Brain games and puzzles: the best apps of 2014 announced

This year’s top apps are all about training your brain.

Apple has released its annual Best of 2014 list, naming its top app picks of the year.

The top gong has gone to brain-training app Elevate, which is designed to improve focus and memory by providing each user with their own personalised brain-training program.

Addictive matching-number puzzle game Threes won best iPhone game, while adventure game Monument Valley took out first place for iPad app.

Time-lapse video app Hyperlapse was 2014’s runner up app, with the list also featuring controversial ridesharing app Uber, Facebook platform Paper, and photo-sharing app Storehouse.

App developer and co-founder of Outware Mobile, Danny Gorog, told SmartCompany this year’s winners are all high quality apps with high production values.

“All the apps that win these design awards are high quality apps, they were not made in India overnight,” Gorog says.

“It would be interesting to see how long each of these apps took to develop, because my guess would be it would have been quite a while.”

Gorog says another theme of this year’s top apps is they appeal to the habits of those commuting. He says the free Elevate package provides users with three games a day, which take around a minute each to complete.

“It’s backed up by solid research and the games are short and sharp, based around the premise of ‘if you do this regularly, you’ll improve’,” he says.

“It’s about recreational gaming, have a quick game on the tram and feeling satisfied.”

Apple’s top apps of 2014

iPhone

App of the Year: Elevate

Runner-Up: Hyperlapse

Game of the Year: Threes

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

iPad

App of the Year: Pixelmator

Runner-Up: Storehouse

Game of the Year: Monument Valley

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