Google just held its inaugural Play Awards at its IO developers conference to highlight some of the best apps from around the world or let’s say from over the 1 billion users every month. The search-giant chose one winner in each of the ten categories according to user experience and ratings of the app.
Congrats to the following developers in each category and for users start downloading these apps:
Best App: Houzz
Whether you’re looking to renovate or redecorate, Houzz has everything you need to improve your home. Get inspired with over ten million high-resolution photos of home interiors and exteriors that you can browse by style, room and location, save and share. Connect with over one million active home improvement professionals, from architects to contractors to designers and more, who can make your dream home a reality; and shop millions of products to complete your projects. Design the home of your dreams using Sketch to annotate and draw on photos from Houzz. You can also tap the “View in My Room” Button on any product page and use your device’s camera to see how products will look in your room.
Houzz is the app The New York Times put first on its list of “best apps for home improvement.” Houzz was called the “single best source” for finding inspiration by The Washington Post and the “Wikipedia of interior and exterior design” by CNN.
Best Game: Clash Royale
Enter the Arena! From the creators of Clash of Clans comes a real-time multiplayer game starring the Royales, your favorite Clash characters and much, much more.
Collect and upgrade dozens of cards featuring the Clash of Clans troops, spells and defenses you know and love, as well as the Royales: Princes, Knights, Baby Dragons and more. Knock the enemy King and Princesses from their towers to defeat your opponents and win Trophies, Crowns and glory in the Arena. Form a Clan to share cards and build your very own battle community.
Best Families App: Thinkrolls 2
Thinkrolls 2 is an enlightening logic puzzler for kids 3-9 years old. Take pride in your children’s achievements, as they sharpen their minds and solve increasingly challenging puzzles, all while having fun! Thinkrolls 2 is molding the next generation of scientific geniuses and will have the whole family enthralled!
Best Use of Material Design: Robinhood
Robinhood for Android is a free download that allows people to buy and sell stocks for free! View market data in real-time, build a personalized watchlist, and place trades with a few taps.
Best Use of Google Play Game Services: Table Tennis Touch
If you like table tennis, you’ll love Table Tennis Touch. Stunning graphics, intuitive swipe controls, realistic high speed gameplay and multiple game modes have made Table Tennis Touch the world’s #1 table tennis game.
Early Adopter: World Around Me
World Around Me is a unique way to find useful places around you – such as restaurants, ATMs, shops, bus/metro stations and more. WAM uses your phone’s camera to give you a completely new way of exploring a place, anywhere in the world.
Go Global: Pokemon Shuffle Mobile
Pokémon Shuffle Mobile is a puzzle game where you line up three or more Pokémon vertically or horizontally to battle against wild Pokémon. You can play it casually—but battling, collecting, and leveling up Pokémon can also provide hours of fun.
Most Innovative: NYT VR
Every day, we bring the world to our readers. With NYT VR, we bring our readers to the world.
Through virtual reality, The New York Times puts you at the center of the stories that only we can tell: stories reported by a staff of award-winning journalists all told through an immersive video experience.
Standout Indie: Alphabear
Alphabear is an original word puzzle game by Spry Fox, the developer of the award winning game Triple Town.
In Alphabear, you spell words by selecting letters on a grid. When you use letters that are adjacent to each other, bears appear! The more letters you use, the bigger the bear gets, and the more points you earn!
Standout Startup: Hopper
Use Hopper to save up to 40% on your next flight. The app analyzes billions of flight prices daily to predict how prices will change and sends you a push notification when your flight is cheapest, so that you never miss a deal.
Booking in the Hopper app is fast and easy, too. Download Hopper for free now to see why millions of travelers are using the app when booking flights.