Apple has announced its annual list of top apps – and creative photo and video apps make up a majority of the non-game portion of the 2024 App Store Awards.
This week, Apple announced its list of final App Store Award recipients, narrowed down from a list of 45 shared in November. It names Adobe Lightroom as the top app for Mac, while film-inspired video app Kino took the title for the iPhone App of the Year, and golden hour planner Lumy wins out for Apple Watch.
Apple CEO Tim Cook said that the 2024 list of winners demonstrates “the incredible ingenuity that can be unlocked through apps.” Excluding the separate subcategories for gaming and cultural impact, three of the top six picks are tools used by photographers and videographers.
Along with Lightroom as Mac App of the Year and Kino as iPhone App of the Year, the award for the Apple Watch app goes to Lumy, a weather app that calculates when golden hour is. The iPad app winner is the Moises tool for musicians, while What If…? An Immersive Story takes the title for Apple Vision Pro and F1 TV for Apple TV App of the Year.
In the November nomination, Apple noted that Adobe Lightroom was on the list of finalists for its new AI-based tools. Adobe credits the award to three key AI-based tools, starting with the ability to use generative AI to remove distractions. AI-powered masking allows for faster localized edits, and the new lens blur effect tool also received a nod.
While 2024 was arguably a big year for Lightroom, the photo editor and asset manager first launched in 2009. As a portrait photographer, I’ve been using Lightroom for several years, but the updates made over the last year or two have made the biggest impact on how quickly I’m able to edit a gallery.
Kino - Pro Video Camera, developed by Lux Optics Inc, scooped the title for the iPhone App of the year. The mobile app enables iPhone users to color grade while they shoot, rather than applying the edits later. The app also incorporates pro-level controls, which is unsurprising as the app comes from the same developer behind Halide, an app known for pro-grade still photo tools.
The Apple Watch of the Year likely has widespread use beyond photo and video, but the weather app’s use of terms like golden hour holds obvious appeal for photo and video creatives. Lumy, developed by Raja V, tracks the position of the sun as well as moon phases and weather for planning photo sessions or outdoor activities like sunrise hikes. While Lumy received the title for the Apple Watch App of the Year, it is also available for iPhone, iPad, Apple TV and even iMessage.
Beyond the list of apps for each of Apple’s top consumer devices, the company also named a list of the top games, as well as recognizing apps for cultural impact, from a navigation app for those with low vision to the NYT Games app behind the popular Wordle. Creatives may also want to download DailyArt, a cultural impact award winner that delivers daily art history lessons and inspiration.
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For more, read up on the best photo editing apps and the best photography apps for iPhone.
