Google I/O 2019 begins today, and before everything gets started, Google has announced the results of its fourth annual Google Play Awards.
The Google Play Awards is Google's way of celebrating developers who have gone above and beyond. It highlights the best of the best on the Google Play Store and serves as an example for other developers of best practices to follow. It's also just a great list of apps to give a try if you're curious about seeing what makes them so special.
The awards cover nine categories, including some new additions such as Most Inventive, Best Living Room Experience, and Most Beautiful Game.
This year's lineup puts a focus on mental health with apps such as Woebot that features tools for Cognitive Behavioral Therapy, and Wisdo that allows you to share your story or meet new people in groups that range from Body Positive, Motherhood, Finding your Dream Job, and many more.
It also includes some apps for winding down and having fun. For example, Neverthink helps you kick back and enjoy videos which are 100% human curated, and if you're looking to get your game on, you can check out a shooter like SHADOWGUN LEGENDS or Tick Tock: A Tale of Two for an eerie two-player puzzle experience.
- Standout Well-Being App: Woebot: Your Self-Care Expert (free)
- Best Accessibility Exerpeince: Envision AI (subscription)
- Best Social Impact: Wisdo (free)
- Most Beautiful Game: SHADOWGUN LEGENDS (free)
- Best Living Room Experience: Neverthink: Handpicked videos (free)
- Most Inventive: Tick Tock: A Tale of Two ($2.99)
- Standout Build for Billions Experience: Canva: Graphic Design & Logo, Flyer, Poster maker (free)
- Best Breakthrough App: SLOWLY (free)
- Best Breakthrough Game: MARVEL Strike Force (free)
While those are the winners of the prestigious 2019 Google Play Awards, you can get a look at the full list of nominees to see what other great apps they beat out for the top spot.
Google I/O 2019 preview: What to expect
