s striving to improve it. “Our goal is making this technology available to everybody,” he says. Launched in 2017, the powerful, versatile, and almost unbelievably simple Universe makes creat ..read more

What makes Duolingo such an engaging way to learn a language? The answer is hiding in plain sight. “The secret to Duolingo is that we’re not an education company. We’re a fun and motivation company,” says Ryan Sims, VP of design. “Fun is the most important part of the work we do.” More than a decade since its launch, Duolingo continues to boast best-in-class design, great interactions, and an easy-to-follow UI. It’s filled with fun touches, like gamified lessons, hilarious characters, and a learning path that leans on actual conversations. And then there’s Duo, the famously tenacious owl masc ..read more

At first glance, Evan Kice’s Afterplace appears to have time-traveled from the late 1980s. It’s a 2D top-down pixelated adventure game full of blocky characters, blippy music, and retro typefaces. If you were ever into the games of the era — and Kice very much was — it feels like a delightful visit from an old friend. “I grew up on those games,” says Kice. “I was always carrying them around. And I was also the kind of kid who’d look at a manhole cover and think, ‘That is definitely the entrance to a dungeon.’” Yet for all its nostalgia, Afterplace is a decidedly modern game too. It’s fast, fl ..read more

When Swupnil Sahai started creating SwingVision, he had no app-building experience — but he’d played a lot of tennis. “The initial idea was, ‘Maybe we can use the accelerometer and gyroscope on Apple Watch to figure out how fast I’m swinging, and maybe we can use the [Apple Watch] screen to keep score,’” says Sahai from his workspace in the Bay Area. “That was really it.” The app was a true passion project for Sahai, who jumped into SwingVision pretty much cold. “Although I’d programmed in other languages, Swift seemed much more approachable, so I thought 'Maybe I can pick this up on my own ..read more

Few apps have made mindfulness as accessible as Headspace. More than a decade since its launch, the app continues to set the standard for mental health apps — an especially notable accomplishment, as it can be difficult to communicate challenging topics like mindfulness and mental health through an app. "Demystification is a word we use a lot,” says Jeff Birkeland, Headspace senior vice president and general manager for member products. “Mindfulness and mental health can seem complex, perhaps mystical, maybe even inaccessible. So how do we make it approachable and friendly? And how do we get ..read more

Workout tracking has never looked — or felt — like it does in Any Distance. “We’re building something for everyone, not just athletes,” says Luke Beard, the Atlanta-based designer who created this Swift app with engineer Daniel Kuntz. “We’re not athletically inclined people. We’re kind of dorks! I want to retire and take photos in Iceland one day. Dan wants to retire and play music in the desert. We’re not looking to go to the Olympics, but we do want to live long, healthy lives.” Their app is a design-forward fitness tracker and social network that delivers workout stats in beautiful and sh ..read more

Accessibility & Inclusion Build great apps and games for everyone. App Services Extend your app's experience. App Store Distribution & Marketing Market your app and grow your audience. Audio & Video Build audio and video experiences for your app. Business & Education Deploy and manage Apple devices in your classroom or office. Coding & Design Essentials New to WWDC? Start right here. Design Create compelling interfaces and experiences. Developer Tools Explore the tools you need to build the next great app or game. Graphics & Games Launch your games and level up your gra ..read more

The Apple Design Awards celebrate apps and games that excel in the categories of Inclusivity, Delight and Fun, Interaction, Social Impact, Visuals and Graphics, and Innovation. Learn about the 2023 winning apps and the talented developers behind them. Discover the winners ..read more

For all its many genres and styles, the gaming world has been awfully threadbare when it comes to experiences about embroidery. That all changes with stitch., a charming cross between casual puzzler, meditative exercise, and afternoon craft project — and as cross-generational a game as you’re likely to find. “We pride ourselves on making games that anyone can play,” says Jakob Lykkegaard, founder of Lykke Studios, the team behind stitch. “It’s important to spend the time to make them available for everyone.” stitch. sets up embroidery-based puzzles that players complete to finish a pattern ..read more