These are the best apps and games of the year, according to Apple

Lux Optics' Spectre Camera uses AI to create long exposure photos. The app can remove unwanted background content like crowds and can draw light trails to create a river-like effect, according to its App Store listing.

The maker of the popular notebooks has a sketching app for the iPad that offers dozens of combination options for paper styles, colors, and tools.

The $35 digital publishing software Affinity Publisher was Apple's top pick for the best Mac app of the year. Affinity Publisher lets you create layouts for publishing magazines, books, brochures, posters, and reports.

The Explorers lets you view photos from all over the world captured by a network of photographers, videographers, scientists, artists, and more.

"Sky: Children of the Light" invites you to explore seven "dreamlike realms" in the kingdom of Sky. It comes from the same company that created the video game "Flower," which was known for its artistic scenery and was even showcased in the Smithsonian Museum of Art.

Other than being named as Apple's iPad game of the year, this 16-bit action adventure RPG also won the Audience and Excellence in Visual Arts awards at the Independent Games Festival in 2017.

GRIS centers on a young girl grappling with sorrow, and as her journey progresses she is granted new abilities through her dress. The game is filled with puzzles, platforming sequences, and skill-based challenges, according to its App Store description. Apple is recognizing it as a "work of digital art."

Cursed by an entity known as the Meka-Dragon, your character has been turned into a half-human, half-lizard and is in search of a cure. It's a revival of the classic platforming adventure game from 1989 that features hand-drawn animations and a re-orchestrated soundtrack.

"Sayonara Wild Hearts" bills itself as a pop album in video game form that's a "dreamy arcade game about riding motorcycles, skateboarding, dance battling, shooting lasers, wielding swords, and breaking hearts at 200 MPH."