Apple named the 17 winners of its 2025 App Store Awards on Thursday, and AI made its presence felt. App of the Year Tiimo, created for folks with ADHD, is an AI visual planner; iPad App of the Year Detail uses AI to simplify video editing; and Mac App of the Year Essayist employs AI to ease "the time-consuming work of formatting academic papers."
Apple began giving out App Store Awards over a decade ago, with recent App of the Year winners including Kino (2024), AllTrails (2023), BeReal (2022), Toca Life World (2021) and Wakeout! (2020).
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It's apparent from this year's selections that the AI juggernaut will continue growing in global influence. The Business of Apps, a B2B media and information platform, estimates that the AI app sector generated $4.5 billion in 2024 -- more than half of that via ChatGPT -- and that nearly 700 million people used AI apps in the first half of 2025. The website predicts that the AI app sector will exceed $150 billion in revenue by 2030.
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"Every year, we're inspired by the ways developers turn their best ideas into innovative experiences that enrich people's lives," said Tim Cook, Apple's CEO. "This year's winners represent the creativity and excellence that define the App Store, and they demonstrate the meaningful impact that world-class apps and games have on people everywhere."
'For brains that work differently'
Apple
Tiimo is based in Copenhagen and was co-founded by Helene Lassen Nørlem and Melissa Würtz Azari to create planning tools for individuals with Autism, ADHD, neurodivergence and executive functioning differences. The company website says its app's tools "are adaptive by design; visual, flexible, and grounded in how neurodivergent people really plan, think, and follow through," and notes that the app is "for brains that work differently."
The app originated as a research project exploring how tech could support neurodivergent teens, but Würtz Azari transformed that into a business after being diagnosed with ADHD and dyslexia, according to the company.
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