Portland has a long and storied history with apps for the Apple ecosystm. From the early work of Panic to the Obama app to the latest apps pushing the envelope for what your favorite Apple hardware can accomplish. And they’ve got the recognition to prove it. Well, at least two apps do in 2026. As they were recently recognized by the 2026 Apple Design Awards.
While they didn’t take home the top prizes, recognition at this level is still amazing. So wanted to highlight it.
- Blippo+ (Panic, Inc., United States) macOS — Aimed at a very specific demographic of channel-surfers, DIY-aesthetic aficionados, and anyone seeking an alternative to modern streamers, Blippo+ is a retro-futurist TV with multiple channels of bizarre, ad-free programs reminiscent of the highest numbers on the UHF dial. (Ask your elders.) The aggressively — and often purposely cringe — DIY content is the main draw, but Panic has paid incredible attention to its world-building details, reviving ancient graphics, fonts, and buttons down to the last enormous pixelated digit. And get this: The “broadcast” is synchronized, which means everyone watches the same irreverence together. (Ask your elders about that too.)
- Hearing Buddy (Lilly Seay, United States) iOS, iPadOS, watchOS — Created by a solo developer with hearing loss, Hearing Buddy is shaped by experience. The thoughtful app uses the Foundation Models framework and on-device speech-to-text features to quickly generate real-time captions and summaries of spoken conversations. Reliable, supportive, and easy to work with, it’s everything you need in a good buddy.
For more information, visit Apple Design Awards 2026.
[h/t Scott Krager]