Mikey Campbell
Breaking with convention, Apple on Monday announced plans to name its "favorite apps and games of 2019" at a special media event in New York on Dec. 2, a list usually presented to the public at large via press release.
A venue was not revealed in the invitation sent out to media, but reporter Lance Ulanoff believes the gathering will be an intimate affair focusing on apps.
"Loved by millions. Created by the best," reads the invitation, which is adorned by a large, golden App Store icon.
The event appears to be connected to Apple's annual "Best of" awards covering content available through the company's various digital storefronts. Typically revealed in a press release in early December, this year's retrospective will apparently be accompanied by a formal ceremony. While specifics are at this point unclear, it appears the company plans to pass out awards or otherwise celebrate the developers and content creators who market their wares on the App Store, iTunes and other Apple properties.
In 2018, Procreate Pocket garnered the coveted App of the Year title, while Froggipedia and Pixelmator Pro took the top spot for iPad and Mac, respectively. Beyond apps, the "Best of 2018" release included songs, artists and albums from Apple Music, as well as selections from the iTunes Movie Store, Podcasts and Apple Books.
New hardware is not expected for unveiling at the event. Apple last week cleared the decks by releasing a long-rumored 16-inch MacBook Pro and announcing December availability for Mac Pro and Pro Display XDR.
Andrew Orr
Amber Neely
William Gallagher
Christine McKee
AppleInsider Staff
5 Comments
Curious when the air tags will come.
I am betting that there is another mile stone that is being celebrated such as 1 billion apps downloaded $1 billion an app sold in the US or whatever, I’m not even familiar enough with the close metrics to speculate which it might be but I bet you are!
Apple Oscars! ;)
THIS is why I love Apple! So proud of their inventions and the people who've joined them!
This is the second curveball Apple has thrown this year.
Firstly, we had more or less given up on any new hardware being released, besides the Mac Pro. However, Apple goes ahead and releases the AirPod Pros and the 16" MBPs.
Next, most people were speculating that there would be an event in October for the 16" MBP and new iPad Pros, but there was nothing. Now Apple announces an unexpected event.
I hope people temper their expectations on what this event will have. Looking at the context of the event, new hardware is extremely unlikely. I do not think Apple will want to take the spotlight away from the developers, which is what this is all about.