Apple 2024 Annual App Awards: Subtle AI Impact, Creative Apps Favored

Apple's recently announced shortlist for the 2024 "iPhone App Awards" underscores the company's understated approach to AI within its mobile app ecosystem. Similar to last year, this year's nominees predominantly feature traditional iOS applications, such as the professional video recording app Kino, the personalized running plan app Runna, and the travel organization app Tripsy, all of which assist iPhone users in accomplishing specific tasks.

Notably, despite ChatGPT becoming a partner in enhancing Apple’s Siri and gaining popularity for introducing advanced voice chat modes and challenging Google's web search capabilities, it did not receive any official year-end award nominations from the Apple App Store editorial team. Although ChatGPT frequently appears in the App Store and Google Play's editorial recommendations, neither company nominated it as an overall winner last year, even though the app became the fastest-growing consumer application in history, reaching 100 million users shortly after its release in early 2023.

This year, Google recognized the party planning app Partiful as the app of the year, while ChatGPT was once again overlooked. However, a few AI-driven applications still made the 2024 shortlist for Apple, including nominations in the iPad and Mac app categories.

Among the 45 shortlisted entries spanning both applications and games, AI-driven apps were mentioned only a few times. For instance, the AI-powered music practice tool Moises was nominated alongside the children’s app Bluey: Let’s Play and the animation app Procreate Dreams for the iPad of the Year. Adobe Lightroom, which includes AI features, was nominated alongside the productivity app OmniFocus 4 and the 3D design app Shapr 3D for the Mac of the Year.

Out of 12 culturally impactful nominees, only one application was described by Apple as utilizing AI technology—the language learning app EF Hello. While other apps, such as Pinterest, may also employ AI in the background, they did not market themselves as "AI" apps in the App Store.

Overall, Apple's shortlist indicates a preference for applications that empower human creativity over AI-assisted automation. Most nominated apps help users achieve more on their iPhones or other devices without relying on AI assistants or features, whether in design, organization, photography, creation, or entertainment.

Additionally, Apple introduced a new category for the Apple Vision Pro this year, awarding winners in both applications and games.