The AppleVis Community Names Weather Gods and Untold RPG as Its Golden Apples of 2020

We are pleased to announce that the winners of the ninth annual AppleVis Golden Apple Awards are Weather Gods and Untold RPG.

Since their launch in 2012, the AppleVis Golden Apple Awards have afforded blind and low vision users of Apple products an opportunity to recognize and acknowledge the hard work and dedication which developers have put into making and maintaining great and accessible applications over the given year. The response of past nominees and winners to this recognition from blind and low vision users shows how winning an AppleVis Golden Apple has become a tremendous honor.

The 2020 AppleVis Golden Apple Awards consisted of awards for Best App and Best Game. Voting was held between December 7 and December 13, 2020. Voting was open to all blind and low vision members of the AppleVis community who are not employed by any of the developers whose apps were shortlisted.

To be nominated for this year's Golden Apple Awards, apps must:

• Be fully accessible to blind and low vision users;
• Have been launched or significantly updated during 2020;
• Be from a developer with a strong, demonstrated commitment to full accessibility for all blind and low vision users; and
• Be best-in-class in terms of design, functionality, and operation.

We would like to express our sincere gratitude to all the developers who were shortlisted for an award. Without exception, all of the shortlisted apps were worthy nominees - as demonstrated by the significant number of votes each received. All of the developers showed a strong commitment to improving the lives of blind and low vision users in 2020, and our appreciation for their efforts cannot be overstated.

Below are the winners of the AppleVis Golden Apple Awards of 2020:

Best App: Weather Gods

This weather app for iOS takes a unique approach to presenting weather information, and VoiceOver accessibility is a major consideration of the app's design with its developer routinely engaging with blind and low vision users to seek feedback and suggestions on how to enhance the user experience.

From the App Store:

Meet the Gods: Fire, Ice, Water, Air & Moon delivering you the Weather as you have never experienced it before. Weather Gods redefines the weather app with painstakingly crafted data visualizations, procedural graphics and audio that enable you to literally see, hear and feel the weather. With no more weather icons to decode, the Weather Gods is simply the quickest, most engaging, most enjoyable way to get the accurate weather information you need.

The Weather Gods skillfully integrates premium weather data into an elegant, iOS Exclusive, easy-to-use interface that will delight casual users and weather enthusiasts alike.

With a wealth of rich weather data from the world’s most respected providers, the Weather Gods provide detailed site-based forecasts for over a million locations worldwide. Our advanced, next-generation notifications are easy to setup and bring you exactly the information you want right when you need it.

With 24 hour charts, observed weather, built in moon phase, widget, world clock and much, much more, the Weather Gods is a powerful personal time machine that lets you travel the world and visit the future. Please come join us on this exciting journey as we begin our mission to bring you the finest, most practical, most enjoyable weather app experience ever. We can’t wait to hear what you think!

Read the AppleVis iOS App Directory entry for Weather Gods

Best Game: Untold RPG

Since the announcement by its developer in August that this text-based game had gained VoiceOver support, Untold RPG has become a favourite with blind and low vision gamers.

From the App Store:

Untold – an immersive text-based RPG adventure, combining old school CYOA (Choose Your Own Adventure) features with modern twists.

You wake up on a beach - shipwrecked, confused and traumatized. Follow the footprints and you will find a fellow survivor in the wilderness. She is a nomad, who seems to have endured the same traumatic experiences. Together, you embark on a quest for answers and retribution. As you venture through the world to discover the truth in this interactive fiction, you’ll gather equipment and forge your character.

The lands of Tem Khiris are drenched in blood. You must figure out a way to survive in this world of warring states and rival tribes. Proceed with caution, for death lurks around every corner. Poor decisions will soon send you on a one-way trip to the Underworld.

Read the AppleVis iOS App Directory entry for Untold RPG

We would like to extend our congratulations to the winners of the 2020 AppleVis Golden Apple Awards. We wish everyone a happy and safe holiday season and a prosperous 2021.

The complete list of all apps shortlisted for the 2020 AppleVis Golden Apple Awards is available here; and here is the list of all past Golden Apple winners.