Apple has today published their “Best of 2014” iTunes and App Store lists, which include editorial picks for the best releases in apps, music, movies, TV shows, books and podcasts from 2014.
For the best apps and games, Apple has picked Elevate and Threes for the iPhone, Pixelmator and Monument Valley for the iPad and Notability and Tomb Raider for the Mac. Runners up were Hyperlapse and Leo’s Fortune for iPhone, Storehouse and Hearthstone for iPad and Affinity Designer and Transistor for Mac.
Some of the winners in the other categories include 1989 by Taylor Swift as the best music album, Guardians of the Galaxy as the best blockbuster movie, Fargo as TV show of the year, All the Light We Cannot See by Anthony Doerr as the best fiction book, and Serial as the best new podcast. Although keep in mind that some of these lists vary from country to country.
Last year, Apple picked Wunderlist and XCOM: Enemy Unknown as winners for the Mac; Disney Animated and BADLAND for the iPad; and Duolingo and Ridiculous Fishing for the iPhone. In 2012, Apple picked Day One and Deus Ex: Human Revolution as winners for the Mac; Paper and The Room for the iPad; and Action Movie FX and Rayman Jungle Run for the iPhone.
iPhone
App of the Year: Elevate
Runner-Up: Hyperlapse
Game of the Year: Threes
Runner-Up: Leo’s Fortune
Best Apps
- Yahoo News Digest
- Storehouse
- SwiftKey Keyboard
- 1Password
- Camera+
- Toca Lab
- NYT Now
- 120 Sports
- Camu
- Spring
- BuzzFeed
- Peak
- Nighty Night Circus
- Yummly
- Waterlogue
- Human
- Steller
- TeleStory
- Network TV
- Litely
- Uber
- Star Walk 2
- Cinamatic
- Health Mate
- Paper by Facebook
Best Games
- Monument Valley
- Hitman GO
- Ruzzle Adventure
- Battleheart Legacy
- World of Warriors
- XCOM: Enemy Within
- Smash Hit
- Spellfall
- Spider-Man Unlimited
- Wayward Souls
- Trials Frontier
- Adventure Beaks
- Rules!
- FarmVille 2
- RETRY
- Micromon
- Rival Knights
- Godus
- Crazy Taxi City Rush
- Castle Doombad
- Bicolor
- Royal Revolt 2
- FOTONICA
- Timberman
- Bonza World Puzzle
iPad
App of the Year: Pixelmator
Runner-Up: Storehouse
Game of the Year: Monument Valley
Runner-Up: Hearthstone
Best Apps
- NYT Cooking
- Microsoft Word
- VSCO Cam
- Yahoo News Digest
- Replay Video Editor
- Hanx Writer
- Star Walk Kids
- 120 Sports
- Adobe Voice
- GoldieBlox
- Makr
- 1Password
- Joy of Cooking
- Nighty Night Circus
- Molecules by Theodore Gray
- OmniFocus 2
- Toca Nature
- Auxy
- Slice Fractions
- Launch Center Pro
- Yahoo Weather
- Incredible Numbers
- Post-it Plus
- Stephen Hawking’s Snapshots of the Universe
Best Games
- World of Tanks Blitz
- Leo’s Fortune
- Hitman GO
- Vainglory
- Battleheart Legacy
- XCOM: Enemy Unknown
- Godus
- Faster Than Light
- FarmVille 2
- Banner Saga
- The Wolf Among Us
- Skylanders Trap Team
- Valiant Hearts
- Broken Age
- Fates Forever
- World of Warriors
- 80 Days
- Etherlords
- BioShock
- Boom Beach
- Table Tennis Touch
- FRAMED
- Thomas Was Alone
- Modern Combat 5: Blackout
- FIFA 2015
Mac
App of the Year: Notability
Runner-Up: Affinity Designer
Game of the Year: Tomb Raider
Runner-Up: Transistor
Best Apps
- Cinemagraph Pro
- OmniFocus 2
- Deliveries
- Calcbot
- Shazam
- Logoist 2
- iA Writer Pro
- Reeder 2
- iTranslate
- Autodesk SketchBook
- OneNote
- Tonality
- PCalc
- Slack
- Flare 2
- Sketch 3
- Desk
- Getty Image Stream
- Paprika
- Quicken 2015
Best Games
- Borderlands: The Pre-Sequel
- Castle of Illusion
- Hitman: Absolution
- Shadow Blade
- Broken Age
- DiRT Showdown
- Thomas Was Alone
- Mini Motor Racing
- SimCity 4
- The LEGO Movie Videogame
- Year Walk
- Metal Gear Rising
- The Novelist
- Sparkle 2
- Avoid
- FIST OF AWESOME
- Tropico 5
- Atom Run
- realMyst
- Township
