Apple celebrates best apps, games that animated 2019 gadget fashion

Apple celebrates best apps, games that animated 2019 gadget fashion

Apple celebrates best apps, games that animated 2019 gadget fashion

Seen through a skylight, people at a display of Apple Watches in the newly refurbished Apple store on Fifth Avenue in New York, New York, USA, Sep.19, 2019. EPA-EFE/FILE/JUSTIN LANE
 

 

New York City, United States, December 3 (efe-epa).- Apple announced its best games and apps of 2019 on Monday at an event in New York's Tribeca neighborhood.

In a relaxed atmosphere, with music, soft and warm lighting accompanied by drinks and canapés, the winners of the nine awarded categories explained the most outstanding features of their applications.

FOR iPHONE

The American company selected the game "Sky: Children of the Light" as the best game of the year for their phone because it claimed that few games conveyed the thrill of discovery, flight and collaboration as this one.

Among applications, photo editor "Spectre Camera" was chosen as the best of the year. This app plays with the effects of movement, as one of its founders Sebastiaan de With told EFE.

This app lengthens the exposure time of the camera, allowing you to play with the effects, make cars or people disappear from the photos or literally draw words in the wind.

IN iPAD CATEGORY

Spanish game developer “Abylight” received the award for the best iPad game for "Hyper Light Drifter" which is about the adventures of a sick player looking for a cure for his disease in a dystopian world.

"It's the story of a drifter, a vagabond who is seriously ill and needs to find a cure for his illness,” Abylight's CEO Eva Gaspar told EFE, adding the show paid tribute to the old pixel games.

Gaspar said the theme was connected to its creator, Alex Preston, the creative director of Heart Machine, a Los Angeles based firm, who like the protagonist is also sick.

“He has a heart disease, he actually had to be here today but he couldn't for health reasons,” Gaspar underlined.

The year's most outstanding application for the iPad, “Flow by Moleskine”, is for those fond of drawing, and converts the tablet into a palette “in which you can access everything you may need quickly and easily”, its designer Benjamin Hamey told EFE.

Hamey showed how on the same screen, the user has direct access to the different types of pencils, pens and colors "without having to access them by clicking on any option."

iMAC WINNERS

Gris, made by Spanish developer Nomada Studio, has won the award for the best game of 2019 for the iMac desktop.

Nomada's head of promotions David Ricard described their product as “an indie game” in which the user does not lose out on adventure by leaving behind the five states of grief - “denial, anger, negotiation, depression and acceptance”.

Ricard also stressed that music plays a prominent role in the story, reflecting "the inner fear when we go through those states of emotional growth”.

The award for the best app for the iMac went to Affinity Publisher, an application developed by Serif Labs and focused on editing magazines, books and all kinds of graphic design.

APPLE TV AND ARCADE

Apple selected the game "Wonder Boy: The Dragon's Trap" as the best game for iMac and "The Explorers", which offers videos and photographs in 4K quality from around the world, as the best app for 2019.

The Apple Arcade game of the year went to "Sayonara Wild Hearts", where obstacle racing is mixed with dance and fight-to-death situations.

MOST TRENDING GAMES AND APPS

Apple has also sought to honor, without ranking one over another, the apps that were trending this year, having piqued the interest of a large number of users.

Among them, two were about editing photos to group them and post on different social networks.

One of them was Unfold, created by Spain's Alfonso Cobo, who told EFE that his was "a popular application that already has more than 26 million users."

"It allows users to create stories on social media through different templates, inspired by different designs," he said.

The other app was Typic 2, developed by the Colombians Julian and Steve Urrego and Margarita Acosta, who told EFE that they have been working on it since 2013 and that their app had already been downloaded six million times.

"Our app is a photo editor, it's like having a graphic designer in your pocket, an app for communication," said Acosta, terming their product as "really complete”.

Among the games that trended in 2019, Apple mentioned several "original versions" of old games such as Mario Kart Tour, Minecraft Earth, Pokemon Masters and Assassin's Creed Rebellion, for having given new life to the most beloved game franchises.