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

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.

Popular Stories

AirPods Pro Firmware Feature

Apple Releases New Firmware for AirPods Pro 2, AirPods Pro 3, and AirPods 4

Thursday November 13, 2025 11:35 am PST by
Apple today released new firmware designed for the AirPods Pro 3, the AirPods 4, and the prior-generation AirPods Pro 2. The AirPods Pro 3 firmware is 8B25, while the AirPods Pro 2 and AirPods 4 firmware is 8B21, all up from the prior 8A358 firmware released in October. There's no word on what's include in the updated firmware, but the AirPods Pro 2, AirPods 4 with ANC, and AirPods Pro 3...
Tim Cook WWDC 2018

Report: Tim Cook to Step Down as Apple CEO 'as Soon as Next Year'

Saturday November 15, 2025 2:40 pm PST by
Apple is preparing for Tim Cook to step down as CEO of the company "as soon as next year," according to the Financial Times. The company's board of directors and senior executives "recently intensified preparations for Cook to hand over the reins," the report said. While the report said that Apple is unlikely to name a new CEO before its next earnings report in late January, it went on to ...
iPhone Pocket Short

iPhone Pocket Now Available to Order, But Already Selling Out

Friday November 14, 2025 6:20 am PST by
Apple recently teamed up with Japanese fashion brand ISSEY MIYAKE to create the iPhone Pocket, a limited-edition knitted accessory designed to carry an iPhone. iPhone Pocket is available to order on Apple's online store starting today, in the United States, France, China, Italy, Japan, Singapore, South Korea, and the United Kingdom. However, it is already completely sold out in the United...
apple silicon mac lineup 2024 feature purple m5

Apple's 2026 Mac Plans

Friday November 14, 2025 3:23 pm PST by
Most of Apple's Macs are slated to get M5 chips across 2026, and there's a possibility we'll even see the first M6 chips toward the end of the year. Updates are planned for everything from the MacBook Air to the Mac Studio. MacBook Air (Early 2026) The MacBook Air will be one of the first Macs to get a 2026 refresh, with an update planned for the first few months of the year. The MacBook...
best early black friday deals

Best Black Friday Apple Deals Live Now - Save on AirPods, iPads, and Apple Watches

Saturday November 15, 2025 1:45 pm PST by
We're officially in the month of Black Friday, which will take place on Friday, November 28 in 2025. As always, this will be the best time of the year to shop for great deals, including popular Apple products like AirPods, iPad, Apple Watch, and more. In this article, the majority of the discounts will be found on Amazon. Note: MacRumors is an affiliate partner with some of these vendors. When ...
tvOS 26 Profiles

tvOS 26.2 Adds a Useful New Feature to Your Apple TV

Friday November 14, 2025 10:02 am PST by
Starting with the upcoming tvOS 26.2 update, currently in beta, additional profiles created on the Apple TV no longer require their own Apple Account. In the Settings app on the Apple TV, under Profiles and Accounts, anyone can create a new profile by simply entering a name and indicating whether the profile is for a kid. The profile will be associated with the primary user's Apple Account,...
walmart new ornametns

Walmart Black Friday Deals Begin Today With Low Prices on Headphones, TVs, and More

Friday November 14, 2025 7:55 am PST by
Walmart's Black Friday sale has officially kicked off today, with an online shopping event that's also seeing some matching deals in retail locations. There are quite a few major discounts in this sale, including savings on headphones, TVs, and more. Note: MacRumors is an affiliate partner with Walmart. When you click a link and make a purchase, we may receive a small payment, which helps us...
CarPlay Pinned Messages

iOS 26.2 Adds New CarPlay Setting

Thursday November 13, 2025 6:48 am PST by
iOS 26 extended pinned conversations in the Messages app to CarPlay, for quick access to your most frequent chats. However, some drivers may prefer the classic view with a list of individual conversations only, and Apple now lets users choose. Apple released the second beta of iOS 26.2 this week, and it introduces a new CarPlay setting for turning off pinned conversations in the Messages...
iOS 26

Everything New in iOS 26.2 Beta 3

Monday November 17, 2025 3:20 pm PST by
Apple provided developers with the third beta of an upcoming iOS 26.2 update, and there are still new features that are being added with each beta that we get. We've rounded up all of the changes that Apple made in beta 3. AirDrop Apple added new AirDrop functionality, providing a way for two people to share files temporarily without having to add one another as contacts. iOS 26.2...

Top Rated Comments

ethanwa79 Avatar
52 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
52 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
52 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)
incoherent_1 Avatar
52 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)
radamo Avatar
52 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)
yabeweb Avatar
52 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)