Best Iphone App Designs 2014

Every year at WWDC, Apple rewards the best apps launched for its platforms in the previous year: apps that showcase exceptional visual design, and that use the capabilities of the platform to their fullest.

Winners of the light-up cube trophy this year include some brilliant games that we're not surprised to see scoop up the awards, including the drop-dead gorgeous Escher-style game Monument Valley, and the sliding numbers game that launched a global phenomenon (even if it didn't quite get the credit it deserved), Threes!.

Education also had time in the spotlight, with the educational (but nevertheless beautiful) astronomy app Sky Guide taking a prize. Designed to teach users about the stars, it uses the iOS device's gyroscope to show where the stars are in relation to the viewer, even using artwork to help tease out the constellations.

This year saw two student winners. The first team, Teachley -- Dana Pagar, Rachael Labrecque and Kara Carpenter, graduate students from the Teacher's College at Columbia University -- focused on education, too, with a bright, colourful, cartoony app designed to help children learn addition. The second team, HalfPeeled and TwoBros, created an app for sharing beautiful panoramic photographs.

The full list of 12 winners is below, with links to their iTunes store pages.

Mac winners

Cinemagraph Pro
Flixel Photos
This app lets you edit a video to create compelling hybrid still-video images with an extensive suite of editing options.

Day One
Bloom Built
Do you like recording your life? This Mac application lets you do so in a clean, elegant, easy-to-use interface.

iPad winners

Storehouse
Storehouse Media
Share your own stories with your friends with this iPad app, which lets you combine text, photos and videos and share via email, Facebook and Twitter.

iPad and iPhone winners

Sky Guide
Fifth Star Labs
Learn about the stars at any time of the day or night, with detailed information about stars, planets, constellations and other incredible cosmic bodies. Read our full review here .

Monument Valley
ustwo
If you've not played Monument Valley yet (it's out now for Android, too), you're missing out on one of the most unique and breathtaking games of 2014. Read our full review here.

Threes!
sirvo
2048 may have been the runaway hit, but it all comes down to Threes!, a game that is so simple, yet so beautifully designed. Read our full review here.

Device 6
Simogo
Halfway between a book and a game, Device 6 sees you using every trick up your smartphone's chassis to try and solve a deep and compelling mystery.

Blek
kunabi brother
Minimalistic, yet tricky, Blek sees you flinging a small dot around the screen, trying to hit the coloured dots and avoid the black ones.

Leo's Fortune
1337 & Senri
In a departure from the clean lines and pure forms that dominate this year's awards, Leo's Fortune is an adventure game that is an exercise in painstakingly designed graphics and lush environments.

Yahoo News Digest
Yahoo
This news reader collates all the news from multiple sources, designed to give you the most comprehensive news reader on the market -- all packed into a slick interface.

Student winners

PanoPerfect
Halfpeeled and TwoBros
Designed to complement the panorama mode introduced in iOS 6, PanoPerfect allows you to share your panoramas, and see panoramas taken by others.

Teachley: Addimals Adventure
Teachley
It can be difficult to get kids to do their maths homework, which is why this game aims to turn addition into a bright and colourful game.