Posted by Purnima Kochikar, Director, Apps and Games Business Development, Google Play
Google Play has seen tremendous growth over the past year, reaching more than 1 billion Android users across 190 countries. As a way to recognize our incredible developer community and highlight some of the best apps and games, we’re kicking off our first-ever Google Play Awards.
The program will showcase five nominees across 10 award categories and feature them in a dedicated collection on Google Play. Nominees were selected by a panel of experts on the Google Play team based on criteria emphasizing app quality, innovation, and having a launch or major update in the last 12 months. The winners of each category will be announced at Google I/O in May.
The full list of categories and nominees are below:
Standout Startup
Apps from new developers that offer a unique experience while achieving strong install growth. And the nominees are...
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Standout Indie
Games from indie developers that focus on artistic design, high quality and innovative gameplay. And the nominees are...
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Best Families App
Apps or games with family friendly design that encourage creativity and exploration. And the nominees are...
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Best Use of Material Design
First-class implementation of material design concepts that deliver an immersive and innovative user experience. And the nominees are...
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Best Use of Google Play Game Services
High quality games with several strong GPGS feature implementations. And the nominees are...
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Early Adopter
Early adopter of a nascent technology or platform, providing a delightful user experience. And the nominees are...
Minecraft: Story Mode | Zumper | |||
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Go Global
Apps or games with great localization and culturalization, or subject matter appeal, across multiple regions. And the nominees are...
Memrise | ||||
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Most Innovative
Apps or games offering a highly engaging novelty experience or unique benefit. And the nominees are...
SmartNews | ||||
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Best App
A true representation of beautiful design, intuitive UX and high user appeal, quality and rating. And the nominees are...
Houzz | ||||
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Best Game
Games with strong mechanics, informative tutorial, broad appeal and tasteful design. And the nominees are...
Clash Royale | Star Wars™: Galaxy of Heroes | |||
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Join us live at the ceremony on May 19th at 7:00 pm PDT on stage 7 at Google I/O or via the live stream. You can also track the conversation on Twitter and G+ using the hashtags #io16.